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Business of the House

First, may I say that I believe that the right hon. and learned Lady is quite wrong about the affair of the hon. Member for Ashford (Damian Green)? There are distinct differences between the events surrounding that affair and the more general question of privileges. That question should be referred to the Standards and Privileges Committee, whose job it is to look at it. I hope that she will reconsider the matter. Will the Leader of the House confirm exactly what we will be debating on Thursday 30 April? I notice that the day is now to be devoted to "House business", rather than to "motions relating to allowances". Will she confirm that it is the Prime Minister's motion that we are to be discussing that day? She spoke about the process at some length, but does it not illustrate how the Prime Minister sets about consultation? First of all, he scribbles something on the back of a fag packet, then as an afterthought convenes the leaders of the other parties to rubber-stamp his proposal. When they fundamentally disagree with him, he determines that he will carry on with the scheme that he first thought of anyway—a scheme that in effect proposes a daily banker style bonus to Members of Parliament, without transparency or any relation to real costs incurred. He believes that it will engender the support and confidence of the British people, but it will not. I hope that we will have a chance to debate alternatives to his proposal, because it is very important that we get this matter right. If that is what we are to debate on Thursday 30 April, will the Leader of the House also confirm that there are a great many details to do with costs and definitions to be discussed? Her statement did not go into those details, which also include the position of staff and questions about whether there will be staff transfers. Will she produce detailed supporting papers for the proposition early next week, so that we know exactly what we are talking about, or are we to be asked to buy a particularly ill-smelling pig in a poke? In 2002, the Public Administration Committee produced a report on special advisers entitled "These Unfortunate Events". Given that there have been more unfortunate events over the Easter recess, will the Leader of the House confirm that it is the Government's intention to introduce the provisions of a civil service Act, either as a stand-alone Bill or as part of the Constitutional Renewal Bill? That intention has been often stated, but when will we have statutory control of the civil service, including special advisers? Can we have a statement or a debate on broadband? In yesterday's Budget, the Chancellor referred to extra investment in broadband, but there is a great deal of concern around the country that it will not lead to Britain having the broadband speed that it will need to be truly competitive in the future. That concern is especially strong in rural areas, where people worry that they will simply not get the provision at all. Can we have a clear statement therefore on what will be provided, and the implications? Lastly, after months of waiting and many parliamentary questions, on Tuesday we finally got the implementation of the homeowners mortgage support scheme that had been announced in December. However, does the right hon. and learned Lady accept that not one UK bank that is not under state control is participating in the scheme? I am talking about the Abbey, Nationwide, Barclays, HSBC, the Alliance & Leicester—none of the major lenders that are not directly controlled by the state is taking part. Is not that a huge omission, and will it not leave many homeowners in a very poor position when compared with others who have borrowed from those banks that have had to take money from the state? Can we have a clear statement on the operation of the homeowners mortgage support scheme, so that hon. Members can ask proper questions about the position of their constituents?