Miss Joan Lestor: I will not go out on a note of discord. All that I will say is that it was wrong to abolish free school milk, because milk is essential to the diet of all our children.
Miss Joan Lestor: The hon. Gentleman is being rather unfair, and is taking advantage of a situation. As I understand it, what has been discussed or said is that there is a problem whereby the children of the rich stay on at school, such as those at Eton college which is in my old constituency, and their parents, who can well afford to keep them at school, receive child benefit for them; whereas children of...
Miss Joan Lestor: I have served as a Member of Parliament for 26 years, having entered the House 30 years ago, been rejected for four years by Slough but then been embraced in a love affair with Eccles. During that time I have done many things and had many interests as a parliamentarian, but the issue that has dominated my life has been that of children both here and abroad, and I wanted to go out on a note...
Miss Joan Lestor: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage to what extent the revised criteria for national lottery grants will support the work of British charities providing emergency medical relief in the developing world, with special reference to Merlin; and if she will make a statement. [16701]
Miss Joan Lestor: In view of the declining aid budget, the effect of the lottery on small charities and the fact that the requirement to plan nine months in advance makes it difficult for organisations such as Merlin—which is, as the Secretary of State said, an emergency relief organization—should not the criteria be changed to include, say, training for staff, the stockpiling of medicine and the provision...
Miss Joan Lestor: Cane him!
Miss Joan Lestor: I am tempted to follow the right hon. Gentleman and discuss family life; I shall not do so, but I suggest that he should choose his words carefully, because a child whose family does not conform to his specific concept of what marriage and family life should be may get the idea that there is something wrong with that family. Rightly or wrongly, many children today have a different experience...
Miss Joan Lestor: I do not see the analogy. I am talking not about drunken fathers, but about children who are not in what is regarded as, but never really was, a traditional family, and who may be given the impression that there is something wrong with their situation. When children are alienated from society and people make judgments about them, problems are created. Children must be told that, whatever...
Miss Joan Lestor: I believe that it is an objective account. Has the hon. Gentleman read it?
Miss Joan Lestor: Clearly the hon. Gentleman did not go to a comprehensive school, so he probably cannot manage the book. In England and Wales, 90 per cent. of children attend comprehensive schools; in Scotland, as we all know, all schools are comprehensive. We have only about 150 grammar schools left, and research has shown that the academic achievement of comprehensive schools is increasing all the time, as...
Miss Joan Lestor: Does the Minister agree that there must be coherence between our aid and trade policies, including GATT? Bearing in mind the recent visit of Nelson Mandela, his tribute to those British people who campaigned for his release and the Prime Minister's promise to support South Africa in its trade negotiations with the EU, what proposals do the Government have to ensure that development objectives...
Miss Joan Lestor: Although the recent increase in private sector investment in developing countries is welcome, it is not reaching the poorest African countries. As my hon. Friend the Member for Newham, South (Mr. Spearing) pointed out, those countries need urgent debt relief measures and high-quality assistance if they are to avoid some of the results and repercussions of debt. Bearing it in mind that the...
Miss Joan Lestor: I agree with everything that the Minister has said about how the House and others have dealt with the Bill. We wish it well. I commend the Whip for his beautiful diction and I hope that he will get a better speaking part at some time in the future.
Miss Joan Lestor: There has been a feeling of agreement for much of the evening, but we did not make a mistake; it was quite deliberate. The Bill was not killed off, but opposed, because we were not receiving the assurances that we sought about the future of the Bill and the CDC. We are receiving those assurances tonight.
Miss Joan Lestor: It is hysteria.
Miss Joan Lestor: This is the third Commonwealth Development Corporation Bill to come before the House in 14 months and, on each occasion, we have enjoyed the unusual experience of agreeing about something—at least initially. As the Minister said, the CDC should be congratulated on its successes: its financial performance, its attainment of agreed targets and, above all, its continuing important contribution...
Miss Joan Lestor: I know that the Minister has said—he shakes his head again—that there is no such fear, and I welcome that. Will he assure the House that the new powers will be applied to the CDC's activities only in the operation of the Commonwealth initiative? An alternative interpretation is that the Government have no plan for the future of the CDC—an organisation operating in a commercial...
Miss Joan Lestor: Can the Minister confirm that at the recent conference in Oslo, which an ODA representative attended, the NGOs made it clear that they believe that the 20:20 compact—endorsed on a voluntary basis by the British Government at the world summit in Copenhagen last year—forms a vital part of a comprehensive strategy for the alleviation of poverty? Given that the Government have reduced this...
Miss Joan Lestor: Notwithstanding that reply, does the Minister accept that one of the biggest threats to sustainable development in east Africa is the totally unsustainable level of external debt? Does he agree that it is unacceptable that Tanzania spends twice as much on repaying debt as on providing access to clean water? Does he also agree that it is unacceptable that Uganda is forced to spend $17 per...
Miss Joan Lestor: I beg to move, That this House fully recognises and accepts the United Kingdom's share of global responsibility towards the elimination of poverty and calls on the Government to make steady and measurable progress towards honouring its pledge of the United Nations overseas aid target of 0.7 per cent. GNP; deplores the Government's failure to play a more central role in the delivery of...