PRIME MINISTER (ENGAGEMENTS)
Q1. Mr. Goodlad
asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 13 May.
The Prime Minister (Mrs. Margaret Thatcher)
This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others, including one with Herr Hans de Koster, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. In addition to my duties in this House, I shall be having further meetings later today, including one with the President of Gabon. This evening I hope to have an Audience of Her Majesty The Queen.
[column 1043]Mr. Goodlad
Will my right hon. Friend try to find time to persuade the secretary general of the TUC to call off the so-called day of action tomorrow? Although its failure may demonstrate a broad measure of support for Government policies, the holding of a political strike can only further damage the reputation and authority of the TUC.
The Prime Minister
I believe that the so-called day of action tomorrow will discredit the unions, diminish the pay packet and damage Britain. I hope that all those who believe in backing Britain will be at work tomorrow.
Mr. Foot
As, apparently, one of the right hon. Lady's objections to the day of action is that she is determined to sustain her existing policies, does she think that it would be a good idea if she had some success with those policies? She has not had any yet. Will she tell us when she thinks her Government will be able to get back to the level of inflation that we had when she took office?
The Prime Minister
The Government's policies are a matter for Parliament and not for the T.U.C.
Mr. David Steel
Even though it appears that the damage caused by tomorrow's events will not be as great as was originally intended, does the right hon. Lady agree that it is incumbent upon the leadership of every party to make it clear that whatever our disagreements with Government policies—they are fundamental in this instance—the places where they are debated are at the hustings and in the House? If the day ever came when the Government were pushed off course by inaction on the streets and in the factories it would be a black day for Britain.
The Prime Minister
I am happy to say that I agree with every word that the right hon. Gentleman has said.
Mr. Onslow
Does my right hon. Friend agree that it would be of great assistance to Britain if the Leader of the Opposition, or his Deputy, were to state where the Labour Party stands on these issues, rather than allowing it to be led by the nose by Mr. Runaway Murray?
[column 1044]The Prime Minister
From what they have said so far, it appears that they support the day of action, which I think is disgraceful.
Mr. Foot
Will the right hon. Lady now give the House her answer to the question that I put originally? It is one of the issues about which people have the right to demonstrate. Will she tell us when she thinks she will be able to return to the level of inflation that prevailed when she took office? If she will not give a straight answer to that question, will she say when she will be able to return to the level of unemployment that prevailed when she took office? Will she go through the list? These are issues on which people will demonstrate throughout the country. Until she takes measures in this Parliament to stop the right of demonstration, they will have every right to do so.
The Prime Minister
I am happy to stand on the Government's record in their first year. At the end of this Parliament I shall be very happy to compare our record with that of the Opposition.
Mr. Ancram
Is my right hon. Friend aware of the intolerable pressures that some trade unions are exerting on those individuals who do not wish to take part in the day of action? Does not the Opposition's silence finally kill their claim to speak for individual rights and civil liberties?
The Prime Minister
I am very much aware that the vast majority of trade unionists do not wish to stay away from work tomorrow. They feel very bitter, and are deeply resentful that they were not consulted about the T.U.C.'s advice.
Later——
Mr. Eldon Griffiths
On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. During the exchanges on this question, due to the amount of noise in the Chamber, I and, I suspect, a number of my hon. Friends were unable to hear the intervention of the right hon. Member for Ebbw Vale (Mr. Foot) in full, and since the point that he was on was a matter of considerable public importance, I wonder whether you could enlighten me as to what you heard him say? Did he say whether he was for or against the day of action?
[column 1045]Mr. Speaker
The hon. Gentleman was very clever to leave it until the end of his sentence.
Q2. Mr. Christopher Price
asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 13 May.
The Prime Minister
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply which I gave a short time ago.
Mr. Price
Would the Prime Minister like to muse on the fact that next year it will be 600 years since the Peasants' Revolt, and that preparations are in hand to celebrate that anniversary in Blackheath, in the London borough of Lewisham? Will she accept that it is an English tradition for people to show their disgust with their political masters, especially when they have been conned by them? Does she accept that this is a tradition of great antiquity, which should be respected?
The Prime Minister
I think that it would be better to address our minds to the problems of the twentieth century.
Mr. Cormack
Does my right hon. Friend agree that it should be the legitimate aim of all trade union leaders to ensure that all their members can have five-star holidays? Are not the antics of the secretary general of the TUC designed to keep back the millions of trade unionists in this country? Would not the secretary general do better if he told them to stay at work tomorrow?
The Prime Minister
It is the Government's aim to enable people to raise their standards of living by going to work. They cannot raise their standards of living by not going to work.
Mr. William Hamilton
Will the Prime Minister explain to my right hon. Friend the Member for Ebbw Vale (Mr. Foot) exactly how she will reduce inflation at a stroke, namely, by removing tobacco and possibly alcohol, from the retail price index? If she does that, does she realise that she will be accused of cooking the books again?
The Prime Minister
That proposal has been put forward by at any rate one hon. Member. Some people think that those items need not be included in the retail price index. I have no immediate proposals to change the retail price index.
[column 1046]Q3. Mr. Pawsey
asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 13 May.
The Prime Minister
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply which I gave earlier.
Mr. Pawsey
During her busy day, will my right hon. Friend find time to consider the fact that the civil population of the United Kingdom is almost defenceless in the face of a conventional or a nuclear attack? Will she therefore give greater priority to an effective civil defence system for our country?
The Prime Minister
My right hon. Friend William Whitelawthe Home Secretary is making very good progress with his review of civil defence. I hope that he will be in a position shortly to make a statement. We all want to do more. The amount that we can do will depend upon the resources available.
Mr. Heffer
Will the right hon. Lady bear in mind that a 24-hour general strike is taking place in France, and that the French Government are not showing the hysteria that the Conservative Party has shown? Is it not clear that the day off, which will not be for everybody, will be no worse and no better than if we had a normal bank holiday? Is it not clear that the right hon. Lady was taking utter nonsense at the Perth Tory Party conference when she talked about our country losing its competitiveness because workers decided to take a day of action to show their displeasure at her policies.
The Prime Minister
We have already had two bank holidays this month. Surely that is enough, even for the hon. Gentleman.
Mr. Garel-Jones
Will my right hon. Friend consider what advice I might give a constituent who came to see me last Saturday?
Mr. Russell Kerr
Get a new Member of Parliament.
Mr. Garel-Jones
Will my right hon. Friend bear in mind that he was a reluctant conscript into the National Graphical Association and that he received a rather peremptory letter from his union asking him to pay £6.20 a week towards a “dispute levy” ? He is anxious not to pay that money. What would my right hon. Friend advise me to tell him?
[column 1047]The Prime Minister
I am sure that my hon. Friend told his constituent that he had an excellent Member of Parliament. Assuming that the levy is correct according to the union's rules, that excellent Member of Parliament's advice would have been that if he did not wish to pay the amount he and his fellow union members should attend meetings until they manage to change the rules.
Mr. Norman Atkinson
Does the right hon. Lady recall that a few answers ago, she confirmed that unemployment was the responsibility of the Government, not of the TUC? Did she mean that unemployment existed because the Government could no do anything about it, or that it existed as a result of deliberate Government policy?
The Prime Minister
It is certainly not the latter. The level of unemployment is partly dependent on the amount that employees take out in pay claims, and whether the company against which they make those claims and settlements can still afford to sell goods in competition with overseas companies.
Q4. Mr. Marlow
asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 13 May.
The Prime Minister
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply which I gave earlier.
Mr. Marlow
Is my right hon. Friend aware that for every 10 white babies born in the United Kingdom, there is one coloured child? Is she aware that that proportion is increasing, and that even after recent measures, a sufficient number of people of different cultures come into Britain to populate a parliamentary constituency once every other year? Is she further aware that within a generation, the population of coloured people in Britain will double, and that whatever noises Opposition Members may make, it is a matter of public concern? Will she tell the House what plans the Government have to take account of the general public's proper concern?
The Prime Minister
I hope that every hon. Member will agree that those born in this country with British citizenship will have equal rights, and that they will do everything possible to secure good race relations.
[column 1048]Mr. James Hamilton
Before passing judgment on the day of action, will the Prime Minister talk to the president of the Allander-Fraser Institute, who forecast that there will be 200,000 unemployed in Scotland by October? Is she aware that he also forecast that school leavers will take at least two years to find their first jobs? Will she tell the unemployed and school leavers how to spend the day of action?
The Prime Minister
As the hon. Gentleman knows, we have extended some of the employment opportunities offered by my right hon. Friend James Priorthe Secretary of State for Employment, in order to ensure that school leavers have either a job or work experience when they leave school.
Mr. Edward Gardner
Is my right hon. Friend aware that there is growing and deep disquiet—not to say anger—about known and suspected abuses of diplomatic immunity? Does she agree that those abuses include not only a multitude of minor offences, but extend to possessing and distributing firearms and explosives, and to incitement to murder? Is she satisfied that the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations is sufficiently comprehensive to deal effectively with those abuses?
The Prime Minister
We use the Vienna convention if we have reason to believe that those conventions are being flouted. We are continuously making it clear that all of those who come to this country in a diplomatic capacity are expected to observe the law of our land.
Mr. Cyril Smith
Is the Prime Minister aware that many of the hundreds of workers in my constituency who will be demonstrating tomorrow will be demonstrating not because they do not want to work but because they are textile workers who have no work to go to? Is she aware that in my constituency alone three mills have closed in the last 10 days? Is she prepared to attend a meeting or to receive a deputation of leaders of the textile industry from the North-West in order to hear their plight?
The Prime Minister
I hope that that deputation will go, in the first place, either to my right hon. Friend Sir Keith Josephthe Secretary of State for Industry or to my [column 1049]right hon. Friend John Nottthe Secretary of State for Trade. But of course, in the last resort, I am always willing to receive deputations representing industries as important as textiles.