Mr Andrew Hargreaves: I shall not give way to the hon. Gentleman because I have only a little time and wish to conclude on this point. Subsidiarity acts as a safety valve for matters about which many of us have serious doubts. Despite those doubts, I feel that my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has achieved a masterly stroke at Maastricht by providing us with those structures.
Mr Andrew Hargreaves: The hon. Gentleman has referred to what my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister said. However, to take an example at random, how many times does the hon. Gentleman think that the Bundestag discussed the Maastricht agreement before it was signed?
Mr Andrew Hargreaves: My hon. Friend will know of my long-term interest in this subject. I urge him to use his influence and his new position within the Department of Education to extend education on the dangers of drugs in sport to young people as they first become involved in sport. Will he say something about that?
Mr Andrew Hargreaves: ILEA?
Mr Andrew Hargreaves: The right hon. Gentleman will, of course, remember, that it was ILEA, then under Labour control, which first introduced into Government-funded schools the absurd and ludicrous principle that competitive sports were injuring the growth and development of young children.
Mr Andrew Hargreaves: Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Mr Andrew Hargreaves: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many low-income pensioners are expected to gain from the measures he announced in his uprating statement.
Mr Andrew Hargreaves: I thank my right hon. Friend for his reply. Does he accept that many Conservative Members are anxious that any future measures should be directed specifically towards those receiving small pensions or basic pensions but no works or professional pensions? How much danger would be posed to such pensions by some of Labour's high-inflation, high-spending policies?
Mr Andrew Hargreaves: My right hon. Friend illustrates a point that is well met in my constituency. On various occasions, Birmingham council has increased either its rates or its community charge from 30 per cent. to 42 per cent. In particular, I refer my right hon. Friend to the elements of capping. Is he prepared to give the community charge payers and future council tax payers of Birmingham an assurance that,...
Mr Andrew Hargreaves: Does my right hon. Friend agree, and will the House accept, that although the BCCI has had a suspicious reputation for many years in banking circles, it was at the prompting of the Bank of England that the Sheikh of Abu Dhabi was persuaded to mount a refinancing of the bank to lead it back to the straight and narrow, and that when that proved to have failed, and fraud was revealed, when the...
Mr Andrew Hargreaves: Is this another priority commitment?
Mr Andrew Hargreaves: During the statement by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary, I intervened to say that I was extremely pleased that he was taking measures in favour of responsible ownership of dogs. That was due to an unfortunate incident in my constituency—to which my hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge (Mr. Shersby) referred—when a family pet savaged a small child in Yardley Wood. It was not a pit...
Mr Andrew Hargreaves: Let us just say, into some poor, unsuspecting passerby. The right hon. Member for Sparkbrook and other hon. Members have expressed the view that certain types of dog are as dangerous as a loaded firearm, saying, "We need a certificate and to be registered to own a firearm." I have often ridden or been in close proximity to horses that I would describe as being every bit as dangerous as the...
Mr Andrew Hargreaves: I welcome my right hon. Friend's statement today. He may not be aware of a recent case in my constituency in Yardley Wood, in which a young girl was severely attacked by the family pet, which was not one of the dangerous breeds that he has specified. The attack happened while the dog was being fed. Therefore, I welcome the emphasis that my right hon. Friend has placed on responsible...
Mr Andrew Hargreaves: That is levelling down.
Mr Andrew Hargreaves: Will my right hon. and learned Friend accept my warm congratulations on the measures that he has announced? Will he accept that Conservative Members warmly welcome the bridging and equalisation between the more vocational structure and the purely academic structure, with the raising of standards of careers qualifications? That is a great step forward for thousands of people who will be able...
Mr Andrew Hargreaves: I give a warm welcome to my right hon. Friend's statement, but can he assure my constituents who, under the old rating system, suffered increases under a Labour-controlled council of up to 42 per cent. in one year, that that will be impossible under his proposals?
Mr Andrew Hargreaves: I add my congratulations to my right hon. Friend the Chancellor on his excellent neutral Budget which is ideal for the times in which we live. I believe that he got the Budget judgment just about right. I particularly support his cautious but none the less relentless downward pressure on interest rates, giving due deference to the foreign exchange markets and to the way in which that will be...
Mr Andrew Hargreaves: I should have thought that memory of several devaluations gave rise to suspicion about the French currency. Thank goodness this country will not experience that under the new linkage system.
Mr Andrew Hargreaves: While we are considering economic aid, does my hon. and learned Friend agree that there is sympathy with the Soviet Union's position particularly when it has told the Baltic states that economic arrangements must be made? It is very difficult for any state to lose suddenly a vital part of its economy when its economy is in such difficulties.
