§ Q6. Mr. Meacherasked the Prime Minister whether he will place in the Library a copy of the speech which he delivered at the meeting of the Central Council of the Conservative Party at Central Hall, Westminster, on 14th July.
§ The Prime MinisterI did so on 16th July.
§ Mr. MeacherIn that speech the Prime Minister said that his strategy included helping those who were worst hit by rising prices. In view of the publication today of the Government's report about the huge army of low-paid workers in full-time employment who are earning wages below the official poverty line, will he tell his eager Cabinet colleagues who are in the habit of bringing the Conservative election manifesto to Cabinet meetings and marking off in the margin the promises fulfilled, to write "failure" in large red letters against the promise to redress poverty? Will he also tell us what alternative pLans he has to satisfy his colleagues' itch for ticks?
§ The Prime MinisterI have read the hon. Gentleman's article in The Guardian in which he challenges the statistics of this report. Even so, I do not think that gives him any basis for the argument he is now trying to adduce.
§ Mr. LiptonWithout being unduly personal, may I ask the Prime Minister why it should take two days for a speech to travel from 10 Downing Street to the Library of the House of Commons? Cannot he speed up this process and show a bit more dynamic government?
§ The Prime MinisterThe explanation is that this was a party speech and had to come all the way from Smith Square.