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Summer Recess Adjournment

I thank all who have spoken in this debate. Many Members on both sides of the House have done so, and I say a big thank you to all of them for staying right till the end on this last day before recess. It was with typical passion that the hon. Member for Chorley (Mr. Hoyle) made the first speech. He is the same whether it is the last or the first day of term. I thank him for having the courage to be critical of the Government, and particularly of the earlier statement. The hon. Member for Stroud (Mr. Drew) is smiling, but he should perhaps let me finish what I am saying, particularly given that many people are affected by the Equitable Life issue and that it is important for many of us in all parts of the House. I praise the hon. Member for Chorley for having the guts to criticise the Government for their lousy statement and their even lousier answers when hon. Members spoke up passionately for their constituents' interests. The issue was subsequently taken up by my right hon. Friend the Member for West Derbyshire (Mr. McLoughlin) and my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch (Mr. Chope). The hon. Member for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine (Sir Robert Smith), gave us a bit of good news when he spoke of the possibility of jobs in the supply of oil and gas in the west of Shetland. Clearly, that would happen in the medium to long term, but at a time of such economic crisis it is good that we can occasionally talk about the creation of jobs rather than their loss. My hon. Friend the Member for North Thanet (Mr. Gale) raised a very serious issue and I hope the Deputy Leader of the House passes it on to the relevant Ministers. It is unacceptable that some 2,000 to 3,000 people who have paid their taxes and lived most of their lives in Britain find that the benefits that they have been promised have been terminated. That is despite that fact that all the evidence says they should be in receipt of those benefits. Those elderly disabled people have given our country its due, but the country is denying them what is theirs by right. I very much hope that the Deputy Leader of the House will deal with the matter expeditiously. I congratulate my hon. Friend on raising it in the House today. My hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend, East (James Duddridge) clearly showed in the number of issues he raised, and in the way he raised them, what a conscientious and diligent Member of Parliament he is. How proud his constituents must be to have him as their Member of Parliament.