Andy Reed: I welcome the statement that we are making some progress in this respect. There has been a bit of a lull over the past few years in trying to negotiate an international treaty. Will my right hon. Friend ensure that small arms, in particular, are central to everything that is done? As she knows, hundreds of thousands of people around the world are killed and maimed every year by the small arms...
Andy Reed: As my hon. Friend knows, I recently visited Kyrgyzstan, which is one of the countries most affected by the reconstruction after the fall of the Soviet Union. Is he aware that Kyrgyzstan's economy is rapidly heading backwards, and that per capita income is in many cases lower than in some parts of sub-Saharan Africa? Is he confident that the EBRD has a role to play in central Asia, and that it...
Andy Reed: I do not wish to diminish the work done by a wide variety of organisations, and I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will mention many of them, but will he recognise that 26 per cent. of all volunteers work in sport? Some 6 million people volunteer in sport regularly, and I speak with a slight vested interest as chair of the National Strategic Partnership for Volunteering in Sport, which brings...
Andy Reed: I have also visited the Eden project. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will agree that one of the project's most impressive points is that unlike some of us who volunteer—I help with my local Beavers group; we go in, we do it and we go away—the commitment shown by the volunteers whom we are talking about is that they live in the communities in which they aim to serve. Does the hon....
Andy Reed: As you are aware, because of your generous support, Mr. Speaker, 100 Members from all parts of the House will be taking part in the Westminster mile for Sport Relief in the next hour or so, to be started by Roger Bannister. Will my right hon. Friend pass on his congratulations to Sport Relief on its work and the projects that it runs? Will he commit himself to taking part, as he did in 2004?...
Andy Reed: My right hon. Friend is correct to highlight the record investment, but, rightly, the question was about the role of volunteers in sport. Does he acknowledge that sports volunteering makes up 26 per cent. of all volunteering? We still have problems in terms of access for many people, the number of Criminal Records Bureau checks and numerous bits of red tape that get in the way of people...
Andy Reed: Thank you, Mr. Taylor. The pressure is on—I understand that. There is a great temptation for people to stand up and say that they will be brief. Having already lost a couple of minutes, I shall try to keep to a narrow point. I thank my right hon. Friend the Member for Oxford, East (Mr. Smith) for securing this debate. It is important that the Minister and his team know the strong feelings...
Andy Reed: I am sure that my right hon. Friend is correct. The alarm that the report will cause should galvanise us all in this country, but without international action much of what we can achieve could be minimal. Only this week, I read that China is building another 48 airports. Taking that into account, together with the Americans not coming on board, it is clear that whatever we do will have...
Andy Reed: I welcome the statement yesterday. In meetings with my farmers recently, they highlighted the genuine concern that many of them have, particularly the smaller farmers, who are finding it difficult to maintain their cash flow. When does my right hon. Friend expect progress to be made under the timetable for improvements to IT? Would it be possible for the RPA to ensure that farmers dealt with...
Andy Reed: Will my hon. Friend ensure that the work done by the Competition Commission on this matter is tied up with his review of Sunday trading liberalisation. If Sunday trading is extended for large superstores, small stores will suffer a further impact. Will he ensure that those two matters are dealt with together?
Andy Reed: I am sure that my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister agrees with me that when local schools have problems, they should be given the opportunity to turn themselves around. Will he join me in condemning Leicestershire county council, which is making the decision this afternoon to close Rosebery primary school, without the opportunity for that school to be given a chance to improve itself over...
Andy Reed: I add my congratulations on the way in which this issue has been dealt with, which demonstrates that there has been cross-party support for getting the wording right throughout the Bill's passage. Opposition Members were right to raise the matter in Committee because the Bill would have somewhat shifted the presumption on the evidence, although we also realised that there was a real need to...
Andy Reed: Does my right hon. Friend agree that the success of the Commonwealth games means that it is even more important that we get those provisions right, because there will obviously be much more media and advertising interest in making the Olympics a success? Will he congratulate all those who have won medals so far, especially Loughborough, which seems to be fifth in the medal table?
Andy Reed: I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to amend the Priests (Ordination of Women) Measure 1993 so as to remove the bar on the consecration of women as bishops; and for connected purposes. It is not often that we get to debate such matters as the consecration of women bishops in this House; indeed, many colleagues have asked why on earth we are involved in such a decision in the...
Andy Reed: I am grateful to my hon. Friend, who is being generous in giving way to Members on both sides of the House. I have expressed in discussions with him concerns over some of the wording and I accept some things that he has been taking forward today. In particular, he has just specifically referred to the fact that existing legislation extends to Sikhs and Jews. What assessment has he made of...
Andy Reed: My hon. Friend knows that I have raised concerns in relation to Charnwood and North West Leicestershire PCT in the past. Is she aware, however, of a campaign that seems to be scaring many of my constituents? On Friday, I received a letter from the PCT, which it has had to write to me and other Members of Parliament for the area, in which it claims that such campaigns are causing unjustifiable...
Andy Reed: Further to that point of order, Mr. Speaker. I thank the hon. Member for Faversham and Mid-Kent (Hugh Robertson) for giving me prior notice of his point of order. As the person who asked the question, I was pleased with the answer that I received. I urge the hon. Gentleman not to ask the Minister to come forward. For the benefit of the House, the question was intended to ask about UK Sport...
Andy Reed: I am probably too young to remember 78s. My right hon. Friend is right to emphasise the success that we have had at school sports and, by 2010 and the lead up to the Olympics, we will have school sports and competition at the level at which we would like to see it. For those areas—Bath, Sheffield and Loughborough—which know what they are doing in terms of elite sports, we recognise the...
Andy Reed: Does my hon. Friend agree that the problem is not always just money, but sometimes the interference of English Heritage? A church in my patch has the ability to raise its own funds and to offer facilities for the local community. However, the rather pedantic way in which English Heritage sometimes gets involved in such projects, holds back churches' ability to make provision for their local...
Andy Reed: I am delighted to discuss the Bill on Third Reading. It has been a great pleasure to take part in the consideration of the Bill, including in Committee. With sport, we often have cross-party consensus on how we want to deliver legislation. That was reflected both in the bid beforehand and in our consideration of the Bill in Committee. The hon. Member for Bath (Mr. Foster) highlighted the...