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Business of the House

Once again, I am extremely grateful to the right hon. Lady for raising such a range of subjects. Obviously, in the fullness of time, they will afford the opportunity for debate in the House. The right hon. Lady began by complaining that there had been 39 written statements. I did not quite reach 39 when I counted the debates that she encouraged us to hold, but the list fell not far short of that number, ranging across foreign and domestic policy. Of course, the House has a procedure for written ministerial statements. I assume that if my right hon. and hon. Friends did not table such statements, the right hon. Lady would complain about that as well. Trying to keep the House informed about matters that are of obvious consequence and fall within the House’s rules seems to me a matter for congratulation, not complaint. If the right hon. Lady believes that written ministerial statements should be made in a different form, she has the opportunity under the House’s rules to make representations to that effect. I am not aware that any such representations have been made other than today, just now, which—as the right hon. Lady will see if she looks at the rules—is a little late. The right hon. Lady asked for a debate on Foreign Office policy. The matter was raised last week, we are considering it, and I am sure that there will be an opportunity for such a debate in due course As for job cuts in the national health service, the right hon. Lady has adopted a common Opposition policy, which I vaguely recall from former times—the policy of highlighting particular incidents, and purporting to suggest somehow that they represent a general trend. If she checks the position, she will find that a large number of jobs have been created in the NHS. There are a large number of new nurses, consultants and doctors, all providing vital health care for the people of this country. I hope that the right hon. Lady will put the record straight in future. I should have expected the right hon. Lady to welcome the use of consultancy to assist large organisations such as the national health service. I assume that she shares the Government’s wish to ensure that the money that the NHS receives from the taxpayer is spent properly, wisely and effectively, and delivers the service that we all want. I should have thought that she would welcome the contribution that consultants can make to that, rather than criticising it. The use of the word ““epitaph”” was interesting. I know that Opposition Members do not like being reminded of the number of recent general elections that they have managed to lose, but I remind them that the most recent took place less than a year ago. As far as I recall, Parliaments can run for as long as five years. The Government have many more years to run, many more new policies to introduce, many more reforms to make and will continue with their commitment to the people of this country, delivering high quality services at an affordable price— Well, I am being heckled about the length of time that this Government may continue, but that is a matter for the British people. They have certainly not shown much enthusiasm for the Conservative party recently, and there is little sign in the current polls that they intend to do so. I know that the hon. Gentleman is busy trying to change the party’s policies, but we will all wait to see whether the result of those flip-flops is any more successful than previous efforts. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman lives in hope, otherwise he would not be here. At the moment, it is all that he has got. As for a debate on equal opportunities, the Government would be delighted to defend their record on equal opportunities and, in particular, on care for the elderly. The Government are extremely proud of the substantial amounts of extra money that have been provided to support pensioners, especially the poorest pensioners, and we would be delighted to defend that record in any debate on the subject. As for the question of Cabinet government, we heard earlier today from my right hon. Friend the Chancellor and we have heard from a series of Cabinet Ministers this week. I assure the right hon. Lady that Cabinet Government is alive and well. It certainly was an hour ago when I attended the most recent meeting of the Cabinet.