Mr Keith Mans: Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Mr Keith Mans: Will me hon. Gentleman give way?
Mr Keith Mans: rose—
Mr Keith Mans: Just so that we can have the facts on the record, I shall ask the hon. Gentleman a question. Will it be the policy of any incoming Labour Government to restore the £18 million that he suggests has been cut from the HSE budget?
Mr Keith Mans: Yes or no?
Mr Keith Mans: Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Mr Keith Mans: As a pilot in the Royal Air Force volunteer reserve, I welcome the Bill. As has been pointed out, while the regular forces are reducing in size, the reserves are steadily increasing in number. That is most encouraging. We must encourage people to volunteer for the reserves. I acknowledge the need for the nine-month rule and we should also ensure that we can recruit sufficient reservists in...
Mr Keith Mans: In relation to defence expenditure generally, and defence jobs in particular, will my hon. Friend say what stage has been reached in the studies on the updating of the Tornado F3 or leasing of the alternative American F16 aircraft?
Mr Keith Mans: Does my hon. Friend agree that there are two ways in which not to revitalise villages and towns? One is to introduce car parking charges, and the other is to insist that large housing developments take place on the edges of villages and towns, in green belts. Those are both policies of Labour-controlled councils in Lancashire.
Mr Keith Mans: Does my hon. Friend agree that there is a direct correlation between interference in industry by countries, particularly in Europe, and a reduction in the manufacturing base, whereas countries such as ours which do not interfere increase the manufacturing base? Does he further agree that the only way in which some European countries manage to prop up their exports is by subsidising their...
Mr Keith Mans: The hon. Gentleman has said that schools have to make a positive choice to go grant-maintained. That is different from the situation 10 or 15 years ago, when grammar and other schools had no choice about whether to go comprehensive.
Mr Keith Mans: I am grateful to you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for allowing me to say a few words about Lancashire and education. Lancashire county council—particularly the education authority—likes to say no to education. It said no to local management of schools. When it was forced to do it, it delegated to schools the minimum amount that it could get away with. Even now, some years on, when many Labour...
Mr Keith Mans: The hon. Gentleman talks about an avalanche, and that is precisely what will happen to Lancashire county council when Blackburn and Blackpool become unitary authorities, because then the responsibility and the scope of the education authority in Lancashire will be reduced considerably. One might have thought that this would be an opportunity, perhaps, to dispense with the services of a chief...
Mr Keith Mans: That was an interesting intervention; the hon. Lady should address her remarks to Lancashire county council, which should put teachers before bureaucrats and ensure that teachers get the support that they deserve. Her comment about sickness is also interesting, because, as she knows, the record of absenteeism in Lancashire county council is disgraceful. Lancashire county council has more...
Mr Keith Mans: I am grateful to my hon. Friend for making a point that I would have made a little later in my speech, but, of course, I shall not now do so, to ensure that a few more hon. Members are able to contribute. Lancashire county council said no not only to testing but to grant-maintained status. That is hypocrisy of the worst order. We are told by the Labour leadership that it believes in...
Mr Keith Mans: The hon. Gentleman said that Lancashire county council had problems because it had been capped. Surely it makes no sense for a council that has been capped to decrease the amount of money that is available for schools, as Lancashire did last year. A council with limited resources should make education a priority, rather than spending its money elsewhere.
Mr Keith Mans: Does the hon. Lady agree with her hon. Friend the Member for Blackburn (Mr. Straw) that education should become the responsibility of Blackburn borough council and should be taken away from the county council because it has managed education so incompetently?
Mr Keith Mans: My hon. Friend has mentioned a number of excellent initiatives introduced by the Government. Does he agree that all those initiatives were opposed by the Labour party and, more specifically, by Labour-controlled Lancashire county council, which is depicted as saying no to education at every turn?
Mr Keith Mans: That might be a wrong decision.
Mr Keith Mans: Into schools.