Business of the House

Alan Meale Excerpts

Thursday 8th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend, who I understand spent four days working in the hospital and gives the bid his personal support. That is a good example of how one can reinvest savings in front-line services, and by reinvesting the money that we have saved we are able to put more than £330 million into projects that will help more than 2.5 million patients per year. My hon. Friend has given a very good example of how that assistance is feeding through.

[Sir Alan Meale (Mansfield) (Lab)]

I am sure that the Leader of the House will join me in paying tribute to our brave fallen, who have died over the past couple of days in Afghanistan, but at the same time I am sure that he is appalled by the actions in Benghazi, with the wanton destruction of many of the war graves in our cemeteries. Will he have a word with his colleagues at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to ensure that the strongest representations are made to the Libyan Government, and will he in the near future find time for a debate about that most important work?

[Sir George Young]

The hon. Gentleman has drawn attention to a very serious matter. It is important that the damage is repaired immediately, and I pay tribute to the work of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Representations have been made to the Libyan Government expressing our dismay at what has happened and urging them to take every step to prevent any recurrence. I cannot promise an early debate, but it might be an appropriate subject for a debate on the Adjournment commending the work that is done by the commission.