John Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what action she intends to take to reduce unemployment in the Southampton travel-to-work area.
John Denham: Does the Minister accept that during the past three years unemployment in Southampton has risen from 7,400 to almost 13,000 and that there are now 42 unemployed claimants chasing every jobcentre vacancy? Is he aware that according to yesterday's Treasury model forecasts, my constituents can expect unemployment to rise even higher? May I assume that the hon. Gentleman would not attempt to...
John Denham: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 7 July.
John Denham: Does the Leader of the House agree that high-rise tower blocks are entirely unsuitable as homes for young children? Does he, like me, regret that, over the past few years, the number of young children trapped in Southampton tower blocks has risen two and a half times, and that hundreds of children will never have a decent home? Does he accept that Southampton council has a lower-than-average...
John Denham: I should like to present a petition which calls for a ban on stag hunting in the New forest. The petition has been signed by 36,563 people. They believe that seeking pleasure through the pursuit, terrorising, exhausting and killing of New forest deer is barbaric and unacceptable and should be outlawed immediately.
John Denham: Will the Minister give way?
John Denham: We are all in favour of saving the environment in general. The problem is whether we are in favour of saving the environment in specific cases and of making specific decisions. The fate of the world depends not on the general statements that we make but on specific actions that we take in specific cases. Last Sunday my family and I walked up the River Itchen valley in Hampshire. It was a...
John Denham: I understand what has been said about the Trinidad terms, but according to a recent parliamentary answer that I received, the projected official debt payments from the poorest countries to the United Kingdom, far from falling in the coming financial year, are expected to increase. Does not the Secretary of State agree that that is a disappointing position in which to be nearly two years...
John Denham: While offering you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, my congratulations on your new post, may I also thank you for the opportunity to make my maiden speech in this historic debate? Looking around the Chamber, I suspect that I will set a record as the new Labour Member to have sat the longest time in one sitting before making a maiden speech. I only hope that, by the end of it, no one will feel that few...