PARLIAMENT resumed business on October 15 to complete the present session.

The Queen's Speech will be delivered on November 13; Robin Cook has told us that the next Session will be very busy.

Parliament is debating further modernisation of its proceedings. It is proposed that all Bills should be carried over from one Session to the next, but not from one Parliament to another, if they are not completed.

Parliament begins business now on Thursdays at 11.30am and it is proposed to extend this starting time to Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Finishing times will change to 7pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and 6pm on Thursdays. Mondays and Fridays will remain unchanged.

If the proposals are accepted, Members of Parliament will spend just as much time as they do now on legislation. In future Parliament may begin work in September rather than, as at present, after the Party conferences in mid-October. These proposals are unlikely to find favour with the Conservatives, many of whom have second jobs in the City or in the Law Courts.

I have been saddened recently by the murders that have taken place in our Constituency. I am supporting the call by Det Supt Jack Dees and the family of Ryan Mason to set up a "Vicious Offenders' Register", in parallel with the existing Sex Offenders' Register, and I was pleased to learn that the Home Office is launching pilot schemes next Spring. I will be sending Minister Hilary Benn a "dossier" on Ryan's murder and seeking a meeting with him.

I was saddened too by the deaths of Carly Bateman and Danielle Moorcroft. In my opinion, it is better to register young women as heroin addicts, and treat them clinically for their addiction, rather than force them on to the streets as prostitutes.

On a lighter note, I was pleased to attend the Farnworth and Kearsley Labour Club a few days ago to present long-service awards to those who have served as committee members for 20 years. Derek Hamer, who is Chairman of the local National Union of Labour Clubs Committee, presented awards to those who had served for 10 years. Clubs across Bolton are finding times tough at the moment. It is important that we support all our political and social clubs; we will miss them if they have to close!