§ 45. Mr. F. Beswickasked the Prime Minister if he will now recognise the increasing strain and weight of responsibility placed upon senior and junior Ministers of Her Majesty's Government; and if he will now revise his policy of economy with regard to Ministerial salaries and transport facilities.
§ The Prime Minister (Mr. Winston Churchill)While expressing my acknowledgments of the kindly thought manifested by the hon. Gentleman, it is not proposed at the present time to change the arrangements made when the Government was formed.
§ Mr. BeswickIf the Prime Minister is thinking of the propaganda value of this gesture, might I ask him if he is aware that after giving £50 million to the doctors, £52 million to the farmers and £75 million to the bankers, the country is not impressed when he economises in this way? Might I also ask him to give special attention to transport? Is he aware that no commercial firm of any repute would keep its senior executives to one or two o'clock in the morning and expect them to be back at their work at 9.30 or 10 o'clock in the next morning without giving them every transport facility?
§ The Prime MinisterThe hon. Gentleman is in a very tender-hearted mood, but all sorts of exigencies have to be faced by the Government of the day, and one of the most surprising and unwelcomed was the decision which we owe to the late Government of producing £40 million additional to the doctors.
§ Mr. ProfumoWould my right hon. Friend not agree that no matter what salary was paid or transport allotted to Her Majesty's Ministers at this time, it would be quite impossible to alleviate the strain to which they are subjected in administering their offices and at the same time trying to clear up the mess and muddle left by their predecessors?
§ Lieut.-Colonel Marcus LiptonWill the Prime Minister also have regard to the strain on hon. Members who are neither Ministers nor junior Ministers and so arrange the Government business as not to necessitate our attendance here night after night and all night as well?
§ The Prime MinisterI think if ever there was a question which should be discussed through the usual channels, it is this one.
§ Mr. NabarroIs my right hon. Friend aware that the opinion is widely held in this House and in the country that a person in receipt of an income of £4,000 a year is capable of providing himself with a motor car without any charge on public funds?
§ The Prime MinisterI have made certain arrangements which are being laboriously carried out, but it is easier to see these things in theory than to carry them out in practice. I propose to persevere on the exact basis which I set forth when we took office six months ago.