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PRIME MINISTER

Engagements

Q1. Mr. Williams

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 25 October.

The Prime Minister (Mrs. Margaret Thatcher)

This morning I presided at a meeting of the Cabinet and had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House I shall be having further meetings later today. This evening I shall be attending a dinner given by President and Madame Mitterrand.

Mr. Williams

In this no doubt welcome interlude in the Prime Minister's other engagements, will she take the opportunity to confide in the House and tell us whether she is proud of the fact that within the last month her policies have achieved the worst unemployment levels ever recorded, the worst manufacturing trade figures ever recorded and the lowest level for sterling ever recorded? Which part of the economy does she intend to destroy next month?

The Prime Minister

The right hon. Gentleman will be aware of the policies needed to create greater industrial and commercial wealth. The policies needed are those being pursued by this Government. With regard to the manufacturing figures, it is only sense that if we have a big oil industry and a big balance of trade in our favour that has to be balanced out either by increasing imports or by increasing capital investment overseas. The Labour party is against both.

Sir Bernard Braine

I appreciate the moves already made by the Government to bring emergency food and medical aid to the famine-stricken areas of Ethiopia. May we have an assurance that, subject to co-operation from the Ethiopian authorities, nothing—but nothing—will be spared to ensure that effective aid is brought to the afflicted as speedily as possible, not excluding the use of air transport?

The Prime Minister

We are very concerned about the situation and Sir Geoffrey Howethe Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has made certain that increased food aid is available from Britain. About 6,000 tonnes of additional food aid and about £5 million in drought-related assistance is available to Ethiopia. I am in touch with Garret Fitzgeraldthe President of the European Community and I am urging him to encourage the other countries in the European Community to follow our example.

The problem is not in getting food to Ethiopia, but, as my hon. Friend indicated in his question, in food distribution. We shall do everything possible to ensure that [column 804]the right transport is available. We have tried to distribute most of our aid through the International Red Cross and the Save the Children Fund. We are anxious to do everything that we can. In view of the lead that we have taken, we hope that other countries in Europe will follow.

Mr. Kinnock

I thank the right hon. Lady for that answer and follow the question by the hon. Member for Castle Point (Sir B. Braine). The whole House will share the deep public anxiety about the famine in Ethiopia. The Opposition want to welcome the steps already taken by the Government to make some additional emergency relief available.

Does the right hon. Lady agree that resources should be mobilised in defence of lives with the same skill and speed as they were mobilised not long ago by Britain in defence of liberty?

May I try to strengthen the Prime Minister's voice by saying that the European Commission and our European partners should be left in absolutely no doubt that Britain and the British people want the red tape to be cut? There must be no bureaucratic inhibition to the proper provision of the necessary resources. I am sure that the whole country is united behind the right hon. Lady on this matter. Resources and personnel should be provided to ensure that sufficient food is given and effectively delivered to the needy in Ethiopia.

The Prime Minister

I thank the right hon. Gentleman. British food aid shipments are already arriving regularly. The main problem is the internal distribution. We cannot choke existing port facilities that are under heavy strain. The additional 6,000 tonnes of food aid allocated yesterday will arrive in Ethiopia before the end of the year—[Hon. Members: “Year?” ] We are urgently consulting our ambassador in Addis Ababa on how the £5 million can be put to the best possible use. We shall have to ship food and pay for its internal transport. We are providing lorries to facilitate unloading and are considering other equipment needed by the port. We are also considering the provision of drilling rigs to secure water supplies for relief camps. We shall continue to provide other forms of direct disaster relief, including medical supplies. Everything that can be done will be done.

Q2. Mr. Penhaligon

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 25 October.

The Prime Minister

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.

Mr. Penhaligon

As the Prime Minister so magnificently organised the commandeering of enough ships to carry our Navy, Army and Air Force to the Falklands, will she explain why the famine relief in Ethiopia presents such a problem?

The Prime Minister

I have already explained the reasons. We do not wish to choke existing port facilities that are already under heavy strain. The analogy which the hon. Gentleman attempted to draw was wholly false.

Mrs. Kellett-Bowman

Does my right hon. Friend accept that, much as we deplore the ludicrous incident with the French security man, many of us would be distressed were that regrettable incident to mar the visit of the French President? Is she further aware that we would also regret it if that incident had any effect on the French ambassador, who is a very good friend of this country?

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The Prime Minister

I thank my hon. Friend. It was a most regrettable incident. The French authorities are aware of our view that it was wholly wrong for the individual to act in the way that he did. They regret the misunderstanding.

It is of great concern that explosive materials were brought into Britain. Urgent discussions have begun, and will continue, with the French Government about the incident. I agree with my hon. Friend that it should not be allowed to mar the success of the French visit. President Mitterrand is a welcome and honoured guest in our country.

Mr. J. Enoch Powell

Does the Prime Minister feel it to be preposterous that a body calling itself the European Parliament should presume to debate and vote upon a matter internal to the United Kingdom—the dispute in the mining industry?

The Prime Minister

Yes, I agree with the sentiments expressed by the right hon. Gentleman. If the European Parliament attempts to debate a British internal matter, that will diminish that Parliament.

Poverty

Q3. Mr. Andrew F. Bennett

asked the Prime Minister what new steps the Government are taking to reduce poverty in the United Kingdom.

The Prime Minister

A better standard of living depends upon our success in creating more wealth in the country as a whole. This year's gross domestic product is now at its highest ever level, and income is higher than at any time under the last Labour Government. Resources have also been provided for a real increase in social security benefit rates of £2.75 billion since 1979. The retirement pension is at its highest ever level; so is the child benefit; so is spending on benefits for the sick and disabled; so are heating allowances. The Government intend to continue with the policies which have achieved these results.

Mr. Bennett

Does the right hon. Lady realise that that answer will be of little comfort to the poor in Britain? Is it not true that under her Government the number of people living in poverty has increased and that the length of time that they have to live in poverty has also steadily increased? Will she consult her handbag to find out whether she has any unpaid bills for major items such as clothing, and reflect on the fact that for a large number of people living in poverty the unpaid bill is a nightmare and that many of them have less to spend in their annual budget for clothing than people in this House spend on one such item?

The Prime Minister

There are certainly more people on supplementary benefits than there were. There is an increase in the number of pensioners, but the main increase has been in the number of unemployed who have resort to supplementary benefits. The benefits which those on supplementary benefit receive are, in real terms, greater than they ever were under the previous Government.

Mr. Douglas Hogg

Does my right hon. Friend agree that because there is such a close and obvious connection between poverty and unemployment, the most useful thing that the trade unions could do would be to abate their wage demands?

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The Prime Minister

My hon. Friend is correct in making the connection between wage demands and unemployment. Those countries with the lowest unemployment rate are those with the lowest unit wage costs. The essential thing is to have a connection between wage demands and increased output. If we are to get unemployment down, it is also essential not to have the number of strikes that we now have.

Engagements

Q4. Mr. Heddle

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 25 October.

The Prime Minister

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.

Mr. Heddle

Has my right hon. Friend yet had time to study the remarks made by the president of the National Union of Mineworkers when arriving at talks with the National Coal Board today, when he said that he had nothing to offer in these talks? Is this not the clearest possible sign that, although he may talk of wanting a negotiated settlement, he has neither the wish nor the will to negotiate or settle?

The Prime Minister

My hon. Friend will agree that the settlement reached with the National Association of Colliery Overmen, Deputies and Shotfirers yesterday was a fair one. It was a settlement reached between a union which was anxious to settle but had certain points to put to the NCB, and it was a settlement which suited NACODS and the NCB because it enabled the latter to run the coal industry efficiently and in accordance with its statutory obligations. I hope that any other people on strike will agree that that was a good settlement and join NACODS in accepting it and ending the strike.

Mr. Ron Davies

Does the Prime Minister not understand that there will be no return to work in the coal mining industry—[Interruption.]—until there is a settlement that is acceptable to the NUM and its membership? What action or initiative does the Prime Minister have to bring about such a settlement?

The Prime Minister

The NCB has already negotiated within the limit of its statutory obligations, which are to run the industry efficiently, in accordance with the nationalised industries Acts and the objectives that it has been given. There is no longer any industrial reason for this dispute to continue.

Q5. Mr. Nicholas Baker

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 25 October.

The Prime Minister

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.

Mr. Baker

Is it not the case that those miners who are working are those who have had a local ballot, and that the members of NACODS are working after having a ballot? Therefore, would it not be appropriate if those who are on strike were allowed the opportunity to have a ballot? Is my right hon. Friend aware that I had a conversation this morning with the family of a miner on strike, which revealed that many who are on strike would like to have a ballot and would like to work?

The Prime Minister

There are some 70,000 people at work in the collieries under the NCB. Most of those people exercised their right to have a ballot and voted to [column 807]continue to work under the rules of the NUM. They are at work, and so are the members of NACODS—which also had a ballot—as are those who work for the other union. Of the people on strike, I believe that most would like to have a ballot so that they can express their wish to return to work. They are being prevented only by the leadership of the NUM, supported by the Labour party and mob violence.

Mr. O'Brien

Will the Prime Minister have regard to the serious incident at the Stanley Royd hospital in my constituency during the summer recess, in which it is alleged that 21 people died through food poisoning? Is she [column 808]aware of the concern over the incident and the allegations that have been made about shortages of materials and staff? Will she impress upon her right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Services the need to speed up the public inquiry so that evidence can be taken while events are fresh in the minds of those who want to give it, and the matter resolved?

The Prime Minister

I am aware of the incident and I shall make a point of bringing it to the attention of my right hon. and learned Friend Norman Fowlerthe Minister of Health. I shall draw his attention to what the hon. Gentleman has said.