Sitting of 14 June 2001

Preamble
The House being met at half-past Two o'clock, and MR. SPEAKER having taken the Chair;
Message to attend the Lords Commissioners;
The House went; and, having returned—

Election of Speaker
Mr. Speaker: I have to report that this House has been in the House of Lords where Her Majesty, by Her Royal Commissioners, has been pleased to approve the choice made of myself for the Office of Speaker. I have, in your name and on your behalf, made claim by humble petition to Her Majesty to all your ancient and undoubted rights and privileges, particularly to freedom of speech in debate, freedom from arrest and freedom of access to Her Majesty whenever occasion shall require, and that the most favourable construction shall be put upon all proceedings. All these Her Majesty, by Her Commissioners, has been pleased to confirm in as ample a manner as they have ever been granted or confirmed by Herself or by any of Her Royal Predecessors.
My first duty to the House is to report my respectful acknowledgement and grateful thanks for the great honour you have conferred upon me in placing me in the Chair.

Members Sworn
Mr. Speaker: I must now call upon the Members of the House, according to the usual custom, to take the Oath of Allegiance at the Table of the House, first doing so myself.
Thereupon MR. SPEAKER first, alone, standing upon the upper step of the Chair, took and subscribed the Oath.
Mr. Speaker: Before Members take the Oath or affirm, I remind the House of the ruling of my predecessor regarding the use of facilities by Members who have not taken their seats. The services of the Departments of the House, as specified by my predecessor, will not be available to Members who have not taken the Oath or affirmed before the date of the Queen's Speech, next Wednesday. The only exception will be Members who, before that date, have sent me a letter informing me that, for health or other good reasons, they cannot attend to take their seats immediately after the election but desire to do so at the earliest possible moment.
It may be for the convenience of the House if I indicate my intentions with regard to the taking of the Oath by right. hon. and hon. Members. I propose to call, first, the members of the Cabinet; then the shadow Cabinet; then all Privy Councillors not included in those two groups, wherever they may be sitting; and then other Ministers. Thereafter I shall call other hon. Members according to seniority determined on the basis of the Parliament of first entry or, for those with broken service, that of most recent entry.
The first batch will be those elected in or before the 1983 Parliament. Thereafter I shall proceed to call Members to take the Oath or affirm by successive Parliaments. I hope that, by late this afternoon, we will have made sufficient progress to enable all Members to swear in who wish to do so, up to and including those elected to the 1992 Parliament. The House will sit again tomorrow at 9.30, when I shall call Members first elected to the 1997 Parliament or to the current Parliament as well as Members elected to earlier Parliaments who were not able to take the Oath today.
Finally, the House will meet again next Tuesday at 2.30 to enable Members to take the Oath who were not able to do so this week.
Those arrangements are very similar to those adopted at the start of the previous Parliament in 1997, and they follow the recommendations of the Procedure Committee. I hope that this announcement will be helpful to Members in planning their programmes. Progress will depend, of course, on the number of Members wishing to take the Oath at any particular time. I advise Members to watch the annunciators to establish progress, and to speak to their Whips.
I also hope that Members will come forward in an orderly manner. I remind Members that the taking of the Oath, as a proceeding of the House, is recorded by the television cameras and that anything said by Members may appear on television or be picked up by microphones. Let us now begin.
The following Members took and subscribed the Oath, or made and subscribed the Affirmation required by law:

Right honourable Anthony Charles Lynton Blair, Sedgefield

Right honourable John Leslie Prescott, Kingston upon Hull East

Right honourable James Gordon Brown, Dunfermline East

Right honourable John Whitaker Straw, Blackburn

Right honourable David Blunkett, Sheffield, Brightside

Right honourable Margaret Mary Beckett, Derby South

Right honourable Clare Short, Birmingham, Ladywood

Right honourable Andrew David Smith, Oxford East

Right honourable Alan Milburn, Darlington

Right honourable Tessa Jane Jowell, Dulwich & West Norwood

Right honourable Helen Liddell, Airdrie & Shotts

Right honourable Geoffrey William Hoon, Ashfield

Right honourable Paul Peter Murphy, Torfaen

Right honourable Estelle Morris, Birmingham, Yardley

Right honourable Patricia Hope Hewitt, Leicester West

Charles Rodway Clarke, Norwich South

Right honourable John Reid, Hamilton North & Bellshill

Right honourable Hilary Jane Armstrong, North West Durham

Right honourable Francis Anthony Aylmer Maude, Horsham

Right honourable Ann Noreen Widdecombe, Maidstone & The Weald

Angela Frances Browning, Tiverton & Honiton

Right honourable Andrew James Mackay, Bracknell

David Lindsay Willetts, Havant

Andrew David Lansley, South Cambridgeshire

Edward Henry Garnier, Harborough

Gary Nicholas Streeter, South West Devon

Theresa Mary May, Maidenhead

Oliver Letwin, West Dorset

Archibald John Norman, Tunbridge Wells

Timothy Stephen Kenneth Yeo, South Suffolk

Peter Michael Ainsworth, East Surrey

Right honourable David Philip Heathcoat-Amory, Wells

Right honourable James Norwich Arbuthnot, North East Hampshire

Right honourable John Anderson Cunningham, Copeland

Right honourable Gerald Bernard Kaufman, Manchester, Gorton

Right honourable Ian McCartney, Makerfield

Right honourable Keith John Charles Bradley, Manchester, Withington

Right honourable Alun Edward Michael, Cardiff South & Penarth

Right honourable Paul Yaw Boateng, Brent South

Right honourable Adam Ingram, East Kilbride

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Right honourable Charles Peter Kennedy, Ross, Skye & Inverness West

Right honourable David Trimble, Upper Bann

Right honourable Derek Foster, Bishop Auckland

Right honourable Frank Gordon Dobson, Holborn & St Pancras

Right honourable David Maurice Curry, Skipton & Ripon

Right honourable Joyce Gwendolen Quin, Gateshead East & Washington West

Right honourable Winifred Ann Taylor, Dewsbury

Right honourable Thomas Clarke, Coatbridge & Chryston

Right honourable Sir Brian Stanley Mawhinney, North West Cambridgeshire

Right honourable David John Maclean, Penrith & The Border

Right honourable Douglas Martin Hogg, Sleaford & North Hykeham

Right honourable Eric Forth, Bromley & Chislehurst

Right honourable David Michael Davis, Haltemprice & Howden

Right honourable John Michael Jack, Fylde

Right honourable John Alan Redwood, Wokingham

Right honourable Walter Menzies Campbell, North East Fife

Right honourable Sir Alan Gordon Barraclough Haselhurst, Saffron Walden

Right honourable Kenneth Harry Clarke, Rushcliffe

Right honourable Terry Davis, Birmingham, Hodge Hill

Right honourable Michael Howard, Folkestone & Hythe

Right honourable Michael Andrew Ancram, Devizes

Right honourable Gregory Knight, East Yorkshire

Right honourable John Yorke Denham, Southampton, Itchen

Melanie Jane Johnson, Welwyn Hatfield

Beverley June Hughes, Stretford & Urmston

Robert William Ainsworth, Coventry North East

John Francis Spellar, Warley

George Foulkes, Carrick, Cumnock & Doon Valley

Graham Eric Stringer, Manchester, Blackley

Denis MacShane, Rotherham

Lynda Margaret Clark, Edinburgh Pentlands

Right honourable Frank Field, Birkenhead

The Reverend Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, North Antrim

The Reverend William Martin Smyth, Belfast South

James Donnelly Touhig, Islwyn

Dawn Primarolo, Bristol South

Douglas Alexander, Paisley South

Ruth Maria Kelly, Bolton West

Elliot Anthony Morley, Scunthorpe

Brian Wilson, Cunninghame North

Anne McGuire, Stirling

David Charles Jamieson, Plymouth, Devonport

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Hazel Anne Blears, Salford

Gerald Sutcliffe, Bradford South

Right honourable Bruce Thomas George, Walsall South

Benjamin Peter James Bradshaw, Exeter

Desmond Henry Browne. Kilmarnock & Loudoun

Jacqueline Jill Smith, Redditch

Christopher Michael Leslie, Shipley

Sally Curtis Keeble, Northampton North

Rosalie Winterton, Doncaster Central

Hilary James Benn, Leeds Central

Keith Hill, Streatham

Angela Evans Smith, Basildon

Ivor Keith Caplin, Hove

James Fitzpatrick, Poplar & Canning Town

Anthony James McNulty, Harrow East

David George Hanson, Delyn

Thomas McLaughlin McAvoy, Glasgow Rutherglen

Nicholas Richard Ainger, Carmarthen West & South Pembrokeshire

Dan Norris, Wansdyke

Kevin McNamara, Kingston upon Hull North

David Julian Winnick, Walsall North

David Marshall, Glasgow Shettleston

Sir Patrick Thomas Cormack, South Staffordshire

Martin John O'Neill, Ochil

Marion Audrey Roe, Broxbourne

Francis Cook, Stockton North

William O'Brien, Normanton

Peter David Robinson, Belfast East

Margaret Eve Hodge, Barking

Thomas Michael Cox, Tooting

James Marshall, Leicester South

Brian Charles John Sedgemore, Hackney South & Shoreditch

John Arbuthnot Du Cane Wilkinson, Ruislip-Northwood

John David McWilliam, Blaydon

Roy Beggs, East Antrim

Jane Ann Winterton, Congleton

Sir Raymond Powell, Ogmore

Mark Fisher, Stoke-on-Trent Central

John McFall, Dumbarton

Peter Kilfoyle, Liverpool, Walton

Anthony Joseph. Lloyd, Manchester Central

Ann Clwyd, Cynon Valley

Gwyneth Patricia Dunwoody, Crewe & Nantwich

Catharine Letitia Hoey, Vauxhall

Right honourable Peter Benjamin Mandelson, Hartlepool

Angela Eagle, Wallasey

Maria Eagle, Liverpool, Garston

Terence Lewis, Worsley

Robert Nelson Wareing, Liverpool, West Derby

Winston James Griffiths, Bridgend

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Roger James Gale, North Thanet

Simon Robert, Key, Salisbury

Sir Sydney Brooks Chapman, Chipping Barnet

Peter James Bottomley, Worthing West

John Mark Taylor, Solihull

Edward Julian Egerton Leigh, Gainsborough

Michael Nicholson Lord, Central Suffolk & North Ipswich

Jonathan Sayeed, Mid Bedfordshire

Antony Brian Baldry, Banbury

David Anthony Atkinson, Bournemouth East

Anne Campbell, Cambridge

Glenda May Jackson, Hampstead & Highgate

John Battle, Leeds West

Simon Henry Ward Hughes, North Southwark & Bermondsey

Kevin John Barron, Rother Valley

Paul Philip Flynn, Newport West

Archibald Johnstone Kirkwood, Roxburgh & Berwickshire

David Martin Hinchliffe, Wakefield

Alice Mahon, Halifax

Diana Julie Abbott, Hackney North & Stoke Newington

Harold Barnes, North East Derbyshire

Ronald Campbell, Blyth Valley

Gerald Neil Steinberg, City of Durham

John Scott Cummings, Easington

Ernest Ross, Dundee West

Katherine Adams, Paisley North

Terence Henry Rooney, Bradford North

George William Stevenson, Stoke-on-Trent South

Fraser Kemp, Houghton & Washington East

Ian Phares Pearson, Dudley South

John Heppell, Nottingham East

Phillip James Woolas, Oldham East & Saddleworth

Ivan Lewis, Bury South

Sylvia Lloyd Heal, Halesowen & Rowley Regis

Andrew Peter Miller, Ellesmere Port & Neston

John Valentine Butterfill, Bournemouth West

James Douglas Cran, Beverley & Holderness

John Quentin Davies, Grantham & Stamford

Alex Elliot Anderson Salmond, Banff & Buchan

William James Clappison, Hertsmere

John Matthew Patrick Hutton, Barrow & Furness

Jean Ann Corston, Bristol East

Gregory James Pope, Hyndburn

Jon Owen Jones, Cardiff Central

Dennis Turner, Wolverhampton South East

Peter Landreth Atkinson, Hexham

Oliver Heald, North East Hertfordshire

Nicholas John Hawkins, Surrey Heath

Nigel Martin Evans, Ribble Valley

Elfyn Llwyd, Meirionnydd Nant Conwy

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Alan John Simpson, Nottingham South

George Edward Mudie, Leeds East

Kevin Michael Hughes, Doncaster North

Arthur Nicholas Winston Soames, Mid Sussex

Bridget Prentice, Lewisham East

Michael Thomas Hall, Weaver Vale

Ian Stewart, Eccles

John Derek Twigg, Halton

Elizabeth Marion Blackman, Erewash

Mark Wainwright Todd, South Derbyshire

Colin Pickthall, West Lancashire

Barry Strachan Gardiner, Brent North

Dari Jean Taylor, Stockton South

Caroline Louise Flint, Don Valley

Linda Perham, Ilford North

Anne Caroline Ballingall McIntosh, Vale of York

John Simon Bercow, Buckingham

Michael Thomas Hancock, Portsmouth South

Graham Stuart Brady, Altrincham & Sale West

Alexander John Randall, Uxbridge

Janet Elizabeth Ann Dean, Burton

David Neil Kidney, Stafford

Desmond Stanley Turner, Brighton, Kemptown

John Rhodes Horam, Orpington

Frank Doran, Aberdeen Central

Joan Mary Ruddock, Lewisham, Deptford

Kali Carol Jean Mountford, Colne Valley

James Edward Thornton Paice, South East Cambridgeshire

Cheryl Elise Kendall Gillan, Chesham & Amersham

Timothy Eric Boswell, Daventry

Richard Michael Bacon, South Norfolk

Stephen John Ladyman, South Thanet

William Ernest Rammell, Harlow

Denis Murphy, Wansbeck

Christine McCafferty, Calder Valley

James Andrew Plaskitt, Warwick & Leamington

Gareth Richard Thomas, Harrow West

Gareth Thomas, Clwyd West

Hugh Bayley, City of York

Ross Frederick Cranston, Dudley North

Constance Ann Cryer, Keighley

Ian Colin Taylor, Esher & Walton

Ian Gibson, Norwich North

Rachel Anne Squire, Dunfermline West

David John Stewart, Inverness East, Nairn & Lochaber

William Tynan, Hamilton South

Frank Roy, Motherwell & Wishaw

Michael Connarty, Falkirk East

Helen Margaret Jackson, Sheffield, Hillsborough

Kerry Patrick Pollard, St Albans

James Dolan Cunningham, Coventry South

Barbara Maureen Roche. Hornsey & Wood Green

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William John Olner, Nuneaton

Sir Paul Alexander Beresford, Mole Valley

Brian David Jenkins, Tamworth

James Keith Chapman, Wirral South

John Flasby Lawrance Whittingdale, Maldon & East Chelmsford

Adrian Edward Bailey, West Bromwich West

John Robertson, Glasgow Anniesland

Ivan John Henderson, Harwich

Anthony Richard Clarke, Northampton South

John Henry Hayes, South Holland & The Deepings

Alan Arthur Hurst, Braintree

Michael Clapham, Barnsley West & Penistone

Kenneth Purchase, Wolverhampton North East

Shona McIsaac, Cleethorpes

Helen Mary Jones, Warrington North

Ian Arthur Cawsey, Brigg & Goole

Mike Wood, Batley & Spen

Jon Hedley Trickett, Hemsworth

Brian Iddon, Bolton South East

John Douglas Naysmith, Bristol North West

Harold Best, Leeds North West

Vernon Rodney Coaker, Gedling

Lawrence William Quinn. Scarborough & Whitby

Alan Campbell, Tynemouth

Neil Turner, Wigan

Nicholas Raymond Winterton, Macclesfield

Rosemary McKenna, Cumbernauld & Kilsyth

Patrick Hall, Bedford

Richard John Grenville Spring, West Suffolk

Alan Keen, Feltham & Heston

Ann Lloyd Keen, Brentford & Isleworth

Valerie Davey, Bristol West

Charlotte Atkins, Staffordshire Moorlands

John Cradock Maples, Stratford-on-Avon

Huw William Edmund Edwards, Monmouth

Martyn David Jones, Clwyd South

Sydney Norman John Rapson, Portsmouth North

John Eric Austin, Erith & Thamesmead

Nigel David Jones, Cheltenham

Andrew Mackinlay, Thurrock

John Robert Cryer, Hornchurch

Right honourable Harriet Harman, Camberwell & Peckham

Andrew John Reed, Loughborough

Jovanka Joan Humble, Blackpool North & Fleetwood

Phyllis Margaret Starkey, Milton Keynes South West

Michael O'Brien, North Warwickshire

Andrew King, Rugby & Kenilworth

Richard Geoffrey James Ottaway, Croydon South

Malcolm Kemp Savidge, Aberdeen North

Margaret Patricia Munn, Sheffield, Heeley

Stephen Hepburn, Jarrow

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Stephen James McCabe, Birmingham, Hall Green

Christopher John Mullin, Sunderland South

Calum Alistair Macdonald, Western Isles

Donald Michael Ellison Foster, Bath

Evan Leslie Harris, Oxford West & Abingdon

David William St. John Heath, Somerton & Frome

Andrew Henry George, St Ives

Robert Laxton, Derby North

David Leslie Taylor, North West Leicestershire

Linda Gilroy, Plymouth, Sutton

Gordon Prentice, Pendle

Rudi Jan Vis, Finchley & Golders Green

Yvette Cooper, Pontefract & Castleford

Stephen Creswell Timms, East Ham

Jim Murphy, Eastwood

Stephen Rothwell O'Brien, Eddisbury

David Digby Rendel, Newbury

Nicolas John Gibb, Bognor Regis & Littlehampton

Iris Robinson, Strangford

Nigel Alexander Dodds, Belfast North

Gregory Lloyd Campbell, East Londonderry

William David Wiggin, Leominster

Andrew Richard Rosindell, Romford

David William Donald Cameron, Witney

George Galloway, Glasgow Kelvin

James Hood, Clydesdale

Kevin Denis Brennan, Cardiff West

Colin Robert Challen, Morley & Rothwell

Marek Jerzy Lazarowicz, Edinburgh North & Leith

Wayne David, Caerphilly

Simon Patrick Tipping, Sherwood

Christopher Stephen Grayling, Epsom & Ewell

Laurence Anthony Robertson, Tewkesbury

Jonathan Cruddas, Dagenham

Jeffrey Mark Donaldson, Lagan Valley

Jamie Charles Cann, Ipswich

Ann McKechin, Glasgow Maryhill

Anthony Wayland Wright, Cannock Chase

Crispin Jeremy Rupert Blunt, Reigate

Edward O'Hara, Knowsley South

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Thomas Anthony Watson, West Bromwich East

George Phillip Willis, Harrogate & Knaresborough

Andrew Murray Burnham, Leigh

James Mark Dakin Purnell, Stalybridge & Hyde

David Wright, Telford

Laura Jean Moffatt, Crawley

Anne Picking, East Lothian

David Wright Miliband, South Shields

Derek Murray Wyatt, Sittingbourne & Sheppey

Susan Kathleen Doughty, Guildford

John Mann, Bassetlaw

David Arthur Stephen Tredinnick, Bosworth

Gillian Joanna Merron, Lincoln

Kevan David Jones, North Durham

Right honourable Richard George Caborn, Sheffield Central

Alan James Carter Duncan, Rutland & Melton

John Andrew Barrett, Edinburgh West

Alexander Morrison Carmichael, Orkney & Shetland

Sandra Julia Gidley, Romsey

Alan Reid, Argyll & Bute

John Archibald, Viscount Thurso, Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross

David Hamilton, Midlothian

David Hywel Francis, Aberavon

Mark Phillip Hendrick, Preston

Colin Edward Breed, South East Cornwall

Vera Baird, Redcar

Parmjit Singh Dhanda, Gloucester

Helen Mary Southworth, Warrington South

Andrew Love, Edmonton

Paul David Stinchcombe, Wellingborough

Janet Anderson, Rossendale & Darwen

Sandra Osborne, Ayr

James Patrick Dowd, Lewisham West

Nicholas Barton Harvey, North Devon

ADJOURNMENT
Resolved, That this House do now adjourn until tomorrow at half-past Nine o'clock.ߞ[Mr. Kemp.]
Adjourned accordingly at one minute past Five o'clock.

Preamble
The House met at half-past two of the clock: The LORD CHANCELLOR on the Woolsack.
Prayers—Read by the Lord Bishop of Portsmouth.

Speaker of the House of Commons
The Lord Chancellor (Lord Irvine of Lairg): My Lords, I beg to acquaint the House that a Commission has been issued under Her Majesty's Great Seal to several Lords therein named authorising the said Lords to declare in the name and on behalf of Her Majesty Her Majesty's Approbation of the choice of the Commons of Mr Michael Martin to be their Speaker.
Then, the Lords Commissioners (the Lord Chancellor (Lord Irvine of Lairg), the Lord Privy Seal (Lord Williams of Mostyn), the Lord Moore of Wolvercote, the Lord Strathclyde and the Baroness Williams of Crosby) being robed and seated in front of the Throne, the Lord Chancellor directed Black Rod as follows: Let the Commons know that the Lords Commissioners desire their immediate attendance in this House.
Then, the Commons being at the Bar, Mr Speaker- Elect (Mr Michael Martin), addressing the Royal Commissioners, said: My Lords, I have to acquaint your Lordships that, in obedience to the Royal Command, Her Majesty's faithful Commons have, in the exercise of their undoubted rights and privileges, proceeded to the election of a Speaker, and that their
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choice has fallen upon myself. I therefore present myself to your Lordships' Bar and submit myself with all humility to Her Majesty's gracious Approbation.
The Lord Chancellor: Michael Martin, we are
commanded to assure you that Her Majesty is so fully sensible of your zeal in the public service, and of your ample sufficiency to execute the arduous duties which her faithful Commons have selected you to discharge, that Her Majesty does most readily approve and confirm you as their Speaker.
The Speaker: My Lords, I submit myself with all humility and gratitude to Her Majesty's gracious Commands. It is now my duty, in the name of and on behalf of the Commons of the United Kingdom, to lay claim, by humble petition to Her Majesty, to all their ancient and undoubted rights and privileges, especially to freedom of speech in debate, to freedom from arrest, and to free access to Her Majesty whenever occasion shall arise, and that the most favourable construction shall be put upon all their proceedings. With regard to myself, I pray that, if in the discharge of my duties I shall inadvertently fall into any error, it may be imputed to myself alone, and not to Her Majesty's most faithful Commons.
The Lord Chancellor: Mr Speaker, we have it further in Command to inform you that Her Majesty does most readily confirm all the rights and privileges which have ever been granted to or conferred upon the Commons by Her Majesty or any of her Royal predecessors. With respect to yourself, Sir, though Her Majesty is sensible that you stand in no need of such assurance, Her Majesty will ever place the most favourable construction upon your words and actions.
The Speaker and the Commons then retired.

Peers and Oath of Allegiance
Several Lords—Took the Oath or Affirmed.
House adjourned at seven o'clock.