Mrs Elaine Kellett: Does my right hon. Friend agree that all that he seeks to achieve in the White Paper is already being achieved by the Abbeyfield Society, which provides extremely good value for money and charges £100 a week less than many other providers? It also moves people seamlessly from one form of care to another, virtually until the end of their days. Those who use its services are extremely happy,...
Mrs Elaine Kellett: The hon. Lady made some interesting observations about people saying not, "What can I do about it?", but, "What are they going to do about it?" I received 30 letters from children at a school in my constituency asking what I, the Government or somebody else could do. Only one out of 30 letters said, "What can I do?" It seems to me that the desire to fob off responsibility starts at far too...
Mrs Elaine Kellett: The gun was certainly lawfully held, but the process by which Hamilton obtained the certificate was ludicrously slack. Had that man's record been considered by the police in granting the certificate, he would never have had the licence.
Mrs Elaine Kellett: Has my hon. Friend seen the written answer that I received yesterday on the subject? It states that the veterinary products committee has examined the matter carefully and found no scientific justification, on present evidence, for withdrawing the dips from the market.
Mrs Elaine Kellett: And the hon. Member for Peckham (Ms Harman).
Mrs Elaine Kellett: I entirely agree with my right hon. and learned Friend. Volunteers will be only too happy to know that other volunteers are clean. In the light of some of the dreadful cases that have occurred recently, volunteers will be happy to pay for peace of mind.
Mrs Elaine Kellett: That would cost a great deal more.
Mrs Elaine Kellett: I especially like the Bill's flexibility and its imaginative approach to pilot schemes, which those at the sharp end of health care may wish to adopt. I am, as the House is possibly tired of hearing, fortunate in my constituency in having forward-looking GPs. In fact, I cannot think offhand of any aspect of health care in which Lancaster does not excel. I may be biased, but our new premises...
Mrs Elaine Kellett: How much money would be saved by abolishing the assisted places scheme, and how many teachers would that abolition put into other schools?
Mrs Elaine Kellett: Will my hon. Friend confirm that, in the past two years, Government spending on schools has increased by £1.8 billion, which represents 1p in terms of income tax? Have we not therefore already achieved what the Liberal Democrats are calling for?
Mrs Elaine Kellett: The debate may be of interest to the three Liberal Democrat Members who are present, but it is clearly of no interest to the rest of them.
Mrs Elaine Kellett: Is my hon. Friend aware that the number of single pensioners—they are the most vulnerable people—who live in unfit dwellings fell by 10 per cent. between 1986 and 1991? Is not that an important improvement in the conditions of our elderly population?
Mrs Elaine Kellett: Will my right hon. Friend congratulate Lancaster university on its ability to attract the highest calibre of staff, enabling it to be placed third in the recent research assessments, after only Oxford and Cambridge, which it hopes to overtake eventually?
Mrs Elaine Kellett: May I venture the opinion that, if girls behave in as barbaric a way as some boys, they deserve to be treated identically?
Mrs Elaine Kellett: I have always supported corporal punishment, but I much prefer new clause 6 to new clause 5. In my view, the people whose sons—it is unlikely to be girls, but it may be—require corporal punishment would assent to it. If new clause 6 became law, the school, governors and head teacher, in conclave, could make that part of a mission statement to be placed before prospective parents.
Mrs Elaine Kellett: I will not give way. Those people would inform parents that corporal punishment was among the disciplinary measures that might be taken. Opposition Members—I believe a Yorkshire Member—object. It seems to me that they object on health grounds, mental health grounds and so on. The hon. Member for Wakefield (Mr. Hinchliffe) spoke only about new clause 5. Had he thoroughly read new clause...
Mrs Elaine Kellett: In the hon. Gentleman's discussions with the Labour party, has it pledged any money to those "significantly different" organisations?
Mrs Elaine Kellett: Quite manifestly, those schools would not be seeking to increase their numbers if they did not have demand from parents. We are in favour of parental choice.
Mrs Elaine Kellett: The hon. Member has not had the misfortune of dealing with Lancashire county council, which deliberately keeps open many secondary school places in east Lancashire, where the population is not increasing, to the detriment of the schools in north Lancashire, where the population is increasing. The population is not increasing in Skelmersdale and Burnley, but it is certainly going up in...
Mrs Elaine Kellett: Does my hon. Friend accept that if the regulations had not been modified, the vast majority of village schools, which do an excellent job, would have faced closure?