Welfare Reform Bill

I should explain what a Clyde supporter is, in case anybody thinks that it has something to do with the river. Clyde is a football club in the town where I live. I make that clear for the record in case hon. Members think that the hon. Member for Glasgow, East (John Mason) and I are somehow associated in some secret society. I say to the hon. Gentleman that the comments and criticisms that I have made this afternoon about the SNP Government have not come only from me; they are highlighted in today's The Scotsman by Professor Neil McKeganey, the director of the Centre for Drug Misuse. He discusses the claims that the SNP is not participating in this piece of work. In his column, the professor writes:"““I do think it is questionable whether we should be giving addicts cash benefits in the same way that we do to other vulnerable people.””" He goes on: ““I think that””—[Interruption.] Will the hon. Member for Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Mr. MacNeil) let me finish? The professor goes on:"““I think that the Nationalist government should be putting more money into rehabilitation. At the moment there is evidence ""that there are existing rehab units with empty beds and insufficient places on rehab programmes, and yet the government just seems to be putting more money into the methadone programme.””" Those are not my words, but those of the director of the Centre for Drug Misuse in Scotland. I hope that SNP Members here today will press their colleagues in Scotland to participate in what is recognised as an important way to support drug addicts who want to get off drugs, but might have never had a vehicle for doing so. I also hope that our Department for Work and Pensions will not give up on the SNP Administration, although that might be tempting. I hope that the Department will continue to encourage the SNP to look again at these proposals. Finally, I congratulate the Secretary of State on recognising the importance of access to work, on the extra funding that he has put into the budget and on embracing the right-to-control agenda. The plans in the Bill move us a significant way forward in transforming the lives of disabled people, ensuring that they can make decisions about their own lives. I wish that the hon. Member for Northavon could conceive of a situation in which 20 people could make individual decisions to come together to buy in the services and all the attractions that he identified in his local residential home. The right to control will be a long-lasting legacy to those disabled people, such as Baroness Jane Campbell and Rachel Hurst, among others, who fought for so long for real equality in our society and it will be another step forward towards ensuring that this country will improve disabled people's lives and reach true equality, as highlighted in the then Prime Minister's 2005 strategy unit report. Yes, there are some detailed issues, and I am sure that we will work them out during the progress of the Bill. However, I hope that the House will unanimously support the Bill, because it is another significant step in transforming our welfare state.