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Business of the House

I am delighted to welcome the right hon. Lady’s observations on a range of policy matters. This week, in the spirit of giving credit where credit is due, we have witnessed the wholesale conversion of the Conservative party to large parts of the Labour Government’s manifesto. The phrase about sinners repenting comes to mind. We all want the Opposition to maintain their commitment to economic stability, which they say is a good thing; to protecting the environment—we have been telling them so for years; and to the belief that poverty is a bad thing. The fact that the Conservative party has admitted that is progress of sorts. It wants, too, to encourage family-friendly policies. I am sure that Opposition Members would benefit from reading the rest of the Labour Government’s manifesto. I have it with me and would be delighted to make it available to the right hon. Lady so that, when her party publishes its next document—the present one is curiously entitled ““Built to Last””, presumably followed by the words ““for at least a week””—it can continue in the same spirit and adopt our manifesto. Government Members are delighted by that progress, just as we are delighted with progress on the Education and Inspections Bill. I am sure that there will be adequate opportunity for hon. Members to debate that important measure in due course. We have debated on several occasions the Government’s excellent preparations to deal with the prospect of a flu crisis. As for climate change, the right hon. Lady is entirely in order in raising those issues, but it would be helpful if she were in order on her own party’s policies. As for the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, there is no doubt about the Government’s commitment to fund high-quality scientific research. The funding of the overall science budget and the Natural Environment Research Council is outstanding. Indeed, it has doubled since 1997. It is important that that organisation should set its own scientific priorities. It is not right for Ministers and politicians to determine the way in which that money is spent. It is for that organisation to judge how best to develop its own research. We have had a number of discussions about the Post Office card account in recent months, but I should have thought that everyone was united in the objective of ensuring the continuation of the services that the Post Office provides to people who take advantage of the Post Office card account. Everyone will accept that it is sensible, given the long lead time during which the Government are funding the card, that we should find ways of encouraging people to continue to take advantage of the Post Office and use a range of other services that it offers. If Opposition Members had thought this through, they would see that there is a clear and obvious link between the Post Office card and the future of the Post Office, which provides a range of services. It should be clear to people using the card—[Interruption.] I hope that the right hon. Lady will listen—I listened to her—instead of screeching from the Front Bench. I hope that we all share a commitment to the Post Office and the services that it provides. It makes available a range of accounts, which should be used to support the people who use the Post Office card.