Prime Minister
(Engagements)
Q1. Mr. Montgomery
asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 13 January.
The Prime Minister (Mrs. Margaret Thatcher)
In addition to my duties in this House I shall be having meetings with ministerial colleagues and others.
Mr. Montgomery
Will my right hon. Friend find time to confirm that, contrary to a report on East German radio to the effect that there had been dismay in Whitehall about the visit of three Labour Members of Parliament to Afghanistan, and contrary to the report on the Moscow home service to the effect that that visit had been abhorred by the ruling Conservative Party, she was not surprised, but saddened, by the encouragement that that visit gave to Soviet aggression?
The Prime Minister
It is deplorable that hon. Members should give aid and comfort to a regime that is kept in power by some 80,000 or 90,000 Soviet troops. About 10 per cent. of the Afghan people have found it necessary to flee the country as refugees.
Mr. Allan Roberts
Does the Prime Minister's answer mean that she will never visit the Soviet Union? Does she imply that the three Members of Parliament who visited Afghanistan went there with closed eyes? Will the right [column 850]hon. Lady condemn also those Conservative Members of Parliament who visited the military dictatorship of Zaire during the recess?
The Prime Minister
As the hon. Gentleman knows, the visit was made to an independent country that is occupied by Soviet troops. That occupation has been condemned not only by the whole Western world, but by very many non-aligned countries. To go to Afghanistan is to give aid and comfort to the occupiers.
Mr. Fox
Will my right hon. Friend find time today to comment on the speech last night by the Leader of the Opposition, in which he promised to introduce a more extensive State control of management than has ever been experienced in this country?
The Prime Minister
I notice that the right hon. Gentleman the Leader of the Opposition wants to go for a further extended period of nationalisation. That has caused considerable inefficiency in this country. It is notable that the rate of price inflation in the nationalised industries has been far greater during the past six years than that in the private sector.
Mr. Foot
Does the right hon. Lady care to give us some help about some of the matters for which she is responsible? Can she give us some guidance about the latest batch of Cabinet leaks? Can she tell us whether the statement to the effect that there is to be no increase in income tax in the next Budget means that the Chancellor of the Exchequer, or one of his colleagues, is anticipating his Budget Statement?
The Prime Minister
There cannot possibly be leaks about decisions that have not yet been taken.
Mr. Foot
Will the right hon. Lady tell us whether we should attach any significance to—I know that the word “leakage” is too delicate for her—or indicate whether there is any foundation for, the matters that have been printed in the press?
The Prime Minister
May I reassure the right hon. Gentleman? I am not worried about so-called leaks about decisions that have not been taken.
Mr. Foot
Perhaps the fact that the right hon. Lady is not worried about it is because some of us think that she is the leader of the leakers. Is it not the case that she was the one who told the world about the wets and their performance in the Cabinet? All that we want to know is which side they are on this time and whether they are winning.
The Prime Minister
The Government are winning.
Q2. Mr. Butcher
asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 13 January.
The Prime Minister
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply which I have just given.
Mr. Butcher
Bearing in mind that 40 per cent. of the research and development in the United Kingdom takes place in the public sector, will my right hon. Friend find time today to endorse the ACARD recommendation that public sector purchasing programmes could be used to transfer research resources to private sector supplier companies, with special emphasis on the development of high technology products suitable for export?
The Prime Minister
I think that my hon. Friend is referring to an ACARD report that came out some months [column 851]ago, which pointed out that rather a large proportion of the research was done by public sector bodies and too little by the private sector supplier, and that it was the private sector supplier that would be more likely to know more about the export potential and the supplies potential. We accept the principle that more research and development should be in the private sector, and this is at present under consideration.
Mr. Ashley
At the beginning of the International Year of Disabled People, will the Prime Minister tell us what she thinks about cuts in invalidity benefit, in social services and in employment opportunity for the disabled? Does she propose to excuse them or reverse them?
The Prime Minister
Perhaps the right hon. Gentleman will accept that, for example, increases in the mobility allowance have been way above the increase in inflation, and that we do not intend to cut services for the disabled. It is, of course, the Government's intention to do as much as resources will permit. However, the first thing is to try to increase resources before we can increase expenditure. The International Year of Disabled People will, I hope, call forth a lot more voluntary effort on the part of the disabled. Most of us think that it is more laudable to try to do something for oneself than to get up and take a public stance on an issue to try to persuade the Government to do it.
Mr. McCrindle
Has my right hon. Friend noticed that living standards rose by 2 per cent. in the third quarter of last year? I do not in any way underestimate the plight of the unemployed, but is it not fair to take account of the fact that, among the vast majority of those still in work, things are not as black as are sometimes suggested by Opposition Members?
The Prime Minister
Yes, Sir. The statistics indicate that the living standards of those in work did go up. Those statistics have been reported. I refer to average living standards. Some living standards went up a good deal more than the average. It is a pity, perhaps, if those who have increased living standards cannot properly and effectively look after those who are without a job.
Mr. Freud
Is the Prime Minister aware that, in view of the non-Cabinet status of her new Minister for the Arts, there is considerable apprehension in the arts world? Will the right hon. Lady take this opportunity to tell the House whether there is some Cabinet support for future funding of the Arts Council?
The Prime Minister
The future funding of arts will revert to what it used to be. It will come under the authority of Mark Carlislethe Secretary of State for Education and Science, who also has responsibility for the arts. It is perhaps a good thing that the arts and sciences are back in the same Department.
Mr. Kinnock
Oh!
The Prime Minister
It is a very good thing. The person who is responsible in the Cabinet will be the Secretary of State for Education and Science.
Q3. Mr. Dobson
asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 13 January.
The Prime Minister
I refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave some time ago.
Mr. Dobson
Bearing in mind the Prime Minister's statement a week ago that people should be presumed to [column 852]intend the consequences of their own actions, will she abandon her role as Pontius Pilate and take responsibility for the grotesque level of unemployment, for the massive slashing of the housing programme, for hospital closures, for school closures and for all the other damage that her economic policies are doing? Will she stop claiming that it is the decisions of others that are causing this disaster?
The Prime Minister
With all due respect, I think that the hon. Gentleman got the gender slightly wrong. We shall be able to spend more when we create more wealth. Until we create more wealth we shall have to make economies in expenditure. Until there are more resources in the private sector for increased stock building and increased investment, the necessary creation of wealth will not come about.
Mr. Blackburn
During the course of this busy day, and each subsequent day, will my right hon. Friend hold fast to the policy that we as a trading nation must earn our living in a competitive world? Will she give that statement to the nation from the Dispatch Box this afternoon?
The Prime Minister
Yes. One of the problems has been that pay increases throughout British industry have not been warranted by productivity increases. That has made us less competitive. Until we get that competitiveness back we shall not restore prosperity or bring it closer into line with that of some of the Western industrialised countries.
Mr. Arthur Lewis
I appreciate the Prime Minister's concern for the unemployed. Bearing that in mind, will she please do something for some of those who helped the Tory Party enormously and who are now unemployed and looking for a job? Will she also bear in mind that Mr. Roy Jenkins will stoop to anything if she will offer it to him?
The Prime Minister
I hope that it will not be left only to me to pay a tribute to the work of Mr. Roy Jenkins as President of the Commission in Europe.
Q4. Mr. Viggers
asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 13 January.
The Prime Minister
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply which I gave earlier.
Mr. Viggers
Has my right hon. Friend had time today to read the Adjournment debate that took place last night, when the Under-Secretary of State for the Environment revealed that on 1 April 1980 there were 3,100 empty council dwellings in the borough of Lambeth and that 1,100 of those dwellings have been unoccupied for more than a year? Are not these extraordinary facts? How does my right hon. Friend reconcile them with the oft-claimed concern of the Labour Party for the homeless?
The Prime Minister
I noted the figures that were given in the House yesterday. There are a number of authorities that have empty council houses, and some of which have been empty for a considerable time. The most humane, as well as the most efficient thing, is to try to see that these council houses are occupied by those who are waiting for them. I note that those who have the most houses empty for the longest time tend to be Labour authorities.
Dr. Summerskill
As the Prime Minister has stated on television that leaks do not make for efficient Cabinet government, is she denying that there have been some in [column 853]the past few months? As she cannot deny it, will she spend some time today tracking down the mole or moles among her Ministers? When she does unearth them, what will she do with them?
The Prime Minister
I have more important things to do.
Mr. Bob Dunn
Will my right hon. Friend spend time today considering the effects of the visit of Labour Members to Afghanistan? Does she accept the view that the Soviet Union does for democracy what Larry Grayson does for rugby football? Will she therefore refuse to recognise any regime in Afghanistan until free elections are first held?
The Prime Minister
I have already said that I deplore the visit. I believe that the whole Western world and the non-aligned world have condemned and still condemn Soviet Russia for the occupation of Afghanistan. We shall continue to do so. It has produced many refugees. We shall not change our view about the visit or the occupation.