§ Q6. Mr. William Hamiltonasked the Prime Minister what instructions he has given to Ministers on the acceptance of fees for television and radio appearances.
§ The Prime MinisterIt remains the practice that Ministers do not accept such fees.
§ Mr. HamiltonDoes that Answer mean that since 18th June no Minister has received any fee when he was appearing as a Minister on television or radio? Will the right hon. Gentleman make it clear to the television and radio authorities that they should make sure that they get value for money, which will amount to pretty much the same thing?
§ The Prime MinisterThis is rather a serious matter. To the best of my knowledge, no Minister has received any fee for appearing on radio or television since the present Government were formed. In that, we follow the practice of previous Administrations. If the hon. Gentleman has any example that he wishes to bring to my notice, I will gladly make inquiries into it. I have made inquiries throughout the Government, and the answer that I have received is that no Minister has received fees of this kind. In fact, I never even got a fee when I was Leader of the Opposition.
§ Sir J. RodgersIs my right hon. Friend aware that a Mr. Cleaver of the B.B.C. is alleged to have said that, according to B.B.C. custom, people who appear in programmes like "Panorama", including Cabinet Ministers, have been paid fees? Can my right hon. Friend write to Lord Hill to get confirmation of who received these fees?
§ The Prime MinisterI am not aware of the statement which my hon. Friend reports. I am prepared to inquire into it myself, but in my own experience, I have never known of a case in which a 1116 Minister of any party received a fee for going on B.B.C. television. That also applies to those in receipt of salaries here—namely, the Leader of the Opposition and the Chief Whips.