PRIME MINISTER
Engagements
Q1. Mr. John Browne
asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 12 June.
The Prime Minister (Mrs. Margaret Thatcher)
This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and [column 756]others. In addition to my duties in the House I shall be having further meetings later today. This evening I hope to have an audience of Her Majesty The Queen.
Mr. Browne
Will my right hon. Friend take time today to consider the subject of taxation and, in particular, the spurious allegations made by the Leader of the Opposition about the likelihood of the imposition of VAT on food? Will my right hon. Friend reassure the House and the nation yet again that the Government have no intention whatsoever of imposing VAT on food?
The Prime Minister
We get this scare at every election, whether it is a general election or a Euro-election. We are used to it. It represents an attempt by the Opposition to divert attention from their total absence of policies on Europe.
We have no intention of extending VAT to food. Neil KinnockThe Leader of the Opposition should remember that it was Denis Healeya Labour Chancellor who put VAT on confectionery, ice cream, soft drinks and potato crisps. He should remember that it was a Socialist group in Europe which presented a report which tried to abolish zero rating, and a Conservative group in Europe which restored zero rating.
Mr. Kinnock
Does the Prime Minister still say, on behalf of her Government and her party, “We are not going to intervene in the coal dispute” ?
The Prime Minister
Yes. The term “intervention” is very well understood. The right hon. Gentleman has been trying to persuade me for a very long time to get both sides along to No. 10 Downing street for beer and sandwiches so that I can be told, “Give 'em the money, Maggie.”
Mr. Kinnock
The evidence of the Prime Minister's intervention for the mischievous purposes of deepening and embittering this dispute is now obvious and proven, and the evidence of her deceit is also proven by the way in which she has continually claimed not to be involved while in fact, for all the wrong reasons, she is directly involved. Will the Prime Minister now apologise for her deceit and use her power to encourage the negotiating parties to come to a speedy and mutually satisfactory result to the dispute?
The Prime Minister
The right hon. Gentleman asks me to intervene in the way in which I refuse to intervene.
Q2. Mr. Wareing
asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 12 June.
The Prime Minister
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Mr. Wareing
Now that the Secretary of State for the Environment has been to Liverpool and seen just a little of the housing problem facing the city council, and has said that the council is right to regard it as a priority, will the Prime Minister review the housing investment programme for Liverpool? Furthermore, will she consider restoring her reputation as the Iron Maiden by having the guts to visit Liverpool to confirm the situation—and next time she visits Liverpool, will she come in broad daylight?
The Prime Minister
I seem to remember that last time I went to Liverpool it was very broad daylight.
Mr. Wareing
And everybody was asleep in bed.
Mr. Speaker
Order.
[column 757]The Prime Minister
I hope that, for the moment, the hon. Gentleman is awake. With regard to the more serious aspect of his question, as the hon. Gentleman knows, a joint paper has been produced by officials of the Liverpool city council and officials of the Department of the Environment on options for achieving a balanced city council budget for 1984–85. It has been presented to the city councillors and Patrick Jenkinthe Secretary of State. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is due to meet councillors to discuss it. In the meantime, I understand that the auditor has written strongly advising the council to set a rate by 20 June. I hope that it will do so.
Viscount Cranborne
Has my right hon. Friend noticed the announcement in this morning's press that the Americans have managed to shoot down a warhead in space? Will she take time today to consider whether that event has any implications for the purchase of the Trident missile?
The Prime Minister
It would be extremely unwise to rush into any conclusions on the basis of a press report or to make any statement without considering its full implications. The difference between one event and turning it into working technology is enormous, especially in this sphere.
Dr. Owen
In view of the Prime Minister's proven involvement in British Rail's pay offer, will she spare the House the humbug of pretending that she is not involved in decisions about whether British Rail should now invoke the civil law in relation to secondary picketing by members of the National Union of Railwaymen? Will she now tell us what she thinks should be done?
The Prime Minister
I have already said, in case the right hon. Gentleman has not noticed, that should the great nationalised industries invoke the civil law, the Government will not override their decision.
Q3. Mr. Norman Atkinson
asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 12 June.
The Prime Minister
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Mr. Atkinson
Is the Prime Minister aware that Mr. Denktash and some other Turkish-speaking Cypriots are shortly to host a dinner at the Savoy hotel which 40 or 50 of the Prime Minister's Back Benchers will attend and which will be addressed by the right hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Mr. Amery), who will associate the Tory party with the Turkish annexation of Cyprus? Will she dissociate herself from that annexation and assure the House that no Government facilities will be made available for any trade negotiations during Mr. Denktash's visit to the United Kingdom?
The Prime Minister
As the hon. Gentleman is aware, the Government have condemned the attempts to declare an independent northern Cyprus. The Government wish there to be a unitary state of Cyprus and have supported and will continue to support the efforts of the United Nations to bring both sides together to achieve the restoration of a unitary state of Cyprus. With regard to other matters, right hon. and hon. Members are free to do as they wish.
[column 758]Sir Peter Blaker
Has my right hon. Friend any comment to make on the deafening silence of the opposition parties when the Prime Minister of South Africa was received by the Pope?
The Prime Minister
No. I sometimes prefer the deafening silence to the other thing.
Q4. Mr. Marlow
asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 12 June.
The Prime Minister
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Mr. Marlow
Does my right hon. Friend agree with this summary of the European election campaign, that whereas the Labour party, quite properly for it, puts Socialism first and the Liberal and Social Democratic parties put Europe first, Conservative candidates are putting Britain first? Does she further agree that every Conservative candidate is committed to the retention of the national veto, favours increasing free trade in the Community, and is against a federal system for Europe?
The Prime Minister
I agree broadly with my hon. Friend. With regard to the veto, our manifesto makes it clear that we wish to retain it as it is. With regard to our attitude to trade in Europe, we wish to reduce the internal barriers. Of course, I am against a federal Europe.
Mr. Parry
Does the Prime Minister agree that the House was deliberately deceived by the Government about intervention in the miners' dispute? Does she state now whether the Secretary of State for Energy actually saw the letter from Andrew Turnbull to Henry Derwent? Will she also agree that the Secretary of State yesterday treated the House and the National Union of Mineworkers with contempt by saying that he could not remember seeing the letter because it was not important?
The Prime Minister
With regard to the precise papers that Peter Walkerthe Secretary of State for Energy sees, I suspect he has seen a great deal more than I have, because he is the sponsoring Minister. With regard to intervention, right hon. and hon. Members are still urging me to intervene by getting them all to No. 10. I have not done so, and will not do so. I have repeatedly said that this Government have set——[Interruption]
Mr. Speaker
Order.
The Prime Minister
If the hon. Member wishes to call it intervention, I must tell him that this Government have provided £2 million per day for investment in the coal industry. They have seen to it that money is there for a very good deal for the mineworkers and that the best voluntary redundancy terms are available. They have seen to it that there are extra subsidies and extra prospects for manufacturers who wish to turn from oil to coal. If that is intervention, yes, I have intervened, but asking them to No. 10 and beer and sandwiches, no, never.
Q6. Mr. Wallace
asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 12 June.
The Prime Minister
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Mr. Wallace
Is the Prime Minister aware that during the European election campaign at least one Conservative candidate has received the active support of Captain Kent Kirk, who in January of last year showed such blatant [column 759]contempt for the British fishing industry and British fishery law? Does the Prime Minister welcome the support that Conservatives have from Captain Kirk?
The Prime Minister
If we have only one candidate taking a particular view, that is very different from the Liberal party. None of their candidates appears to take the same view.
Mr. Richard Page
What does my right hon. Friend think about a group which campaigns against apartheid, which is violently against the visit to his country of Mr. Botha but at the same time in certain of its constituency branches is actively setting up black-only sections?
The Prime Minister
I have noted it. I think that it is humbug and double standards.
Mr. Straw
Since, under the Government's own chosen measures, Conservative-controlled Portsmouth has overspent to a much higher degree than Labour-controlled Sheffield, what sympathy has the Prime Minister for the problems of the Secretary of State for the Environment in trying to manufacture a list for rate-capping which ensures that Sheffield is included but that Portsmouth is excluded?
The Prime Minister
As the hon. Gentleman knows, the rate-capping measure has not yet been enacted. It is still before the other House and it would be somewhat premature to devise a list before that Bill has even become an Act. Hon. Gentleman will remember that that, of course, was the habit of the Opposition when in government, but I think that it is a little premature at the moment.
Q7. Mr. Dobson
asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 12 June.
The Prime Minister
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Mr. Dobson
May I plainly ask the Prime Minister to intervene beneficially in a further industrial dispute, to take steps to ensure that the women, already on poverty level wages paid by Messrs Crothalls at Barking hospital in East London, benefit from a settlement that will give them decent levels of pay and working conditions? If she will not, is she not admitting that the future of the Health Service depends on the payment of wages below the poverty level to many ancillary workers on whom the Health Service depends?
[column 760]The Prime Minister
No, Sir. The savings are going to provide more nurses and on extra patient care.
Mr. Bellingham
Has my right hon. Friend heard the news that a well-known SDP parliamentary candidate has defected to the Tories? Does she agree that after next Thursday there will be more such defections?
The Prime Minister
I hope that a large number of others will follow the same course, because it will be the wisest thing that they have ever done.
Q8. Mr. Renton
asked the Prime Minister whether she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 12 June.
The Prime Minister
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Mr. Renton
Does my right hon. Friend agree that the Comecon summit meets this week in an atmosphere of bitter division in the Communist bloc, whilst the London summit last week emphasised agreement in the free world? Is there a lesson which Moscow might learn?
The Prime Minister
My hon. Friend is correct. On East-West relations the summit last week stood absolutely solid in the view that it took on defence. It also pointed out that we are always willing and, indeed, wish to enter into greater dialogue across the West-East divide. I think that that is the right course of action.
Mr. Home Robertson
Since the Government are undeniably involved in the coal dispute, will the Prime Minister change the habit of a lifetime and say something helpful? Will she give an unequivocal commitment to the future of the Scottish coalfield and to the necessary development in Stirling, Fife and Musselburgh bay, which are essential for the future of that so-called peripheral coalfield?
The Prime Minister
I shall gladly repeat what I said earlier, which is very helpful for the prospects of the coal industry. The Government have provided £2 million a day investment in coal—a greater investment than that provided by any other party. The Government have seen to it that the money for voluntary redundancy is better by far than that provided under any previous Government. The Government see great future prospects for the coal industry and hope that the miners will return to work to take advantage of those prospects.