Former MP for Romford
Further to your statement a moment ago, Madam Speaker. Would you include in your review the possibility that, if messages are to be communicated to Members in the Chamber by means of the device you have in mind, they could equally be communicated by an earphone in the ear—which, in my opinion, should also be outlawed in this assembly?
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent representations he has received on the establishment of regular passenger services on the River Thames. [17753]
Is my hon. Friend aware that during the Festival of Britain, 5 million people took to the river for transport? Does not the millennium exhibition at Greenwich represent an outstanding opportunity to establish a regular passenger service on the Thames? What is the prospect of public funds for piers, the essential infrastructure if this long-awaited and much to be desired service is to become...
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment when she next expects to meet her European Union counterparts to discuss the prospects for employment in Europe. [16065]
Is it not instructive to compare the unemployment level here—1.8 million and falling—with that in Germany, which is 4.5 million and rising? Does my hon. Friend agree that if unemployment here increased by 500,000 in a single month—as Germany's did in January—the Opposition would be in uproar, Opposition Members on the Front Bench below the Gangway would be on their feet and the...
What effect would it have on regions in England, especially northern England, if employees in companies in the Scottish region were subject to additional personal taxation? Would not a tartan tax provide an unfortunate and unfair inducement to investment in England?
Does the hon. Gentleman agree that, from a different standpoint, the hon. Member for Newport, West (Mr. Flynn) also muddied the message? It must be a clear message. It should not be confused or blurred by the rather rational considerations that he brings to the problem, which do not get through to the young people who need to hear the clear message that we are trying to give this morning.
The hon. Member for Newport, West (Mr. Flynn) is clearly sincere and well intentioned, and appears to be knowledgeable about the technicalities of the drugs scourge. Ultimately, however, he is misguided in arguing with so much qualification against the Bill and its consequences. Although he may rail against tabloid papers and so-called "tabloid politics", the great merit of tabloid newspapers...
