§ Q2. Mr. Loughlinasked the Prime Minister if he will make it a condition of accepting Ministerial office in future that the of ice holder undertakes not to apply for nor accept direct Government subsidies other than those paid arising out of welfare services.
§ The Prime MinisterSo far as I understand the Question, the Answer is "No, Sir". But perhaps the hon. Member would like to let me know what he has in mind.
§ Mr. LoughlinIs the Prime Minister aware of the very invidious position in which Ministers are now placed? Does he know that Ministers of the Crown can, and do, receive large sums of public money—for instance, if they are farmers—as a direct result of policies for which they are responsible? Has it not been a long-established principle of British public life that persons should not receive a pecuniary gain from their public activities, and will he do something about it?
§ The Prime MinisterI think that whatever practices are going on they have been going on for a long time—since the 1947 Act, the 1957 Act, and the rest—but if the hon. Gentleman will put down a specific Question, I will try to answer it.
§ Mr. LoughlinIf the right hon. Gentleman wants a specific question, I will ask one of him. Will he make clear that a Minister of the Crown who is responsible for initiating policy is in a similar position to that of a member of a local authority who may be a council-house tenant and is not allowed to vote on a matter from which he gets pecuniary advantage?
§ The Prime MinisterI should like to see that question on the Order Paper.