PRIME MINISTER
Engagements
Q1. Mr. Evennett
To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 16 May 1989.
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. Evennett
Will my right hon. Friend confirm that under her leadership Britain will continue to champion a Europe dedicated to enterprise, opportunity and freedom for all its citizens? Will she also reaffirm her resolve to fight any proposals from Europe designed to deprive this Parliament of any powers over taxation and the economy?
The Prime Minister
Yes, I agree with my hon. Friend. Our vision of Europe is a vision of sovereign states co-operating freely in those things that we can do better together than we can do ourselves. We shall certainly resist proposals which would deprive this House of its premier standing on taxation—[Interruption.]—and no longer enable us to take our own decisions on taxation.
Mr. Kinnock
Will the Prime Minister say whether Conservative candidates in the Euro elections should take their lead from her or from Henley?
The Prime Minister
They will take it from the manifesto, which will shortly be published. I am sure that the right hon. Gentleman will read it most assiduously, and he might even agree with a great deal of it.
Mr. Kinnock
Will the right hon. Lady, in compiling that manifesto, be consulting the right hon. Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup (Mr. Heath)?
The Prime Minister
The manifesto will be prepared as previously—on our stance in Europe. We are very good Europeans and we shall work within the Community. Any country—[Interruption.]—which gives £2 billion this year to the Community—our net contribution—which stations the number of troops in NATO that we do and which has its history with Europe as we have, is likely to be a very good European and have a vision of a free enterprise Europe based on freedom under the rule of law.
Q2. Mr. Jacques Arnold
To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 16 May 1989.
The Prime Minister
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
[column 163]Mr. Arnold
In view of the disgraceful scenes of football-related violence last weekend, may I ask my right hon. Friend if she agrees that this problem will not go away and that firm action needs to be taken?
The Prime Minister
I agree with my hon. Friend. The scenes last Saturday, when there were about 220 arrests—after Hillsborough—were absolutely appalling and utterly disgraceful, and we were all horrified by them. I believe that indicates that more steps need to be taken. There is a Bill before the House, with which we said we would go ahead on condition that it was an enabling scheme and that therefore it would come before the House before being finalised. It has other measures too, including the licensing of grounds. I believe that we should go ahead with that measure, which would be a vehicle for any further measures that it was thought necessary to take, without just waiting and doing nothing before the coming football season.
Mr. Ashdown
Does the Prime Minister realise that the House of Lords spoke for the whole nation on the Water Bill last night? Will she accept the House of Lords decision or will she condemn the British people to drinking dirty water for longer?
The Prime Minister
I believe that the Government have spoken for the whole nation in greatly increasing the amount of investment spent on improved water—investment far greater than under any previous Government. We shall look at that amendment. The question is whether it can be done in time. I hope, therefore, that the right hon. Gentleman will make it clear that the extra things that he is demanding will cost a good deal more money and will not complain when that price is exacted.
Mr. Budgen
In view of the humiliating defeat suffered by the British Government and people last night in the EEC, when a directive concerning public health was foisted on us through a majority vote under the Single European Act, will my right hon. Friend undertake that this decision will be referred by the British Government to the European court or that the veto will be exercised?
The Prime Minister
No. We shall consider the matter very carefully but, as my hon. Friend knows, under the Single European Act we agreed that, for the purpose of implementing the Single European Act and only for that purpose, the majority rule should apply in certain cases. What is a matter sometimes for the court to decide is whether a particular issue comes under the majority rule or whether it remains under article 100. It is that, which is maybe an issue, that we shall consider very carefully.
Q3. Mr. McFall
To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 16 May.
The Prime Minister
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Mr. McFall
It is exactly one year since the Prime Minister lectured the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland on how to be Christian. In the light of the statement by the Secretary of State for Social Security, which is appalling, that poverty in this country has now been eliminated, will the Prime Minister undertake that on her next visit to Scotland she will dispense with her “Sermon on the Mound” , stop turning the other cheek and [column 164]address the problems of poverty which are still a reality for many hundreds of thousands of Scotsmen, women and children today?
The Prime Minister
Surveys show that people at all income levels, including those in the bottom one tenth of income levels, are far better off than they were 10 years ago. What the hon. Gentleman and many of his colleagues would prefer is that the bottom tenth should be worse off provided they pulled all other levels down with them. That is an appalling doctrine.
Mr. Hill
Will my right hon. Friend agree with me that when it comes to sovereign states working in unison there is no finer example than the Council of Europe? Indeed, only last week Finland joined, making a total of 23 countries. Does she agree that this is the genuine voice of Europe, the overwhelming voice of Europe; that it is the true parliamentary assembly of Europe and that the European Parliament needs to be told this time and time again?
The Prime Minister
I agree with my hon. Friend that the Council of Europe does extremely valuable work and obviously goes a good deal wider than the European Community. We take a great interest in all its work, but we also belong to the European Economic Community. We are bound to it by treaty, the amended treaty, but we wish to see that in future it develops along the courses which we wish it to take and which we believe to be the right ones, and that it does not become too bureaucratic.
Q4. Mr. Eadie
To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 16 May.
The Prime Minister
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Mr. Eadie
Can the right hon. Lady tell us what role she sees deep-mined coal in Scotland playing in the energy provisions of the United Kingdom? Does she support the proposal that deep-mined coal production in Midlothian should end despite the fact that there are very rich reserves of coal that would last well into the next century?
The Prime Minister
The question will initially be one for British Coal. As the hon. Gentleman is aware, it is not only the reserves of coal that matter but whether they can be mined competitively, so that people are not overcharged for the electricity that comes from coal. The hon. Gentleman is well aware that the mine at Longannet will continue to be worked for Longannet power station. He is also well aware that there are other proposed closures because some pits have lost as much as £20 million recently, and we cannot allow losses of that dimension to continue. There is a major place in the United Kingdom for coal-fired power stations, and the major part of our electricity will continue to be generated by them for a long time to come.
Mr. Ian Bruce
The whole House will have heard the sad news of the deaths of nine Royal Navy personnel in the helicopter crash in Africa, which comes hard on the heels of the deaths of two Royal Navy pilots who crashed in my constituency of Portland. Will my right hon. Friend take this opportunity to express the sympathy of the whole House to the relatives and friends of those victims? Will she also reflect that, in these times of peace, the people who have been peacekeeping with the Armilla patrol for the [column 165]past 10 years should be recognised, perhaps by a campaign honour—which seems to have been rather slow in coming to people who have been doing a magnificent job over many years?
The Prime Minister
I am grateful to my hon. Friend. The whole House will wish to take advantage of his invitation to send its sympathy to the relatives of those lost in the crash to which he refers, of a helicopter that has been flying from HMS Brilliant, which had previously been on duty with the Armilla patrol. I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that matter. Other matters are being considered by the Ministry of Defence, but we would like to honour those who took part in the Armilla patrol and in its extremely important work in the international waterway of the Gulf.
Q5. Mr. Allen McKay
To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 16 May.
The Prime Minister
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Mr. McKay
Is the Prime Minister aware that after nearly two years of negotiations by some local authorities in south Yorkshire and in Scunthorpe, an agreement was signed five months ago for a £308 million aid concession from Europe? Is she aware that the Secretary of State for the Environment decided to break that agreement so that the aid will be widespread throughout the east of England? Does the right hon. Lady agree with the Secretary of State's action, which has deprived my constituency—which has a 20 per cent. male unemployment rate—of substantial aid, or does she disagree with him and accept that the money should be spent where the EEC said? If the Prime Minister does agree with her right hon. Friend, do we not risk losing credibility in respect of our use of EEC aid?
The Prime Minister
No. Those EEC aid agreements must also take into account the Government's view as to how the money can best be spent. Every single pound spent by the EEC in this country is paid for by the taxpayers of this country. Over and above everything that we pay for, this year we shall pay £2 billion net to the European Community, so it is obviously very important that the Government's views are also taken into account.
Q6. Dame Jill Knight
To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 16 May.
The Prime Minister
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Dame Jill Knight
Will my right hon. Friend take this opportunity to welcome the interest shown by hospitals throughout the country in achieving self-governing status? Will she stress once again to the House and to the country that self-governing status does not mean that hospitals are either opting out of the Health Service or going private?
The Prime Minister
My hon. Friend is correct. No hospital will be privatised. Hospitals will be given the [column 166]choice, if they wish, to be self-governing, which means that they will have control over their own budgets so that decisions will be taken much nearer to the patient, which will in many cases mean far better value for money.—[Interruption.] Opposition Members dislike choice except when they choose to say that they like it occasionally. Whether or not a hospital becomes self-governing is a matter of choice.
Q7. Mr. Skinner
To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 16 May.
The Prime Minister
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Mr. Skinner
On reflection, does the Prime Minister regret having used a three-line Whip and a guillotine to push the Single European Act through the House?
The Prime Minister
No, I do not. We wished to have many of the directives under majority voting because things which we wanted were being stopped by others using a single vote. For example, we have not yet got insurance freely in Germany as we wished. We strenuously contest some decisions concerning animal and health regulations, which we believe should come under unanimity and that is our understanding. We are not quite certain what will be the judgment not of the Council of Ministers but of the European Court, which makes judgments on whether a particular matter comes within majority or unanimity if it is not clear on the face of the wording.
Q8. Mr. Moss
To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 16 May.
The Prime Minister
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Mr. Moss
Is my right hon. Friend aware that Governments throughout the world are looking at ways to reform the provision of health care and that Poland and Hungary, to name but two Communist countries, are introducing methods of private insurance and charges?
The Prime Minister
Certainly, many countries are looking at the rapidly increasing cost of health care. We recall that in 1977 Alec Merrison said that provision for health care in this country could take the entire income of the country, so we are all looking to get the very best value for money, not only in Poland and Hungary, but in Germany, Italy and other countries in the European Community. Those who take out private insurance pay their full share of tax to the National Health Service and by not using it and paying further for their own treatment they are taking a very great burden off the Health Service and should be thanked for doing that.