Whitsun Adjournment

It has everything to do with the Speaker, because it is the Speaker who presides over the House, and his guidance would be most welcome, although any change would be initiated by the Government. It would certainly be a House matter as well as a Government matter. The hon. Member for Somerton and Frome (Mr. Heath) gave a typically passionate speech and he rightly dealt with the difficulties that we parliamentarians are experiencing. We all need to strive to sort those out and efforts are being made in that direction, but we all recognise that we have some way to go. The hon. Gentleman told us that his son is taking his driving test today, and we hope that he passes it. He pointed out the absurdity of having to travel such an enormous distance to the driving centre to take the test, which led on to the problem that people are having in accessing so many other public services, such as tax offices, health services and job centres—as mentioned by my hon. Friend in an intervention—because they are sited further and further away from where people live. Not for the first time, the hon. Gentleman also raised the issue of the A303. I hope that the Deputy Leader of the House will make some effort to convey that message to the Transport Secretary. I have a similar problem with the A14 near my constituency. It desperately needs funds, but the date for the work keeps being put back. I hope that the Deputy Leader of the House will also convey my concerns. The hon. Member for Somerton and Frome also spoke about the huge power that is wielded by unelected bodies. He will of course be aware that if the Conservatives are successful at the election and form the next Government, we will take a sword to powerful quangos and cut their number, and that will have the effect of also saving an enormous amount of money. My hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wight (Mr. Turner) made a powerful speech and demonstrated that he puts the interests of his constituents first in all that he does. All of us will have had some sympathy when he spoke of the closure of Vestas in his constituency, with the loss of 600 jobs, many of them skilled. His constituents will be concerned that the company has said that it hopes to have some new jobs in due course in the UK. The failure to mention the Isle of Wight specifically carries a powerful message. My hon. Friend was also right to pick up the issue of fallen stock and the worries and concerns of his rural community, especially the farmers. I hope that the Deputy Leader of the House will convey those concerns to the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. My hon. Friend also mentioned serious concerns about waiting lists for his constituents, an issue with which many of us can identify. We wish him well in his battle to try to overcome those difficulties. We then had a slight digression in terms of the tone of the debate in the speech by the hon. Member for Colchester (Bob Russell). I hope that when the hon. Gentleman reads his speech in Hansard, he will on reflection take the view that it was a wasted opportunity. He spent more time talking about the Conservative party and its leader than anything else, suggesting that he is a very worried man indeed. No doubt he will be issuing a local press release and a copy of his speech to his activists, but his constituents will be aware that the national media are reporting how well the Conservative party is doing and the leadership that is being shown in that direction. I am sure that his constituents will be able to make up their own minds, rather than being influenced by such a purely partisan speech. It was rather regrettable that attention was not paid to the clear convention that we have in this House about when hon. Members are mentioned. My hon. Friend the Member for North Essex (Mr. Jenkin) was mentioned by the hon. Gentleman, who did not do him the courtesy of providing advance notice. That courtesy was not extended to a Member of the other House who was mentioned, too, and that point was rightly mentioned by Madam Deputy Speaker.