John Howell: The hon. Gentleman raises an important issue. The tragedy of Colombia is that half of the 7 million or so refugees have been forced to go and live in slums in cities, which has just increased the problem, both for the Colombian Government and for the rest of the world.
John Howell: rose—
John Howell: I congratulate the hon. Member for Liverpool, West Derby (Stephen Twigg), who brought forward this important debate. He will recall, as will the House, that over the past year I have asked various Ministers a lot of questions about Yemen. One of the themes that I have brought out is how we can ensure that our aid workers are kept safe in what is effectively a proxy war, though he does not...
John Howell: I agree very much with the hon. Gentleman. My thoughts, and the principles of my actions, are with the people of Yemen: those who are not Houthi rebels and do not side with the Saudi regime, but who want to carry on having normal lives and go about their normal business as best they can. If we do not stress these points, we begin to lose balance in this discussion and I do not think that that...
John Howell: Why does the hon. Gentleman think the Houthis did not turn up to that meeting? The demands they made show they were not serious about attending in the first place.
John Howell: The hon. Gentleman has, for the first time in his speech I think, mentioned the “I” word: Iran. How are we going to achieve peace in this situation unless we involve Iran at the beginning and stop the massive export of weapons from Iran to the Houthis?
John Howell: My hon. Friend is making a good point, and he has partly illustrated that a public health issue is at stake. That public health issue is a major problem for young people growing up on illegal Traveller sites.
John Howell: We have found that most victims want to play a strong role in parole. How will the Minister make victims’ statements more comprehensive for that purpose and give them a role in the parole system?
John Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that buildings constructed for (a) elderly and (b) vulnerable people have more than one lift and such people are not trapped in their homes if one lift breaks down; and if he will make a statement.
John Howell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on aviation in Northern Ireland of the abolition of Air Passenger Duty in the Republic of Ireland.
John Howell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the imposition of Air Passenger Duty on regional airports in the UK.
John Howell: May we have a debate on the new data showing that service sector activity reached a three-month high in May?
John Howell: The Secretary of State is moving very quickly to the nub of this Bill; this is about preventing overcompensation, not increasing undercompensation. Does he agree?
John Howell: How will the Minister ensure that the new governor has both the powers and the support to carry out the reform of the prison?
John Howell: At the Council of Europe, we produced a strategy for the rights of children. It made the point that the system that had been developed for judicial hearings and activity in relation to adults was simply being imported to deal with children, and that that was fundamentally wrong. We are not the only country to do that—the whole of Europe was largely doing that. Does the Minister share...
John Howell: The hon. Gentleman may have seen that my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has announced that he has asked for a review. Does the hon. Gentleman have an idea of what might come of that?
John Howell: My experience of children’s centres is that they were not targeted, and the services they provided were completely wasted. How will my hon. Friend ensure that the hubs are targeted at the people who really need them, rather than at middle-class mothers who want to sit there or who take their children because they have other things to do?
John Howell: One recent OBR report is about probably the biggest challenge that we as a country face—our ageing population and the associated social and healthcare risks. I found that report very useful. Does my hon. Friend think that such activity is a good use of the OBR?
John Howell: How does my hon. Friend think the OBR would have reported, if it had been given that role?
John Howell: Does my hon. Friend agree that the development of a new test for detecting Mamba would be of enormous value in the fight against this drug?