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Christmas Adjournment

Let me tell the hon. Member about the prescription of the drug by the 1,100 extra cancer consultants that we have, a 38 per cent. increase since 1997. Locally, groups of consultants and medical practitioners are involved. Some may have drawn an inference—I am sure he did not intend this—that some sort of bureaucrat or unqualified person was taking the decisions, but they are being taken by people with some medical expertise. It is important to know that that expertise is available and to ask quite rightly what the impact of the 1,100 extra cancer specialists is. We certainly know that cancer mortality rates have dropped by more than 10 per cent. because of those extra consultants and more effective treatment, saving an estimated 33,000 lives. We also know that, in 1997, only 63 per cent. of suspected cancer cases were seen within two weeks; now the figure is 99 per cent. All of those have helped the hon. Member’s constituents. Since the issue of cancer care and palliative care was also mentioned, I want to join all hon. Members in paying tribute to the work of the hospice movement. In my constituency, I have the Marie Curie clinic at Fairmilehead and I know that, at this time of year, the work that it does is more valued than ever. The right hon. Member for Penrith and The Border (David Maclean) made an excellent contribution and stressed his concerns about the common agricultural policy and the EU budget. He asked for more to be given to the hill farmers in his area and, brought up as I was in a hill farming area, I listened with some concern to what he was saying. However, I was surprised that hon. Members who asked about the Government’s negotiations during our presidency failed to acknowledge that the EU budget deal agreed under my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister is some €160 billion cheaper than the original Commission proposals of February 2004. Moreover, it is certainly below the level proposed in June by our predecessor in the presidency, Luxembourg. Some speakers neglected that important fact, which should be noted. The hon. Member for The Wrekin called for more money for sugar beet farmers and stressed the importance of biofuels. We concur: that is why, in his pre-Budget report of two or three weeks ago, the Chancellor reinforced the impetus that he has given to the promotion of biofuels. All speakers seemed openly hostile to wind farms. I declare my support for them, both onshore and offshore. They have a part to play and I am pleased that this Government, and the Department for Trade and Industry in particular, have managed to exceed their target for making wind generators available for community centres, community housing groups and individuals. The target was to have 2,300 such generators installed between 2003 and 2006; in fact, that figure has been almost doubled, and the funding is still available. My hon. Friend the Member for Leyton and Wanstead (Harry Cohen) raised the vitally important issue of Iraq. I want to pay tribute to all our service men and women for the role that they have played in that country. I stress to my hon. Friend that it is important to continue that engagement: more than 8 million Iraqis took part in January’s elections, 10 million took part in the referendum on the constitution in October, and 15 million were registered for the more recent election there. Britain is one of 27 countries providing personnel for the multinational forces in Iraq. Those forces will remain there, at the invitation of the Iraqi Government, until that job is done. My hon. Friend the Member for Gower (Mr. Caton) spoke about the issue of asylum. Many asylum seekers are genuine, having faced horrendous experiences at home, while others mistakenly apply because they think that that will allow them to stay here, whereas they really want to be here for economic reasons. The issue has to be treated with compassion, and I stress that all Members of the House treat asylum and the plight of asylum seekers in that way. However, I am concerned when constituents of mine tell me that they are faced with deportation and that they want to put their children in the firing line that the asylum process represents. I think that is wrong, and that is what I tell them. The appeals procedure is paid for by the taxpayer: it is of a very high and fair order, and allows people to pursue appeals or reviews after they have submitted their initial applications. Some people, once the process has been exhausted and a decision reached, say that they are not willing to leave because they have children in this country. However, that cannot deter us from ensuring that they are returned to a country that has been ruled proper to receive them. Not surprisingly, given that we are approaching its first anniversary, the issue of the tsunami was raised in the debate. I am not dismissive of what the hon. Member for Rochdale (Paul Rowen) said, but the National Audit Office report on the tsunami showed 90 per cent. approval of the way that things were done. However, it did highlight some areas—the hon. Member may have witnessed them—where there were grounds for improvement, and my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has been making sure that those improvements have been made. It was, after all, a massive disaster that claimed the lives of 250,000 people, including 149 from Britain. My constituent, Dominic, a bright young architect, and his girlfriend, Eileen, were among those who lost their lives. His family is on the way out there as part of the programme of help from the Government, endorsed and supported by all parties, to ensure that as many relatives as want to go to as close as possible to the place of the disaster can do so. We all support that. This has been the year of ““Make Poverty History””, which has been mentioned by a number of hon. Members. We have managed, I think, to reinforce the leadership that we must all give to tackling poverty in Africa and elsewhere, and to tackling and eradicating disease. We go into 2006 revitalised, knowing that we can do more to make the world a better place. To you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and to all the members of staff who have served us well and all right hon. and hon. Members and Friends, I wish a merry and restful Christmas, and a happy new year.