Andrew Pelling: Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Andrew Pelling: I want to congratulate the hon. Gentleman and his colleagues on opening up the debate by having the courage to talk about this matter publicly. Is it not right that such a debate should take place during a general election, and not be postponed by the Conservative party or Labour party until afterwards, when patients' influence will be minimised?
Andrew Pelling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his Department issues guidance to police forces on the provision of vehicular support to police officers investigating suspected gang-related activity.
Andrew Pelling: What progress is being made in preparing for the Queen's diamond jubilee celebrations.
Andrew Pelling: Does the Minister agree that we would do well to follow the lead of the Secretary of State's grandfather by having a festival of Britain in 2012, when so many people will be coming to the UK for the Olympics? We could celebrate business talents, perhaps a recovering economy and what we have to offer outside the financial sector in terms of manufacturing and technology.
Andrew Pelling: I shall try to get away with making two points. Is that not a comment on the way in which British politics no longer works? The Minister is constantly saying that everything is at arm's length, but it means that there is no accountability. If he is accountable, perhaps he should take account of the fact that the Croydon office is shown to have the lowest unit costs in staffing terms. Is not...
Andrew Pelling: I do not want to irritate the Minister, as we are supplicants at his feet, but it would be most unfortunate if the final result was that offices were closed only in the constituencies of Opposition Members, rather than of Government Members.
Andrew Pelling: I rise to make a brief intervention and to congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing this important debate, which has implications for us all in terms of Land Registry closures in the south-east. I would like to underline his point about the prospective expense as it applies to Croydon. Would it not be ironic for the Land Registry to find itself making a huge financial loss when selling the...
Andrew Pelling: Will the Minister give way?
Andrew Pelling: As this is the season for giving way, I will intervene at this stage. I apologise, Mr. Jones, for not being here for the first 10 minutes of the debate. I am mortified that I was not here for my leader's speech. The Government are to be congratulated on the amount of money that they have provided to the NHS and on the transformation that the Minister has spoken about, but will he acknowledge...
Andrew Pelling: Will the Minister give way one more time?
Andrew Pelling: It is also my pleasure, on this first evening of the new, improved procedures for the presentation of petitions, to present a petition initiated initially by me, but supported very much by the Spring Park residents association, under the strong leadership of its secretary, Marzia Nicodemi-Ehikioya. The petition concerns the important matter of how the national health service and local...
Andrew Pelling: May I offer an example of a positive response from the NHS? In my local area, it has been very willing to work with the Royal British Legion on a special centre for those returning with combat stress. Officials at Mayday Healthcare NHS Trust made a great effort to respond quickly and positively to the need.
Andrew Pelling: I am sorry to disrupt the dialogue, which should obviously be encouraged-the Secretary of State is taking a justifiably pugnacious approach-but may I ask this question? Obviously, extra equipment improves morale, but could morale also be improved if Ministers attended when fallen heroes return to this country?
Andrew Pelling: Will the Secretary of State give way?
Andrew Pelling: What recent discussions he has had with media representatives on the portrayal of women in (a) publications and (b) broadcasts.
Andrew Pelling: I was encouraged by the positive response from the Leader of the House when I raised a similar issue on Thursday. Has the Minister been able to take cognisance of the report from the Royal College of Psychiatrists, which suggested joint working between advertisers, media, Government and physicians to deal with this very important issue?
Andrew Pelling: Can the Leader of the House tell me where it would be best to raise the issue of the report published this week by members of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, headed by Dr. Adrienne Key? Dr. Key claims that there is a real link between anorexia and the size of models depicted in the media, and has suggested the establishment of a body consisting of the Government, physicians, media...
Andrew Pelling: Whether he has had recent discussions with representatives of the university of East Anglia on the work of its climatic research unit.
Andrew Pelling: Does the Minister not agree, though, that it would be useful to have such conversations with that climate change unit in order to argue that, for the sake of belief and faith in climate change, those figures should be credible? Do you think that we should ask the university to conduct an independent inquiry, or, if it is unable to do so, that the Government themselves should initiate an...