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§ Mr. Harry Ewing (Falkirk, East)I beg to ask leave to move the Adjournment of the House, under Standing Order No. 10, for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration, namely,
the publication of the World Health Organisation's report on the incidence of death from lung cancer and other tobacco-related diseases in Scotland.The matter is obviously specific, because the report states that Glasgow has the second highest incidence in the world of death from lung cancer and other tobacco-related diseases. It is followed closely and tragically by Dundee, Aberdeen and various other areas of Scotland. The issue is extremely specific.The importance of the matter can hardly be over-emphasised. I do not want to detain you, Mr. Speaker, or the House in emphasising the importance of the issue, which must be self-evident to all who have read the report.
The urgency of the need to debate the matter is a topic on which I shall dwell for two minutes only. A debate is crucial, for the simple and tragic reason that the Greater Glasgow health board and four other area health boards in Scotland have been told by the Secretary of State for Scotland that, because they are refusing to become involved in the privatisation of the three ancillary services, they must reduce Health Service spending by 10 per cent. That will amount to £9 million for the Greater Glasgow health board.
The matter is urgent because it is a disgrace that the health of the people of Scotland should be used as a battering ram or bludgeon to force health boards into something that they do not want to do, which involves giving away their services to private companies whose services have been found wanting.
The report of the World Health Organisation makes serious statements on the incidence of death from lung cancer and other tobacco-related diseases in Scottish cities, and accordingly I beg to ask leave to move the Adjournment of the House.
§ Mr. SpeakerThe hon. Member for Falkirk, East (Mr. Ewing) asks leave to move the Adjournment of the House for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that he thinks should have urgent consideration, namely,
the findings of the report of the World Health Organisation on the incidence of death from lung cancer and other tobacco-related diseases in Scotland.I appreciate fully the importance of the matter that the hon. Gentleman has brought to the attention of the House and I have listened carefully to what he has said. I regret that I do not consider that the matter that he has raised is appropriate for discussion under Standing Order No. 10 and, therefore, I cannot submit his application to the House.