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Road Pricing

: I confess that I arrived equipped with a sudoku puzzle, with which I had made very little progress. I did not take the precaution of equipping myself with briefings from the Campaign to Protect Rural England or from the Library. However, the hon. Member is right to point to the political problem that this is not the most fantastically popular case to put across. The matter is best handled on an all-party basis. When the Secretary of State last made an announcement, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Yorkshire (Mr. Knight)—who was previously the Member for Derby, North but now represents a slightly safer constituency on the east coast—made a statement that was neutral or perhaps encouraging to the Government. It may be that if no one else speaks in the debate, we shall not reach a consensus. However, if the outcome of the debate indicates that there is not total hostility from all the major parties, perhaps the report of the hon. Member for Crewe and Nantwich will have made a little progress.