When he last met trade unions in Northern Ireland to discuss the implications of sectarianism for the peace process. [65799]

The trade union movement in Northern Ireland has been at the forefront of the campaign against sectarianism, particularly in the workplace.

I thank my right hon. Friend for his reply. All across the House there is recognition of the sterling work of the trade unions in Northern Ireland, not only in fighting for certain issues in the workplace but in combating sectarianism. Will my right hon. Friend review how the trade unions in Northern Ireland can become more involved and included in the work of the broader civic Northern Ireland?

Yes, indeed, I am happy to pay tribute to the trade unions. As part of the discussions on sectarianism that I have been having with a range of bodies, I have been meeting the trade unions and discussing with them what they can contribute. It is a particularly challenging problem in Northern Ireland because, unfortunately, we have recently seen an increase in attacks on bus drivers and essential emergency services. This reached a new low yesterday when a cortege and hearse in Londonderry were pelted with stones and paint-bombed. That is the lowest of the low—beneath contempt. Where are we when we cannot even treat the dead with dignity? I am sure that I speak for the whole House when I say that those who are laying their loved ones to rest should be afforded—if anyone should be—at least a dignified funeral at the culmination of their loved one's life.

I am sure that the Secretary of State will be happy to convey to the hon. Member for Strathkelvin and Bearsden (Mr. Lyons) the fact that trade unions—whose work in dealing with intimidation in the workplace I, too, applaud—are represented in the civic forum in Northern Ireland, which represents those elements of civic society not directly represented in the Assembly.

I agree with much of what the right hon. Gentleman says. A report yesterday from the University of Ulster about the further polarisation of opinions made depressing reading. I have no doubt that sectarianism is at least part of the problem with which we are confronted. We have seen street violence where there has been some involvement by paramilitaries. That is part of the reason why there is a need to restore confidence in the peace process.

Are not trade unions in Northern Ireland to be complimented not only on their formal campaigns against sectarianism in the workplace but on their day-to-day activities, in which Catholic and Protestant workers are drawn together in seeking decent wages and conditions? Some of us are of the opinion that membership of the Labour party should be permitted so that that such activity can be continued in those areas.

I hear what my hon. Friend says, and I know that that view is shared by many in the Labour party. Notwithstanding the fact that the Labour party is not at present organised in Northern Ireland, I hope he would accept that many of the measures that the Labour Government have introduced—the legal right to membership of trade unions, the minimum wage, the working families tax credit, the extra expenditure provided to the Northern Ireland Assembly for quality public services—have an impact on the social and economic environment of many areas in Northern Ireland.

Given the Secretary of State's comments about the report released yesterday by the University of Ulster, which indicated the increasing sectarianism and increasing polarisation in Northern Ireland, allied with the recent police report which indicated that community relations are at an all-time low and that violence has been at an all-time high in the past eight years, what plans has he to put in place a political process in Northern Ireland that has the possibility of attracting Unionist as well as nationalist support?

As the hon. Gentleman knows, we have a political process and, indeed, a wider peace process under way in Northern Ireland that has received far more backing than any alternative that I have ever heard of. If he knows of an alternative that he thinks can command the support that the present process commanded in referendums north and south of the border, I would be glad to hear of it, but I have not so far heard of it from him or his colleagues. Surely part of combating sectarianism and polarised attitudes is the capacity of all politicians from all parties and all walks of life to reach out beyond their own community to try to understand the position adopted by the other community in Northern Ireland. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman attempts to do that just as much as I do.

I strongly agree with the Secretary of State's comments about the incident in Londonderry. It is particularly disappointing that it should happen in Derry, where I hope to be on Monday, because that city has had a very good record during the past few months. I also thoroughly endorse his appeal for forbearance and for everyone to use their influence to try to avoid violence next weekend, during coming weekends and, of course, beyond then.

Because the Taoiseach did not say that; he said that he expected that we could make rapid progress towards the culmination of decommissioning before May of next year. I would certainly hope that that is the position, and the Taoiseach has made his views known. There is no difference on this issue between the Irish and the British Governments. We have continually made it plain that the process has to proceed to the eventual disbandment of all paramilitaries. We want that to happen as soon as possible. We also make it absolutely plain that, if anyone is under any illusion that there is a halfway house that can comfortably accommodate successful political intervention as well as the maintenance of a high level of paramilitary activity, we have to get rid of that illusion.

I am afraid that we have another example of self-delusion by the British Government. The Taoiseach did say that; I used the quotation correctly. I shall now hand the right hon. Gentleman the document which quotes from the Dail record of 17 April. The Taoiseach did use the word "determination". He spoke of his

"determination that this will not drift on into election time in the North next year."

You won't mind, Mr. Speaker, if I tidy up the Desk.

After four months!

I am afraid that we are about 10 months away from the next election. The hon. Gentleman is keen on deadlines, and he is now ascribing the deadlines to the Taoiseach, whom—with great respect to him—I meet occasionally, and I am familiar with what he says publicly and privately. We are, of course, determined that, as far as is humanly possible, we get advances on decommissioning and on demilitarisation of paramilitary organisations. The whole House wishes to see that achieved. It is something that we have been trying to achieve in Northern Ireland since the origins of the state. It is easy to make trite points to the effect that it should be finished by next week or the following week.

If he will make a statement on progress made in tackling smuggling in Northern Ireland. [658001]

What progress the Government have made in combating organised crime in Northern Ireland. [65804]

This year—for the first time in five years—legal deliveries of oil products in Northern Ireland have risen, which, in large part, is thanks to the successful disruption of fuel smuggling rings. Since April last year, Customs has seized more than 63 million smuggled cigarettes in Northern Ireland. Clearly, there is much more to do, as the Select Committee report has shown, but I congratulate my partners engaged in the organised crime taskforce on their efforts and their success to date.

I thank my hon. Friend for that reply, and I am sure that we are all gratified by the progress that is being made. Does my hon. Friend agree that one of the problems in the Northern Ireland context is that much of the smuggling contributes to the funds of paramilitary organisations on both sides of the sectarian divide? Is she satisfied that the legal process in Northern Ireland gives proper recognition to that when it takes account of the people who carry out that smuggling?

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that question. The organised crime taskforce was established because we recognise the links that exist between those engaged in organised crime and paramilitary organisations in Northern Ireland. Of the more than 70 different organised crime networks, we acknowledge that probably half have links to paramilitaries. That is precisely the reason why, through the organised crime taskforce, we have adopted a multi-agency approach to tackling anyone engaged in organised crime. By doing so, we know that we will catch in the net those who would use the proceeds of that activity for terrorist purposes. We find it easier to bring those individuals to justice through the operations of the organised crime taskforce. The effect is the same.

Would my hon. Friend agree that, for many terrorists, the accumulation of personal wealth comes before the political aims of a united Ireland or of maintenance of the union? Will she reassure the House that the Proceeds of Crime Bill will be used with enthusiasm and vigour to confiscate the property of gangsters who, even now, are buying up Southfork-style homes in Northern Ireland? Some are even applying for planning permission for swimming pools next door, without there being any evidence that they have the legitimate income to do so.

My hon. Friend is right. Later this year, the Assets Recovery Agency, a statutory body, will be an important extra weapon in the armoury that we will be able to deploy against organised criminals. As he rightly points out, to the great irritation of the ordinary, decent people of Northern Ireland, these criminals flaunt in the face of everyone else the assets and wealth that they have gained through their activities.

The Government lose about £400 million a year as a result of petrol and diesel smuggling across the border. What do they intend to do to enforce law-abiding practice, and is the Minister willing to accept representations from those who represent the law-abiding people who sell fuel in Northern Ireland? They are absolutely desperate for support in terms of law enforcement in the Province.

The hon. Gentleman is right. In the United Kingdom context, the problem of fuel smuggling and laundering is unique to Northern Ireland because of the long land border and the problem of policing areas such as South Armagh. Many resources are being deployed to tackle the problem, and there have been many successes, including recent successes in which significant smuggling and fuel laundering plans and networks have been disrupted. I commend the work of Customs and Excise officers, the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the other agencies who work under the umbrella of the organised crime taskforce. They are having a real impact—so much so that, as I said earlier, we are beginning to see an increase in the amount of legal fuel being delivered to the Province.

Will the Minister comment on the difference in fuel duties north and south of the border in Ireland and on the impact that the fuel duty differential has on the proprietors of filling stations in Northern Ireland?

There is no doubt that there is an impact. The fuel price differential is one of the factors that encourages those who would engage in criminal activity to smuggle fuel. However, those individuals would smuggle something else or engage in another form of criminal activity in other circumstances. The tax differential is a factor, but not the only one. The Government need to bring together all the law enforcement agencies and make sure that their policies, procedures and energies are directed towards tackling the individuals engaged in such activities and towards disrupting and interrupting whatever criminal activity they carry out. That is the taskforce's focus, and that is why we are having the success that we are.

Given that the petrol industry is the biggest cross-border industry, will the Minister and the Secretary of State strongly support the proposals that I have put to the Chancellor of the Exchequer to save the petrol industry? The tax on fuel has closed petrol stations in Derry, Tyrone, Fermanagh, Newry and Armagh, and instead of bringing the Government extra money, the tax has lost them £400 million a year because fuel is being bought on the other side of the border. Will the Minister therefore ask the Chancellor to act strongly on my proposals to restore the petrol industry in the border counties of Northern Ireland? [Interruption.]

Order. Before the Minister replies, may I remind hon. Members that it is only courtesy to remain quiet during Question Time?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Tax and taxation policy are matters for my right hon. Friend the Chancellor. We have regular discussions and constantly monitor the situation, particularly the impact that the duty has on legitimate businesses. Indeed, I have met representatives of the fuel retail industry in Northern Ireland. Tax evasion is not the only issue; many other factors are involved. Criminals are taking through the Irish countryside—both north and south of the border—dangerous vehicles containing huge amounts of fuel in very risky conditions. We should oppose such practice, and the Government and every law enforcement agency should work with the utmost vigour to stop the smuggling of fuel and other commodities in that way.

What sums have been earmarked by his Department for grants to voluntary bodies in 2002–03. [65801]

In Northern Ireland there are an estimated 5,000 voluntary and community groups. Some £;200 million of public money is invested each year in grants to these bodies, which includes European funding. For this financial year, the Northern Ireland Office has earmarked more than £1 million for Victim Support Northern Ireland, £400,000 for the Northern Ireland Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders and nearly £300,000 for Extern, which focuses its work on young offenders.

One of the great values of the voluntary sector in Northern Ireland is that it is one way of keeping the lines of communication open between the communities. Given the importance of the voluntary sector to the peace process, will the Minister agree to meet representatives of the sector to discuss their role fully?

I, or perhaps more appropriately my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State, will be happy to meet representatives of voluntary organisations. Such meetings have taken place and I am sure that a request will be received sympathetically.

What aid have the Government given to women's voluntary organisations such as the Women's Support Network, which does such great work in both communities, especially among working-class women in Belfast?

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State met representatives of women's organisations as recently as, I think, the night before last. Representations are received regularly. I cannot give the hon. Lady the exact figures, but I undertake to get those to her in the next few days.

If he will make a statement on the security situation in Northern Ireland. [65802]

There are significant residual problems of violence in terms of paramilitarism in Northern Ireland and we will continue to work to ensure that these are eliminated. We have, however, come a long way in counteracting violence and we maintain a security presence commensurate with the level of threat.

While I recognise the depressing and deteriorating level of violence in Northern Ireland, as shown in the answers given by the Secretary of State this afternoon, does he agree that the best way to demonstrate his and the Government's good faith and belief that no violence will be tolerated in Northern Ireland is for him and the Prime Minister to rule out once and for ever an amnesty for Northern Ireland paramilitaries on the run?

We said publicly at Weston Park that there is an issue to resolve. We are intent on doing that, but we have not decided how to resolve it. As far as the general situation is concerned, there is no doubt that violence is intolerable, and we have made it plain that there is no acceptable level of violence in a modern democratic society. We will continue to make that plain, but no one should forget just how far we have come in the past 10 years. There have been enormous improvements in the economy, in the standard of living, and in security in Northern Ireland in terms of the number of people maimed, injured and murdered. That is not to say that we are the least bit complacent. There is a very long way to go.

Following talks at Hillsborough last week, the Prime Minister undertook to introduce proposals to sustain the peace process before the House rises on 24 July. Will the Secretary of State, with the Prime Minister sitting alongside him, confirm that those will be announced in an oral statement to the House?

We will certainly consider that and say what we have to say before the House rises.

The Secretary of State said that there is a residual security problem, yet the number of regular police officers with the Police Service of Northern Ireland has gone down to 6,952, several hundred below the number recommended by Chris Patten for normal circumstances. Will the Secretary of State now give a commitment to the retention of the full-time police reserves for the foreseeable future, because it is clear that they are indispensable?

First, the hon. Gentleman is incorrect; Patten envisaged that number not in normal circumstances, but in more benign circumstances than we have at present. I agree that we are below the level that we should have by several hundred, as he pointed out, which is precisely why we are recruiting about 50 per cent. more a year than was envisaged in the Patten proposals.

If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 10 July.

This morning, I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall be having further meetings later today.

Is the Prime Minister aware that the lack of affordable housing in the south-east is not only causing us difficulties in delivering our public service commitments but causing despair to decent families? Will he use the comprehensive spending review to increase the supply of affordable housing in London and the south-east?

There is no doubt that that is a serious issue. We have to ensure that we retain the green belt, and since we came to office some 30,000 hectares have been added to it. We must retain the existing 60:40 split between brownfield and greenfield developments, which we increased. We also have to make sure that there is more affordable housing in London and the south-east. That is one of the issues that the comprehensive spending review will address on Monday, and that is permissible only because of the extra investment that we are putting into our public services. As has been made clear, most recently yesterday, that investment is opposed by the Conservative party

Why should anyone now have confidence in the Government's new drugs policy when the Prime Minister's own drugs tsar has resigned, saying that it is all wrong?

Perhaps for this reason: the change proposed by the Home Secretary, which he will give details of later, is supported by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, which includes many senior police officers, by the Home Affairs Committee, which includes Conservative MPs, by the Association of Chief Police Officers, which is the association of chief constables, and by the Metropolitan police. It is clear that there will be differences of opinion on all sides, and it would be absurd to say that everybody is of the same view. If the right hon. Gentleman listened to the arguments, he would find that they are supported by all the people whom I have just listed.

I notice that the Prime Minister failed to say why Keith Hellawell, his drugs tsar, who has now resigned, said that the policy was wrong. It is worth reminding everyone that the Prime Minister said of Keith Hellawell, believing that he was a very good man, that he had

"a formidable record of tackling drugs".

"a softening of the law and sending the wrong message".

Keith Hellawell's work on issues such as drugs education and spending on treatment, which has doubled in recent years, has been extremely important. The right hon. Gentleman says that this is a question of preferring Keith Hellawell's views to those of the Home Secretary, but my point is that one could ask whether it is a question of preferring Keith Hellawell's views to those of the Association of Chief Police Officers or the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, which are experts in this field.

I could not agree with the Prime Minister more about the need to have a proper debate, but we can hardly have a proper debate when the Home Secretary, without disclosing any evidence whatever, comes to the House and tells us that the law is to be changed. Worse than that, the Prime Minister knows that his Home Secretary bases that change on the Lambeth experiment. If the Prime Minister listened to the radio today, he will know that people who work on the Stockwell Park estate say:

"Our children are being told that it is OK to get stoned because nobody has the right to challenge you on this."

In relation to Lambeth, as I pointed out to the right hon. Gentleman a moment or two ago, there will be differences of opinion. I think that he found that himself. The independent Police Foundation poll found most people in Lambeth in favour, but of course there will be people against the change.

Last week the Prime Minister outlined the results of the G8 summit in Canada, which included a substantial initiative to remove weapons of mass destruction—chemical and otherwise—from the face of the globe. Can my right hon. Friend outline to the House what the British contribution to that most worthwhile and essential initiative will be?

Very roughly, we will be allocating about $750 million to that programme over the next 10 years. We are currently allocating about $51 million to it. That allows us to clean up facilities—nuclear facilities, or chemical or biological weapons facilities. The important point is not merely the environmental benefits, but stopping such weapons of mass destruction falling into the wrong, and possibly terrorist, hands. It is an important programme, and I thank my hon. Friend for his support.

Applications this year from Scottish students to attend university are up by 5.5 per cent. The equivalent increase in applications from students in England is up by only 0.5 per cent. How does the Prime Minister explain that difference?

In fact, since we introduced student fees, applications are significantly up, by more than 0.5 per cent. Of course the right hon. Gentleman can argue that we could provide tuition free, but he knows that under the Scottish experiment, people do pay at the end—indeed, everyone pays.

Not only have tuition fees been abolished in the Scottish context but, in addition, grants have been reintroduced for students from poorer backgrounds. In England, students face the prospect of ever-rising levels of debt. Will the Prime Minister deny this week's reports that, in the light of that evidence, the Government are considering increasing the level of fees that some students in England will have to pay? Given the evidence available, such a policy would be totally unacceptable.

First, I remind the right hon. Gentleman that he and his colleagues said that numbers of applications for universities in England and Wales would fall as result of tuition fees, but they have not—they have risen. Secondly, let me point out to him that we are putting more money into universities, but it is important to recognise that we will never be able to go back to the old grant system—not with the numbers of people who are going through universities. Moreover, he is wrong to say that all people from poorer backgrounds pay tuition fees—more than 40 per cent. of them are exempt from tuition fees.

Given that the air travel industry throughout the world suffered a great loss of business after 11 September last year, will my right hon. Friend join me in congratulating the management and staff at Glasgow airport in my constituency, where business has increased by 5.7 per cent. in that period? Will he thank them for their hard work and investment and for holding their nerve during that time?

That is a tough one, but I am going to answer it. I entirely agree with what my hon. Friend says and congratulate the staff at Glasgow airport on the excellent service that they provide.

The Prime Minister will no doubt recall the statement made in November 1998 by Lord Robertson, who committed the Government to the purchase of 232 Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft. May I invite the Prime Minister to tell the House that there is no truth in today's press reports that the Government are to renege on that commitment, and that they will purchase all 232 Eurofighter aircraft?

There is no change in our commitment to the Eurofighter.

Last month, the Scottish Council Foundation issued a report showing that if Glasgow is to reach the Scottish average for the percentage of its population in employment, an additional 40,000 jobs are required to be created in the city. Can the Prime Minister assure the House that in the forthcoming comprehensive spending review, the Government will place continued priority on reaching full employment for all, especially in areas of special need such as Glasgow?

Obviously, there are still pockets of very high unemployment in my hon. Friend's constituency and in others, and we will continue to address them in the comprehensive spending review and elsewhere. However, I think she will agree that the measures that have produced one and a quarter million extra jobs in the British economy have been achieved through a combination of low interest rates, low inflation and the new deal for the long-term unemployed, which has given hundreds of thousands of people the chance to get decent work for the first time in their lives. Again I point out that the new deal was of course opposed by the Conservative party.

Will the Prime Minister join me in congratulating my constituents in Shetland, who succeeded in raising more than £20,000 in six weeks for the purchase, operation and training of a drugs detector sniffer dog, a resource that is now much appreciated by police on the islands who are combating a growing hard drugs problem? Can I ask him to intervene with the senior management of Her Majesty's Customs and Excise, who have demonstrated a very poor attitude towards that community initiative, refused to allow local officers to use it, and insisted that our ports in Shetland can be covered by dogs based in Manchester?

I am happy to congratulate the hon. Gentleman's constituents on what they have done. As for the second part of his question, if he will forgive me I do not know the details of the matter, so I shall have to write to him about it.

This morning, ASW, which has steel mills in Cardiff and in Sheerness in my constituency, went into receivership. President Bush's steel tariff proposals may have been the last straw for UK banks in respect of our overdraft facility for ASW. Does the Prime Minister think that the World Trade Organisation has the systems in place to react more speedily—within days, rather than months—on this issue, because that announcement has had a profound and devastating impact on my community today?

Let me first express my sympathy to my hon. Friend's constituents. We greatly regret that ASW Holdings plc has applied for receivership. As my hon. Friend knows, meetings took place with him, Ministers, the company and others to try to avoid the situation. Unfortunately, that did not happen but we shall do everything possible to help those employed by the company.

Last week, the Prime Minister told the House that new restrictions on care homes

"do not come into effect until 2007."

From memory, I said that provisions for matters such as widening rooms and bathing would take effect in 2007, and that those were the regulations about which people were complaining. I do not accept the right hon. Gentleman's comments. On our information, my remarks last week were accurate.

I know that the Pope is meant to be infallible, but I did not realise that that applied to the Prime Minister. He said of the regulations that they

"do not come into effect until 2007."—[Official Report, 3 July 2002; Vol. 388, c. 221.]

First, I said that the provisions that related to matters about which people were complaining, such as widening rooms, would not take effect until 2007. That is my understanding.

The Prime Minister should ensure that he surrounds himself with friends before taking people's advice. The number of people who receive care at home has fallen by 80,000 since he took office. If elderly people cannot get places in care homes and they are not being looked after at home, does he agree that the message from the Government is, "Fend for yourself'?

No, I do not accept that. I am afraid that we disagree about the figures. However, it is obvious that if people need more care, whether in care homes or in their own homes, we need to invest in provision for that. Yesterday, the Leader of the Opposition and the shadow Chancellor committed themselves to opposing the extra money for investment in health and education. The right hon. Gentleman started by believing that he would go for compassionate Conservatism, but he has reverted to the proposals for cuts—precisely the same position adopted by the Conservatives in the previous Parliament. Indeed, after their public spending announcements yesterday, the right hon. Gentleman must be the only known disciple of Hagueism.

Will my right hon. Friend join me in congratulating Stockton's drugs action team? It has more than 800 young people in treatment, 500 of whom are testing clean and 200 of whom are testing clean permanently. However, we have a problem with chaotic drug users—people who are spending more than £45 a day by stealing from anybody. Those people are outside the loop. Does he think that it is time we gave serious consideration to allowing supervised prescriptions of heroin so that we can break the link with the drug dealers and also get those young people into a system of support?

I hear what my hon. Friend says. The most important thing is to ensure that persistent drug abusers are getting treatment. That is precisely why we have radically increased provision. What is happening in her constituency is happening in other constituencies too. Indeed, we have a target to increase dramatically the number of drug users who are receiving treatment in the next few years. I also believe, however, that drug treatment and testing orders are a further important innovation. In the areas where they have been piloted—more than 6,000 have been granted—they mean that people who may go to prison, and are criminals, are faced with a choice: they may either have drug treatment or they will go to prison.

The secondary schools in the constituencies represented by the five Education Ministers receive 20 per cent. more funding than the schools in my Wiltshire constituency. That gap has widened since 1997. Given that the Prime Minister and his Ministers have consistently assured the House that they are looking at that problem, when can Wiltshire schoolchildren expect to receive a fair slice of the funding cake?

First, there is an increase of more than £11 million to the Wiltshire LEA on last year, so that is the good news, but I have to say to the hon. Gentleman that he and his hon. Friends had better wake up to what happened yesterday. His shadow Chancellor and his leader said that the answer was not money. Indeed, they wanted to cut the amount going to education. I am afraid that they are in a lot of trouble. Every Conservative Member who gets up from now on and asks for more money for schools, hospitals, transport or crime will, I am afraid, have to go down under the category of rebel.

While the rain has been falling throughout the UK this week, the sun has been shining in Formby, where for the first time, we have been organising an arts festival. The festival has been made possible through lottery funding, and I know that many other constituencies throughout the UK have received similar funding to celebrate Britishness and community in this year of jubilee. What other measures can my right hon. Friend take to ensure that this is not a one-off event and that the sun keeps shining on that part of the world?

Interesting requests come to Prime Ministers. The unfortunate thing about bank holidays marking particular events is that if we were to grant every request for a bank holiday that was made to us, very few people would be at work at any point in time. Of course, we try to make provision for sensible bank holidays, and I point out to my hon. Friend and to her constituents who are enjoying the sunshine that, as a result of the Government's signing up to the social chapter, we have paid holidays for the first time in this country as of right rather than at the discretion of the employer.

In a parliamentary reply on 11 June, I was told:

"It is for the French railway industry and public authorities to ensure that rail freight through the channel tunnel is not disrupted".—[Official Report, 11 June 2002; Vol. 386, c. 1133W.]

"The Strategic Rail Authority … will contribute to the cost of works in progress".—[Official Report, 1 July 2002; Vol. 388, c. 103W.]

Of course the French have a responsibility for this matter, but it is very much in our interest to help them to discharge that responsibility. I would have thought that the hon. Lady supported the moves to tighten security and achieve the September deadline for restoring the freight service to its proper position. It is not a question of either us or the French doing this; we have to do it together, and that is what we will do.

When he next plans to visit Blackpool.

I will visit Blackpool in the autumn.

May I assure my right hon. Friend that he will be warmly welcomed back to a Blackpool that has had three sure start schemes, one of the best-used NHS walk-in centres in the country, and major sea defences all completed in the last 12 months? May I also remind him, however, that Blackpool has 11 million visits a year, and that those visits are not fully funded by the money that is given for policing, health and social services? Given that we are having a fundamental review of local government finance, will he at least talk to his colleagues about this factor, which disadvantages Blackpool and other seaside towns?

Let me congratulate my hon. Friend's constituents on the significant advances that they have made on the facilities in Blackpool and on the changes in schools and health, which are important for them. On visitors' costs, he will know that there is a consultation at the moment; some options include provision for this, and some do not. This is obviously a matter that we will consider very carefully, but, at this time, I cannot give him a determined view.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that there are 6,500 parents, including 30 in the Medway towns, struggling to bring up their children in bed-and-breakfast hotels, where they are forced to share a bathroom, toilet and kitchen? Is it not the case that compassionate words are simply not good enough for these children? Will he give a commitment that the £35 million provided to tackle this issue will be continued in the comprehensive spending review so that we can put an end, once and for all, to this hellhole-type accommodation that blights the lives of our children?

We have set a time limit of March 2004 by which to ensure that no homeless family with children is in bed-and-breakfast accommodation for more than six weeks. My hon. Friend is right to say that we have put £35 million into tackling this. Obviously, he will have to wait for the comprehensive spending review to find out the details of that. To return to the first question that I was asked this afternoon, the other thing that is necessary is to increase the levels of affordable housing and social housing in London, the south-east and elsewhere, because that is one of the things that will relieve the pressure on homelessness and avoid what I agree is the wholly unacceptable situation in which families are in bed-and-breakfast accommodation for long periods of time.

Is the Prime Minister aware that all the members of the Ulster Democratic Unionist party in this House have received a warning from the police of a threat to their lives? Does he know that each one of us has had attempts on our lives in the past, by both bomb and bullet? Is he aware that the authorities have not only refused, in some cases, to make any provision of security for these Members of Parliament, but lavishly given security provision to many members of paramilitary organisations? Further to my letter to the Prime Minister of 4 July, delivered by hand, will he now agree to meet the Democratic Unionist Members of the House to discuss this issue?

I shall be perfectly happy to meet the hon. Gentleman and his delegation—of course I will. In relation to protection, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has just indicated to me that, if the hon. Gentleman has particular concerns, he would be happy to meet him to discuss them. We obviously put forward protection for people on the basis of the advice that we receive, and I cannot really say any more than that about it. I do not think that it would be very sensible of me to speculate on levels of threat. I would simply say that, for all of us who have been Members of Parliament for many years, but not in Northern Ireland, it is sometimes difficult to understand the degree of courage that it takes to be a politician of any democratic description there. Even though the hon. Gentleman and I disagree on many things, I think that he and all his colleagues in the Ulster Unionist party and elsewhere who are democratic politicians deserve our thanks for persevering with the democratic commitment in the face of such threats.

Given the Prime Minister's visit to Dundee earlier in the year, I am sure that he shares my joy at the announcement two weeks ago by a Canadian company called Arius 3D on the creation of 250 high-tech jobs in Dundee. The decision was taken, according to the president of that company, on the basis of Dundee's growing international reputation as a centre of innovation and expertise in life sciences and other technologies. Will my right hon. Friend join me in paying tribute to the two universities and to companies such as NCR and Michelin, which have done so much to give Dundee that position and the growing added value from such jobs?

I well remember my visit to Dundee and to Cyclacel, which is a new technology company in my hon. Friend's constituency. The two things that are most important at the moment are, first, carrying on the relationship between universities and business—Dundee university and Abertay university have been pioneers in the link between business and universities—and, secondly, the significance of science and biotechnology for the future of this country. I hope that the investment that we are making in science and the Government's strong commitment to science ensure that many more companies come to my hon. Friend's constituency and to others up and down the country.