Professor Ross Cranston: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many undergraduates dropped out of undergraduate studies in each year since 1997.
Professor Ross Cranston: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what (a) the total cost and (b) the cost per individual to his Department was of the training of student midwives in each year since 1997.
Professor Ross Cranston: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will place in the Library an update on progress made since December 2002 on taking forward responses to new representations made by the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee on the blue badge scheme.
Professor Ross Cranston: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effects of a national identity card scheme on the problem of illegal working.
Professor Ross Cranston: What the change in funding allocated to higher education next year is; and if he will make a statement.
Professor Ross Cranston: I thank my right hon. Friend for that very pleasing answer. He knows that it goes without saying that all Labour Members support efforts to make sure that more people from non-traditional backgrounds get into universities. Will he comment on that aspect of the funding that provides a premium or incentive to universities so that those from non-traditional backgrounds can be encouraged to get...
Professor Ross Cranston: I congratulate my right hon. Friend on publishing the alcohol strategy on Monday, which set out in hard evidence the social and economic costs of binge drinking in this country, but can my right hon. Friend confirm that unless some parts of the industry smarten up their act in relation to advertising and promotion, which contribute to this culture, further Government regulation is inevitable?
Professor Ross Cranston: I am very pleased that the Government have accepted this recommendation, and I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Milton Keynes, North-East (Brian White) on introducing this new clause in Committee. I declare an interest as the honorary president of the Blue Badge Network, which is based in Dudley town centre. As my hon. Friend the Minister said, the validity and credibility of the...
Professor Ross Cranston: It may help the House to note that proposed new subsection (4BD) states: "A person who without reasonable excuse fails to produce a badge when required to do . . . shall be guilty of an offence." I think that the press release is therefore accurate, and that there is no need to try to retract it.
Professor Ross Cranston: Only rarely does the House discuss matters of lawyers' law, and I am rather surprised that we are doing so this afternoon. The confidentiality of the Attorney-General's advice may be a matter that plays more in the taverns and byways of some parts of Wales, and possibly of Scotland, than in my constituency. Frankly, it has no resonance in my constituency. Yes, there is an interest in the...
Professor Ross Cranston: As I just said, one has to look not only at the summary of the Attorney-General's advice, but at the memorandum to members of the Foreign Affairs Committee published on 17 March, which explores in great detail the legal reasoning adopted by the Government.
Professor Ross Cranston: The resolutions—1441 in particular—gave rise to an obligation that the then Iraqi Government bring themselves into compliance. The onus was on that Government to comply with the obligation to disarm. They had a final opportunity to do so, mechanisms were set up for that under 1441, but they did not comply. I shall return to that point in a moment.
Professor Ross Cranston: Because, clearly, our armed forces and our civil servants are scrupulous about complying with legal advice. I do not know the substance of the advice being sought, but two issues are, unfortunately, sometimes confused: the legality of taking action and—whether or not the action is legal—the need to comply with what was set out in the Geneva protocols and is now incorporated in the statute...
Professor Ross Cranston: As I said, our armed forces are scrupulous about whether or not they are acting in accordance with the law. I do not know the background, but I can well understand Lord Boyce wanting assurance on that point. On the substance of the advice, which is not the issue of the debate, I am absolutely clear, as I have told the House on a number of occasions, that the repeated failure of the then Iraqi...
Professor Ross Cranston: Resolution 1441 imposed a unanimous obligation on Iraq, saying that it was "in material breach", but had a final opportunity to comply with its obligations inter alia by co-operating "immediately, unconditionally, and actively". Paragraph 13 goes on to say that "the Council has repeatedly warned Iraq that it will face serious consequences as a result of its continued violations of its...
Professor Ross Cranston: I touched on that earlier, when I said that there was no automaticity, but that Iraq had to achieve compliance immediately, unconditionally, and actively. Dr. Blix produced three important and detailed reports for the Security Council, the first of which was published on 27 January. One remembers that report in particular because in it Dr. Blix used the following expression: "Inspection is...
Professor Ross Cranston: It is clear, in terms of 1441, that we took armed action because Iraq had not demonstrated that it did not have weapons of mass destruction. That is the point. The onus was on Iraq to demonstrate that it did not have them, but it failed to do so. I was sad to see that the other day the hon. Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy, supported by the hon. Member for East Carmarthen and Dinefwr (Adam...
Professor Ross Cranston: I congratulate my right hon. Friend and the Attorney-General on all their efforts behind the scenes to achieve the result so far. However, there is considerable disquiet about the four young lads from Tipton and separate arrests in my constituency under the Terrorism Act 2000. The majority sentiment—a view that I share—is that when offences have been committed, people have to account for...
Professor Ross Cranston: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether it is Home Office policy to resist applications for adjournments of asylum cases where applicants prima facie fall within the amnesty.
Professor Ross Cranston: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many families he expects to fall within the asylum amnesty.