Speeches, etc.

Margaret Thatcher

House of Commons PQs

Document type: Speeches, interviews, etc.
Venue: House of Commons
Source: Hansard HC [928/1457-74]
Editorial comments: Around 1515-1552.
Importance ranking: Major
Word count: 2195
Themes: By-elections, Race, immigration, nationality
[column 77_067]

GRAVESEND

Q1. Mr. Ovenden

asked the Prime Minister if he will pay an official visit to Gravesend.

The Prime Minister (Mr. James Callaghan)

I have at present no plans to do so.

Mr. Ovenden

If my right hon. Friend is unable to visit my constituency, will he consider suggesting to the Leader of the Opposition that she pays yet another visit? Is he aware that in Gravesend we have a large immigrant population and a successful community relations council which is supported by all parties? Is my right hon. Friend aware that Conservative supporters in my constituency are concerned that they are now led by a person who has refused to dissociate herself from the racialist campaign being conducted by the Conservative candidate in the Stechford by-election?

The Prime Minister

I am glad that it is an all-party campaign in Gravesend. I have noted that the Conservative Party, perhaps even more especially when in Government, has taken a responsible attitude to matters of immigration and race relations. I was glad that the Home Secretary appointed David Lane as the chairman of one of these bodies. It was drawn to my attention that the Conservative candidate at Stechford had certainly gone beyond what is Conservative Party policy, and I hope that a dissociation from that may be made.

Mrs. Thatcher

Is James Callaghanthe Prime Minister aware that, as this matter was raised last [column 1458]Tuesday and I was not aware of the basic leaflet to which it referred—a leaflet published some seven months ago—I naturally did not rise? I have seen it, and our policy remains—I am in some difficulty because in theory I am not allowed to quote from documents in asking a question but perhaps I may refresh my memory plentifully—that

“We believe that we will only succeed in maintaining and securing tolerance for all minority groups in this country by holding out the clear prospect of an end to immigration.”

That is official policy. Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the leaflet referred to “the interests of good race relations in the future” and finished by stating

“What do Labour say?

We know what the former Chief Whip of the Labour Party, the right hon. Member for Bermondsey (Mr. Mellish), says about immigration, but what does the Prime Minister say?

Mr. Faulds

Do you disavow it? Answer a simple question.

The Prime Minister

I was endeavouring to make it possible for the right hon. Lady to make a positive statement on immigration and race relations. The policy of ending all immigration would clearly be inhuman and has not been Conservative policy. The ending of all immigration would mean that no dependants and no wives could join those who are in this country. I hope that the right hon. Lady will reflect on the matter, because that is not the policy enunciated in her own document.

UNITED STATES AND CANADA (PRIME MINISTER'S VISIT)

Q2. Mr. Dykes

asked the Prime Minister if he discussed EEC matters during his recent visit to President Carter.

The Prime Minister

I refer the hon. Member to the statement which I made to the House on 15th March.

Mr. Dykes

There may have been more to it than that. Did the President of the United States express any interest in the British political scene—for example, the nature of the Liberal Party and its ideas on the EEC, or was that [column 1459]whole subject to squalid for the President, with his religious upbringing, to deal with? So far as the President may have discussed the EEC with the right hon. Gentleman, did he think that it would be possible for the Prime Minister to introduce with sufficient courage a Bill on direct elections at the earliest possible opportunity, on which the Prime Minister might just be able to secure a majority of more than 24?

The Prime Minister

Yes, the President evinced a lively interest in the British political scene. He was extremely well informed about it, and I did my best to add to his knowledge. The Bill on direct elections will be introduced in due course, as I announced yesterday.

Mr. Gould

Has my right hon. Friend seen reports that the Tory Group in the European Assembly has recommended a 25 per cent. devaluation of the green pound, which would add 8 per cent. to food prices? Does he not agree that that would be very damaging to our interests? Does it not confirm that the Conservative Party is now clearly the party of Common Market-imposed high and rising food prices?

The Prime Minister

It is, of course, true that a substantial devaluation of the green pound would add heavily to our price increases in this country. I am not aware of the figures that my hon. Friend gave, but certainly there has been an official statement that the Conservative Party spokesman is in favour of a substantial devaluation of the green pound. That is bound to put up prices: it cannot be denied that it will do so. That is why we have so far resisted giving away the green pound. I would only want to see a devaluation there if we got value for money in another direction.

Mr. David Steel

On any future visit to the United States, will the right hon. Gentleman make any attempt to explain how it is that, in the Conservative Party's view, any talks between them and ourselves with a view to sustaining a Conservative Government so as to provide a stable programme is the height of patriotism while similar talks to support a Labour Government in a stable programme are a “squalid deal” ?

The Prime Minister

We know that patriotism always exudes from the [column 1460]Conservative Party when it is in office but sometimes fades rather when its members go abroad when in Opposition.

Mr. Emery

When the Prime Minister is considering the subject of the green pound, will he bear in mind the necessity for a successful British agriculture, which rests very much on some devaluation of the green pound?

The Prime Minister

The question of a devaluation of the green pound should not become a matter of theology: it is a question of practicality. The Government would not want to see a situation in which there was total inflexibility on this matter if we got something worth while elsewhere. The whole of the CAP is based on certain national interests. I think that our national interests have been very much pushed into second place since we are such a large consuming, and not so much of a producing, country. We want to see a very healthy agriculture, and will do so, but I want to see us get value somewhere else if there is to be any change in the value of the green pound.

Mr. Wrigglesworth

Has my right hon. Friend noticed that a Conservative Member in the European Parliament yesterday attacked the Commission for stopping or attempting to stop the sale of cheap butter to Russia? Does he not agree that to take that attitude is to go against the interests of both the consumer and the taxpayer in this country?

The Prime Minister

The agricultural policy of the Community was devised before Britain became a member and is not in Britain's interests as it stands. We have, by our entry, thrown a considerable influence on the side of European consumers as a whole, and we shall continue to do so.

Mr. Maxwell-Hyslop

Did the right hon. Gentleman let President Carter into the secret that he has never shared with the House of Commons—namely, if he will not devalue the green pound, how he will put into agriculture the capital it needs to carry out the Government's own policy, as declared in “Food From Our Own Resources” ?

The Prime Minister

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for reminding me what the original Question was about, because it enables me to say that I did [column 1461]not discuss the green pound with President Carter. However, since the House is interested in the matter today, I assure the hon. Member that the success of British agriculture is very important and that the resources which are being put into it and have been put into it are sufficient to encourage growth—and that growth is coming. But what Conservative Members who support the CAP should ask themselves is whether they want to support a policy based on a social phenomenon in some of the Continental European countries but which does not meet the needs of the market or of the consumers in this country.

Mr. Prior

If the right hon. Gentleman thinks that the resources available to go into British agriculture are sufficient to increase food production, why is the present food production from British agriculture lower than it was even in 1970?

The Prime Minister

I am not sure whether the right hon. Gentleman visits the countryside, but when he does he will find that the production of milk, on certain farms at least, suffered heavily last year from a drought, which might also have escaped his notice.

PRESS (ROYAL COMMISSION'S REPORT)

Q3. Mr. Moonman

asked the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the proposed date of publication for the Royal Commission on the Press.

The Prime Minister

The Royal Commission hopes to present its final report by the middle of this year.

Mr. Moonman

I am sure my right hon. Friend will be aware that it is almost three years since the Royal Commission was set up. Since he now says that its report will be published quite soon, will he not also anticipate that any recommendations which could be implemented arising from the Annan Report should await that publication, since there are many relevant matters in both reports?

The Prime Minister

I shall want to give the report full consideration when it comes. I regret very much that a number of the recommendations in the interim report have not been implemented, and I hope that the industry [column 1462]will get on with those. I shall also consider any inter-reaction between the Annan Report and the Royal Commission's Report.

Mr. Gow

In view of the partial report on yesterday's Cabinet meeting which appears in The Times today, in which it is reported that four Cabinet Ministers threatened to resign over the deal with the Liberals, should not the right hon. Gentleman place in the Library a record of what took place yesterday so that the House and the country can judge the extent to which the Liberal Party has betrayed its erstwhile supporters?

The Prime Minister

As the hon. Gentleman knows, there is no ministerial responsibility, thank God, for what appears in the Press. I would certaianly advise the hon. Gentleman not to believe everything that he reads even in august newspapers like The Times.

Mr. Aitken

Would the right hon. Gentleman care to propose to the Royal Commission on the Press that there should be a merger between Labour Weekly and Liberal News? Is he aware that without one of those skilled deals Liberal News, like the Liberal Party, is likely soon to go broke from lack of support?

The Prime Minister

I hope that that is not so. I should not want to think that that was the first result of the understandings that we have reached. I am certainly willing to advise everybody to read Labour Weekly, which today contains an exclusive article by me.

Mr. G. Howe

When considering that helpful suggestion by my hon. Friend the Member for Thanet, East (Mr. Aitken), would the Prime Minister like to consider taking on a more ambitious task and including Tribune in the merger?

The Prime Minister

I am a long and faithful reader of Tribune. That is more than I can say of my dealings with the Conservative newspapers, but if they would like to put me on their free circulation lists I shall even undertake to look at those week by week.

Mr. Molloy

Does the Prime Minister agree that these mergers might provide an opportunity for decent-minded people to see a united front against the racialist element of the Conservative Party which [column 1463]was condoned this afternoon by its Leader?

The Prime Minister

I am very anxious that there should be no unnecessary disagreements or lack of understanding about policy on this important social issue which can raise so much tension. I understand that the Conservatives' policy is that they do not want to stop immigration of dependants joining relatives already here. I trust that that is still the position.