Christmas Adjournment

The hon. Gentleman is under a misapprehension. It is not that the Government have changed their mind; it is that circumstances have changed. My hon. Friend the Member for Norwich, North (Dr. Gibson) spoke about the train line to Norwich, academies in his constituency and resources for children with special needs. I hope that he is aware of the review of special needs education that was announced as part of the children's plan and the extra £18 million that will be spent on training teachers to help secure better support for children with special needs. I hope that he is also aware of the private Member's Bill that is being promoted by my hon. Friend the Member for Gateshead, East and Washington, West (Mrs. Hodgson), which would enable better planning of local authority services for children with special needs. The hon. Member for Dundee, East (Stewart Hosie) spoke about the Barnett formula and the private finance initiative, and I will pass his remarks to the Treasury. The hon. Member for Brecon and Radnorshire (Mr. Williams) made a helpful intervention during that speech. My hon. Friend the Member for Pendle (Mr. Prentice) painted an extremely vivid picture of his European Member of Parliament and the unreliability of Sajjad Karim. I felt that it was a good job that the people of Pendle have a good Labour MP to look after them in such difficulties. The hon. Member for Ribble Valley (Mr. Evans) spoke about identity fraud, the importance of raising people's awareness of the problem and, in particular, the risks of giving information on the net that might lead to ID fraud. The issue is important, and I will draw his remarks to the attention of the Treasury and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. He also spoke about his desire for an extra debate on a Monday morning; I am not sure whether that was a serious suggestion. One of the things he said that he had read about in the Sunday papers and could not believe was true was the £4,000 payment for asylum seekers. I should like to read out the response made by my hon. Friend the Minister for Borders and Immigration:"““We take suggestions that the Assisted Voluntary Returns…system is being abused very seriously. If abuse of the scheme comes to light, we will fully investigate and push for the strongest action to be taken. All applicants for the scheme undergo a series of identity and eligibility checks before being granted any form of assistance””." I hope that that reassures the hon. Gentleman. We should all be grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Dagenham (Jon Cruddas), who has clearly done a great deal of work investigating the unpleasantness of the British National party. He described a number of extremely unpleasant criminal activities to which the leader of the BNP, Nick Griffin, had admitted. They were in keeping with the horrible, racist politics that I am sure that the whole House would wish to condemn. The hon. Member for North-East Milton Keynes (Mr. Lancaster) spoke about schools in his constituency. I am not sure whether he is aware that spending per pupil has doubled in the past two years. He also talked about the Open university, whose headquarters are located in his constituency. I am sure that he knows that a former Labour Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, described that as his greatest achievement. I think that the hon. Gentleman has had a meeting with Ministers in the Department for Children, Schools and Families.