Dr Ian Twinn: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the contribution the design industry makes to the United Kingdom economy. [19448]
Dr Ian Twinn: I thank my hon. Friend for that exciting news for the British design industry. Does he agree that the best way for British industry to contribute to increasing its competitiveness in the world is to invest in British industrial design? In doing so, our industry can take a step forward in the world and become even more competitive.
Dr Ian Twinn: I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Hendon, South (Mr. Marshall) on raising this subject on the Adjournment. We had expected to find ourselves sitting here for half an hour at the end of the day listening to him with the Minister nodding in agreement, so this is a wonderful chance for us to have our say. It was typical of my hon. Friend to rise from his sick bed to set out the hopes...
Dr Ian Twinn: I gladly declare an interest, having been a guest of the city of Morphou and of the House of Representatives in Nicosia this summer. I congratulate the hon. Member for Tooting (Mr. Cox) on securing this debate while the citizens and the mayor of Morphou are in the Palace. I hope that some people outside the House will hear what we have to say. Famagusta, Morphou and the north of Cyprus have...
Dr Ian Twinn: Does my right hon. Friend agree that a serious aspect of youth crime is that many of the crimes committed by repeat offenders take place while they are waiting for their cases to go to court? More of those young people should be remanded in secure places, where they could perhaps start treatment for crack and other addictions, rather than waiting for months and repeating their crimes while in...
Dr Ian Twinn: Will my right hon. Friend support an inquiry into economic incompetence in local government and will he start that inquiry with the London borough of Enfield, which in this year alone has failed to spend £5 million on housing maintenance and £1 million of single regeneration budget money, due to be spent on industrial renewal in my constituency? Is that not another example of new Labour,...
Dr Ian Twinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when a Foreign Office Minister last visited Sri Lanka to discuss the situation there. [4594]
Dr Ian Twinn: I thank my hon. Friend for his reply and his visit to Sri Lanka. Is he aware that grave concern persists about conditions in the Jaffna area and that Tamils living in the United Kingdom are very concerned about the health and welfare of their relatives and friends in that area? Will my hon. Friend make urgent representations to the Sri Lankan Government to take immediate action to sort out...
Dr Ian Twinn: Will my right hon. Friend accept my congratulations on grasping the problem of the gap between how people want to live and how people do not want others to live near them? Does he recognise that those of us who represent urban areas will be concerned by any increase in density in our areas? Does he accept that, in planning for an increase in households, there is a need to take into account...
Dr Ian Twinn: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if she will make a statement on progress on consultation on the heritage Green Paper. [37927]
Dr Ian Twinn: I thank my right hon. Friend for that answer and for the money from the Millennium Commission that has already been given to enhance our architectural heritage through the Church Floodlighting Trust. Has my right hon. Friend had any consultations about the importance of our historic churches and chapels? Does she agree that they often represent the most significant part of our local...
Dr Ian Twinn: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way and I congratulate him on his work on behalf of the pensioners, not just in his constituency but throughout the United Kingdom. Colleagues on both sides of the House have written to both of us, expressing their deep concern about what has happened. I am pleased that he mentioned the Maxwell fraud, because although the scale is different, for...
Dr Ian Twinn: It was kind of the hon. Lady to announce that she had been to my constituency, although she did not have the grace to say beforehand that she was going to do so. I am glad that she has acknowledged that it was Tory action that led to the installation of television at Bushill Park station. Do not the hon. Lady's remarks confirm that we need to ensure that British Rail is in the private...
Dr Ian Twinn: Does my hon. Friend agree that there is a link between planning delays and the lack of compensation or levels of compensation? If the Government relaxed their rules and looked at the French system of compensation, they might get much more public sympathy for public investment in infrastructure.
Dr Ian Twinn: I am grateful for the chance to speak in the debate and support my hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye (Mrs. Lait) who has introduced this Bill to put right a wrong about which many hon. Members have spoken. The problems that leaseholders face are difficult, and often make their lives hell. It is right that the House should, as a matter of urgency, put that right. I congratulate my...
Dr Ian Twinn: I am grateful for what my right hon. and learned Friend has said. Does he know that his statement that neither party to the negotiations for a peace settlement would be able to veto Cyprus's entry into the European Union will be welcome on the island of Cyprus? Does that not therefore make it even more important for Britain to renew its efforts to ensure that there is a settlement this year,...
Dr Ian Twinn: I am grateful to you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for calling me. I should declare my interest in Cyprus. I was a paid-for visitor to the rallies at Morphou and Famagusta last summer. Sadly, they were held just outside those regions because they are occupied by Turkish troops. That is a graphic symbol of why hon. Members should take a close interest in what is going on in Cyprus. It is a blot on...
Dr Ian Twinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what has been the change in real terms in the income of the average pensioner since 1979; and if he will make a statement. [14354]
Dr Ian Twinn: Does the Minister agree that the rise in pensioners' incomes is a tribute to those who manage the private pension funds, and that the funds are managed in the best interests of pensioners? Does he share my concern that if these funds were to be diverted, perhaps to Government-controlled funds, they would be shifted to lower return projects—maybe projects of a political nature—that would...
Dr Ian Twinn: I join in the all-party support for my right hon. Friend's statement. Does she agree that the success of the Conservative expansion of higher education has been due to the magnificent response of universities and their staff, and the positive way in which they have adapted to the challenge of expansion? Will she ensure that quality of staff and students is maintained by considering the way...