Mr Peter Hardy: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will take steps to prevent the use of petroleum coke for the purpose of electricity generation. [19442]
Mr Peter Hardy: Does the Minister deny that petroleum coke is a particularly dirty fuel? The licence that is currently being processed will be viewed with bitter disfavour in my region. Does he accept that, if that fuel is burned in Yorkshire, it will serve as evidence of the Government's disdain for our international environment commitments, and will show the critical nature of coal stocks. It will also...
Mr Peter Hardy: Will the Minister consider this? Eighteen months ago, I wrote to his Department to point out serious problems which arose because contaminated poultry industry meat was not stained as red meat is; 12 months ago in the House I raised the matter and the Minister offered the most complacent reply, suggesting that there was not a problem; and, six months ago, he suddenly seemed to realise that...
Mr Peter Hardy: I have examined many inclosure measures, and, although I accept that there could be individual variations, every single one that I have seen and every single one that I know about—over the years, many have been drawn to my attention—specifically and clearly contained the Flamborough conditions, which I mentioned. I would not dream of suggesting that every one of the 4,000 measures...
Mr Peter Hardy: I started my speech by mentioning the landscape. I should like to make a point that is concerned less with the landscape than with general ecology. The Minister will be aware that a vast number of bird species—such as the song-thrush and, this week, the bullfinch—have been recorded as suffering enormous decline. Many of them are hedgerow species. The Government say that their measure...
Mr Peter Hardy: The House will probably agree that, through the generations, the English landscape has brought pleasure and inspiration to many thousands of people. Our literature and our art have benefited from it and the quality of life of many millions of people has been enhanced. The hedgerow is an important part of that landscape and, given the confusion that exists and has existed for some time, it is...
Mr Peter Hardy: I think that that is the case. The Government made their promise in 1992 and have not done anything about it other than to offer the recent proposals. As a result, much of what the hon. Gentleman mentions has been going on. I am glad that he referred to his county trust. I hope that it is checking to see whether any of the hedgerows that he mentions are inclosure hedgerows. If they are, legal...
Mr Peter Hardy: We hope that British beef is safe, and is recognised as such. It has cost the country a great deal of money to establish that. The Minister seemed to decry the debate, but does he not consider it worth while, given the historical factor? His right hon. Friend the Prime Minister spoke of a thousand years of history. Does the Minister not realise that, in more than a thousand years, the...
Mr Peter Hardy: I accept the Minister's reply to the hon. Member for Chipping Barnet (Sir S. Chapman), but will he make it clear that the Government will not be inclined to approve applications for opencast mining and mineral extraction in the green belt, especially where there is bitter opposition by local communities?
Mr Peter Hardy: It is capped.
Mr Peter Hardy: I shall be brief, as part of the argument that I would have advanced has been presented by my hon. Friend the Member for Barnsley, West and Penistone (Mr. Clapham). My local authority is in a similar position to that of my hon. Friend, as we too need to know about the position on the supertram, which the Government support. I am not surprised by the present position. We have had 18 years of...
Mr Peter Hardy: No. The Minister will have a longer time to speak than I have. I was making a prudent point. Unemployment costs about £10,000 per person, and it would be sensible if local authorities were allowed to release their capital receipts to allow people to get back to work. I would be glad if the Minister would reassure me on that matter. I have not "bleated" about the subject of Westminster in...
Mr Peter Hardy: On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I understood that hon. Members who had only just arrived would have to wait a reasonable time before being called. Some of us have been here all day.
Mr Peter Hardy: Would the hon. Gentleman care to comment on his calculation? He will agree that roughly two thirds of local authority expenditure goes on education. If the proportion of Westminster's population of children in school is half that in Rotherham, why does Westminster get between four and five times per head more from central Government?
Mr Peter Hardy: rose—
Mr Peter Hardy: Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Mr Peter Hardy: From time to time in his speech, the right hon. Gentleman has tried to build divisions between different types of local authorities—for example, when he referred to Sir Jeremy Beecham. Does he agree that the vast majority of local authorities want a sensible relaxation in the capping level? He should look carefully at the possibility of relaxing the capping level, to allow local authorities...
Mr Peter Hardy: What about capital receipts?
Mr Peter Hardy: Will the Minister reflect on my experience in dealing with his Ministry on a relevant matter? Following unsatisfactory correspondence in 1995, I raised during the March BSE debate the unsatisfactory situation in regard to contaminated and condemned meat. The Ministry seemed to be negligently complacent about the matter, although it may now have begun to realise that a serious problem exists....
Mr Peter Hardy: Will the Minister give way?
