Whitsun Adjournment

I have a reputation for being very willing to give way to many people, but on this occasion I shall not. The hon. Gentleman breached many conventions by not having the courtesy to give advance warning—a point that was mentioned by Madam Deputy Speaker—and so on that basis I shall not give way to him. The hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Lynne Featherstone) gave a wide-ranging speech and spoke of the five post offices that have closed in her constituency. Many of us will identify with that situation, because many of us have lost post offices. Her plea that two of her post offices should be reinstated will probably fall on deaf ears, so I would not hold out too much hope. The hon. Lady was also right to follow up on the tragic case of baby P and the continued failings in the health service. Again, I suspect that there is cross-party support for her efforts to try to bring about better health services and to minimise the incidence of such tragedies. The hon. Lady spoke of the tragic case of the son of one of her constituents who was injured and paralysed in the Mumbai bombings. Clearly, there is an issue about compensation. People who are injured in the UK in such cases receive substantial compensation, but those British subjects who are injured in similar circumstances abroad do not get compensation. I wish her well in trying to get the meeting with the Prime Minister that she has asked for and I hope that he will give it to her without, as she said, the need for Joanna Lumley. I suspect that Ms Lumley has a lot of people wanting her support at the moment. I am minded to say that Esther Rantzen might be sitting by her phone, hoping that people will involve her, too, in some campaign or other. The hon. Lady also touched on the tragedy of the conflict in the middle east. Again, there will be cross-party support for the recognition that the issue needs to be resolved, particularly as it is serving as a recruiting sergeant for many other terrorist groups throughout the world. My hon. Friend the Member for Southend, West (Mr. Amess) left a very important church service in order to join us, and we were very privileged to—