Nia Griffith: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for allowing me to make my maiden speech during this debate on the Queen's Speech on industry and the environment, which are themes of immense importance to us all. Before I begin, I congratulate the hon. Member for Wimbledon (Stephen Hammond) on an excellent maiden speech. I have learned many things about Wimbledon that I did not know 10 minutes ago. He may...
Nia Griffith: Will the Home Secretary tell us what measures will be put in place to prevent the sale of replica guns and plastic ammunition from catalogues sent out by companies based both here and abroad?
Nia Griffith: If he will make a statement on the launch of the national school of government for the civil service.
Nia Griffith: Many of my constituents work as civil servants or use their services. Can my hon. Friend assure the House that the national school of government will provide high-quality professional training for civil servants and help deliver better services for the users?
Nia Griffith: There is an alternative. Carmarthenshire county council in Wales consulted its tenants on what future they wanted for their housing stock. The response was 90 per cent. in favour of keeping it in-house and keeping the county council as landlord. That was not because the tenant groups are compliant, as anyone who has been to their meetings will know. They are well aware of the shortcomings of...
Nia Griffith: Does my right hon. Friend agree that the scheme would provide a genuine incentive for individuals to seek more environmentally friendly forms of transport and that it would also be of benefit to those pensioners who use their cars only once or twice a week and thus do not get value for money out of the present system?
Nia Griffith: As we remember all those who have been personally affected by today's tragedy, the overriding message must be one of calm and of avoiding knee-jerk reactions. I say this as someone who lived in Italy in 1978, when terrorist acts included the kidnapping and murdering of the then Italian Prime Minister. I know that Members will agree that we must be determined not to give in to terrorism. As we...
Nia Griffith: What steps she is taking to ensure that the implementation of the Licensing Act 2003 will take local concerns into account.
Nia Griffith: Although I welcome the Minister's reassurances that local views will be respected in granting licences, what chance will my constituents have of getting licences revoked or limited if they are not working well in practice?
Nia Griffith: Given the utter contempt that Leanne Wood is showing for constituents by describing casework that a Plaid Cymru regional Assembly Member did for 2,500 constituents as a waste of time, because canvassing returns showed that few of them were inclined to vote for Plaid Cymru, will the Secretary of State order a thorough investigation into the role of regional AMs, and seek to establish whether...
Nia Griffith: It is with dismay and incomprehension that I find myself asking the Minister to explain why we are facing job losses at Llangennech, where up-to-date, state-of-the-art equipment has recently been installed. Although unemployment levels have come down rapidly in that area in recent years, it is still very much harder to find alternative employment there than in many of the more prosperous...
Nia Griffith: Given that increasing aggression is shown towards our emergency workers, will my right hon. Friend announce as a matter of urgency a new date for the cancelled Second Reading on 24 February of the private Member's Bill promoted by my right hon. Friend the Member for Swansea, West (Mr. Williams), the Father of the House, which would extend to emergency workers the same sort of protection...
Nia Griffith: Does my hon. Friend look forward to the day when a child drawing a house will automatically include solar panels and a wind charger in the picture?
Nia Griffith: Many, many state school pupils go on to have successful university careers and many students who start off by doing dual science end up doing separate science at A-level. The hon. Lady's blanket criticism is unnecessary.
Nia Griffith: Is my hon. Friend, like me, puzzled by the three-year limit on the admissions policy? It seems that the idea of having an admissions policy is washed away if, after three years, schools can do what they like. If some schools are scrabbling for the brightest pupils, that may leave other schools out in the cold. That would completely distort the balanced picture that the admissions policy is...
Nia Griffith: On Friday 11 November, time ran out for the Management of Energy in Buildings Bill precisely because of the determination of the right hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Mr. Forth), ably aided and abetted by the hon. Member for Forest of Dean (Mr. Harper), who did their utmost to talk out that Bill. I should like to ask the right hon. Member for West Dorset (Mr. Letwin) if he can...
Nia Griffith: To be fair to the hon. Gentleman, I meant the right hon. Member for West Dorset, because he was present for the debate and I assume that he will sum up. Am I right, Mr. Deputy Speaker?
Nia Griffith: The Bill sets out the necessary legislation for the freedom of movement of workers from Romania and Bulgaria. Hand in hand with the Bill, we need to examine carefully what happens when migrant workers come to this country from new EU member states. Many of these workers are enticed here by promises of terms and conditions that sound better in theory than they do in reality. We need...
Nia Griffith: What representations is the Minister making to Arriva Trains about what I call the peapod train—a minuscule green train that runs from Llanelli westwards and never has enough places for its passengers?
Nia Griffith: I very much welcome the publication today of the UK presidency's proposal on the financial perspective 2007–13. Leading European Union member states in agreement on such an immensely important issue as the budget for 2007–13 is tremendously challenging. It is particularly challenging when we remember that any agreement must be unanimous and that every member state wants to go home with a...