Prime Minister
Engagements
Q1. Mr. John Mark Taylor
asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 22 October 1987.
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 this House, I shall be having further meetings later today.
Mr. Taylor
Will my right hon. Friend take time during the course of her busy day to reflect on the fact that the vast majority of British shareholders behaved with great steadiness and maturity during the recent ups and downs in the stock market? In fact, they probably behaved with more steadiness than many of the professionals.
The Prime Minister
As my hon. Friend is aware, the problems began on Wall street and since then there have been very considerable swings in stock markets all around the world. The United Kingdom has been swept up in that and share prices have fallen, although only to levels seen earlier this year. The Financial Times 30 share index was 1,407 when I came into the Chamber. I remember a time under a Labour Administration when it fell to 147.
Mr. Kinnock
Following the statement by the Secretary of State for the Environment yesterday, is it not clear that before local authorities can qualify for help to defray the cost of last week's severe storm damage they must use the product of a penny rate, must claim what insurance they [column 915]can and must spend any contingency funds that they have, even before winter really starts? Will the Prime Minister respond to the genuine case made for greater assistance by both Conservative and Labour-controlled councils in Wales and southern England and instruct the Secretary of State for the Environment to ensure that the stricken areas and families are given real help, commensurate with their very real needs?
The Prime Minister
I listened to the statements made by Nicholas Ridleythe Secretaries of State for the Environment and Peter Walkerfor Wales yesterday. It seems reasonable to me to expect local authorities to make contingency plans for unexpected events and reasonable that they should bear the product of a penny rate to meet those contingencies. Over and above that, they get, as they did under the previous Administration, 75 per cent. grant, and the further 25 per cent. local authority contribution does not rank for loss of grant.
Mr. Kinnock
What future arrangements should the local authorities make for the contingency of a hurricane in Britain?
The Prime Minister
The right hon. Gentleman is aware that when disasters come they rank under the Bellwin rules for help, provided that the local authority first bears the product of a penny rate. If the right hon. Gentleman is concerned that if we get another hurricane and local authorities have already spent the product of a penny rate, I can tell him that the Bellwin penny rate for emergencies lasts for the financial year. Once the product of a penny rate has been spent on emergencies that qualified under Bellwin, any other emergencies that qualified under the rules would attract a 75 per cent. grant and the 25 per cent. local authority contribution would not cause grant loss.
Mr. Nelson
Will my right hon. Friend acknowledge that, in addition to the splendid work of the local authorities and emergency services, the Dunkirk spirit was evident among many ordinary people who, tirelessly and without thought of thanks, worked to relieve the plight of their neighbours and their community? Is she aware that most of my constituents are grateful for the prompt and substantial financial assistance offered by the Government to repair much of the damage? However, will she bear in mind that many individuals who face enormous bills for the cost of tree clearance and repair are not, and cannot be, covered by personal insurance? What relief can the Government offer them?
The Prime Minister
I join my hon. Friend in thanking the emergency services and the many volunteers who acted with splendid speed when the disaster occurred. On my hon. Friend's second point, most people are insured and there is no way in which we can make equal those who are not insured with those who are. It would be irresponsible to do so.
Q2. Mr. Beith
asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 22 October.
The Prime Minister
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Mr. Beith
Will the Prime Minister find time today to consider under what constitutional principle she regards it as appropriate to find a place in the Cabinet for the person whom she appoints as chairman of the [column 916]Conservative party and to combine the job of chairman with a ministerial post in which conflicts of interest would be impossible to avoid?
The Prime Minister
I have made no decision about the question raised by the hon. Gentleman, which I am not quite sure is within my ministerial responsibilities. He must wait, because I have not yet made up my mind.
Mr. Kilfedder
Is the Prime Minister aware of the deep resentment felt by the vast majority of Ulster people, in particular by legal practitioners of all religions in Northern Ireland, at the constant demand for the introduction of three-judge courts in Northern Ireland as a barter for the approval by Dublin of the extradition Bill? Will the right hon. Lady make it absolutely clear to Dublin that the judiciary in Northern Ireland is fair and impartial and ranks among the best in the Western world and that the judges, who face death daily, deserve the support of the community?
The Prime Minister
I fully agree with what the hon. Gentleman has said. The future of courts in Northern Ireland is a matter for the United Kingdom Government and is not a bargaining factor.
Mr. Morgan
Does the Prime Minister accept that the cancellation of the BP advertising programme means that the Government now take the view that the small investor should stay out of the BP share sale?
The Prime Minister
The hon. Gentleman must understand that there is little I can say about an issue—[Interruption.]—which is a matter of the prospectus, a copy of which has been placed in the Library. Investors must decide for themselves whether to apply. The hon. Gentleman is fully aware of the legal position and knows that that is the limit of what I can say.
Q3. Mr. McCrindle
asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 22 October.
The Prime Minister
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Mr. McCrindle
Following the recent announcements by the Home Secretary with regard to the possession and use of knives and other weapons and the restrictions on certain types of firearms, will the Prime Minister accept that that is seen as a major contribution to law and order, which is bringing reassurance to the police and the public, both of whom would welcome other measures of similar severity?
The Prime Minister
I agree with my hon. Friend. Further measures dealing with guns and the carrying of knives have been widely welcomed across the political divide and I hope that they will pass speedily into legislation.
Mr. Caborn
Will the Prime Minister request that the Attorney-General makes a statement on the withdrawal by the Director of Public Prosecutions today of the charges against the three accused in Lambeth magistrates' court of kidnapping offences against the African National Congress? As the right hon. Lady will know, there have been reporting restrictions, and around the world we have seen headlines such as
“People in high places linked to ANC kidnap trial” .
[column 917]The people in high places are two Members of this honourable House—and I believe that a statement should be made to clear their names—and a former Member.
I ask the Prime Minister first to give her observations, and, secondly, to call upon the Attorney-General to make that statement to clear Conservative Members and restore their good name.
The Prime Minister
The hon. Gentleman is aware that prosecutions are not a matter for me. I shall call the attention of my right hon. and learned Friend Sir Patrick Mayhewthe Attorney-General to what the hon. Gentleman has said, but whether he responds is wholly a matter for him.
Q4. Mr. Hunter
asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 22 October.
The Prime Minister
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Mr. Hunter
With regard to education and the Government's welcome and radical election commitments, may I ask my right hon. Friend to comment on the proposition that they should be introduced as quickly as possible and in their entirety, so that children may benefit from better education and the educational establishment is challenged—[Interruption.]—to provide a better service than has often been the case hitherto?
The Prime Minister
We shall do our best to introduce that Bill fairly quickly, so that it can be given its Second Reading and go into Committee, preferably before Christmas. I believe that many people are assuming that some of what we are proposing is already legislation, and are wanting to take advantage of it. We are having to point out that it will take time to go through the House.
I noticed the cries from the Opposition as my hon. Friend put his question. Judging by the performance at the last election, what they oppose during one Parliament they will agree to when they have lost the next election.
Q5. Mrs. Michie
asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 22 October.
The Prime Minister
I refer the hon. Lady to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Mrs. Michie
Will the Prime Minister take time to consider the plight of the fishing industry in Scotland, and the lack of grant for building new boats? In particular, is she aware that the Scottish fishing industry has not been given grant approval for two boats to be built at the excellent Campbeltown shipyard in my constituency? If that does not happen, the men will be out of work.
The Prime Minister
I am very grateful to the hon. Lady for letting me know of her special concern. She will know that we have made record sums available for vessel construction and improvements: £13.8 million last year and £17.5 million this year. [column 918]
With regard to the two applications, there is an unprecedented demand for grants, and we have had to have a system of priorities. I understand that one of the applications referred to does not come within any of the priority categories, and cannot be assisted at this time. The second falls within one of the categories and is under consideration by the Sea Fish Industry Authority, which administers the grant scheme on behalf of Fisheries Ministers.
Q6. Sir John Farr
asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 22 October.
The Prime Minister
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Sir John Farr
I congratulate my right hon. Friend on the firm and resolute attitude that she took at the Prime Ministers' conference in Vancouver, and in particular on resisting the wrongful call for sanctions against South Africa. Will she further recognise that the advice offered to her by the leaders of certain central African countries which have run their own economies into the ground should be—and rightly was—disregarded?
The Prime Minister
I shall be making a statement about the Commonwealth conference in a moment. I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his support. Since the conference I have received a message through our ambassador from Mrs. Suzman, who asked him to say that she remains convinced that it would do enormous damage in South Africa to put large numbers of people out of work, and that she is certain that the sanctions so far imposed have tended to harden white attitudes and to make the task of people like herself, who have been fighting apartheid for years, more difficult.
Q7. Mr. Ashley
asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 22 October.
The Prime Minister
I refer the right hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Mr. Ashley
With reference to the glittering success of our economy, which was described so eloquently by the Prime Minister at Blackpool, could she explain to the House why the Minister for Social Security and the Disabled has written to me to explain that the Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act 1986 cannot be implemented because of lack of funds?
The Prime Minister
We had a number of questions on this subject before the House rose for the summer recess, and I told the right hon. Gentleman that we were anxious to implement the Act, if we could agree with the local authorities on something that was of a reasonable cost. I am afraid that it will not be implemented yet, but, as the right hon. Gentleman is aware, our record with regard to help for the disabled is quite outstanding. Spending on benefits for the long-term sick and disabled has risen by 75 per cent. in real terms over the last eight years.