HC Deb 15 December 1966 vol 738 cc656-7
Q3. Mr. Marten

asked the Prime Minister what instructions he has given to Ministers about membership of trade unions while they are in office.

The Prime Minister

The hon. Member will be aware of the rules which governed these matters when he held office in a previous administration. They have not changed, Sir.

Mr. Marten

Does the Prime Minister agree with the very sensible custom that a Minister appointed to the Government should divest himself, for example, of any shares in companies which are connected with the work of the Ministry so as to avoid any conflict of interests? By the same token, and purely to avoid any conflict of interest, should not Members who are trade unionists and who are appointed to Government posts also divest themselves temporarily of trade union membership?

The Prime Minister

No, Sir. As I say, the rules have not changed. The rules governing all ministerial appointments are those which were very eloquently stated by Mr. Macmillan some six years ago about conflict of interests. These rules have not changed since that time and they are still being operated. I think that there is a very great difference between being able to make money out of holding shares in businesses concerned with the Department with which a Minister is concerned and being a member of either a trade union or a professional association. I am not aware that under any successive Government, for example, Ministers who happened to be member; of professional associations or trade unions, whether legal, medical, or any other, resigned from them.

Mr. William Hamilton

Is my right hon. Friend aware that the former Prime Minister was a member of the National Farmers' Union, which industry was receiving hundreds of millions of pounds of public money?

The Prime Minister

I believe that my predecessor was a member of the Scottish National Farmers' Union. If I remember from some supplementaries, he had not been a very active member until he became Prime Minister. There was even some question about whether he was behind with his dues. I would not for one moment believe that his membership of that august body in any way affected his attitude to questions of annual Price Reviews or anything else which might ultimately affect the prosperity of the Scottish farming community.