Bob Laxton: I would like to present to the House of Commons this petition of the Friends of Elvaston, residents of Derbyshire and others against the proposed planning application to lease Elvaston Castle country park in Derby to private developers, in support of a similar petition recently presented to me with 5,200 signatures. The petition states: The Petitioners therefore request that the House of...
Bob Laxton: I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Bedford (Patrick Hall) on securing this debate. I acknowledge-no, more than acknowledge-the comments made by my hon. Friend the Member for Crawley (Laura Moffatt) about awarding the contract to Bombardier, which is a UK-based company. It is clear from the debate that some hon. Members in the Chamber have far more knowledge about the ins and outs...
Bob Laxton: I agree entirely. That is why it is vital that a UK-based company should win the work. I am on record as being somewhat critical-that is perhaps an understatement-of some of the ordering processes at the Department for Transport. The most recent example involved the inter-city express contract being awarded to Agility Trains, a consortium that includes Hitachi of Japan. The contract was said...
Bob Laxton: It is crucial for my constituents and for the rail industry in total that this order goes to the only UK-based train assembler or manufacturer that is left in the country. [Hon. Members: "Hear, hear."] I find it ironic that after 150 years or more of the rail industry, if this order went to a company outside the UK, it could be the end of train manufacturing here in the UK and with it could...
Bob Laxton: Does my hon. Friend agree that that dual pincer financial movement on British Waterways-the cut in the DEFRA grant and the sell-off of the property portfolio-would leave it in an impossible position and make a huge 200-year asset into a liability? Would she, like me, not be surprised if British Waterways were to say to the Government, "We cannot afford to maintain this. This is your problem"?...
Bob Laxton: What assessment he has made of the implications for Government policy in the region of the conclusion of protocols on (a) development of relations and (b) establishment of diplomatic relations between Turkey and Armenia.
Bob Laxton: What further steps can the Government take to encourage both Turkey and Armenia to ratify and implement these protocols, because the benefits will be immense for the region? We need to ensure that momentum in this process is maintained.
Bob Laxton: Let me take up that theme of getting the message over. The vast majority of the population, who have seen so-called ex-masters of the universe such as Goodwin—I prefer not to use the cuddly name "Sir Fred"— walk away with huge sums, would be rightly aggrieved and enraged if the Bill was not given a smooth passage. We are talking about only a small proportion of the sort of money that...
Bob Laxton: Following the decision on the inter-city high-speed trains, does my right hon. Friend agree that the award of the contract to Hitachi/Agility Trains means that if the manufacture of the trains does not involve many UK parts, there could be a sharp decline among companies in the supply chain for the rail industry in the United Kingdom?
Bob Laxton: Decisions on the big transport issues in the south-west, such as rail and road links, are almost always made by the South West of England regional development agency, and even when it does not make the decisions, huge influence is exerted on the decision-making process by the RDA.
Bob Laxton: I am interested that the hon. Gentleman thinks that it is his duty to comment on where the Government are going. I would have thought that it was more his duty to comment on Liberal Democrat views on student fees.
Bob Laxton: I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Sittingbourne and Sheppey (Derek Wyatt) on obtaining this Adjournment debate this morning. My hon. Friend has opened up a few interesting issues and probably set the odd hare or 30 running, given his views on major restructuring of the higher education sector here in the UK. He is a bit like Don Quixote, tilting at windmills, but I am not inclined...
Bob Laxton: I am telling the Minister the obvious, I suppose, because he knows his role better than I do. In December, he will be making decisions about the allocation of £1.9 billion of research funding to universities, and I believe that that allocation will be announced by the funding council in January 2009. It is important that he understands the role of universities such as my local university,...
Bob Laxton: I very much share the views of my hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Blackley (Graham Stringer). My view is simply that the proposals for consultation are fundamentally flawed, that the new tax will not produce the environmental benefits that are claimed for it, that it is unlikely to provide any additional revenue to the Exchequer and that it will simply damage the UK's competitiveness...
Bob Laxton: I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Burton (Mrs. Dean) on her campaign to keep the Bass brewery open. Forty-odd years ago, when Burton was still the brewing capital of the world, and still producing magnificent beers, a few fairly rumbustious friends and I used to travel to Burton by train. I well remember Burton at the time. It used to smell of three things: gasworks, breweries and...
Bob Laxton: It still smells of breweries and Marmite—great place. Here is one of my memories of those days. I was a pint drinker; we drank beer in pints in Derby. I had the unique experience of going into a public house in Burton—I think it was called "The Derby Turn" because, coming from Derby, we would go into "The Derby Turn"—and saying, "I'll have a pint of Bass, please", and hearing the whole...
Bob Laxton: I was well aware that Bass is still brewed. People can still get good copperhead Bass. It is still excellent quality, but it is brewed at Marston's brewery. For those who want to be technical, the Union brewery process is used to make another excellent beer—Marston's Pedigree—but, thankfully, Bass is also brewed there. It would be an absolute tragedy if almost the last name of Bass...
Bob Laxton: The Minister ought to take the opportunity to visit the museum. I have heard little rumours—they might be malicious—that he has been occasionally seen imbibing alcohol, namely beer, in odd places around here. He should go to Martson's brewery and sample a good half pint of Marton's Pedigree, followed by an excellent half pint of copperhead Bass—wonderful; the elixir of life. It would be...
Bob Laxton: What steps his Department is taking to reduce the prevalence of liver disease.
Bob Laxton: I thank my right hon. Friend for that answer. In 2000, liver disease killed more men than Parkinson's disease and more women than cancer of the cervix. The death rate from alcoholic liver disease has doubled in the past 10 years, and one person in 25—4 per cent. of the population—have tested positive for abnormal liver function. Is it not time that we had a proper screening programme for...