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Business of the House

There is great concern about attacks on firefighters; indeed, there have been 185 incidents against fire crews in Greater Manchester so far this year, and it is unfortunate that a high proportion of those have been in Salford. Following this, the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, the Chief Fire Officers Association and the Manchester Evening News have got together and are campaigning with Greater Manchester MPs to bring our legislation into line with that in Scotland. In the light of that, does my right hon. Friend agree that we should have a debate on the safety of fire crews, and will the Government consider supporting the private Member’s Bill introduced by my right hon. Friend the Member for Swansea, West (Mr. Williams)?