Chris Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent steps have been taken to assess alternatives to bear fur for use in guardsmen's busbies; and if he will make a statement.
Chris Mullin: I am sure that my right hon. Friend shares the joy of the whole House that the shadow Chancellor has managed to wipe that perpetual smirk from his face. May I put it to my right hon. Friend that memories in the City are short? There is a danger—is there not?—that once this crisis has blown over, although it may take some time to do so, old habits will be reverted to. He may recall that in...
Chris Mullin: Nobody is arguing that all the information should be put in the public domain; the argument is that in a democracy the Intelligence and Security Committee should account to Parliament, not to the Prime Minister.
Chris Mullin: Am I right in thinking that the tribunal has never upheld a complaint?
Chris Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans she has to amend the building regulations to require the installation of energy efficient domestic heating pumps; and if she will make a statement.
Chris Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) when he expects to announce the name of the new head of the Criminal Cases Review Commission; (2) by what process the new head of the Criminal Cases Review Commission was chosen.
Chris Mullin: Obviously, the reforms will benefit the public purse only if the companies concerned are capable of paying the large increases. In the case of Pallion Engineering, there has been a fivefold increase in rates. If the effect is to put the company out of business, that will reduce the revenue available to the public purse.
Chris Mullin: The Minister has outlined a theory. Further south, that theory may be justified. Perhaps there is a market for the surplus property that will be forced on to the market. In large parts of the country, however, especially in the area that I represent, there is no market for that property. Some of it has been on the market for years. Earlier, I mentioned the site owned by the printing works....
Chris Mullin: I can see that my hon. Friend is approaching the end of his remarks, but there is one point that I would like him to address. The problem with all this reform is not that there is not some theoretical reason why it is worthy, but that it does not allow for any flexibility or for the application of common sense. The one thing that might help, as I have mentioned before, is that there is...
Chris Mullin: I wish to draw the Government's attention to the no doubt unintended consequences of the Rating (Empty Properties) Act 2007, which came into force in April this year, and put a number of companies in Sunderland out of business. There is no reason to suppose that its impact will be confined to Sunderland, and indeed, if the British Chambers of Commerce is to be believed, the impact on jobs and...
Chris Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to respond to the letter of 4 March from the hon. Member for Sunderland South regarding Joseph Omenga (HO 01066013).
Chris Mullin: May I press my right hon. Friend on the suggestion that the European Union should extend travel and financial sanctions to the families of those who are subject to them? During my time at the Foreign Office, we took the view that the sins of the fathers should not be visited on the children but, given the enormity of what is occurring, perhaps the time has come to revisit the issue.
Chris Mullin: Will my right hon. and learned Friend consider finding time for a debate on the impact of the Rating (Empty Properties) Act 2007, which threatens to put a considerable number of my constituents out of work, and about which, I am sorry to say, Ministers appear to be in denial at the moment?
Chris Mullin: What would my right hon. Friend say to the GPs from the local medical committee in Sunderland who came to see us last week? They welcome the extra investment, but believe that the money could be spent more efficiently if it were spent via existing doctors' surgeries. When asked why, they say that some of the previous reforms, such as independent treatment centres, have proved quite wasteful.
Chris Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he has taken to encourage EU and UN targeted sanctions against Sudanese officials responsible for Sudan's non-co-operation with the International Criminal Court.
Chris Mullin: May I put it to my right hon. Friend that in the long term the key is to insert caps on spending rather than on donations, so that we get back to issue-driven rather than money-driven politics? With the benefit of hindsight, does he agree that the £20 million cap on national spending in the 2000 Act was rather too generous and that we should perhaps think about halving it at the next election?
Chris Mullin: I pay tribute to my constituent, Private Cuthbertson, who was killed in Afghanistan last week. May I ask the Secretary of State what assurance he can give regarding steps being taken to avoid civilian casualties in Afghanistan? As he will know, in the past there have been a large number of civilian casualties, which has been a source of friction between NATO forces and President Karzai. I...
Chris Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he proposes to take (a) at the UN Security Council and ( b) in other fora in response to Sudan's non-compliance with the current warrants issued by the International Criminal Court; and if he will make a statement.
Chris Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he has taken to encourage enforcement of the International Criminal Court arrest warrants relating to Darfur; and if he will make a statement.
Chris Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will take steps to ensure that consideration of Sudan's failure to co-operate with the International Criminal Court is included in the terms of reference of the forthcoming UN Security Council mission to Sudan.