Speeches, etc.

Margaret Thatcher

TV Interview for ITN (end of European Election campaign)

Document type: Speeches, interviews, etc.
Venue: Conservative Central Office, Smith Square, Westminster
Source: Thatcher Archive: transcript
Journalist: Michael Brunson, ITN
Editorial comments: After the press conference - around 1000 onwards.
Importance ranking: Major
Word count: 653
Themes: Economic policy - theory and process, European elections, Monetary policy

MB

Prime Minister, what was your evidence for saying just now that you are running neck and neck?

PM

We do our own polls and as I have gone up and down the country people are getting much much more interested in voting and that is what our private polls are saying.

MB

But you haven't had a poll since Saturday, have you, when the Chairman said …   .

PM

We have regular polls and we have regular information from up and down the country and people are much more interested in coming out to vote. And it's coming up very fast as it usually does with us in the last week.

MB

The Chairman said yesterday you were 5%; behind.

PM

That was a poll taken quite a long time ago.

MB

So you're saying there has been a great shift to you since Saturday?

PM

I'm saying that in the last week as always happens, it always happens in General Elections too, in the last week there's a tremendously heightened interest and in particular the Euro election there is now. And a much bigger proportion of our supporters are intending to turn out and vote and we need them to turn out and I hope they will.

MB

Why then wouldn't you predict an overall net gain of seats?

PM

No. I'm not going to prophesy. Whether we are going to gain or lose, or where we're going to gain or lose seats. But I think that we are going to gain some that we do not hold now. But I'm not going to prophesy. It is very important this election. We have created a strong Britain. We are a party that believes in a strong Europe. We are going to fight our corner. And that's right. And we can have both by voting for us. [end p1]

MB

But could I not put it to you that you are nervous that what you're going to see is a verdict from the people of this country on the mishandling of the economy?

PM

We are not nervous in any way. What the people of this country know is that they have a higher standard of living now than they have ever had before, and they also have a higher standard of social services, and investment in the manufacturing industry and business is high at an all time record. That augers well for the future. Britain's reputation rides high because of what we've done for the economy here, because we've fought our corner in Europe, and we fight our corner in almost every international organisation and we win. We win.

MB

Isn't it a fact that for almost a year now inflation has been rising? We are now at the point where inflation is continuing to rise, the pound is falling, and whatever the Chancellor does, nothing seems actually to go right?

PM

No, that is not so. If that were so we wouldn't have the highest standard of investment in business, the highest standard of investment in manufacturing that we've ever had, we wouldn't have had the highest standard of living. We shouldn't have created three million jobs since 1983.

MB

But the confidence of the market has gone.

PM

It certainly has not. It certainly has not. I'm amazed that you're trying to talk the pound down. You shouldn't do that.

MB

I'm not trying to talk the pound down …   .

PM

Excellent.

MB

I'm merely putting to you what has been happening to the pound over the last few days.

PM

The confidence of the market has not gone … [words missing] no target for very long for them. For us, we think it's much too high and that's why we are taking action to get it down now. [end p2]

Three million jobs since 1983, a high standard of living, a high standard of investment. This is no time to talk the pound down.

MB

Thank you very much indeed.