Alistair Darling: rose—
Alistair Darling: It is on devolution. The Secretary of State asked about the justification for hon. Members from different parts of the country voting on legislation that will affect parts of England and Scotland. Surely the point of devolution is that it gives expression to the fact that in Scotland the dominant wishes of the electorate are different from those in other parts of the country; devolution would...
Alistair Darling: When considering the level of output and exports of the telecommunications industry, has the Minister discussed with British Telecom, which is a major component of the matter, the sale of magnetic tapes containing telephone directory and other information, possibly to people abroad, including fanatical religious organisations? Has he had any discussions with BT in view of the widespread...
Alistair Darling: Has the leader of the House had an opportunity to consider early-day motion 677, together with newspaper reports circulating in Scotland today, concerning the effective use of NHS funds to subsidise those working in the private health industry? [That this House condemns the proposal that some Scottish health boards use public funds to place National Health Service patients in private...
Alistair Darling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he last met the Committee of Vice Chancellors and of Principals; and what subjects he discussed.
Alistair Darling: Did the Minister discuss the 20 per cent. reduction in funding for Scottish universities over the past four years, compared with a reduction of only 13 per cent. for England? Did he discuss the implications of that on the ability of universities to contract to provide courses under the new system of funding? More important, did he discuss the future viability of the four-year honours degree...
Alistair Darling: Does the Chancellor accept that the undertakings given by BP are remarkably similar to those that were given by the Guinness company, and they were broken? What does the Chancellor plan to do to enforce those promises, or is this another example of major influence on the Scottish economy passing, in this case, not just to London, but to the shores of the Gulf?
Alistair Darling: How does the Secretary of State propose to ensure that the ownership of the two boards remains within either Scotland or the United Kingdom? What is to stop the boards in future selling their shareholding to an Arthur Daley or Eddie Clockerty of the electricity industry?
Alistair Darling: Do the Government have a policy for the future of the Scottish coalfield, or do they intend to sit back and act like disinterested spectators?
Alistair Darling: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will introduce legislation to regulate the sale of or access to information held on magnetic tape by the telecommunications industry.
Alistair Darling: Does the Minister realise that those magnetic tapes hold far more information than is available on telephone directories and that British Telecom in particular holds a substantial body of information on each and every one of us? My information is that that may be against the guidelines on the data protection principles. Does he realise that unless he acts now we may face a national scandal in...
Alistair Darling: Has the Minister discussed the movement of military aircraft over Turnhouse airport, in particular a practice that has been adopted of military aircraft flying very fast and very low over the main runway at Turnhouse when civilian aircraft are either on the runway or in the vicinity? Will he take that matter up with the chairman and and seek an assurance that civilian aircraft will not be put...
Alistair Darling: rose—
Alistair Darling: Will the Chief Secretary explain how a married man with two children, earning £115 a week gross, will lose 32p in benefit as a result of the tax changes? How can he say, therefore, that there will be no loss as a result of both the Chancellor's announcement yesterday and the announcement of the Secretary of State for Social Services earlier this year? Surely the poor are losing while the...
Alistair Darling: I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this debate and I shall be brief. I wish to echo the criticisms of the Budget that were admirably made this afternoon by my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Monklands, East (Mr. Smith), the shadow Chancellor. When I heard the Chancellor say that the Budget was to be a reforming one I, in common with my colleagues, listened in...
Alistair Darling: Further to that point, does the Leader of the House realise that these poll tax regulations impose major obligations and severe penalties on people in Scotland, and that he cannot deliberately override the fact that there has been criticism of their drafting and that they are virtually incomprehensible to lay people? Is it not time that these regulations were debated, or, at the very least,...
Alistair Darling: The Minister's reply showed crass ignorance of Scottish university education. That same ignorant view from London makes the academic community in Scotland want a Scottish universities funding committee. If we do not get that, we fear that the view from London will prevail and that Scottish education will lose out. For that reason, we shall support the new clause.
Alistair Darling: Will not the Leader of the House accept that the Scottish poll tax regulations are virtually incomprehensible to lay people, and about as readable as a Russian novel? Does he not accept that most people will not understand what is required of them, and will he join me in advising everyone in Scotland who receives a form to go to the registration officer or send the form back without further...
Alistair Darling: I shall advance five reasons why the people of Scotland are entitled to send back any form that they receive from the registration officer under the regulations. First, regulation 12 makes it clear that the registration officer will hold on magnetic tape a wide range of information on members of the public such as we have not known in Britain hitherto. In addition to our ID tag numbers, the...
Alistair Darling: Will the Secretary of State acknowledge that, in Edinburgh, many of the urban problems that afflict the peripheral estates such as Wester Hailes also afflict the city centre where, not very far from Prince's street, unemployment is running at one of the highest rates in the region, at over 20 per cent? In an effort to be helpful, will the right hon. and learned Gentleman consider two points?...