New Clause 16
Housing and Regeneration Bill
2:15 pm
Alistair Burt (Shadow Minister, Communities and Local Government; North East Bedfordshire, Conservative)
I should like to put on the record the Conservative Front Bench’s support in respect of the issues so ably raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Ruislip-Northwood. I pay tribute to him and to his colleagues from all parties for their work on this delicate subject.
It is an odd phenomenon. I suspect that quite a lot of MPs have had the odd occasion in their constituency when something has been raised with them that has led to queries about the safety of exposure to EMFs. That is demonstrated by the breadth of cross-party support for the early-day motions. In supporting my hon. Friend, I accept that there seems to be some substance to this matter, and that it is sensible to take action now to try to ensure that nothing new is done that would add to the number of children who have been affected. I appreciate that, again, we are getting into lists and picking out specific examples, but the Minister is interested in the matter and we want to see how far he could go.
I am interested in the block of ice business in which my hon. Friend and the Minister were involved. That seems like a modern management development tool that I have not yet cottoned on to—perhaps it is something that I can introduce in my new role to see how it helps my colleagues to develop. Perhaps the Minister could tell me more later. However, this is a serious amendment that deals with a serious subject for the families concerned. I hope that the Minister can respond in some way to the matters raised by my hon. Friend.