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Business of the House

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising the question of distressed citizens, which the Government will examine as a matter of urgency. Although I am not a betting man, in the spirit of my illustrious predecessor, Robin Cook, I shall draw the attention of the House to the odds on the potential Liberal Democrat leadership election: the right hon. and learned Member for North-East Fife (Sir Menzies Campbell) is the bookies’ clear favourite to take over at 5:4 on; the hon. Member for Winchester (Mr. Oaten) is not generously priced at 6:4; and the hon. Member for North Southwark and Bermondsey (Simon Hughes) is 11:2. I am sorry to tell the House that despite extensive research I was unable to find a single bookmaker offering odds on the hon. Member for Somerton and Frome (Mr. Heath). In the spirit of Christmas cheer and as a lasting memorial to my predecessor, however, I am prepared to offer odds of around 100:1. It is important that those in difficulty, particularly at this time of the year, can register their complaints, and it is true that difficulties have occurred from time to time with the arrangements that we have put in place. However, I assure the House that those arrangements were implemented ultimately to ensure that facilities work better and that the Government have not sought deliberately to make the situation worse. Our purpose is to ensure that the system is more effective and efficient. I do not intend to comment beyond the excellent observations made by my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary in answer to the question from the leader of the Liberal party. The issues in relation to so-called rendition have been satisfactorily dealt with and set out clearly. The Government will carefully consider the outcomes of the European Council and the World Trade Organisation summit, and we will report as fully as possible to the House. Hon. Members know that a statement is customarily delivered following European Councils, and I see no reason why we should depart from that practice.