Mr Andrew Hargreaves: Does my right hon. and learned Friend accept that, although many of my right hon. and hon. Friends welcome his explanation that the measures are designed to afford further protection to our troops on the ground involved in the difficult humanitarian work, we might take alarm at his remark that those efforts should continue "if at all possible". We hope to have an assurance from him that "if...
Mr Andrew Hargreaves: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the value of assets seized by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise in each year since the Drug Trafficking Offences Act 1986 became operational; how much of the assets were put back into Customs and. Excise work; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Andrew Hargreaves: I am sure that my hon. Friend will wish to congratulate the Customs and Excise drug investigation division on the success of its recent operations, which have resulted in huge seizures. Will he also reassure the House that, after 1 January, when border controls are removed, a far greater proportion of any assets—or, rather, funds realised from the seizure of assets from drug...
Mr Andrew Hargreaves: Notwithstanding the reply that my right hon. Friend gave to the right hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Ashdown) about our intervention in Sarajevo, will he consult the Prime Minister to ensure that an undertaking is given to come to the House and provide a debate before any British troops are used for anything other than strictly humanitarian aid purposes?
Mr Andrew Hargreaves: Will my hon. Friend agree that that is one of the reasons why the cosy conversation to which the Leader of the Opposition referred, saying that it should have taken place, may well have taken place? Would he further agree that the Germans might have said no, and that the French might have said, "Not until after our referendum"?
Mr Andrew Hargreaves: Will my right hon. Friend undertake to include in our schedule a debate on AIDS? He probably reads the newspapers as much as any other hon. Member and will know about the alleged incident involving people in the neighbourhood of my constituency who may have been deliberately infected by a man knowing that he was HIV-positive. Will my right hon. Friend organise such a debate at some stage so...
Mr Andrew Hargreaves: As a television programme on Monday night will demonstrate open racketeering in drugs in gyms throughout Britain, will my right hon. Friend find time for us to debate the drugs issue?
Mr Andrew Hargreaves: Will my right hon. and learned Friend give way?
Mr Andrew Hargreaves: Will my right hon. and learned Friend confirm the research done by his Department that pinpoints even more closely where, if there is one, the problem may lie in this respect? The statistics show that females from the ethnic minorities are not involved. Predominantly, the problem is with males. It is only fair to the lady Members of the House to say that this problem is mirrored not just here...
Mr Andrew Hargreaves: I am grateful, even at this late stage, to have caught your eye, Madam Deputy Speaker, in this important debate. As I am once again joining in towards the tail end of our deliberations on this subject, I shall keep my remarks brief, not least because whatever I was going to say will inevitably have been said by my colleagues, sometimes better than I could have done myself. The question that...
Mr Andrew Hargreaves: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many family doctors (a) in 1979 and (b) currently are women.
Mr Andrew Hargreaves: Does my right hon. Friend believe that those figures suggest an answer to those general practitioners who were concerned that changes to their funding arrangements would inevitably lead to a reduction in the number of female general practitioners?
Mr Andrew Hargreaves: I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on the new clause because Opposition Members, and especially the hon. Member for Leeds, Central (Mr. Fatchett), made certain assertions which he said were the background to new clause 1. He said that the background to the new clause was that Conservative education authorities were cutting their further education budgets and that the whole system...
Mr Andrew Hargreaves: I must agree with my hon. Friend. I hope and pray that the people of Birmingham will take that decision in the forthcoming local elections. In the meantime, principals in charge of further education colleges throughout Birmingham will he looking forward to the passage of the Bill and its implementation as soon as possible. It might be interesting for my hon. Friend the Member for Rugby and...
Mr Andrew Hargreaves: Will my right hon. Friend accept the warm appreciation of Conservative Members for this order, which fully enables him to live up to his word, given when outlining "Options for Change", that the forces would be smaller but better equipped. There will be many who had doubts at the time when "Options for Change" was announced who will warmly welcome today's statement—as they have welcomed...
Mr Andrew Hargreaves: I shall base my brief remarks on experience of my local authority and local education authority in Birmingham. I feel that it may have been specifically in regard to my local education authority that my hon. Friend the Minister referred to the scope for savings to be made.
Mr Andrew Hargreaves: I am grateful, as always, for my hon. Friend's intervention. Let me return to the matter in hand. I want to take up a couple of points made by the hon. Member—the hereditary Member—for Durham, North-West (Ms. Armstrong). She said that a large number of schools became grant-maintained as a result of the threat of closure. As a Member representing a constituency which has its own extremely...
Mr Andrew Hargreaves: Like my hon. Friends, I warmly welcome my right hon. Friend's statement. I should be grateful to know, in due course, whether my right hon. Friend thinks that the number of jobs that he has suggested may be somewhat conservative. I am sure that the defence industry, and all the contractors, will warmly welcome the work available from the contracts, as do many hon. Members on both sides of the...
Mr Andrew Hargreaves: I am grateful for the opportunity to speak, Madam Deputy Speaker, albeit, as is often my habit, towards the tail end of the debate. I begin by saying that I have a natural antipathy to the amount of expenditure that is necessary to maintain our independent nuclear deterrent. The reason for that is that I feel very strongly that Governments should never spend money on something that is not...
Mr Andrew Hargreaves: In the two minutes that have been allotted to me before the Front-Bench spokesmen reply to the debate, I should like to make a few points. I hope that I shall not work over the same territory as other hon. Members have explored. Despite all the party politics, many hon. Members of all parties are deeply concerned about some elements relating to the concept behind this debate. Although many...
