Dr Mo Mowlam: Can the Leader of the House clarify his response to a question put earlier by the hon. Member for Havant (Sir I. Lloyd) about the chance of an early debate on the Department of Trade and Industry? It is very important to many companies interested in investing in the north-east, particularly with inward investment, to know what grants are available for the future.
Dr Mo Mowlam: It is important to emphasise to the hon. Member for Gravesham—if he is listening — that some of that frustration was shown in the Strangers Gallery. I do not condone it, but it is important for hon. Members to realise from where that frustration comes. As regional director for Thomas Cook Ltd. the hon. Member for Gravesham can afford holidays. Young people of 16 to 18 will not be able to...
Dr Mo Mowlam: I will not give way. The hon. Gentleman did not give way. Opposition Members realise the frustration that young people feel when Conservative Members say that they lie in bed all day and make no effort to get work or to join a scheme. The 21-hour rule on part-time education means that people can obtain education. That is what Opposition Members are fighting for in the amendment. I shall not...
Dr Mo Mowlam: My hon. Friend is right. Under this Government there is choice only if one has money—and I mean a lot of money. There are many people in and out of work who will never experience choice under this Government. People have to buy their education, buy their health and, under this Bill, those under 18 will have no chance to buy their future.
Dr Mo Mowlam: If the three options that the hon. Gentleman outlined are so wonderful and the YTS is so excellent, why is it necessary to make it an enforced choice, to make it compulsory? If it is so great, let us leave it open.
Dr Mo Mowlam: None.
Dr Mo Mowlam: The hon. Gentleman cannot have listened either in Committee or in the Chamber. Both my hon. Friend the Member for Livingston (Mr. Cook) and myself have said that the Conservative party was not honest during the election. In the manifesto—if the hon. Member for Gravesham (Mr. Arnold) is doubtful, I shall produce it for him—all that the Conservative party said was that those who said that...
Dr Mo Mowlam: That is also true of Ministers.
Dr Mo Mowlam: I begin by responding to some of the points made by the hon. Member for Gravesham (Mr. Arnold). It is important for the House to realise that some of the frustration shown by the Opposition in the last two days is because hon. Members such as the hon. Member for Gravesham sat in Committee for 16 sittings, hour after hour, and said nothing.
Dr Mo Mowlam: I wish that Conservative Members had had the common decency and honesty to make those points in Committee, so that we could have had a proper debate on the Bill and the amendments, But they did not give us that chance.
Dr Mo Mowlam: Can the Minister explain to the House how the money will be allocated through charities? We already have the haemophiliacs and the EEC surplus working. Will Mrs. Thatcher—
Dr Mo Mowlam: Will the Prime Minister dress up as Mother Christmas? How will the Government decide which charities will receive how much?
Dr Mo Mowlam: Was my hon. Friend here then?
Dr Mo Mowlam: Very few young people are self-employed. After April, self-employment for young people may take on a new definition, because they will either have to be on benefit or on YTS. Will the Minister guarantee that he will provide a YTS place for every 16 and 17-yearold, as the Secretary of State for Social Services is unprepared to give that guarantee?
Dr Mo Mowlam: Does the Minister intend after April next year to continue lower tariffs for industries such as ICI? If he does, will that continue to be to the detriment of, and cause increased handicap to, pensioners and people on low incomes?
Dr Mo Mowlam: May I help the Minister and the hon. Member for Langbaurgh (Mr. Holt) with their mathematics? We have lost 45,000 jobs on Teesside since the Government came to office. That figure does not relate only to the steelworks but to the chemical plants and docks. We know what bad news is about, but Labour Members do not celebrate it — we have experienced it. The hon. Members for Stockton South,...
Dr Mo Mowlam: rose—
Dr Mo Mowlam: In response to an earlier question about CTCs the Minister told us that she was keen that they should follow the national curriculum. If she is so keen, why was that not put in the Bill?
Dr Mo Mowlam: Could the Minister please clarify and reconsider his position on grant-capped authorities? Now only five authorities are grant-capped, one of which is Cleveland county council. That places it in a difficult position, because it means that next year there will be an additional £3·4 million on the rates although the authority is already in receipt of inner-area funding and urban-programme...
Dr Mo Mowlam: May I quickly ask the Minister two questions directly related to finance? First, can he tell us whether any financial implications have emerged from his meeting in Brussels in relation to efforts to get local people working on schemes produced by the Teesside development corporation? Is there any initiative to link the money invested with local jobs? Secondly, I am concerned that money made...