§ Q2. Mr. Rhodri Morgan (Cardiff, West)If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 20 May.
§ The Prime MinisterToday, I had meetings with Ministers and others. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall be having further such meetings later today. Later today, I shall be visiting Northern Ireland to assist efforts in bringing about a decisive yes vote in Friday's referendum, which I believe to be the only result that can offer peace and stability in the future.
§ Mr. MorganWith the Scotland Bill having received Third Reading last night and with democratic devolution 948 therefore certain to be a reality in Scotland and Wales next summer, cannot the benefits of constitutional change in the United Kingdom be kept going in its momentum if the land of St. Patrick joins with the countries of St. David and St. Andrew by voting yes in Friday's referendum?
§ The Prime MinisterI agree. As I just said, a yes vote in Friday's referendum is important. After all, the agreement puts the principle of consent—no change to the constitutional status of Northern Ireland without the consent of the majority of people in Northern Ireland—right at the heart of politics in Northern Ireland and, indeed, in the Republic of Ireland, for the first time, and gives Northern Ireland, through the assembly, a chance to govern more of its own affairs directly in Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. William Hague (Richmond, Yorks)I second the congratulations that the Prime Minister has given to you, Madam Speaker, and support what he said about Northern Ireland.
Will the Prime Minister confirm that tomorrow's figures will show a further rise in hospital waiting lists, demonstrating the Government's complete and utter failure to meet their early pledge of reducing waiting lists?
§ The Prime MinisterIt is correct that waiting lists are going up—[HON. MEMBERS: "Oh!"] However, we have pledged to reduce waiting lists, and reduce them we shall. We did not pledge that we would do so in our first year in office, but we have put some £2 billion more into the national health service than the previous Government, and we shall ensure that the pledge that we gave on waiting lists is put into practice before the next election.
§ Mr. HagueSo it is true that hospital waiting lists will rise further. Will the Prime Minister now give us the figures? Why does he not have the courage to give them? They can be leaked to national newspapers, and the Secretary of State for Health can discuss them on the radio, but the official announcement has to take place after Prime Minister's Question Time and at the beginning of a recess. The Prime Minister promised to cut waiting lists by 100,000 as an "early pledge". It is now rumoured that waiting lists are up by 130,000 since the general election. Is not the Prime Minister even a little bit embarrassed about that?
§ The Prime MinisterAs I have just explained, we accept that waiting lists are going up, but the only way to get them back down is to put the necessary extra investment into the health service. As I explained, we have already put some £2 billion more than the figure in Conservative spending plans into the health service, and we shall put more money in over the next few years. However, that extra money will be put into the health service when it is consistent with prudent public finance to spend it. It will be put in alongside reform and change within the health service to ensure that the money—which is far in excess of what the Conservative Government put in—is spent wisely.
§ Mr. HagueThe Prime Minister's "early pledge" in the election did not come with all those footnotes and excuses. After more than a year in office, his excuses are beginning to wear thin. If he is not embarrassed that he has broken his promise on waiting lists, is he embarrassed 949 about his "early pledge" to cut class sizes? Can he confirm the rumour that figures—also to be published, surprise, surprise, tomorrow after Question Time and before the recess—will show that class sizes have risen since the general election?
§ The Prime MinisterAs we have said, class sizes have risen since the election. They have had to, because of the spending plans that we inherited from the previous Government. Furthermore, we would have been able to get class sizes down if, for nine months, the Conservative party had not opposed the Bill to reduce class sizes by phasing out assisted places.
§ Mr. HagueNot only are the Prime Minister's excuses wearing thin, but blaming somebody else is less and less convincing. He promised to cut waiting lists and they have gone up; he promised to cut class sizes and they have gone up; he promised, as an early pledge, low interest rates and low inflation, and they are now at a six-year high. Those are three of his five early pledges. Does he not wish that he gave an early pledge to bring chaos to the Foreign Office? At least one Minister would then have delivered. Does he understand that, when he called them "early pledges", people thought that he meant early in the Parliament, not early next century?
§ The Prime MinisterWe set out those pledges and we shall meet every single one of them. Waiting lists and class sizes went up for years under the previous Government. We shall bring them back down. We have already put additional resources into health and £2.5 billion more into education. When we meet those pledges—as we shall before the next election, as we promised—I hope that the right hon. Gentleman will congratulate us.
§ Mr. HagueIn just one year, a man with confident early pledges has become full of meaningless waffle. The Prime Minister told the British people, "Things can only get better." The fact is that waiting lists have got worse, class sizes have got worse and inflation has got worse. Was the Daily Mirror right when it said that he should not be embarrassed; he should be ashamed?
§ The Prime MinisterNo, because, as I have just pointed out to the right hon. Gentleman, under the Government of which he was a member, waiting lists and class sizes went up year on year on year. I should explain to him that waiting lists went up for the four years before we took office—I think that Conservative Members should know the facts—and class sizes went up for 10 years in a row before we took office. Despite Conservative opposition, we have got the Bill on class sizes through. From this September, 100,000 children will be taken out of higher class sizes for the first time in years, and health service waiting lists will be brought back down. When they are, we shall see what he has to say.
§ Mr. Eric Martlew (Carlisle)May I bring the Prime Minister back to the referendum? Is he aware that there is great interest and great concern on both sides of the Irish sea about the matter? There is a feeling on the mainland that, to an extent, people are excluded, because they cannot vote. We have supported Ulster for the past 30 years, financially and with the armed forces but, 950 if Ulster votes no or if determined politicians in Ulster wreck the agreement, is it likely that there would be grave concern and a backlash in this country? Would it be much more difficult to carry forward the policies that we have carried forward in the past 30 years?
§ The Prime MinisterObviously, I very much hope that people vote yes. I have said throughout that, even if people were to vote no, the Government of the United Kingdom would stand ready to take the matter forward in the best way that we could. Plainly, we shall have a far better chance of stability and prosperity if the agreement, which is fair and reasonable, is accepted by the people in Northern Ireland. If it is accepted by them, I hope that the politicians who are elected to the assembly have the desire and purpose to make it work for the people whom they represent.
§ Mr. Paddy Ashdown (Yeovil)Is it not clear that, not only here but throughout the United Kingdom and across the international community, people are wishing and willing the Northern Irish people to cast a decisive yes vote on Friday? Does the Prime Minister accept that there is work to be done to reassure some people, especially in the Unionist community? Will he confirm that the British and the Irish Governments are prepared jointly to act, very robustly, against any dissident minority group that uses violence to frustrate the expressed will of the Northern Irish people? In particular, will he confirm that anyone committing such an act after a yes vote on Friday cannot expect to receive the benefits of the provisions on prisoner release in the Good Friday agreement?
§ The Prime MinisterYes, that is right on both counts. There is no question of people who are engaged in, or threatening, violence having the benefit of any part of the agreement in respect of seats in the Northern Ireland Executive or accelerated prisoner release. I have made it clear, as have the Republic of Ireland Government, that we shall take the firmest measures possible to deal with any dissident splinter groups that may carry on violence and acts of terrorism. The agreement, if it goes through the referendums in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland, will represent the settled will of the people—in Northern Ireland and in the Republic. Anyone who then goes against the agreement by using violence or terrorism can expect no let-up and no mercy from either the British or Irish Governments.
§ Yvette Cooper (Pontefract and Castleford)Is my right hon. Friend aware of a new report from the Centre for Economic Performance, which shows that the persistent pay gap between men and women is largely a result of the absence of family-friendly employment practices in the workplace and that, for example, access to maternity leave reduces the pay gap? Will he assure the House that family-friendly employment policies will be at the heart of the Government's fairness-at-work agenda and that Government Departments will take a lead in putting those policies into practice?
§ The Prime MinisterYes, and that is in addition to three other measures that we are taking which will improve the friendliness of employment policy towards the family. The first is, obviously, child care. The second is the statutory minimum wage and the third is to ensure that part-time workers are treated as fairly and with the same rights and entitlements as full-time workers.