Mr Keith Bradley: I thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for calling me to make my maiden speech on the Finance Bill, because the Bill clearly continues to identify the Government's social, economic and financial policies. Those policies were overwhelmingly rejected at the general election by the people of Withington. I should like to start by paying tribute to my predecessor in Withington, Fred Silvester, who...
Mr Keith Bradley: Does the Secretary of State realise that the people of Manchester have completely rejected the Government's policies on rate support grant by kicking out the last Tory from Manchester council? Does he realise that our spending is based on the needs of the people, of whom over 50 per cent. live in poverty? Will he explain why he will attend the Cabinet Committee meetings on inner cities...
Mr Keith Bradley: Will the hon. Lady give way?
Mr Keith Bradley: Before I discuss the regulations in detail, let me make one or two comments about the surprises I received from the Minister's opening remarks. For instance, I was surprised that the hon. Gentleman suggested that the measures would simplify the previous system, without pointing out that it was the present Government who caused chaos throughout the country with the regulations that they...
Mr Keith Bradley: We are talking about income support for all families. A crucial element of income support is free school meals. Up to 80 per cent. of schoolchildren in my constituency rely on free school meals. The cuts will cause them severe hardship. Free school meals will be denied to them. Furthermore, housing benefit claimants will be the only ones to suffer no transitional protection from benefit...
Mr Keith Bradley: I have been asked to be extremely brief, so I hope that a certain incoherence will be forgiven, Madam Deputy Speaker. Nevertheless, I am grateful for the opportunity to say a few words on behalf of the 35,000 people on the housing waiting list in Manchester and the hundreds of homeless people there, none of whom sees any relevance in the Bill and all of whom will oppose it as strongly as I...
Mr Keith Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement about his last meeting with NATO Defence Ministers.
Mr Keith Bradley: Will the Secretary of State tell us what plans he and NATO are putting forward to increase the pace of arms reduction and to get new arms agreements with the Soviet Union, or has he been spending most of his time, on behalf of the Prime Minister, trying to get more nuclear weapons into this country?
Mr Keith Bradley: I shall be brief because I am aware that a number of hon. Members wish to participate in this debate. I found it odd that the Minister should make jibes about the delay in holding this debate because, yet again, no date has been fixed for bringing back the Housing Bill. Is it true that the confusion that the Government have got into regarding concessions made in Committee has meant that they...
Mr Keith Bradley: It is rich for a Minister to talk about leaflets being sent out by a city council when the Government are not prepared to answer the question about how much they are spending on political propaganda and on supporting private developers going around cities such as Manchester to try to fiddle people out of their home in advance of the Housing Bill. In real terms in Manchester, since the...
Mr Keith Bradley: I can assure the hon. Gentleman that we do everything possible to tell applicants exactly what the current position is under the Housing Bill. However, because the Bill has not come back to the House, we do not know exactly what the legislation will be. When the Bill comes back, we will be able to tell them exactly what the facts are. I should like to give an example of what is happening in...
Mr Keith Bradley: Clearly, the Minister has no understanding of what is going on in council estates. I am surprised at that because he went to Manchester—although he did not offer to meet the local Members of Parliament—to discuss housing action trusts with the tenants. I should have thought that he would understand the needs of Manchester a little better now that he has been to see what a tenant looks...
Mr Keith Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what decisions concerning nuclear-capable aircraft were made at the last North Atlantic Treaty Organisation nuclear planning group meeting.
Mr Keith Bradley: Is not the combination of more nuclear capable aircraft, more air-to-surface missiles and more United States nuclear-capable strike aircraft merely a replacement for the INF weapons cuts? Does NATO not already have superiority in such aircraft? Rather than increasing the number of such weapons, would it not be better to trade them against further Soviet arms cuts?
Mr Keith Bradley: To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 26 May.
Mr Keith Bradley: Will the Prime Minister explain to my constituents in Withington how her health care policies, presumably based on her interpretation of Christian morality, have led to a financial crisis in the south Manchester health authority? Will she personally intervene to stop further cuts in health care which next month will mean the closure of psychiatric beds at Withington hospital and the appalling...
Mr Keith Bradley: They would be able to apply for compensation only after they had been thrown out of their properties.
Mr Keith Bradley: Will the Minister give way?
Mr Keith Bradley: The Minister said that he would give way, so I was assuming that he has sat down to allow me to intervene. Because of the time element, we have not gone into detail on new clause 14 but, picking up what the Minister said about our thrust in Committee being to try to shift the onus back to give rights and protection to the tenants against the landlord, the purpose of this new clause is to...
Mr Keith Bradley: Will my hon. Friend comment on the relationship with the programmes on community care, which the Government are encouraging? In my constituency, the health authority, as opposed to the local authority, is in negotiation with a housing association to close wards for elderly people, put those people into housing association units and try to get community care to link up. Rents will be charged...
