Question to Sir George Young on the Maldives

John Glen (Salisbury) (Con): Will the Leader of the House urgently make time for a debate on judicial reform in the Republic of the Maldives? Although the judiciary is constitutionally independent, sitting judges are underqualified, often corrupt and hostile to the democratically elected regime.

Sir George Young: The Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for North East Bedfordshire (Alistair Burt), is seized of this problem and is in touch with the Maldives President to see whether we can resolve the impasse. The high commission in Colombo is also engaged. We want to help the Maldives to make progress towards democratic reform in the direction that my hon. Friend the Member for Salisbury (John Glen) outlines.

Question to David Gauke on Tax Avoidance

John Glen (Salisbury) (Con): How much revenue does the Treasury expect HMRC to receive as a result of recent measures to reduce tax avoidance, and how much does the Minister estimate could be accrued from tax exiles who make £100 million in this country, clear off to Switzerland for five years, and then come back and advise the Leader of the Opposition?

Mr Gauke: As a consequence of the measures that we announced last year to tackle avoidance, we believe that something like £1 billion will be raised, £750 million of that relating to disguised remuneration, a policy that was opposed by Labour. I cannot talk about individual advisers to the leader of the Labour party and their tax affairs, but if such a person is advising the Labour leader, as far as we are concerned he is doing a great job and should carry on.

Question to Philip Hammond on proposed changes in the armed forces

John Glen (Salisbury) (Con): If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

The Secretary of State for Defence (Mr Philip Hammond): My departmental responsibilities are to ensure that our country is properly defended, now and in the future, through the delivery of the military tasks for which the MOD is mandated; that our service personnel have the right equipment and training to allow them to succeed in the military tasks; and that we honour our armed forces covenant. In order to discharge those duties, I have a clear responsibility to ensure that the Department has a properly balanced budget and a force generation strategy and a defence equipment programme that are affordable and sustainable in the medium to long term.

I am deeply aware that our people are the greatest assets of the armed forces, and I am sure that all Members of the House will want to join me in wishing all of them, especially those who are away from home over the festive period, a happy and a safe Christmas.

John Glen: I thank my right hon. Friend for his answer. Will he update the House on the status of the service chiefs' review of force generation and sustainability, which among other things was looking at harmony guidelines? I am sure that my right hon. Friend will be aware that if he adopted the Navy's harmony guidelines, he would secure a significant saving across the MOD.

Mr Hammond: The single service chiefs are reviewing force generation issues in the light of the proposed change structure of the armed forces. The issues around harmony are different in the three services, and it is right that the individual services develop harmony guidelines that are right for their conditions and allow them to operate within their single service budgets.

Question to Caroline Spelman on Bovine TB

Yesterday in the Chamber I asked Caroline Spelman, Secretary of State for DEFRA, if the new provisions to tackle Bovine TB will be kept under review. Bovine TB is an issue that is devastating to so many of my constituents, and I welcome the moves to address the problem.

John Glen (Salisbury) (Con): The farmers of south Wiltshire and around Salisbury will warmly welcome today's announcements. Will the Secretary of State confirm that these new provisions will be kept under review to ensure that they are successful in tackling this terrible disease? If they are seen to be successful, will moves be made to extend them as soon as possible so that everyone can have the benefit of the trials?

Mrs Spelman: As I made clear, the two trials that will take place next year—probably at the start of the autumn—will cover a six-week period, after which we would expect the evaluation of those trials to take approximately another four weeks. The evaluation will be undertaken by an independent panel, the composition of which will be announced in the new year. Of course, we will keep that under very close review, as we will all the parts of our package of proposals to eradicate TB.

Question to Greg Barker on the Green Deal

John Glen: When considering the green deal and energy efficiency measures generally, does the Minister take into account the potential damage caused to property by condensation, which outweighs some of the advantages of some of those measures? Will he meet me and one of my constituents to discuss that growing problem, which compromises so much of what the Government are trying to achieve?

Gregory Barker (Minister of State (Climate Change), Energy and Climate Change): I should be happy to do so. It is true that older properties without damp courses, many of which were built before the first world war, are more difficult to treat, and much more research and development is needed to ensure that we do not unintentionally cause more problems than we solve.

Question to William Hague on Iran

John Glen (Salisbury) (Con): Will my right hon. Friend say what contact he has had over the past 24 hours with his US counterpart and what actions, diplomatic or otherwise, the US is considering to support the UK Government's position?

Mr Hague: We are of course in constant touch with the United States. Secretary Clinton and President Obama have issued very strong statements about this incident. The United States does not have an embassy in Tehran, but the Americans are strongly supportive of the action we are taking and will, of course, reflect that in their wider diplomacy around the globe.

Question to Andrew Mitchell on International Development

John Glen (Salisbury) (Con): What evidence can the Secretary of State give that our Government's global leadership in increasing aid spending is encouraging other nations to adopt similar increases?

Mr Andrew Mitchell (Secretary of State for International Development): Over the last year there has been an increase in many countries' support for development, which is quite right and in accordance with the commitments that they have given. Britain has been in the lead in that regard. All our spending is in our national interest, and large amounts of it support our security, and indeed our future prosperity.

Question to Sir George Young on Hampton Park II Video

Question to Sir George Young on Hampton Park II

This week, I took the first possible opportunity to raise the decision over Hampton Park II in Parliament. I am pleased that I will be able to once again raise it next Thursday in a debate; and I will continue to strongly pursue the matter until we are able to reach a resolution. A video of the question will be available shortly.

John Glen (Salisbury) (Con): Given the recent decision by the Communities and Local Government Secretary to overturn the inspector's decision to reject 500 new homes in Hampton Park II in Salisbury, may I urge the Leader of the House to table a debate on public understanding of localism? Local councillors, community groups and residents constructively engaged to persuade the inspector to turn the application down, and they are now bemused and do not understand what localism means.

Sir George Young: I understand the concern of another of my parliamentary neighbours about the outcome of that decision in his constituency. My hon. Friend asks for a debate, but I have just announced a debate next Thursday on the national planning policy framework, which will provide an opportunity for him to raise that issue and get a response. The decision was issued on 21 September. The Secretary of State has no further jurisdiction in the matter, and it would not be appropriate for me to comment on the merits as we are still within the six-week period during which the decision can be challenged in the High Court.

Question to the Prime Minister on Public Disorder

John Glen (Salisbury) (Con): The Prime Minister rightly identified new and unique threats that the police have faced in recent days. What new and unique solutions does he think will be necessary to deal with the underlying causes of this social unrest?

The Prime Minister: On the first part of the hon. Gentleman's question, the police themselves will want to review what happened when there were large numbers of different groups looting in different parts of the country at the same time. They will want to work out how to address that—what tactics are needed and how to make sure they get arrests made more quickly—and the Home Office will want to work with them in that endeavour.