Andrew Lansley: I am grateful to the Secretary of State for that reply, but I fear that it will not assuage the sense that finding a home for the assembly is descending into, at best, farce. Will he explain why he has narrowed the options for a site for the assembly down to south Wales?
Andrew Lansley: When the Secretary of State comes to designate primary care commissioning pilots, will he ensure variety—not just geographical variety, but a variety of approaches to primary care commissioning? Will he also ensure that larger fundholding practices that feel capable of being primary care commissioning groups are offered opportunities to bid for pilot schemes? When will the Secretary of...
Andrew Lansley: My hon. Friend the Member for Ryedale (Mr. Greenway) made the point about people going to the MEP for whom they voted. However, businesses, public bodies and educational institutions cannot do that, as, for them, party allegiance is not the essence of the matter. How will they determine which MEP to approach?
Andrew Lansley: To bring the right hon. Gentleman back to his own region, under the Government's proposal, the north-east would have four MEPs. Is he saying that he does not regard that as sufficiently proportional? What does he propose should be done for the north-east of England?
Andrew Lansley: I am grateful for the opportunity to add briefly to an interesting debate which has illustrated some of the problems that will arise in relation to the very large regions. The provisions are another example of the principle whereby if any institution, particularly an institution of government, that is created for one purpose is applied to another, a law of unintended consequences comes into...
Andrew Lansley: I agree with my right hon. Friend. That is a worrying potential development which arises from the Bill's structure. I hope that—I know that this is so of me and my neighbours in Cambridgeshire—we have always taken it as axiomatic that, although we were elected as representatives of a political party, we sit as representatives of the whole electorate. We therefore would not expect people...
Andrew Lansley: I am glad to give way to my neighbour in Cambridgeshire.
Andrew Lansley: The size of the region has some bearing on all this. There is a media relationship involved. The hon. Lady and I inhabit, as it were, the same media. Inevitably, when she says one thing and I say another, people will respond to one of us. That is fine in respect of opinions, but the convention by which we operate in the House—that we should deal with people in our constituencies and not...
Andrew Lansley: The hon. Gentleman makes an important point, which brings me to my next point. I recognise that there is a difference. In Cambridgeshire, we are well served by our Member of the European Parliament.
Andrew Lansley: To pursue the point that I was making—
Andrew Lansley: The hon. Lady is presuming a little in asking me to give way a second time. Before I do, I want to make this point clearly. Members of the European Parliament are different in that they often adopt a functional specialism alongside their responsibility as geographical representatives. The Member of the European Parliament for Cambridgeshire pursues his role as spokesman on agriculture for...
Andrew Lansley: I am going to give way to the hon. Lady, but, before I do so, I should say that, if that is indeed the point that she is going to make, it is wholly unjustified. Notwithstanding my hon. Friend's point, I believe that, given that my local MEP is representing a large area—larger than Greater London—with a population of half a million, he does extraordinarily well at being seen around the...
Andrew Lansley: The hon. Lady and I are bound to disagree on that matter, but I am sure that I could present an enormous amount of testimony to the effect that the MEP for Cambridgeshire is often seen in his constituency and is much appreciated for what he does there. A point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Ryedale (Mr. Greenway) bears emphasising. Several Labour Members appeared not to understand why...
Andrew Lansley: I am sure that the minority parties do feel that they will have a better chance. My point is that, if one is going to have proportionality, one has to do it through multi-Member constituencies that give minority parties that can gain the support of a substantial minority—
Andrew Lansley: I am grateful to you, Mr. Martin, but I hope that you will let me explain my point. The size of the regions is relevant in this respect only: the larger the region, the smaller the proportion of the electorate that can justify the election of a minority party or, indeed, an independent with a particular appeal. Unfortunately—I wish that it were otherwise—we are talking about elections...
Andrew Lansley: The right hon. Gentleman did not, I think, say that he would refer to the McDougall Trust research published by the Electoral Reform Society. The trust ran a number of focus groups—I know that he is aware of their value—and concluded that although voters claim to vote on the basis of a party, they react strongly to the removal of the right to select a candidate for themselves.
Andrew Lansley: I did not intend to speak, but, having read the amendments and listened to the debate on them, I feel that they point compellingly to the argument presented by my right hon. Friend the Member for North-West Cambridgeshire (Sir B. Mawhinney). I also think that the argument has developed during the debate. We should be grateful to the hon. Member for Finchley and Golders Green (Dr. Vis) for...
Andrew Lansley: We have had debates in which we have won the arguments, but the Government have won the votes. One thing has arisen from our debate on Tuesday. The hon. Member for Cambridge (Mrs. Campbell) was wont to criticise my recommendation of the local Member of the European Parliament for Cambridgeshire. She fell into a trap, because I found that, on Monday evening, the MEP was in the hon. Lady's...
Andrew Lansley: The hon. Gentleman is clearly ignorant of the facts. There has been no reflection on the impact of the Bill on incumbent MEPs. In respect of the incumbent MEP for my area, there would be a differential vote in his favour under a first-past-the-post system or an open list system because he is an excellent MEP. The Government are pursuing a closed list system, designed to make it an...
Andrew Lansley: Will the hon. Lady heed warnings from bodies such as the CBI and the British Chambers of Commerce that statutory interest payments may lead to longer contract payment terms between companies and their suppliers? Consequently, will she amend the legislation?