§ Q3. Mr. Deakinsasked the Prime Minister if he will make a Ministerial broadcast shortly before the final debate in Parliament on United Kingdom membership of the European Economic Community.
§ The Prime MinisterI will bear this suggestion in mind.
§ Mr. DeakinsWould not such a broadcast be essential so that the Prime Minister can explain to the British people the omissions from the White Paper on entry into the E.E.C. and, in particular, why they should be provided with a mixture of hope and wishful thinking instead of the facts about the effects on the British economy which they need in order to be able to take a sensible decision on the issue?
§ The Prime MinisterI could not agree that it is essential in view of the success of the last Ministerial broadcast, but I will consider making all the information 1254 available, either in a long version or in a short version.
§ Mr. HordernWould not my right hon. Friend agree that, in all fairness, the Leader of the Opposition ought to be given equal time on television to explain how it is that he was not prepared to accept "No" for an answer when the balance of payments deficit was running at £300 million a year, in advance of devaluation, and is now only too happy to say "No" when the balance of payments is running at a surplus of £600 million? How contemptible can even the Leader of the Opposition get?
§ The Prime MinisterThe British Broadcasting Corporation is always anxious to ensure that the Leader of the Opposition has his full rights.
§ Mr. Harold WilsonWould the right hon. Gentleman, at any rate in answering that question, recognise that not taking "No" for an answer was a reply in May, 1967, to General de Gaulle's refusal to negotiate? As the right hon. Gentleman knows, it never implied that we had to accept whatever miserable terms came back.
§ The Prime MinisterThe only advice that I can give the right hon. Gentleman is that if he wishes to continue to sit on the fence, he must not fall over backwards like that.