Speech to Welsh Conservative Party Conference
| Document type: | Speeches, interviews, etc. |
|---|---|
| Venue: | Grand Pavilion, Porthcawl |
| Source: | BBC Radio News Report 1300 21 June 1986 |
| Journalist: | Stephen McCormack, BBC, reporting |
| Editorial comments: | MT dispensed with the usual scripted address in favour of a brief speech followed by questions from the floor, 1145-1230. |
| Importance ranking: | Minor |
| Word count: | 352 |
| Themes: | Commonwealth (South Africa), Conservatism, Public spending & borrowing, Taxation, Health policy |
The Prime Minister has re-emphasised her opposition to comprehensive economic sanctions against South Africa. Speaking at the annual conference of the Welsh Conservative Party in Porthcawl, Mrs. Thatcher said sanctions would not work; would lead to resistance to change and to much more violence and bloodshed. She believed negotiations between the government and the black people of South Africa were the only way forward. Mrs. Thatcher's address to the conference broke with tradition, as Steve McCormack of our Political Staff reports from Porthcawl: [end p1]
McCormack
Mrs Thatcher didn't give a set speech to the conference. She chose to answer a series of questions, a bit like the House of Commons, she said, but a little quieter, and without the tricky unscripted supplementaries. The first of those questions was on South Africa and how Mrs Thatcher saw the way forward to peaceful change. She acknowledged the calls—some she admitted from within her own party—for a comprehensive trade boycott, but stuck to the argument she's held for the past week.
MT
I have to tell you ladies and gentlemen that I do not think comprehensive economic sanctions which would stop all trade to and from South Africa would help to bring about change—I think it would lead to resistance to change and to much more violence and bloodshed. (clapping)
McCormack
The way forward, she said, lay in adopting what she called positive measures to bring the two sides peacefully round the negotiating table, but she didn't say what those measures may be—that's still to be discussed by Britain with her partners. In other questions she faced, Mrs Thatcher repeated her commitment to reduce the basic rate of income tax still further and asked delegates to shout the message on the Health Service from the rooftops. The government's record on increased spending must be got across, she said. And on her vision for the 21st century, the prime minister saw a country of more private ownership leading to more independence and freedom.