Mr Colin Shepherd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his current estimate of the amount of income tax raised from individual investors' dividends on shares in the privatised utilities. [18530]
Mr Colin Shepherd: Does my right hon. Friend agree that the tax derived would be much less if there were a windfall tax? Would not the 5 million shareholders who would pay for that tax through reduced dividends also have the value of their shares reduced accordingly?
Mr Colin Shepherd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the role of the services' cadet forces. [18041]
Mr Colin Shepherd: We in Hereford are proud to have active units of the Navy, Army and Air Force cadets, which are using service concepts of training and discipline to give young people experience and to develop their powers of leadership and responsibility. Will my hon. Friend join me in paying tribute to the many thousands of volunteer adults who give up their time to lead training activities?
Mr Colin Shepherd: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the trend of reported BSE cases in the last three years.[17558]
Mr Colin Shepherd: I thank my hon. Friend for that very encouraging report to the House. Is it not precisely because of the robust and tough action taken by the Government that outbreaks of BSE in this country, measured in terms of the number of reported cases, are decreasing—not increasing, as they are in the remainder of the European Union? While my hon. Friend is considering that, will she reflect on the...
Mr Colin Shepherd: Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Mr Colin Shepherd: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what representations she has received in respect of the method by which the education standard spending assessment is derived. [7063]
Mr Colin Shepherd: May I draw my hon. Friend's attention to sparsity, which is an important matter in my part of the world? Does he agree that, in a sparsely populated area, it is necessary for a local education authority to maintain a larger number of smaller schools than would be needed in a more densely populated urban area? Small, rural schools cannot achieve the same economies of scale as larger schools....
Mr Colin Shepherd: Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is right that the House should no longer hide behind Crown immunity and that it should face up to its responsibilities, and that much of the expenditure incurred to which the hon. Member for Liverpool, West Derby (Mr. Wareing) referred was related to improving the conditions of those who work in the Palace? Should we not comply with the legislation with...
Mr Colin Shepherd: Did the right hon. Gentleman get the impression from his discussions in Beijing that that essential point was understood by the Chinese?
Mr Colin Shepherd: My right hon. and learned Friend knows full well the high regard in which the Legislative Council is held in Hong Kong and, indeed, far wider, not least throughout the Commonwealth. Do his Chinese counterparts accept that if they go along the line of this appointed council, they will in effect have repudiated the Basic Law that they agreed, which quite clearly sets out that there shall be a...
Mr Colin Shepherd: I am grateful to my hon. Friend for clarifying the matter, which was one that worried me. I was unable to arrive at the detail that my hon. Friend has presented to the House. My hon. Friend has set my mind at rest. Nevertheless, the importance of standards and the ability to recognise BSE symptoms are important.
Mr Colin Shepherd: Some of the schools can still opt out of the visiting process by saying that they cannot afford it, so we have to maintain pressure on the schools concerned, especially on those that do not come up to the mark, and ensure that they cannot cop out on that basis. How is that to be done?
Mr Colin Shepherd: First, I thank my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the hon. Member for Tiverton (Mrs. Browning), for coming to the House to help with a matter that is of such concern. The entire veterinary profession will be grateful to her. My hon. Friend will know that for some years I have served as a Privy Council-nominated member of the council...
Mr Colin Shepherd: My right hon. and learned Friend has set out the Government's position as stated in the consultation document. As he will be aware, both the Country Landowners Association and the National Farmers Union took issue with increased compensation for farmers whose herds have been more affected. I should be grateful if he would amplify on that matter, rather than making his rather bald statement...
Mr Colin Shepherd: Does my right hon. and learned Friend recall that when the European Standing Veterinary Committee considered beef, its decisions appeared not to be based purely on scientific evidence? Is he confident that when the committee meets again to consider these matters, it will consider them only on scientific and veterinary grounds?
Mr Colin Shepherd: Many thanks, Madam Deputy Speaker, for calling me so early in the debate. I thank the Chairman of the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Guildford (Mr. Howell), for selecting this topic for examination by his Committee. I congratulate him and all the members of his Committee on the success of the work that they have done on behalf, I believe, of the...
Mr Colin Shepherd: Is not the quickest way to get back to firm foundations to reassert the scientific foundation for the argument? If that is re-established, the export ban could be more easily lifted. What steps are my right hon. and learned Friend and his officials taking to persuade the European Standing Veterinary Committee to reassess the matter on the basis of scientific knowledge? Secondly, will he keep...
Mr Colin Shepherd: In my capacity as Chairman of the Select Committee on Catering, I should report that there appears to be no fall-off in the consumption of beef among hon. Members. That is not a moment of levity, but an important statement on how we in the House feel. Hereford and beef are very much synonymous. I took time out today to go to Herefordshire to talk with people there because I wanted to get...