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Business of the House

I thank the Leader of the House for giving us the business up to the recess. Yesterday, in the United States, the Iraq study group published its report. It is a chilling commentary on the management of the Iraq war and its aftermath. The Prime Minister is in the United States today for talks with President Bush following the report’s publication. Undoubtedly those talks will cover not only the report but the response of both Governments to its findings, and proposals for the future of our involvement in Iraq. May we have a statement from the Prime Minister before the recess on the Iraq study group report and future UK involvement in Iraq? The Department of Trade and Industry is expected to issue a report on the future of the Post Office next week. It should cover support for rural post offices and the replacement for the Post Office card account. Can the Leader of the House confirm that there will be an oral statement from the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry so that Members can question him on the report? Given that the subject is of great concern to Members in all parts of the House, as Government decisions have led to the closure of many post offices—not just in rural areas, but in urban areas such as Ross road and Woodlands Park in my constituency—may we have a debate on the future of the Post Office in the new year, in Government time? The Leader of the House will be aware that new procedures have been introduced for the Committee stages of Bills. The House voted on them only a few weeks ago. Among other things, the new procedures allow Public Bill Committees to take evidence during consideration of Bills. I think that when the Leader of the House said that they would come into force after 1 January, many Members thought that that meant that any Committees sitting after that date would be able to take public evidence. However, I understand that the new procedures will not apply to any Bill introduced—not just any that has had its Second Reading—before 1 January. That means, for example, that the Committee on the Greater London Authority Bill will not be able to take evidence from either the Mayor of London or from London borough council leaders. Is that another sleight of hand by the Government, or will the Leader of the House reconsider, to ensure that the will of the House is put into practice? Yesterday the Chancellor gave us the pre-Budget report. There is a pattern to such things—Labour Members cheer them on the day in the House, and a few days later the Chancellor’s promises start to unravel. This one, however, started unravelling as soon as he sat down. Not only did he give us reheated spin on education and fail to mention the crisis in the NHS once—which, I presume, means that he supports the cuts in the NHS—but his claim to be addressing green issues struck a false note. Under this Government, carbon emissions have gone up and the burden of green taxes has fallen. The verdict on the Chancellor from Ed Matthews of Friends of the Earth was:"““I would give him probably one out of 10…I think it’s pretty feeble really. He’s got a terrible record. For 10 years he’s failed to provide a green budget.””" Hon. Members may recall that earlier this year, in the Budget, the Chancellor promised"““to radically reform vehicle excise duty…introducing…a zero rate for a small number of cars with the very lowest carbon emissions””.—[Official Report, 22 March 2006; Vol. 444, c. 295.]" As it turned out, no cars eligible for that zero-rated road tax are currently available to buy in Britain. Yesterday we heard about zero-carbon homes. The Chancellor announced"““plans to ensure that within 10 years every new home will be a zero-carbon home””.—[Official Report, 6 December 2006; Vol. 454, c. 309.]" Last night on ““Newsnight””, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury said that there were already some zero-carbon homes in the UK. How many are there? He was not quite sure. Where are they? In a development somewhere, he said. What part of the country are they in? He did not know. So— My very next sentence, Mr. Speaker, was to be as follows: can we have a statement from the Chancellor clarifying his policy and explaining how many zero-carbon homes there are, where they are and what exactly qualifies as a zero-carbon home? Alternatively, will we find out that, as with every announcement from the Chancellor, he smiles on the day and people suffer ever after?