§ Mr. Ian McCartney (Makerfield)I beg to ask leave to move the Adjournment of the House, under Standing Order No. 20, for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration, namely,
an accident caused by the illegal dumping of a hazardous substance.Yesterday evening I was notified of a horrific accident involving five children of constituents of mine living in the Marus bridge area of Wigan. Jamie and Carmelle Anderson, aged 14 and 7, Darren Cook and Andrew James, aged 14, and Simon Young, aged 13, were engulfed in a fireball after a metal drum containing a lethal cocktail of toluene, xylene and menthanol exploded. Jamie, Carmelle and Darren are currently gravely ill in the burns unit of Booth Hall hospital near Manchester with up to 80 per cent. burns to their bodies. Andrew and Simon received burns to their hands and arms and, thankfully, they are comfortable. I am sure that the whole House will join with me in sending a message to those children and their parents, with its best wishes for the fullest possible recovery from their horrific injuries. [HON. MEMBERS: "Hear, hear."]I have held preliminary discussions with Mr. John Wade, deputy director of the Health and Safety Executive. His initial response to the accident was immediate and his advisers attended the site of the incident, which occurred on scrubland near the children's homes. The initial investigation report indicates that the mixture of highly inflammable industrial waste had been dumped illegally. It is likely that the materials were used in the garage trade. The remains of a drum were found close to a "No tipping" sign erected on the land by Wigan metropolitan borough council.
The House must be concerned as to how many more such drums exist and where they have been dumped. It beggars belief that such an inflammable time bomb is ticking away, and that those five children may be the first in a series of innocent victims, either in Wigan or in the north-west in general. I ask the person or persons who dumped that toxic bomb to come forward and help the police and the Health and Safety Executive with their inquiries, and to advise them if any further waste has been dumped illegally and where it is before other innocent people are maimed or killed.
This horrific accident has again placed sharply in focus the need for tougher Government action to prevent illegal dumping of highly dangerous and toxic substances in this country.
I thank you, Mr. Speaker, and the House for listening with such courtesy and patience. I have personally found the circumstances of this tragedy distressing. My words are in no way adequate in voicing my feelings and those of the families concerned about the condition of the children affected and the horrific circumstances surrounding them, and the feelings of their parents about what has happened to their children as a result of disgraceful and inexcusable action by the person or persons concerned, who have flouted the law and have allowed such a disgraceful thing to happen.
§ Mr. SpeakerThe hon. Member asks leave to move the Adjournment of the House for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that he believes should have urgent consideration, namely,
an accident caused by the illegal dumping of a hazardous substance.I have listened with deep concern to what the hon. Member has said, but I regret that I do not consider that the matter that he has raised is appropriate for discussion under Standing Order No. 20 and I cannot, therefore, submit his application to the House. I hope that he will find other means of bringing the matter before the House.