Kim Howells: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Governments of France and Australia on the future of Antarctica.
Kim Howells: Does the Minister agree that many people in Britain and elsewhere are deeply suspicious of Governments such as ours who talk green, but who, in their next breath, promote multinational corporations which spill their oil across the seas and spoil wildernesses such as those of north America, Africa and Asia? Does he understand that the world needs an imaginative gesture, and that a...
Kim Howells: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy when he last discussed with his colleagues in the European Community the implications of global warming for energy policy.
Kim Howells: Does the Secretary of State agree with the statements made last week by Mr. Jim Smith, chairman of Eastern Electricity, the largest of the distribution companies soon to be privatised, that the industry should concentrate less on cutting back and conserving and far more on winning markets from British Gas? Is that any way to contribute to attempts to reduce global warming? Does the right hon....
Kim Howells: What if my hon. Friend the Member for Swansea, East (Mr. Anderson) is a vegetarian?
Kim Howells: I did not say that I was a vegetarian.
Kim Howells: Does the hon. Gentleman agree that there is just such an urgent case before us now? If the Secretary of State for Wales looks north from his window in the great fortress of the Welsh Office, he will see the first hills of Wales at Taffs Well. There is a historic site of special scientific interest which at this moment is under threat from quarrying. That is repeated right through Wales. I...
Kim Howells: Does the hon. Gentleman agree that, increasingly, problems are surfacing among young people as a direct result of over-consumption of alcohol, often by people who are below the legal age to drink? Does he further agree that that is partly due to the continuing glamour and style of presentation of alcohol in advertisements? Young adults continue to believe that it is glamorous to drink hard...
Kim Howells: I am not sure whether those figures refer to Wales. I am interested in the statistics that the hon. Gentleman has given us. However, given the dangers presented by traffic, especially in great cities such as London, could not cyclists be prematurely 20 or 30 years dead as a result of cycling on some of the busiest roads?
Kim Howells: Can the Minister give any assurances and with any confidence that gas prices will not rise when gas is used as a bulk burn fuel in power stations?
Kim Howells: The immense changes in central and eastern Europe pose great challenges to the member states of the European Community and to the community as a whole. Great potential markets are beginning to be identified and developed in central and eastern Europe. We are also beginning to understand the monumental scale of the social and environmental rehabilitation that will be necessary to bring the...
Kim Howells: Is the Secretary of State aware that rumours are circulating in south Wales that the guidelines issued by the various health authorities dictate that if patients over the age of 70 suffer heart attacks, they should receive less priority treatment than those who suffer similar problems under the age of 70?
Kim Howells: In the light of the magnificent increases in productivity, will the Minister look carefully at the large tonnages of imported coal to make sure that the prices are not subsidised by the Governments of the exporting countries, because such subsidies nullify the tremendous achievements of British coal miners?
Kim Howells: Is the Secretary of State aware that in that brief intercepted phone call to his wife, the Under-Secretary of State was speaking on behalf of a large number of his colleagues——
Kim Howells: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if the Government have plans to expand the staffing and funding of Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution in Wales in 1991.
Kim Howells: Is the Minister aware that many people living in communities in south Wales are very worried about the inadequacy of the inspectorate? What promises of future funding can the hon. Gentleman give to allay the fears in communities such as Llantrisant, Baglan hay and Cwmbran? Can he promise a better life in future to those who have to suffer the filthy smog that so often descends on their homes...
Kim Howells: To ask the Minister for the Arts if he will provide the management of the Royal Opera house with the funds required to undertake remedial construction tasks at that establishment.
Kim Howells: Is the Minister aware that although many people in this country admire the work of the Royal Opera house, there is nevertheless the feeling that the additional funds that are being made available for the sort of schemes which the Royal Opera house management wants to pursue will simply mean that additional precious funding will go towards putting some of the best-clad backsides in this...
Kim Howells: I hope that the Minister will not ignore the representations made on behalf of the Welsh National Opera company. The hon. Member for Eastleigh (Sir D. Price) spoke about the way in which moneys were to be divided up after the reorganisation. I make a plea on behalf of writers, artists and potters and others who should be receiving money that it does not go into the pockets of the professional...
Kim Howells: Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that, when a contract runs out, a large industrial company may be able to shop around for alternative sources of supply, but that the ordinary domestic consumer will not only be unable to shop around but will have to make up for the earnings that the district regional company will lose when such a large industrial concern changes its source of electricity?