PRIME MINISTER
Engagements
Q1. Mr. Sillars
To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 2 May.
The Prime Minister (Mrs. Margaret Thatcher)
This morning I 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 hope to have an audience of Her Majesty the Queen.
Mr. Sillars
Is the Prime Minister aware that one of the major policy blunders of the past 10 years has been her attempt to use Scotland as an experimental area for the immoral poll tax? Is she aware that, despite the chicken-hearted failure of the Labour leadership, [column 15]hundreds of thousands of Scots will not pay and together that army will wreck the poll tax, sink her flagship and inflict a major political defeat upon her later this year?
The Prime Minister
The hon. Gentleman will be aware that under Scottish law, Scotland had already undergone a rating revaluation, and the results were so horrific that we had to change the law. I understand that the official Opposition may want another rating revaluation on a capital basis, which would be even more catastrophic. We have changed to a community charge, which is very much better and fairer. I understand that 99 per cent. of people have already registered, which would indicate an intention to fulfil their duties under the law. They are not only interested in how much they can get, but what is their duty to pay.
Q3. Sir Hugh Rossi
To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 2 May.
The Prime Minister
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Sir Hugh Rossi
In welcoming my right hon. Friend's personal initiatives over matters of atmospheric pollution, the ozone layer and the greenhouse effect, may I ask her whether anything new has emerged from the much-publicised meeting that she had last week with Ministers in Downing street?
The Prime Minister
My hon. Friend will have seen some reports. The most obvious thing to come out of the meeting was the fact that we need a great deal more scientific evidence. Because there are so many variables to feed into the several climatic models, it is difficult to get scientists with a single opinion on how the climate in the several regions will be affected. Secondly, we noted the excellent progress being made in energy efficiency. We are now using less energy than we were in 1973, with an enormously increased gross domestic product. Thirdly, the most practical and immediate concern was the damaging effect of the destruction of tropical forests. That subject will be raised, I think, at the European summit and also at the economic summit, when we discuss how we can increasingly use aid to preserve those tropical forests.
Mr. Kinnock
Will the Prime Minister tell us why mortgage rates have been higher for longer under her Government than under any other British Government?
The Prime Minister
The right hon. Gentleman knows why they are high at the moment—[Interruption.] It is to ensure that inflation never rises to the 26 per cent. it did under the Labour Government.
Mr. Kinnock
Does the Prime Minister recall her pledge to achieve what she called “reasonable mortgage rates” ? Why has she never ever managed to keep that pledge?
The Prime Minister
We have done extremely well in that 3 million people have chosen, under this Government, to own their own home who would never have had that opportunity under Labour. Maybe the proof comes in home ownership and in how very well those who have purchased their homes have done in increasing their value.
Mr. Kinnock
Is the Prime Minister trying to say that we have had higher mortgage rates for longer under her Government because more people, just as in every previous year, have ended up buying their own houses?
[column 16]The Prime Minister
No. I am saying that 3 million more families own their homes than was the case under Labour and that mortgage rates and interest rates are high because we are determined not to go back to Labour's inflation rate of 26.9 per cent. per annum.
Q5. Mr. Cash
To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 2 May.
The Prime Minister
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Mr. Cash
Is my right hon. Friend aware of the continuing efforts of the European Legislation Committee to involve the House in more effective scrutiny of European legislation? Is she aware that the French Parliament, following our example, has introduced similar measures? Does she also agree that the more democracy there is in the European Community the better?
The Prime Minister
I know that my hon. Friend and other hon. Members are deeply concerned about the amount of legislation that is coming from Europe. It comes to the Scrutiny Committee of course only when it has got to the legislative stage. My right hon. Friend and I are deeply concerned about the number of proposals in the pipeline. It is extremely difficult to get the full facts about them and we must follow them up at that stage too. I agree with my hon. Friend that we need the scrutiny of national Parliaments and that the more we have the better. We also need to keep a very careful watch on the tendency of the Commission to acquire an increasing competence on many matters that are not necessary for the single market of 1992. That would result in an extremely large bureaucracy, which would be quite wrong.
Mr. Ashdown
Does the Prime Minister realise that when many millions in England and Wales go to the polls to vote on Thursday—the 10th anniversary of her election—they will hope—[Interruption.]—that their single vote counts twice; once for a good councillor, and once against the policies of her Government—against the privatisation of water, against the smashing up of the Health Service and against the poll tax? Does she realise that many millions in Britain, including those who voted for her Government, now ache for the removal of this damaging, disruptive and divisive Government?
The Prime Minister
Nonsense. Does the right hon. Gentleman recall that the privatisation of both of those industries was in the last election manifesto and that we won that election by a 100 majority, for which many people are and will remain profoundly grateful? We are going to win the next one too.
Q6. Mr. Baldry
To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 2 May.
The Prime Minister
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Mr. Baldry
Has my right hon. Friend had time to consider the Policy Studies Institute report “The School Effect” , which shows that too many of our children in too many of our inner-city schools are being betrayed by too many Left-wing education authorities? Instead of pursuing a pretence of multicultural policies, it is time for those local educational authorities to start helping to fulfil [column 17]the potential of all their children and to concentrate on traditional ways in which to improve educational standards.
The Prime Minister
I have read reports on that report in the newspapers. I know that my right hon. Friend Kenneth Bakerthe Secretary of State is anxious that it be published in full because it shows enormous variations in educational standards between schools of similar pupils. That is not right. We must make every effort to see that every child has a good education whatever their background. That is why my right hon. Friend is introducing a national curriculum and is spending so much time on teacher training and extra teacher training so that every child can have a really good education whatever local authority he is in.
Q7. Mr. Pendry
To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 2 May.
The Prime Minister
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Mr. Pendry
Having attended the memorial service at Liverpool last Saturday and having witnessed at first hand the grief of that football-loving city, may I ask the right hon. Lady now to consider that the most fitting and lasting memorial to those who tragically died in Hillsborough last month would be for the Government to provide the funding for a multi-purpose sports facility at Merseyside, in the same spirit as she set aside £19 million for egg producers earlier this year?
The Prime Minister
No, Sir. Some football clubs have spent a great deal, and others—not all in this country—are spending an increasing amount on the standards of their stadiums. The hon. Gentleman will know to which I refer. There is a good deal of money, as he knows, in football. Much of it—perhaps too much—goes on transfer fees and perhaps too little goes on stadiums. We all know that a good deal of the income from football pools also goes on improving stadiums. The hon. Gentleman will be familiar with all of those aspects. I went to the memorial service and of course I shared the grief of the people. I got very much the impression from them that, above all, they wanted all-seat stadiums in the future.
Q8. Dr. Twinn
To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 2 May.
The Prime Minister
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Dr. Twinn
Is my right hon. Friend aware that better street lighting can cut crime and cut the fear of crime? Will she endorse the findings of the urban programme and the estate action programme, as well as of the British parliamentary lighting group's surveys in Edmonton and Tower Hamlets, that money spent by local authorities on improving street lighting is money well worth spending in the fight against crime?
The Prime Minister
My hon. Friend draws my attention to the work done by the British parliamentary lighting group and to projects in Edmonton and Tower Hamlets, which seem to have shown that where more money is spent on lighting, the level of crime goes down. If that is so, we must look at those results carefully and see whether they can be furthered because we are anxious to reduce the level of crime as fast and as much as we can.
[column 18]Mr. Barron
Has the Prime Minister read press statements about the attitude of general practitioners in the Vale of Glamorgan in relation to the Government's White Paper on the Health Service? Will she consider withdrawing that White Paper and funding the NHS in a proper manner and not put into effect the actions that are now proposed?
The Prime Minister
No, Sir, and we do not take any lectures on funding the Health Service from Labour Members—[Interruption.] I repeat what I have said in past weeks: for every pound that Labour spent on the NHS, Tories are spending £3. Perhaps the hon. Gentleman will tell that to the people in the Vale of Glamorgan. So, if they want to go back to Labour, that will cut resources, cut hospitals, cut the doctors, cut the nurses, cut their pay and cut the service to patients. Tell that to them.
Q9. Mr. Gardiner
To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 2 May.
The Prime Minister
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Mr. Gardiner
Further to my right hon. Friend's reply to the question by the hon. Member for Rother Valley (Mr. Barron), although the precise terms of the contract with GPs may be open to negotiation, will she agree that it is imperative that the proposed reforms of the NHS should go ahead and that the welfare of patients demands that the NHS cannot just go on as it is?
The Prime Minister
I agree with my hon. Friend. When the reforms in the NHS are through, it will be a much better service for patients than it now is. I understand why Labour Members do not want the reforms to go through. They know that when they have gone through, their protests and citicisms will be rumbled for what they were—wholly hollow and wholly misrepresentative of the true facts.
Miss Lestor
Is the Prime Minister aware that at the end of her decade as Prime Minister, there are in this country 75,000 missing children? The Government inform me that they do not collect figures nationally. The Children's Society, however, does. What does she intend to do about this problem?
The Prime Minister
The hon. Lady is well aware of the authorities that have a concern to find missing children. She is also well aware that the standard of living, the standard of education and the standard of health introduced under this Government give children a far better chance than they ever had before.
Q12. Mr. Tony Lloyd
To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 2 May.
The Prime Minister
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Mr. Lloyd
Would the right hon. Lady now care to answer the question put by my hon. Friend the Member for Eccles (Miss Lestor)?
The Prime Minister
We have increased the number of police and their pay so that they can carry out all their duties, including that of finding missing children. We have increased the numbers way beyond what the Labour Government did.
[column 19]Sir Peter Hordern
Has my right hon. Friend had an opportunity to read the report of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission on the supply of beer? Is my right hon. Friend aware that there is widespread interest and admiration for the reforms affecting trade unions, doctors, dentists, lawyers, bankers and brokers, but that when it comes to proposals which may have the effect of closing half the village pubs, does she agree that she may have gone a step too far?
The Prime Minister
I confess that I am not an expert on the subject although it concerns other members of my [column 20]family very much. Of course, I am concerned, because of the villages, about the future of the village pub. There is increasing debate about the report, I am sure that my right hon. and noble Friend Lord Young of Graffhamthe Secretary of State for Trade and Industry will take that into account when he considers what to do about the report.