§ Q8. Mr. Martenasked the Prime Minister if he will designate a Minister to co-ordinate home information services.
§ The Prime MinisterNo, Sir. However, as my right hon. Friend the Lord President, in his capacity as Leader of the House, exercises a general oversight of the public presentation of the Government's policies as a whole, I have asked him if he would now take on the duty of answering Questions in the House about the co-ordination of home information policy.
§ Mr. MartenI welcome that decision. Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that we shall, I hope, now get some coherent Answers from my constituent, the Lord President of the Council? In this context, as one Parliamentary duty has now been taken away from the Paymaster-General, what are his residual tasks? Is he the adviser to the Prime Minister on Labour Party politics?
§ The Prime MinisterI am sure that the hon. Gentleman's constituent will answer all Questions from the hon. Gentleman, as I do, in the spirit in which they are put. I should make it clear that we have still set ourselves totally against the policy of the previous Government of having anything in the nature of a Minister of Information or someone else paid from the public purse to do party propaganda, as happened before.[Interruption.] As for my right hon. Friend the Paymaster-General, it has never been the practice to indicate to the House the duties which may from time to time be assigned—and this was the practice during the period of office of my predecessor—to a non-Departmental Minister, but I assure the hon. Gentleman that my right hon. Friend is not only very busy but very helpful.
§ Mr. PeytonWould the Prime Minister not agree that the duties of the Paymaster-General are designed so that he may just be a figure of fun when the Foreign Secretary is not available?
§ The Prime MinisterThere is always a question here of the differing sense of humour which the hon. Member may have from others of us. But at least the 1572 hon. and gallant Member for Knutsford (Sir W. Bromley-Davenport) found his joke uproarious—at least, he had some success. What I am a little worried about is that hon. Members opposite will now lose one of their favourite Parliamentary gambits and may now, by taking less interest in personalities, even have to devote themselves occasionally to questions of policy.
§ Mr. HefferIs my right hon. Friend aware that whilst I do not accept the campaign which is being conducted on the benches opposite, there are, nevertheless, a number of hon. Members on this side who are also somewhat curious as to the Paymaster-General's duties? Would my right hon. Friend be prepared to tell us precisely what he does do?
§ The Prime MinisterWhile I must make it clear to the hon. Baronet the Member for Peterborough (Sir Harmar Nicholls) that his intervention about telephone tapping was dealt with two or three weeks ago—[Interruption.] I am sorry, I beg his pardon. I withdraw. It was somebody with a slightly larger majority. I have to remind him that there has been a change of Government since those days.
I would say to my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Walton (Mr. Heffer) that, as I have said, it is not the practice for the duties of non-Departmental Ministers to be outlined to the House. My hon. Friend will, however, be fascinated to know that among the regular duties of the Paymaster-General, one about which I would be safe in informing my hon. Friend, is that he is chairman of the governors of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea.