What recent assessment she has made of the impact of HIV/AIDS on the humanitarian situation in South Africa. [84685].

HIV/AIDS is having a devastating effect on the crises in southern Africa. Drought has exacerbated the consequence of misgovernment in Zambia and Malawi, and particularly in Zimbabwe. The United Nations appeal is only 50 per cent. funded, logistics are difficult, Zambia is refusing to accept genetically modified maize, and as many as one in three of the population are weakened by HIV/AIDS. I am very fearful that by January, a terrible humanitarian catastrophe will unfold.

Like many other Members of this House, I am extremely concerned at the spread of AIDS in Africa and its devastating effect on the population. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the situation in respect of drugs is getting worse? Despite the fact that drugs are being made available much more cheaply, they are finding their way into markets other than those for which they were intended. That said, I thank her for the excellent work that she is doing in this area.

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. There is hope in Africa. The rate of infection among young people in Uganda has dropped massively, and there is some evidence that such drops indicate behaviour change. So there is light at the end of this tunnel, but in the meantime we are in a very difficult situation. Recovery from the drought in southern Africa will be much harder, because the population is weakened by HIV. We are going to see terrible things

The House will have noted with great concern what the Secretary of State said about the effect of food shortages and drought. On HIV, am I right in thinking that there is a massive overlap between venereal diseases and the spread of HIV among heterosexual populations, and will she encourage the people who discuss these issues to make that point more often, because those diseases can be cured?.

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. In very poor populations that have no health care systems or access to antibiotics, venereal disease is often endemic, as it was in the UK among many of the young men who fought in the first world war. The likelihood of being infected with HIV and its spreading very rapidly is much greater in populations infected with venereal disease. So treating those diseases can reduce the spread of HIV, and we arc trying to apply that in our programmes.

May I ask my right hon. Friend what discussions she has had recently with the South African Government on the HIV issue, and whether she discerns any change in their attitude towards this epidemic?.

I have not had any recent discussions with them since my last visit to South Africa, but my officials are in constant touch. There is a change in attitude in South Africa, I am happy to say. There is much more positive engagement by the Government and a willingness to provide drugs, particularly to pregnant women. Drugs are now available more widely, as required by the courts, and there is much more public education. Although it is early days, I have seen figures that show some signs of behaviour change and improvement. Former President Mandela has made an enormous contribution, but the Government are now in a much more positive mode, I am happy to say.

The Secretary of State rightly identified the capacity of health care systems in these countries as the primary way of trying to tackle the first stage of the HIV epidemic. Is she aware that last year, Britain recruited 2,114 nurses from South Africa, compared with the 393 who were recruited from there in 1997? According to the BBC, 38 nurses came here from one Johannesburg hospital alone. Is she not concerned that the Government's code of practice, which in any event is observed by only about a third of the private recruitment agencies used by the NHS, is insufficient? [Interruption] Is she not depressed by the fact that Britain's recruitment strategy is undermining recruitment—

Order. There is no need for the Secretary of State to answer that question. The hon. Gentleman should be seated when the Speaker stands.

If she will make a statement on the participation of her Department in reconstruction and reconciliation efforts in those parts of Africa affected by conflict and human rights abuses. [84686]

Twenty countries and 25 per cent. of the population of sub-Saharan Africa are affected by violent conflict. This is causing great suffering and holding back development across the continent.

I thank my right hon. Friend for that reply, and for the magnificent work done by her Department and my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister in helping to resolve some of the serious conflict issues in Africa. However, will she consider whether the United Nations needs to use chapter VII of its charter to restore peace in Burundi? Will she ensure that the UN High Commissioner for Refugees does not have its budget for Burundi and Tanzania cut, as it is providing help for people in a truly desperate situation?

I agree with my hon. Friend that the situation in Burundi could lead to another genocide in Africa if we do not handle it well. Our generation failed Rwanda, and it is our duty to make sure that Burundi does not suffer the same experience. President Mandela brokered a peace deal in Arusha, but some of the forces fighting there have not recognised it. There has recently been a breakthrough, with the FDD recognising the deal. It was envisaged that, if other forces abided by the peace deal, an African peacekeeping force would be established, under a UN mandate and with UN funding. Discussions about that possibility are imminent, and I hope that they materialise.

Uganda is our largest recipient of bilateral aid in Africa. Will the Secretary of State explain gently to President Museveni that slashing the country's health and education budgets will not help defeat the Lords Resistance Army?

I assure the hon. Gentleman that I am in communication with President Museveni about these matters. There is no doubt that the Lords Resistance Army is one of those vile rebel groups that abduct young girls and make young men kill members of their own family. It is an especially brutal and nasty organisation. It is right that Uganda should do all in its power to bring the rebellion to an end. However, large demands for new military supplies are not what is needed to bring about that end. We must protect Uganda's progress in reducing poverty, which is considerable. I assure the hon. Gentleman that I shall do everything in my power to achieve that.

Does my right hon. Friend agree that one effect of internal conflict in African countries is widespread displacement and insecurity? What help is her Department giving, and what work is it doing with the UN development organisations, to build firm local government and administration structures to give people back their security?

My hon. Friend is right. Africa has more refugees and displaced people than any other continent. Some of the poorest countries in the world are hosting large numbers of refugees—way beyond the sort of numbers that Europe is contemplating. There is no real answer to the problem apart from resolving the conflict, helping people to return to their countries and lands and enabling them to resettle. That is why we are putting such an enormous effort into trying to resolve conflicts in Africa. In the meantime, we are trying to improve help for displaced people so that they are not reliant on handouts. We want them to be able to get their children to school and do something for themselves, so that displacement does not lead to disempowerment and the destruction of the lives of future generations.

In Ethiopia, reconstruction after years of conflict is still a great struggle. Of course, we acknowledge the crisis response to the lack of food in Ethiopia at the moment, but will the Secretary of State say why the international community has failed to deal with the problem of water resource management in the country? After all, that is the key to all the food supply problems. Why is only 5 per cent. of irrigable land irrigated, when the Blue Nile flows across the plateau?

Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world, with a gross domestic product of only $100 a head. It has been through political crises, civil war and misgovernment, and has not had the economic reform that it needs. Year after year, Ethiopia depends on food aid, but food aid that is badly supplied undermines agriculture by undercutting local prices, ensuring that there is no local production. That has been going on for a long time. We are engaged in helping the Ethiopian Government put in place long-term strategies for getting agriculture and irrigation going again. It will take time, while we handle the current crisis. There is movement forward: it is terribly delayed by the war with Eritrea, of course, but we are beginning to get attention paid to the long-term problems.

What recent assessment she has made of how many people are living in poverty in the west bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. [84687]

The deteriorating humanitarian situation affecting the Palestinian people is leading to a rapid growth of poverty, and the situation is getting worse day by day. Some 22.5 per cent. of Palestinian children in the west bank and Gaza are suffering from malnutrition. We and the European Commission have increased humanitarian aid, but the cause of the crisis is political and requires a political solution.

I agree with the Secretary of State that ultimately the solution has to be political, but in the meantime ordinary people are suffering and, as she has outlined, they are suffering greatly. I have been told by World Vision, a charity whose projects in the west bank I have visited in the past, that it believes that the major need of the Palestinian people is work and income generation, not food aid. What is my right hon. Friend's Department doing to create jobs in the occupied territories, given the continuing Israeli policies of closures, curfews and roadblocks?

My Department is probably the best development organisation in the world, but we cannot work miracles. The closures mean that people cannot get to work; it is impossible for people to work when they cannot physically move about. Some 1.8 million people are dependent on food aid—food aid is not a good thing, but it is better than starvation. The levels of hunger in Gaza are as bad as those in Congo and Zimbabwe. We are engaged and are doing everything in our power, but without some political easing that allows the Palestinian people to move about and get back to work, I am afraid that it will continue to get worse.

The situation is dire, as the Secretary of State says. However, does she not think it extraordinary that Prime Minister Sharon should ask the United Nations to address the humanitarian crisis in the west bank and Gaza? I have with me the report of the special envoy. The situation is due not to natural disasters or famine but, as the right hon. Lady says, to a failure of the peace process and the destruction of the Palestinian economy by Israel. Will she and her colleagues in Europe please impress on Israel that it should be addressing the humanitarian crisis, not the international community?

The whole House is agreed that for the sake of the people of Israel and the Palestinian people, we must as rapidly as possible reach the two-state solution—the establishment of the Palestinian state, with enough international presence to make sure that the suicide bombings and the rest come to an end. That will be good for everybody in the region. The attempts by the quartet to put in place a road map to final status have been delayed by the Israeli elections. People across the world should focus on the problem until the elections take place and move forward on the peace process thereafter, for the sake of both peoples.

Is my right hon. Friend aware of Oxfam's recent report entitled "Forgotten Villages"? It spells out in graphic terms the devastating impact that the Israeli Government's closure policy is having on poor Palestinian farmers who cannot harvest their olives or get their water tankers through the checkpoints. Does she agree that if the closure policy is not stopped, we will have a real humanitarian disaster in the west bank?

I am afraid that we already have a humanitarian disaster. The situations in Zimbabwe and Congo are horrendous. It is now as bad for the children of Palestinians, who were until recently living at middle-income levels, as it is in those two countries. We have a humanitarian disaster, and the closures, which mean that people cannot work, are at the root of it. I am not familiar with the report but I am familiar with the situation. We are doing all that we can to improve humanitarian support, but we cannot arrive at a solution in that way—there has to be political progress.

The United Nations has been providing help to Palestine since 1948 through its Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, but it is short of funds for its programme of aid to refugees in the west bank and Gaza strip. Does the Secretary of State accept that any conflict in the region will affect the capacity of UNRWA to meet humanitarian needs in Palestine? What contingency plans have been made for the Palestinian people in the event of a war in Iraq?

The hon. Lady is right: because of the closures and the growing dependency of so many of the population of Gaza who are technically refugees, the need for UNRWA support has grown and UK support for UNRWA has increased considerably. I have written to several Ministers in other countries to point out that they are not funding UNRWA as they have done in the past, so the agency is underfunded at present.

My right hon. Friend will be aware of a World Bank report published earlier this year, which stated that gross national product in the west bank would need to grow by 6.7 per cent. to level the poorest people out of poverty. How integral to that is stabilisation in the region and the creation of a Palestinian state?

I do not know exactly what the shrinkage in the economy has been, but it has been massive and rapid due to the political situation. If we could achieve political progress, of course there would be rapid economic growth. There is a lot to do, but there is a high number of educated Palestinians. Currently, the economy is dependent on people being able to move around to get jobs, so an easing of the political situation would lift the economy considerably. That is what we must try to achieve.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure free and fair distribution of food aid in Zimbabwe. [84688]

Two thirds of the food requirements in Zimbabwe are being provided by the Government of Zimbabwe to populations either able to afford to buy food or eligible for supplementary feeding programmes. There is strong evidence that those supplies are being manipulated for political reasons.

I greatly admire the right hon. Lady's integrity, forthrightness and courage—[HON. MEMBERS: "Hear, hear."]—in saying what she believes to be right. In the light of the facts that the Government of Mr. Mugabe are clearly denying opponents food and are using food to win elections, that Matabele women who go into hospital to have children are being sterilised and that brutal force is being used against anyone who stands up against Mr. Mugabe, will the right hon. Lady join me in urging the Government to bring down that African Milosevic who is destroying his country?

I agree with the hon. Gentleman; the situation in Zimbabwe is an absolute disaster. Of the 15.5 million people in need of food in southern Africa, 6.5 million are in Zimbabwe. One in three adults in Zimbabwe are infected with HIV. The economy is destroyed, an election has been stolen, and there is brutalism and misuse of humanitarian aid. I really fear that there will be a disaster such as we have never seen in our lifetime, with the lack of food, the political situation and HIV all playing into each other. I expect that that will bring an end to that awful regime. In the meantime, however, we must do all that we can to keep food flowing for the innocent people whose lives are being destroyed by that terrible regime.

To underline what my right hon. Friend has just said, the message from the townships in Harare, in Zimbabwe, is that the position is extremely critical and getting worse all the time. They believe that there will be serious problems within the next six months if action is not taken. They believe that the UK and South Africa in particular must do something to end the present situation to ensure that food gets to the people in Zimbabwe who need it so desperately—[Interruption.]

Order. There is far too much noise in the Chamber.

I share the view that we are facing a disaster. The United Kingdom is making the second biggest contribution to the appeal. I am currently scraping through my Department to try to find more resources, and I have also written to other Governments. I am afraid that the shadow of Mugabe is preventing Governments from responding to the humanitarian appeal, so the people are being punished twice. The United Kingdom is taking a leading role in the humanitarian effort, and we will continue to do everything in our power to help.

ZANU-PF's organising secretary, Didymus Mutasa, has stated that Zimbabwe would be better off with only 6 million people—the half, not surprisingly, that supports his party's aims. Given that selective starvation of the people seems to be official Zimbabwean Government policy, does the Secretary of State believe that the United States Government were right to warn last month of the need for intrusive measures to ensure that the food gets to all those who need it?

I saw the statement in the press that was attributed to Didymus Mutasa. If he said anything like that, it is an absolute outrage. To welcome the death of nearly half the people in a country is completely unforgivable—no one should forgive him. I am aware also from the press that the US has implied the need for some enforced provision of food, but I am not aware of any action to follow up that statement. The situation is extremely complicated. We are doing all in our power, and the World Food Programme is doing a splendid job. There are petrol shortages in the country on top of everything else, and the unwillingness to accept genetically modified food unless it is milled outside the country is a further complication. I do not think that the proposals to use force in that situation would help us, but I am open to any serious suggestion that will. Most particularly, the WFP needs more resources just to keep people fed.

What action she is taking to ensure that programmes to tackle world poverty continue after 2015. [84690]

Some 900 million people are still likely to be living in extreme poverty in 2015, even if the millennium development goals are achieved, so our commitment to work against poverty must continue. The 2015 targets have been extremely effective in focusing our development work, and we will need new targets after that date.

I thank my hon. Friend for that reply and for recognising the importance of the need to fight poverty in the future. Does she agree that poverty and the hopelessness that comes from it provide ready recruits to those sectarian and fanatical organisations that seek to divide the nations of the world rather than to bring people together?

There is a very clear link between conflict and poverty, and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has addressed some of those issues in her goals. We are currently undertaking research to find out what will be the needs of the 900 million people who will still be in poverty after 2015. All our efforts and those of the multilateral organizations—including the European Union, for example—must focus on combating poverty.

What progress are the Minister and her right hon. Friend the Secretary of State making to deal with the collapse in commodity prices, which is having such a significant effect on the progress towards tackling poverty in the developing countries under the programmes of the various international bodies?

The hon. Gentleman is right to identify the trade and aid issue. We are obviously working very closely to look at the impact of commodity prices, and we also hope to diversify agriculture in some of the countries that are dependent on a single commodity. Although we are making progress in dealing with the trade-related issues, it is also extremely important that we now increase the amount of aid going to developing countries to combat poverty.

Does my hon. Friend agree that the key to meeting the millennium development goals in the poorest countries in Africa is the initiative under the New Partnership for Africa's Development, and that if we in the rich world are to deliver our part of NEPAD, we must take action to reduce food subsidies and to open up our markets to African products, particularly agricultural produce?

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to link the work that is being done in Europe in relation to the common agricultural policy with the work on the Doha agenda in opening up trade to deal with some of the deep-seated problems. He is also right to identify the importance of NEPAD as an African solution to African problems and to focus on some of the Government issues. Meanwhile, of course, the task of dealing with the worst poverty will be affected in particular by increasing the amount of aid. The Department for International Development is working very closely to increase the amount of aid to combat poverty in the poorest countries of the world.

What progress has been made in the elimination of poppy cultivation in Afghanistan. [84691]

During the 20 years of civil war and the period of Taliban rule, poppy cultivation became the mainstay of the Afghan economy. The drug economy will not be eliminated without extending security, justice and development across the country outside Kabul. Plans have now been agreed for the formation of an Afghan national army, and we need to develop plans on the demobilisation of militias and on extending security outside Kabul. We have already agreed interdiction programmes against production and trafficking. President Karzai is strongly committed to the elimination of the drug economy from Afghanistan, but that will take sustained effort.

I thank the Secretary of State for her response. As law enforcement is vital for the reduction of poppy cultivation, has she given any consideration to the establishment of a national police force in Afghanistan, and has her Department given any direct assistance to the Afghan Government for that purpose?

The international community has a clear aim—all of Afghanistan's institutions are smashed and need rebuilding, including its police force. The Germans are leading on the rebuilding and retraining of the police force, and we are doing work on customs. Collectively, we are providing economic help for the Afghan Government and their budget—strengthening their Ministry of Finance, central bank and so on. That work is going on, and the tasks are being shared out among members of the international community—every single institution in the country needs rebuilding.

If he will list his official engagements for 11 December.

This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others, in addition to my duties in the House. I will have further such meetings later today.

Great amounts of money are going into the national health service for the likes of workers' pay and primary care trusts, such as the one based in Stafford, but will the Prime Minister confirm that the Government's evident good intention to support the health service will not he undermined by their plans for foundation hospitals?

Yes, I can confirm that. Foundation hospitals will be NHS hospitals and will service NHS patients. They will have greater freedom in the local community—they will be owned by the local community—to develop the services that NHS patients want. My hon. Friend is right; there is record investment in the national service, which is opposed by the Opposition, but it must be matched by reform—giving, on the basis on earned autonomy, the freedom to the front line to innovate and create in the way that the health service needs.

Is the Prime Minister concerned about the loss of integrity surrounding the No. 10 press office and information provided by the Government, and how does he intend to restore it?

No, I believe that all questions have been properly answered.

That is the most extraordinarily complacent answer. After 10 days of half-truths and evasions, the Prime Minister knows that questions remain about the changing of deportation dates after officials admitted contact with ministerial staff, the breaching of the ministerial code and the conduct of the civil service. Surely, the Prime Minister should ask for an independent inquiry to clear up this matter.

First, the Home Office and the Lord Chancellor's Department have answered all the questions put to them, and have done so conclusively. Secondly, on the ministerial code, the right hon. Gentleman will know that the Cabinet Secretary has replied to him, and I have put the terms of that response in the Library of the House. Thirdly, I do not believe that anything remotely warrants the inquiry that he seeks.

The Prime Minister refers to the Cabinet Secretary's letter. In that letter he states:

"I do not propose to respond to your invitation to detail what advice I gave to the Prime Minister and when."

"We are here to uphold the highest standards"

"whiter than white, purer than pure".

First, the Letter does deal with the issue of the ministerial code, and it deals with it in detail. Secondly, as I just said, the Home Office and the Lord Chancellor's Department have responded to all the allegations that have been made, all of which, I may say, have turned out to be false. Thirdly, it is typical of the right hon. Gentleman that he dives into the swimming pool just as the water is running out.

Is my right hon. Friend as concerned as I am that Mr. Cook, charged with the 2001 census, cannot count, and that he massively underestimated the population of cities such as Manchester with its large ethnic minority and student populations? Will my right hon. Friend use his good offices to ensure that those figures are not used in the planning of vital public services?

The Office for National Statistics, as my hon. Friend knows, conducts an examination of the census, and it is confident that the 2001 census provides the most accurate estimate of the population, both nationally and locally. I know that that is a matter of great controversy in Manchester, and that the national statistician has met the chief executive of Manchester city council on two occasions to discuss the estimates. I understand that the dialogue is ongoing, but my hon. Friend will understand that we must base our deliberations on the figures of the census, unless we believe them to be wrong. As the figures are checked by the ONS, we must take its advice.

On Iraq, given that the Secretary-General of the United Nations has criticised the style and approach of the American Administration in its handling of the Iraqi dossier, does the Prime Minister share the Secretary-General's criticism?

I am not aware of the circumstances to which the right hon. Gentleman refers, but I can tell him that the United States and the Secretary-General are agreed on the key issue: that there is a United Nations resolution, that it must be obeyed, and that if there is a breach, action must follow.

Will the Prime Minister take this opportunity to reaffirm that the perception should be that the United Nations is the sovereign authority in all this business, and that that underpins the international coalition of interest against weapons of mass destruction and terrorism in general? If that perception becomes misguided or misinformed internationally, it is the worse for all of us.

It is, of course, important that in all circumstances the integrity of the UN is upheld. I believe that it is being upheld. The resolution was passed unanimously by the Security Council. All those who backed the resolution are sovereign nations. I believe that it is right that we study the dossier provided by Iraq and see what is contained in it. The basic point remains that that declaration has to be honest and transparent, and if it is discovered not to be honest—in other words, if there is a breach of the duty to co-operate—action must follow.

My right hon. Friend will be aware that 2002 is autism awareness year, and Members from across the House, the National Autistic Society and others have played their part in raising the profile of the disability. One positive thing that has come forward is that it is to be used as an exemplar in the children's national service framework. To date, no information has been given about the resources to be put behind that initiative. Will he press for those resources to be announced so that we can all get an insight into the kind of support that children with autism will have both now and in the future?

My hon. Friend has campaigned on this issue long and hard and she will know that earlier this year just over £2.5 million of additional money was allocated for research into autism. Autism affects many children in Britain and it is important that we study both its effects and its causes. I can assure my hon. Friend that we remain committed to doing that and to ensuring that the policies for research and for the health service generally take account of a condition that I know causes great difficulty for parents and carers who look after the autistic.

The Chancellor says that he believes in a fair tax system, so does the Prime Minister think it fair that council tax payers in Lancashire should next year have to pay a 13 per cent. increase in council tax, almost six times the rate of inflation, when council tax in the county has gone up by some 47 per cent. since 1997?

I simply point out that the Government have put substantial additional sums of money into the local authority settlement. I think that I am right in saying that somewhere in the region of 25 per cent. additional money has gone into local authorities during the past few years. That compares with a cut in funding in the few years before we came to office. Therefore, particularly after my right hon. Friend's announcement earlier this week, we have been very generous to local authorities, and it is obviously important that they use the money properly.

When my right hon. Friend attends the European summit at the end of this week, will he gently suggest to the German Chancellor that, in the interests of the European economy, perhaps Germany should consider withdrawing temporarily from the European monetary union, so that it can recover control over its interest rates, exchange rates and public expenditure, and therefore take the necessary measures to try to arrest its serious decline into deflation and economic depression?

It has to be said that, from time to time, my diplomatic triumphs at certain European summits are not always exactly as I would wish with one or two other leaders in recent memory, but I do not think that it would be wise or diplomatic for me to suggest to Chancellor Schröder how to run the German economy. I am simply delighted that the British economy is in such good shape.

What assessment he has made of health and social services in Oxfordshire.

Clearly, Oxfordshire is benefiting from the substantial investment in health and social services. For 2002–03, Oxfordshire has received more than £445 million, an increase of more than £41 million on last year's allocation. As for social services, the funding this year is £86 million. Local health and social services managers are working together, including pooling budgets, to find solutions to current issues.

Is the right hon. Gentleman happy that in each of the past six years of his Government the most vulnerable users of social services have suffered cuts, and now all the strategic authorities in the southern region are projecting a mid-year deficit of £230 million? What should the new growth money this year be spent on—paying off deficits or new front-line services? It cannot be both.

The integrity of the services is the primary concern, but—I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving me the opportunity to say this—during the past few years Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS trust has had a new 54-bed trauma centre costing £9 million; there will be a major development of acute services, which is a £200 million scheme; it has received almost £1 million for additional accident and emergency nurses; and it is receiving an additional £2 million to secure additional capacity on delayed discharges. An extra £9 million has also been allocated by the trust for accident and emergency redevelopment.

What is the Prime Minister's understanding of the meaning of the expression "blind trust"?

Again, as I said, these issues have been canvassed extensively and answered many times before, and I have nothing to add to the answers that have already been given.

Does the Prime Minister recall that under both Tory and Labour Governments, I have argued that the press need to distinguish between politicians and their families and that failure to do so will lead to a great lack of willingness among ordinary people in all political parties to put their names forward for public office? When people such as Paul Dacre, editor of the Daily Mail and a member of the Press Complaints Commission board, surround themselves and their own families with a wall of privacy and yet seek to attack the families of other people, they present themselves as both cowardly and irresponsible.

The freedom of the press is and always must be paramount, but I would simply hope that people who have a personal agenda are open with their readers about it.

The National Association of Pension Funds says today that the rate of closure of occupational pension funds has doubled in the past year. Why?

Because companies have found themselves, for the reasons of economic slowdown that he knows about, in difficulty. I think that the association also said today in the same interview that 70 per cent. of those schemes are still open and taking new members.

One of the reasons that the Prime Minister did not mention as to why the schemes have closed is the Government's £25 billion pension tax. Over the lifetime of this Parliament, that will raise £40 billion from pension schemes. That is what is damaging pension funds—it is the single most important reason. Does he now agree with his own Downing street economics adviser, who said recently that there is a lack of vision in the Government's pension policy?

As the right hon. Gentleman knows, a pensions Green Paper is being issued next week that will deal many of those issues. As for the question of pensions and the changes in advanced tax credit, he will know that that was done many years ago. The drop has happened in the last year, for the reasons that I have given.

There has been a Green Paper or a consultation on pensions almost every single month over the past five years. Surely, what we need from the Government are funded pensions and less dependence on means tests. However, under the Government, despite what they have said, funded pensions are collapsing, and by next year 60 per cent. of all pensioners will be on means-tested benefits. Is that not an indictment of the Government's policy over the past five years?

What the right hon. Gentleman is actually referring to is the pension credit, which will help many pensioners who have made savings but are on lower incomes. It is important that we ensure that those people have more money. [Interruption.] Let us be very clear: the Conservative party is opposed to the pension credit. That is obvious. We should let every pensioner in this country know that when the pension credit helps them and gives them a better income, helping some to the tune of £20 a week, the Conservative party is opposed to them getting it.

Is the Prime Minister aware that my constituency has the lowest GDP of any constituency in the UK? It also has the highest level of disability, with more than one in three households having at least one disabled person. Yet, under the old formula funding system, Barnsley health authority was the worst-funded health authority in the old Trent region, and it is now also one of the worst-funded authorities in the new Yorkshire region. Can he reassure the House that, under the new system that is shortly to be announced, Barnsley will at long last get its fair share of health authority resources?

My hon. Friend knows that Barnsley, like all other authorities, will get a real-terms increase. I know that he would also want to say that, partly through the Government's measures, unemployment is much lower arid many children have been lifted out of poverty as a result of child benefit measures and the working families tax credit. There is also a big investment in regeneration in the area. I agree with my hon. Friend that much more remains to be done, but I hope that he agrees with me that funding in Barnsley and the surrounding areas is infinitely better now than six years ago.

Will the Prime Minister amend the European Communities Act 1972 to reclaim for the House control over British waters and thus prevent the imminent eradication of not only the Scottish white fish fleet but the United Kingdom white fish fleet, which is staging a major demonstration of protest on the Tyne today?

I believe that the Conservative Government of the time were right to pass that legislation because the abolition of the common fisheries policy—I understand that that is now the Conservative party's official policy—is not the answer to the problem. It would be a disaster if we withdrew from the common fisheries policy—[HON. MEMBERS: "Why?"] I am about to explain why. It would mean that other countries would have the freedom to fish without restriction for fish that migrate into our waters. Consequently, we would end up in a worse position.

My right hon. Friend will know that a ship carrying Scud missiles from North Korea to the Yemen has been intercepted by Spanish armed forces. What investigations has he undertaken into that disturbing incident?

We are talking to our allies and to the Yemeni Government about that. It is a serious issue. If ballistic missiles are being exported from North Korea, that shows the danger that we face from weapons of mass destruction and their proliferation. I emphasise to hon. Members that I believe that the threat is formidable, and that it confronts the security and stability of our world. It is important to investigate and deal with the incident. If it is true that ballistic missiles are being exported, we must keep up the pressure on North Korea to change its ways. Exporting such technology is an unacceptable threat to our security.

Given that only 23 out of 378 private finance initiative projects have been examined independently for value for money, and given that the professional fees for the Treasury building PFI project exceed £25 million—the National Audit Office was unaware of that—does the Prime Minister agree with the Labour party conference and the Institute for Public Policy Research that the time has come for a full review of value for money in the PFI?

The Tory party is now against PFI too, is it? [Interruption.] I certainly will answer. We are absolutely committed to the PFI programme. School buildings and hospitals are being built around the country as a result of it. That is absolutely right. [Interruption.] It has been a useful session of Prime Minister's questions. We have another dividing line. Money is going to each Conservative constituency through the PFI, but Conservative Members want it taken out.

Will my right hon. Friend join me in congratulating the many police forces throughout the country that have contributed to the seizure of drugs? Does he acknowledge that the drugs culture and its resourcing contribute to the sort of atrocities that we sadly witnessed against the twin towers? Will he reassure hon. Members that the Government's resolve will strengthen?

It is important that we deal with the supply both from abroad and within this country. My hon. Friend will know that the Scottish Executive have committed almost £130 million more to fighting the drugs trade in Scotland. We are also taking measures in Afghanistan and around the world to defeat the drugs trade. That will be a long and steady business. I would emphasise that most of the heroin in this country comes in from Afghanistan, and that is an important reason for us to stay in Afghanistan and help to rebuild that nation, so that its farming community can make its living gainfully, not through the export of drugs.

Is the Prime Minister aware that last year, under the 30-year rule, a civil service document was released which stated that in the context of the wider United Kingdom interest in Europe, fishermen must be regarded as expendable? That has been demonstrated many times by successive Administrations over the past 30 years. With so much at stake in so many coastal communities around the country at this time, and with some of the fish stocks—such as haddock—that are set for draconian cuts remaining in a healthy state, will the Prime Minister undertake to raise this matter at the Copenhagen summit and personally lobby other Community leaders in the run-up to the Fisheries Council, to demonstrate that he does not regard this industry as expendable?

Whatever the position of previous Governments may have been, I can assure the hon. Gentleman that that is not ours. What is more, we have already raised the issue, and we raise it continually. I have raised it personally with the Commissioner and with other European leaders. As I said to a member of the Conservative party a short time ago, there is a serious problem because of the depletion of fishing stocks, as the hon. Gentleman must know, and there is no answer other than to sit down with the industry, having got the best deal that we can out of Europe, and work out how we help the industry through this difficult time. It cannot be right, however, to withdraw from the common fisheries policy, which would make the position even worse, or to try to pretend to people that there is a simple solution, because there simply is not.

My right hon. Friend will recall that the decision to take the Diamond project away from Daresbury laboratory and place it at Oxford caused great concern in my constituency and across the whole of the north-west. The Prime Minister challenged us at the time to come forward with a world-leading science project that could be carried out at Daresbury. The Daresbury and north-west science group proposed the fourth generation light source project. I am pleased to tell the Prime Minister that this project has now completed its international peer group review and has been given the green light to proceed. The only thing standing in its way is the decision on its location. The best location for that project would be Daresbury laboratory. Will the Prime Minister commit himself to that?

I am sure that we will listen very carefully to the representations that my hon. Friend has made. I know the concern that the Daresbury decision caused, but my hon. Friend will understand that we view Daresbury as a very important part of the future for science in the north-west. We have allocated additional funds to Daresbury on that basis, and I hope very much that we can offer him good news on that.

Will the Prime Minister promise to study carefully the views of sound and sensible trade unions such as Unison, which have expressed serious concern about the effect on jobs and prosperity in Britain if we join the single currency? Will he at least give us an assurance that if we have a referendum that says no to the single currency, he will accept that as the decision for the foreseeable future and not return repeatedly to hold several more referendums, as has been the case in other European states?

I somehow thought that the hon. Gentleman might get round to the single currency. Obviously, the position of the Government remains as it is, which is that the five tests have to be passed for a referendum to be held. We have to conduct those tests before June 2003. I am not going to say any more to the hon. Gentleman on that subject. Of course, we will listen to the views of the Unison-Conservative party alliance—or, at least, certain parts of it—with interest. The vast majority of people in this country believe that this is a decision that should be taken not on the ground of dogma—that is, that we should never join the single currency—but on the basis of what is good for British jobs, industry and investment.

When he next expects to meet his Commonwealth counterparts to discuss proposals for dealing with conflict resolution and human rights abuses in Africa.

The next major Commonwealth meeting is the Heads of Government meeting in Abuja from 5 to 8 December 2003. It is very likely that conflict resolution and human rights in Africa will be discussed.

I thank my right hon. Friend for that reply, but will he continue the excellent work that is already being done by his Government in Africa and make special representations to President Mbeki, who is the only person who might be capable of bringing common sense, peace and prosperity back to Zimbabwe?

It is a desperately serious situation as 7 million people in Zimbabwe are facing food shortages. I know that President Obasanjo and President Mbeki are due to visit Zimbabwe shortly, and I hope that they have some impact in bringing home to the Zimbabwean regime the consequences of their actions.

Is the Prime Minister aware that the people of Zimbabwe face far worse than food shortages, as he has just put it? Is he aware that recently a delegation of very brave men from Matabeleland met members of the Foreign Affairs Committee and told us stories of persecution bordering on genocide, the sterilisation of women and the forcible withholding of food from those who do not support the tyrant? Can he be a little more urgent in what he does to try to solve this despicable and dreadful problem?

First, I wholly agree with what the hon. Gentleman says about the situation in Zimbabwe. In addition to the points that he makes, one person in three in Zimbabwe now suffers from HIV/AIDS. I have to tell him that the only thing that we can do, and we are doing it with urgency, is to try to isolate the Zimbabwean leadership at every level and work with the Governments in the region to ensure that the situation in Zimbabwe changes. For that very reason, we led the calls to suspend Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth. It has indeed been suspended, but, in the end, the countries in the region can exert most pressure, and we will help them do so.