Speeches by George.

“You do not think that this reorganisation will distract you from the progress made so far. Do you not think that is the key thing?”

“As you say, although Lansley might well have had these plans in advance, the coalition agreement in fact announced that there would be no top-down reorganisation at the time. But moving on, the public and patients will be bemused by this, will they not? They are not as concerned about the backroom plumbing and wiring o…”

“So, learning lessons, and hopefully there is still the institutional memory to learn those lessons.”

“3. What assessment she has made of the potential impact of her tax policies on investment in second homes.”

“I am grateful to the Minister for that response, but I believe we can go further, because this is not about the politics of envy but about the politics of social justice. In Cornwall, it cannot be right that through the small business rate relief system, over £500 million of taxpayers’ money has gone into the pockets o…”

“In view of the time, I will direct this question to Henrietta. There has already been a reference to the NICE guidelines, which were published only a couple of months ago. Are they sufficient? Are they welcomed? And if there are issues about the implementation of those guidelines, what are those challenges and how can …”

“I just want to ask a more broadbrush and perhaps ultra-naive question—this is not even going out to the helicopter view; it is possibly satellite level. Where does gambling sit within the range of comparative addictions that exist? Sam, from your perspective, why should we pay particular attention to the addiction of g…”

“I understand that, but there is still a lot of uncertainty as to which is most effective in terms of treatment.”

“Or randomised trials?”

“Is the 50% split, in terms of the resource going into treatment, the right level? I ask because it sounds to me like there is a lot of experimentation going on within the treatment itself.”

“Sorry, which guidelines?”

“Finally, you mentioned the wealth of money coming in through the levy; are you saying that the resource is sufficient for this? Is there sufficient resource for those people who need to access treatment and support?”

“In terms of the population of people who are suffering from this addiction, what proportion overall are seeking to access treatment at the moment?”

“In the last 20 years.”

“I want to go back to the questions from the right hon. Members for South West Wiltshire (Dr Murrison) and for Beverley and Holderness (Graham Stuart), and indeed the question I asked the Minister the last time this issue was raised in the House. The Minister is well aware that what we are talking about is primarily a U…”

“We can all see the discomfort of the Minister in having to embroider language, referring merely to the risk of the breach of international law and not speaking as plainly on behalf of our country as many Members would wish him to speak. Of course, we all want the hostages to be freed, just as we want the 2 million host…”

“I am sorry to make another intervention on the hon. Gentleman—my neighbour in Cornwall. He is probably aware that I spent hundreds of hours in this House on this matter before the 2004 Act; I was pleased that in spite of all the intimidation and threats that I received at the time, the Act still went through. The point…”

“These negotiations are difficult at the best of times. We need to make sure these decisions are made on the basis of merit. Of course, we wish to re-establish UK fishing entitlement out to the 12 mile limit and to ensure that foreign vessels are not able to use their historic entitlements to fish within the 6 to 12 mil…”

“No, I disagree. I think that overall, the impact on the fishing industry has been a net negative, certainly for people in my own region, who depend substantially on the export of fish to other European countries. In the past, the majority of the fish landed in Newlyn, which is a very substantial port in my constituency…”

“I am sure that the Minister heard that intervention. It does trouble me. If we go back to 1974, when Edward Heath was involved in the negotiation of our entry into the EU, and to subsequent negotiations, the fishing industry has often been used as a pawn—a bargaining chip. It would be a great pity if that happened agai…”