PRIME MINISTER
Engagements
Q1. Mr. Fatchett
To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 23 May.
The Prime Minister (Mrs. Margaret Thatcher)
This morning I had a number of meetings. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall be having further meetings later today with ministerial colleagues and others.
Mr. Fatchett
Does the Prime Minister recall that three months ago she said that we were proceeding towards zero inflation? Will she take this opportunity to update the House on progress?
The Prime Minister
The steps that Nigel Lawsonthe Chancellor of the Exchequer has taken will deal with the problem—[Interruption.]—and get inflation down and on a downward course again. I remind the hon. Gentleman that 8 per cent. was low for Labour. It is unacceptably high for us.
Q2. Mr. Holt
To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 23 May.
The Prime Minister
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Mr. Holt
Following my right hon. Friend's successful visit to Teeside in November 1987, when she met the then unemployed Mr. Eric Fletcher, may I ask if she has seen last week's Middlesbrough Evening Gazette in which Mr. Fletcher is reported to be “doing smashing” ? He is now buying his council house, has money in his bank and is grateful for the day he met the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister
Yes. I understand that, on my advice, he took a good training course, that he did well on that course, that he has a job and that due to his own vigorous efforts, he has done well in that job. He is to be warmly congratulated. So should the Government, on having the right policies which enabled him to do that and which are bringing increasing prosperity to the north-east, among all other regions.
Mr. Kinnock
Does the Prime Minister recall saying last week that we picked up our inflationary tendency by trying to shadow the deutschmark? Will she say exactly who made the decision to shadow the deutschmark?
The Prime Minister
The policies are the policies of the Government—[Interruption.]—as are all our policies, and they have been infinitely more successful on inflation than the 26 per cent. that was reached under Labour.
[column 795]Mr. Kinnock
So, the Prime Minister is saying that the reason we have 8 per cent. inflation and have picked up that tendency is that the Government, under her leadership, made a complete mess of it?
The Prime Minister
No. A complete mess would be the way to describe what Labour Members did when they were in office.
Mr. Onslow
As my right hon. Friend continues her commendable resistance to the threats of Socialist harmonisation by the bureaucrats in Brussels, may I ask her to seek also to promote some European initiatives to protect rain forests in Brazil and elephants in Africa?
The Prime Minister
Yes, and I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for those comments. We have policies to help protect rain forests in Brazil through our aid programme and through training people in Brazil and elsewhere to do precisely that. As for elephants and the worrying tendency to sell ivory, we agree with the international convention and we shall be raising the matter again at the next Environment Council. We believe that the sale of new ivory should be stopped altogether.
Q3. Mr. Wray
To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 23 May.
The Prime Minister
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Mr. Wray
Does the Prime Minister realise that the British Medical Association, the Royal College of Nursing, the Confederation of Health Service Employees, the National Union of Public Employees, patients and staff are all finding it difficult to convince the Secretary of State for Health to scrap his White Paper “Working for Patients” ? What plans does the Prime Minister have for recovering the £11 million of unpaid bills left by people who have abused the private facilities of the National Health Service?
The Prime Minister
The White Paper “Working for Patients” will improve the Health Service by giving hospitals more choice and more say in their own affairs, and by giving doctors more choice in running their own budgets. And there has been an enormous increase in resources from £8 billion to £25 billion per year, which has enabled doctors—[Interruption.] If hon. Gentlemen cannot recognise correct accountancy, I am not in the least surprised. Perhaps they can raise the matter under the public expenditure survey, which shows that Labour spent £8 billion on the Health Service and that we are spending about between £24 billion and £25 billion now. That is the measure of the improvement to the Health Service.
Q4. Sir Hugh Rossi
To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 23 May.
The Prime Minister
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Sir Hugh Rossi
Has my right hon. Friend seen the recent report concerning the low level of prosecutions and fines related to litter offences? Has she studied also the findings of several reports of the Select Committee on the Environment showing a similar situation in respect of very serious environmental offences? Does she agree that greater concern should be shown by the prosecuting authorities and by magistrates?
[column 796]The Prime Minister
Yes, I saw the report—and clearly the situation varies greatly from one part of the country to another. In areas where the local people, magistrates, the Tidy Britain group and the prosecuting authorities are greatly concerned to have a tidy Britain, there is much more success in achieving that than in other places. I agree with my hon. Friend that prosecuting authorities and magistrates should have regard to the need for a tidy Britain, and I hope that there will be a sufficient number of prosecutions and sufficiently severe sentences.
Mr. Ashdown
Is the Prime Minister aware that the whole nation will welcome yesterday's announcement by the Foreign Secretary that he had renegotiated his treaty with the Prime Minister, so that the decision on the European monetary system will be taken by the Government as a whole? Will the right hon. Lady tell the House whether that decision will be taken on the basis of a majority vote or will it be, as usual, subject to her personal veto?
The Prime Minister
I recognise that the right hon. Gentleman has no experience of government. Under collective responsibility, we are all responsible.
Q5. Mr. Wilshire
To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 23 May.
The Prime Minister
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Mr. Wilshire
Can my right hon. Friend confirm that her Government have no plans to reintroduce secondary picketing, to renationalise British Telecom, or to give away our nuclear deterrent in exchange for today's equivalent of a piece of paper from Munich? Does she agree that such policies amount to a cynical attempt to trade beliefs for votes, and if implemented would spell disaster for this country?
The Prime Minister
I confirm that we have no plans to reintroduce secondary picketing, to re-nationalise British Telecom, or to get rid of the nuclear deterrent. All our policies are sound—sound at home and sound for the best defence of Britain—and there is not a cynical policy among them.
Sir Fergus Montgomery
Is my right hon. Friend aware of the warm welcome that will be given to the report in today's Daily Mail that she has joined the fight against the extinction of the African elephant? However, is my right hon. Friend aware that the all-important convention on international trade in endangered species is not due to take place until October and that many elephants may be killed before then? Will she use her influence to cut through the red tape and to secure immediate action on that very important issue?
The Prime Minister
As my noble Friend, Earl of Caithnessthe Minister for Housing, Environment and Countryside announced yesterday, having just returned from an official visit to Kenya, he will call for concerted European support for a total ban at the next Council meeting of Environment Ministers, which takes place in Luxembourg on 8 June, considerably before the international convention is due to meet.
Q6. Mr. Grocott
To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 23 May.
[column 797]The Prime Minister
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Mr. Grocott
The whole House will appreciate the reason for the Prime Minister's total opposition to television viewers being able to see her performance at Question Time. Can she confirm that that reason is that this is one photo opportunity that she cannot stage-manage?
The Prime Minister
The hon. Gentleman talks his customary poppycock.
Mr. Wigley
In view of the indication by the Secretary of State for Wales of his preference for a different emphasis in economic regional policies, will the Prime Minister confirm that the entire reason for the existence of the Welsh Office—and of the Scottish Office—is to enable a different policy to be pursued where circumstances dictate it? Will she tell the House whether she has full confidence in the Secretary of State for Wales?
The Prime Minister
Peter Walker Yes, I have. The policies that are being pursued and are bringing such prosperity to Wales are Conservative Government policies, and I hope that everyone is very grateful and thankful for them.
Mr. Neil Hamilton
Does my right hon. Friend agree that the mendacious and inaccurate campaign being waged by the British Medical Association suggests some deficiency in diagnostic ability on the part of the doctors who are contributing to it? If their medical judgment is as bad as their political judgment, would not patients be well advised to find another doctor, and quickly?
The Prime Minister
I believe that my right hon. and learned Friends Kenneth Clarkethe Secretaries of State for health and Malcolm Rifkindfor Scotland have negotiated a very good contract with the doctors, and I hope that they will in general accept it. Among other things, the White Paper suggested that people who were not satisfied with their general practitioner could move from one to another more easily. Under Conservative Governments there have been more general practitioners, so the number of each list has gone down by about 300, giving doctors more time to spend with each patient.
Child Sexual Abuse
Q7. Mr. Allen
To ask the Prime Minister if she has any plans to increase the amount of money being spent by Her Majesty's Government's Departments into research into the sexual abuse of children; and if she will make a statement.
The Prime Minister
We will continue to support research into child sex abuse. We have already increased our expenditure, and further research proposals will be considered in the light of the knowledge gained from existing studies.
Mr. Allen
Is not the Prime Minister ashamed that in 10 years her Government, through the Department of Health, has put just £1 million into this difficult and sensitive subject? Will she consider establishing a national institute for the study of the sexual abuse of children, as has been done in Canada, Australia, America and many other countries? The victims need help and the perpetrators need to be prevented. For a very small [column 798]amount of money the Prime Minister could do a great deal of good. Will she take that suggestion away and consider it?
The Prime Minister
I do not think that it is a question of finding extra money. Well over £800 million is provided for basic research. It would be quite easy to put into that sphere and perhaps take a little away from others, but we must decide our priorities.
The real difficulty, as I should have thought that the hon. Gentleman would know, is that of designing and conducting research and obtaining incontrovertible results. We need to ensure that projects are considered properly before they are commissioned.
Mr. Burt
Is my right hon. Friend aware that Bury district health authority will shortly be appointing two additional consultants, thus bringing to 16 the number of such consultants appointed in the area in the past five years? Will she welcome that contribution to the Health Service?
Mr. Speaker
Order. Are these consultants concerned with the sexual abuse of children?
Mr. Burt
No.
Q8. Mr. Macdonald
To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 23 May.
The Prime Minister
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Mr. Macdonald
Can I ask the Prime Minister to state her complete confidence in the prediction made by the Chancellor as recently as two months ago that inflation this year would peak at 8 per cent. and not go higher?
The Prime Minister
I have nothing further to add to what my right hon. and learned Friend Nigel Lawsonthe Chancellor said. I can assure the hon. Gentleman that our efforts to attack inflation will be infinitely more successful than those of the last Labour Government. The Labour party was the party of inflation and when it had got inflation up to 25 per cent. had not even the resources to inflation-proof pensioners' pensions.
Q12. Mr. Mullin
To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 23 May.
The Prime Minister
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Mr. Mullin
Has the Prime Minister noticed that the people of Afghanistan managed to see off the Red Army without the need for nuclear weapons?
The Prime Minister
Yes, Sir; with a good deal of help from other people.