Mr Keith Hampson: I seek your ruling, Madam Speaker. It is not a matter for the Commissioner for Standards. Is it not correct that, if hon. Members table an early-day motion, they should declare their interest? Having been sitting here, I have been unable to check with the hon. Members concerned, but I believe that the early-day motion was tabled by the hon. Member for Glasgow, Govan (Mr. Davidson), who has...
Mr Keith Hampson: As a member of the Select Committee, may I draw my hon. Friend's attention to two points? The Committee pointed out that, in the early stages, the gains to shareholders could not have been accurately assessed because no one knew how far they could be quantified. Moreover, the evidence of Professor Littlechild, printed by the Committee, is that he "dealt"—that is the word— with the...
Mr Keith Hampson: Did the hon. Gentleman notice a leader in The Independent last week attacking Labour-controlled local government for spending unwisely? Is he aware that council tax payers in Leeds not only face a doubling of the rate of council tax, but the city's debt is now so huge that it costs more than £60 million—the cost of the royal yacht—each and every year in Leeds? Let us have none of that...
Mr Keith Hampson: I endorse the view of my hon. Friend the Member for Southend, East (Sir T. Taylor) that we need accurate statistics; the public need to know what is happening. There is an ever-increasing trend of trade from this country into Europe; more than 50 per cent. of our exports now go to Europe. There are people—who will not be named—who consciously try to mislead people about the situation. Our...
Mr Keith Hampson: May I just say to the hon. Member for Caernarfon (Mr. Wigley), and to the hon. Member for Paisley, North (Mrs. Adams), who spoke before him, that I see a different world from them. Scotland and Wales are not second-class nations. I spent six years of my life teaching in Edinburgh and an entire year and a half on the Alec Douglas-Home constitutional committee looking at those issues. I also...
Mr Keith Hampson: Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Mr Keith Hampson: I have a great deal of sympathy with the attitude of my right hon. Friend the Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup (Sir E. Heath) and of the hon. Member for Hackney, North and Stoke Newington (Ms Abbott) towards the moralising tone in current political debate. I agree that the public do not want politicians to hector and lecture them. It does no service to the public if politicians knock the...
Mr Keith Hampson: I will point out two little—
Mr Keith Hampson: I cannot give way because time is running out. We talk about whittling away the powers of councils, but let me remind hon. Members of two little facts. Until 1957, education was awarded a specific grant, 60 per cent. of which came from central Government. We then introduced a block grant. As a result of the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980 we allowed for virement between actual...
Mr Keith Hampson: The reverse argument is this country's track record since the war. Far too often, politicians—or the Government of the day—have interfered, and devalued. I hate to make a party political point, but it is Labour Governments who have been especially prone to do so. Governments devalued the currency to help British manufacturing industry, which was in a relatively weak position. It is that...
Mr Keith Hampson: This is all very nice post facto academic analysis, but I remember the hon. Gentleman a year ago saying, as did Labour spokesmen, that the economy was stagnating and needed an injection of growth. He called for a reduction in interest rates then. Every commentator has applauded the fact that the Chancellor overruled the judgment of the Governor of the Bank of England. Is the hon. Gentleman...
Mr Keith Hampson: Some simple statistics seem to be relevant. As the right hon. Gentleman knows, the Select Committee on Trade and Industry has been considering the cable industry. There has been unprecedented investment. Billions of pounds of investment are coming into Britain from American companies which see a future here. Also, we are spending a higher proportion of gross domestic product on primary,...
Mr Keith Hampson: On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Is it not an old convention of the House as a debating chamber that Members who are called should, as a matter of respect to their colleagues, be here for the opening speeches? Some of us have been here now for five hours while others have not.
Mr Keith Hampson: One figure that Labour spokesmen always overlook is the fact that it would cost £350 million to reduce classes even by only two.
Mr Keith Hampson: Surely the hon. Gentleman knows that the two experiments in Norfolk and Westminster have created substantial increases in the number of nursery places. He should know that Liberal and Conservative-held wards of the city of Leeds provide parents with the least chance of securing nursery provision. The Labour authority continually boasts about the level of provision in Leeds. But in my area...
Mr Keith Hampson: The young people who are really trapped are those in Labour-controlled authorities such as Islington, Tower Hamlets and Southwark. The official evidence from those places has never been denied. The reading standards of more than half of 11-year-olds are at least two years behind what they should be. The only people who can get away from that are those with the wealth to get away. That is the...
Mr Keith Hampson: Does my right hon. Friend make the assessment that educational performance is basic to increasing competitiveness, and that we have a long way to go in the primary sector? May we count on the speedy and extensive expansion of the network of literacy and numeracy centres, which is one of the best initiatives that the Government have launched but which is as yet relatively unsung?
Mr Keith Hampson: Will my right hon. Friend give way?
Mr Keith Hampson: Will there be flexibility about how those standards are determined? Much of our debate on Report was about standards seemingly being related to buildings, the size of the classroom and classroom facilities and so on. In my constituency there are hardly any local authority-provided nursery facilities, and about half of them would not meet the requirements on buildings and classrooms that...
Mr Keith Hampson: The whole problem with what the hon. Lady has said is contained in paragraph (c), which states: which it considers will more effectively maintain and enhance provision, because "it" is the council. The chief inspector of schools has recently said that 40 per cent. of council or local authority primary schools are under-performing. Why should it be at the discretion of "it", the...
