Richard Benyon

Mr. Richard Benyon (Newbury) (Con): On Monday the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, the hon. Member for Hackney, South and Shoreditch (Meg Hillier), said,

"we are still interested, certainly from a Home Office perspective, in views on third-party insurance".-[Official Report, 22 March 2010; Vol. 508, c. 4.]

Ministers know what the problems are with bull breeds in certain communities and they know about their effects on people living in those communities, so what do this Government do? They use a sledgehammer to miss a nut. They have had 13 years to get this issue right and now, in the run-up to an election, they produce measures, immediately withdraw them and then partially reintroduce them again. Do they actually talk to their Home Office colleagues? What confidence can we have that this Government will bring in measures that will deal with a serious and urgent problem?

Hilary Benn: I hope that the hon. Gentleman will forgive me if I say that I am pretty reluctant to take lectures on effective legislation from the party responsible for the original, 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act, which had to be amended in 1997. He should be slightly cautious on that subject. That is the first point.

The second point- [ Interruption. ] I was not in the House at the time; I will take credit for what I have done. The second point is that third-party insurance could be useful in relation to particular dog owners. For example, it could be part of a dog control order. Third-party insurance was included in the consultation paper because some who have been party to the debate suggested it. The Dogs Trust, for example, is in favour of the proposal and thinks that it would be sensible to have compulsory third-party insurance. However, I am afraid to say that the Opposition decided to go around suggesting that the Government had already made up their mind to introduce compulsory third-party insurance for everybody. That is not our position, and that is why I made it clear that we do not intend to proceed with that proposal.

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http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmhansrd/cm100325/debtext/100325-0001.htm#10032531000571

Mr. Benyon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he plans to publish the Government's Marine Protected Area Strategy; and what priority will be accorded to ecological coherence in the strategy. [323244]

Huw Irranca-Davies: We plan to publish our Marine Protected Area (MPA) strategy before Easter. MPAs are an important tool to achieve the Government's vision for clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse oceans and seas. The Government are committed to designating Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and Special Protection Areas (SPAs) under the European habitats and birds directives respectively, and Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009. Our ambition is to have sufficient sites designated by the end of 2012 so that they form a UK ecologically coherent network together with existing SACs, SPAs, MCZs, Ramsar sites and Sites of Special Scientific Interest, and those sites designated by the Devolved Administrations.

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Q1. Mr. Richard Benyon (Newbury) (Con): If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 10 March.

The Prime Minister (Mr. Gordon Brown): I am sure that the whole House will wish to join me in paying tribute to the sacrifice of soldiers who have lost their lives in Afghanistan. They are: Rifleman Jonathon Allott; Rifleman Liam Maughan, from 3rd Battalion the Rifles; Lance Corporal Thomas Keogh, from 4th Battalion the Rifles, attached to 3rd Battalion the Rifles; and Corporal Stephen Thompson, from 1st Battalion the Rifles, attached to 3rd Battalion the Rifles. These men have made the greatest of sacrifices in the service of their country and their comrades. Their heroism and bravery cannot, and will not, be forgotten. Their legacy will be in the future that is being won for the people of Afghanistan and the protection they are securing for the British people. They will be remembered with great pride by the British people and by their families. As we honour their memory, we send our sincere condolences to their families and loved ones, who feel their loss the most. The debt that we owe them can never be repaid.

The whole House, I think, will want also to pay tribute to the life of Michael Foot. He will be remembered as a man of deep principle and passionate idealism who was, in the views of many in all parts of this House, the greatest parliamentary debater of his generation.

This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall have further such meetings later today.

Mr. Benyon: The whole House will want to concur with the words of condolence that the Prime Minister has offered to those members of the Rifles who lost their lives. For those of us who served with the regiment that has now become the Rifles, we feel the loss of the families very intensely, but it is matched with pride at what that regiment has become and what it is today.

The Army Families Federation has carried out postal trials which prove that it is unlikely that the vast majority of our armed forces serving overseas will be able to vote in the coming election. Will the Prime Minister intervene to ensure that we do not have the perverse situation whereby we have people fighting abroad for others to have the right to vote, but we are denying them that right themselves?

The Prime Minister: I repeat and endorse what the hon. Gentleman has said, not only about the regiment that he is talking about but about the bravery of the individual soldiers. I also say to him that the Justice Secretary is making the best arrangements possible so that every soldier and every member of the armed forces overseas who has a vote will be able to cast their vote. I will personally write to the hon. Gentleman about all the arrangements that are being made. It is absolutely right that everyone should have the chance to cast their vote in every election.

Hansard Link: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmhansrd/cm100310/debtext/100310-0002.htm#10031061000581

Mr. Richard Benyon (Newbury) (Con): What recent assessment he has made of the state of relations between the UK and Argentina; and if he will make a statement.

The Minister for Europe (Chris Bryant): We have a productive relationship on a range of issues, including in the G20, such as climate change, sustainable development and counter-proliferation. We hope that current tensions over the Falklands will not escalate and undermine our co-operation on other issues.

Mr. Benyon: Argentina today is very different from the Argentina of the early '80s. It is a wonderful place full of many people who share our values. Does the Minister agree that the Government should reach over the head of Argentina's rather dysfunctional Government in Buenos Aires to the people of Argentina in order to communicate the fact that this is not a simple, tired, post-colonial issue but is about the islanders' right of self-determination?

Chris Bryant: The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to say that this is a matter of self-determination for the people of the Falklands. When some people-Argentines-suggest that there are not any indigenous people to the Falklands, I point out that many people from Argentina are of Italian, British, Scottish and German stock, going back fewer generations than the presence on the Falklands Islands. [Hon. Members: "And Welsh."] For that matter, as several hon. Members are pointing out, many people of Welsh stock live in Patagonia.

I know that the relationships between our two countries are very strong, and there are many areas in which Argentina has been extremely courageous, not least in relation to counter-proliferation. We stand ready to work with it on all those issues, as I pointed out to the chargé d'affaires the other day. It would be good if it had an ambassador back in London.

Hansard Link:

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