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Summer Recess Adjournment

The hon. Gentleman makes a valid point. By contrast, the Americans have a similar number of troops to the number that we have, yet they have 100 or so helicopters in the same region. As usual, my hon. Friend the Member for Southend, West (Mr. Amess) made a number of constituency points. When he spoke of breast cancer in men, it reminded me of the occasion I tried to introduce a private Member's Bill to increase the breast cancer screening period for women. The Bill was talked out by the Government but, as is frequently the case, they were happy to take on board a good policy and rehash it as if it were their own. In his first conference speech to the Labour party, the Prime Minister said he thought it was a good idea to increase the screening period for breast cancer for women. I was pleased that he took on board my suggestion. Again, it is typical of the Prime Minister and the Government that they fail to give credit to the Opposition when they take our policies. Nevertheless, I am pleased that people will benefit from it. I congratulate my hon. Friend on his chairmanship of the Maldives all-party group. With reference to his concern about the slowness of answers to his questions, a question tabled in 30 September 2008 and only now receiving an answer is pretty deplorable. I take this opportunity to mention the fact that the Government often do not supply attachments with answers. They make reference to the House of Commons Library, but members of the public who take an interest in parliamentary answers do not have access to the Library. The Government ought to bear that in mind. My hon. Friend the Member for New Forest, East (Dr. Lewis) paid rightful tribute to Catherine Hickman, a beautiful young lady who, sadly, lost her life at a very early age in the recent tragedy in Camberwell. Our thoughts and prayers are very much with Catherine Hickman, her family and her partner, Mark, and with the friends and relatives of all the others who so sadly lost their lives on that day. My hon. Friend the Member for Ribble Valley (Mr. Evans) raised the sad case of Mr. and Mrs. Siddall. I entirely agree that priority should be given to ensuring that there is a procedure in place for people who go abroad and find themselves unwell. We need joined-up thinking when it comes to working with the Foreign Office, the Department of Health and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. We are talking of lives being at stake, nothing less. We have heard many speeches, a number of them critical of the state of affairs in Members' constituencies. The Conservatives certainly know who, after 12 years of Labour Government, is responsible for causing all that criticism, and we have no hesitation in laying the blame where it belongs—with the Prime Minister and his Government. I am only sorry that, with the exception of the hon. Member for Chorley, no Government Member had the courage to blame those who deserve it, including the Prime Minister himself. The hon. Member for Leeds, North-West (Greg Mulholland) rightly spoke of the recess as an occasion for us to take our holidays, as well as an occasion to spend more time on constituency activities. The hundreds of e-mails and letters that we receive will not stop because of the recess. They will continue to come to us, and our constituents will expect replies, which they will receive from us, despite the fact that it is the recess. May I simply take this opportunity to wish all Members, their staff and all the House staff a happy recess, and may I also wish you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, a happy recess? I very much hope that the Prime Minister will take the opportunity for reflection and come to the right conclusion that everyone else in the country has reached—it is high time to hold a general election.