HC Deb 11 March 1971 vol 813 cc582-3
Q4. Mr. Biggs-Davison

asked the Prime Minister what special access to Cabinet papers is now given to former Cabinet Ministers; and what recent changes have been made in the arrangements for their custody.

The Prime Minister

Former Ministers have always enjoyed access to the Cabinet papers which they saw when in office. No changes have been made in the arrangements for the custody of these papers.

Mr. Biggs-Davison

What are the implications for Cabinet Government, not to mention the political memoirs industry, of the use by the right hon. Member for Coventry, East (Mr. Crossman) of the "search of Cabinet papers", which is his own phrase in the New Statesman, in order to disclose the views expressed in Cabinet by former colleagues on the subject of the Common Market?

The Prime Minister

The practice in the past has been quite clear: there was access for former Ministers to their own papers. I believe that the right hon. Member for Coventry, East (Mr. Cross-man) had access to such papers, to which he was quite entitled. I understand also that the usual convention of submitting material intended for publication to the Secretary of the Cabinet was not in this case complied with. [HON. MEMBERS: "0h!"] But that is not a matter for me as Prime Minister: it is far more a matter for his own party leader, the Leader of the Opposition.

Mr. William Hamilton

Would the Prime Minister be averse to the Speaker of the House writing his memoirs and being allowed access to the Cabinet papers of 1956?

The Prime Minister

I am sure that if Mr. Speaker wished to have access to his own Cabinet papers he would be perfectly entitled to do so, and I have no doubt that he would comply with the normal convention of submitting material to the Secretary of the Cabinet.

Mr. Harold Wilson

Is the Prime Minister aware that a book about the Suez operation did come to the Cabinet Office and was properly reported to me? The right hon. Gentleman, as Leader of the Opposition, was informed of all the circumstances. If the right hon. Gentleman has any complaint about my right hon. Friend the Member for Coventry, East (Mr. Crossman), why did he not inform me that there had not been any reference to the Cabinet Office about what my right hon. Friend intended to publish? He will also be aware that every word that I intend to publish has gone to the Cabinet Office.

The Prime Minister

I am fully aware of what the right hon. Gentleman says about his own material. As I say, it is not a matter for me as Prime Minister but a matter for the Secretary of the Cabinet to handle. I think that was a procedure which the right hon. Gentleman himself adopted. He is quite right in saying that when material is submitted it is natural to inform the leader of the party of the Member concerned. In this case, the material was not submitted to the Secretary of the Cabinet, so obviously I did not know about it until after publication.