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Business of the House

Of course there is a serious problem, but if my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health had come before the House today and said, ““A report has just been published; this is what we’re going to do,”” the Liberal Democrats would have been the first to complain that we had not had a chance to digest the report and come to sensible conclusions on it. They need to get serious. Of course the issue is urgent, but the report is the first objective scientific assessment of the prevalence of abuse against the elderly. The prerequisite for effective action, which is what we all want, is to consider the report carefully, although as quickly as possible.