Mr Sebastian Coe: In the past few minutes, the hon. Lady—like the hon. Member for Dulwich (Ms Jowell)—has laid considerable stress on the importance of a minimum wage. At what level would she introduce it?
Mr Sebastian Coe: New labour.
Mr Sebastian Coe: Oh no, we do not.
Mr Sebastian Coe: I am delighted to speak in the debate. I shall not detain the House for more than a few moments. I am pleased to he able to welcome the local government settlement for 1996–97. I do so for local and national reasons; it is impossible to divorce the two. Virtually everything that we, as constituency Members of Parliament, hope for and promote—and our constituents' aspirations—depends on...
Mr Sebastian Coe: I will not suggest any of those. I am suggesting that there are savings to be made. I am talking not about huge savings but about savings. It is interesting that, at this stage every year, we get into this ritual dance. I have been in the House for three years. I remember exactly the same debate this time last year, prompted by Liberal Democrat Members. Bogus surveys shot around the county,...
Mr Sebastian Coe: No. The point that I choose to make—and this is grown-up politics—is that the hon. Gentleman's county is run by the Liberal Democrats. It is, if I may say so, democracy. The council will have to decide priorities. That is no different from what Ministers do every day of the week. The priorities are simple. The hon. Gentleman must decide what the expenditure priorities are. His county was...
Mr Sebastian Coe: My hon. Friend makes an important point. As he knows full well, the priorities within Cornwall at county level are those of a Liberal Democrat-controlled council. They have to make their choices and set their priorities. I do not naively or coyly suggest that Cornwall's education settlement last year was anything other than tight. I know that it was. I and my hon. Friends the Members for St....
Mr Sebastian Coe: I do not think that my hon. Friend has got it wrong. Two weekends ago, I walked the entire length of the main retail street in Redruth, in my constituency. The main issue that every retailer raised with me was having to trade shoulder to shoulder with charitable shops that had budgets that most Redruth traders could only dream of, and competing with central purchasing managers. Like my hon....
Mr Sebastian Coe: I hope that the survey by one of the hon. Gentleman's colleagues in my constituency had slightly more intellectual and numerate rigour than the Liberal Democrat survey in Devon and Cornwall. Under scrutiny in a debate in this Chamber only a few weeks ago, the Liberal Democrats had to accept that the response rate barely bordered on 25 per cent.
Mr Sebastian Coe: I resent being limited to barely a few seconds in a discussion that centres on my constituency. It is a matter of record that I drew attention to most of the issues that have been mentioned in the debate well in advance of the hon. Member for Plymouth, Devonport (Mr. Jamieson). More than a year ago, I expressed my anxieties about the way in which the company had operated, and its subsequent...
Mr Sebastian Coe: On a point of order, Madam Speaker.
Mr Sebastian Coe: It is certainly a different one. I rise to seek your guidance, Madam Speaker. There was much interest in my constituency this morning about a document that has appeared, paid for by the taxpayer and produced for the benefit of some hon. Members. Do you have the power to ensure that that document is placed in the House of Commons Library, especially as it describes the policies of the Liberal...
Mr Sebastian Coe: I am delighted to have an opportunity to speak. I shall break with tradition—not, I hasten to add, with the protocol or the great traditions of this place. I intend to speak briefly about a subject about which I have not spoken in the House before, although it has been pretty close to my heart for many years: sport. If the House will indulge me for a few minutes, I shall set the scene. I...
Mr Sebastian Coe: The hon. Gentleman has referred to the importance of linking education to industry, and the dismantling of the binary divides certainly helped in that direction. If the hon. Gentleman is so committed to the right kind of technical education, why would his party—given half a chance—abolish city technology colleges?
Mr Sebastian Coe: I never thought that the hon. Gentleman was a killjoy. Is he really suggesting that he would take innate pleasure away from generations of young children who are probably scrabbling around in their lofts at this very moment looking for letters from fond grandparents?
Mr Sebastian Coe: I am grateful to have the opportunity to contribute to the debate. I come to it from three different directions. I was vice-chairman of the Sports Council from 1986 to 1989, when, in sporting terms, the concept of a national lottery gathered considerable momentum. I was a member of the Committee that considered the Bill that eventually, when enacted, produced the national lottery. I was...
Mr Sebastian Coe: I do not think so. Secondly, Camelot was identified as providing the greatest level of benefits to sport, the arts, good causes and heritage. I have noted with great interest the recent comments of Richard Branson. It was clear from the National Audit Office's report that the Virgin organisation was not making a tighter bid in as far as operating costs went, and would certainly not have...
Mr Sebastian Coe: My point is that Camelot will be producing its end-of-year accounts in a few weeks. Many Opposition Members have been saying that they are not anti-profit or anti-business, but, when Camelot announces its profits, I shall be interested to see whether Opposition Members still adopt that attitude. I rather fancy that they will not, but will use the results for political purposes. The point...
Mr Sebastian Coe: The hon. Gentleman pre-empts what I hope to be able to move on to in a few moments.
Mr Sebastian Coe: The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. I, like other Conservative Members, of course believe that the consumer has inevitably to be sovereign. That is the basis of much of the Conservative philosophy. But what is the reality of what the hon. Gentleman said? Would everybody who contributed to a national lottery ticket somehow be provided with a mechanism by which they could specify where part...