Dr Jeremy Bray: I congratulate the hon. Member for Hendon, South (Mr. Marshall) on calling for this debate, and on the manner in which he and the hon. Member for Bury St. Edmunds (Mr. Spring) presented the problems. Neither side of House has a monopoly of concern for mental illness. This sort of debate allows the concerns of hon. Members, based on our direct experience of the problems in our constituencies,...
Dr Jeremy Bray: Yes, indeed. The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. Beyond the shortage of beds, there is the question of what sort of beds. The hon. Member for Bury St. Edmunds pointed out the problem of beds becoming blocked up because hospitals do not have channels through which patients can be reasonably discharged, and because there is an inadequate support system in the community. It has been...
Dr Jeremy Bray: Is the President aware that he is undermining the future of commercial nuclear power by hiding its capital costs from public view? If and when future hydrocarbon costs move in a direction whereby nuclear power becomes fully competitive, taking into account capital costs, is the President not aware that there will be a long lag? The nuclear power industry is so profitable and it is so ready to...
Dr Jeremy Bray: Is the Chancellor of the Duchy aware that many of the recommendations of the foresight panels go far beyond the laissez faire policies of the Government? Does the right hon. Gentleman have the support of his colleagues in pursuing the recommendations?
Dr Jeremy Bray: The hon. Lady would do well to read my speech, because I was explaining the political position in the House of Commons, as we understand it very well, to a highly intelligent public in Hong Kong. I believe that she has got the matter upside down.
Dr Jeremy Bray: The right hon. Gentleman should make his representations at the door of the Home Office, not the Foreign Office.
Dr Jeremy Bray: The right hon. Member for Mid-Sussex (Mr. Renton), following the speeches of the former Prime Minister, the right hon. Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup (Sir E. Heath) and the right hon. Member for Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale (Sir D. Steel), did much to reassure the Chinese that there is no question of our seeking any extension of British interest in Hong Kong after 1997; that there is...
Dr Jeremy Bray: If what the Minister says is correct—and his remarks have great force—would it not be reasonable for the Government to say that, in certain named conditions where the likelihood is more than about 10 per cent., it would be wrong to discriminate? That suggestion is clearly not made in the amendment, but the Minister could say that he will examine the possibility of such a proposal before...
Dr Jeremy Bray: Like the hon. Member for Elmet (Mr. Batiste), I am a member of the Select Committee on Science and Technology, but I believe that the amendment proposed by the hon. Member for Stratford-on-Avon (Mr. Howarth) is an appropriate interim measure to anticipate the much wider legislation which will be needed in the near future. I agree with the hon. Member for Elmet about that. The Select Committee...
Dr Jeremy Bray: My hon. Friend raises several important issues that need to be regarded in a wider context. There is a range of considerations. First, the circumstances differ widely for different genetic predispositions. Sometimes there is a high probability that an illness or malcondition will occur; at other times, there is a low probability. In some cases, it is long postponed; in other cases, it occurs...
Dr Jeremy Bray: The hon. Gentleman, who is Chairman of the Select Committee on Science and Technology, well understands the complexities. My judgment would be that, on the whole, given the present set of public and parliamentary attitudes, given the splendid progress that the Committee is making under his enlightened chairmanship, and given the likelihood that the Government will accept the recommendations...
Dr Jeremy Bray: The hon. Gentleman mentioned the role of junior Ministers. I was told by no less than "Otto" Clarke—the formidable Sir Richard Clarke, the inventor of the modern system of public expenditure control—that junior Ministers functioned merely as parliamentary public relations officers for their Departments, and had no managerial policy role.
Dr Jeremy Bray: The final theme of the right hon. Member for Westminster, South (Mr. Brooke) put what he said earlier into perspective. It was wholly proper for him to pay tribute to the support given by officials in a variety of offices, but to dwell on the nonsense and disasters of the British Library was to hark back to some of the points made by my hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull, North...
Dr Jeremy Bray: The public have a duty not to abuse the health service, but will the Minister keep an eye on any tendency by fundholding practices or other general practices to purge patients from their lists in a wholesale manner?
Dr Jeremy Bray: Is the Chancellor aware that most supervisors, regulators and managers of banks do not have the knowledge of mathematics needed to understand the technicalities of derivatives markets? Will he appoint an expert and experienced committee with knowledge of the moral hazards involved to advise both him and the City on how to proceed in order to restore public confidence in the banking system?
Dr Jeremy Bray: Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Dr Jeremy Bray: The document outlining the allocation of the science budget is similar to what has appeared in previous years, but any account of the process is missing. The right hon. Gentleman has just outlined what Sir John has being doing and I am sure that it has been very thorough, but there is no public record of it. In particular, there is no advice from the Advisory Board for the Research Councils....
Dr Jeremy Bray: rose—
Dr Jeremy Bray: There may be greater agreement, but there cannot be consensus unless the views of other people are clearly stated. Although I do not know the precise source of the Opposition statement to which the right hon. Gentleman referred, it was nevertheless the Government who combined the roles of the two advisory bodies in a single council. The right hon. Gentleman has not dispensed with the advisory...
Dr Jeremy Bray: Will the Minister give way?
