THALIDOMIDE CHILDREN (Hansard, 14 November 1972)

§ Q3. Mr. Carter-Jones
asked the Prime Minister if he is satisfied with co-ordination between the Departments of Health and Social Security, Education and Science, Environment, Treasury and Employment in resolving the problems of thalidomide children and their families: and if he will make a statement.

§ The Prime Minister
Yes, Sir. Government, local authorities and the National Health Service co-operate in providing a wide range of services to try to meet the medical, educational and 211 welfare needs of these children and their families.

§ Mr. Carter-Jones
I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for that answer. Is he aware, however, that from the point of view of educational and employment prospects much of the money has come from charities and not from Government sources? That is not to decry the efforts of Government agencies. However, if these children have to wait for a legal decision they may be beyond the school-leaving age. Should not arrangements be made now for them to receive their education? In the absence of an offer by the Distillers Company in the moral sense, does the Prime Minister realise that he will have the support of the whole House if he and the Government go it alone in giving massive support to these people now before it is too late?

§ The Prime Minister
Governments of both parties have done their utmost to meet the needs of these children at the different stages of their growth. If the hon. Gentleman wishes me to, I can set out in the OFFICIAL REPORT the many spheres of activity which this covers. In terms of education, it is true that much has been done by the special bodies formed to help these children, and quite rightly. At the same time, Governments have helped either in special day schools or boarding schools for the physically handicapped, with transport to and from schools and with special equipment for them at schools which they can use afterwards. The cost of this education is comparatively high. That is as it should be to meet the needs of these children. If the hon. Gentleman has other specific needs in mind that he feels should be met I shall gladly have them considered.

§ Sir R. Cary
Is there any way in which the legal talks between the Distillers Company and the parents can be expedited?

§ The Prime Minister
This is a matter for the legal advisers of the two sides. I do not believe that it is right for the Government to interfere in a legal action of this kind. Everyone will hope that the matter can be settled at the earliest moment.

§ Mr. Harold Wilson
Having studied the right hon. Gentleman's letter to my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on- 212 Trent, South (Mr. Ashley), may I ask him whether he is aware—if not will he take note—that the Opposition intend to table an official Motion on the lines of Early Day Motion No. 8 in the name of my hon. Friend and other hon. Members on both sides of the House, and that we shall expect an early debate on the issues raised in that Motion?

§ The Prime Minister
I am fully prepared to take note of that. I was hoping that this would not become a party political issue in the House. It is a matter in which Governments of both parties have done their best to meet the real needs of these children at their different stages of growth. I believe that we have done more than the Labour Government did in that we have provided more financial resources.
The legal matters are not matters for any Government. They were not matters for the Labour Government. They are matters for the parties concerned in the action.
I was asked to consider the possibility of setting up a foundation to provide financial resources. But it was a foundation to bridge any gap between the result of any legal arrangement and what it was felt these children needed. Therefore it is right that we should await the outcome of legal arrangements before coming to a firm conclusion about the needs of these children which still require to be met.

§ Mr. Ashley
Quite wrong.

§ Mr. Fowler
While accepting what my right hon. Friend has said, may I ask whether this case does not show the serious inadequacy of the present law of compensation? Is there not an overwhelming case for the setting-up of an immediate and urgent review of the law here?

§ The Prime Minister
The Robens Committee on Safety and Health at Work commented on this matter and the Law Commission has been working on a study of the law of damages. The Government are now giving full consideration to this aspect of the report of the Robens Committee as a matter of urgency.

§ Mr. Ashley
The Prime Minister said in his letter that it was premature to establish any fund before a legal decision was reached. However, is he aware that 213 if he waits for the crafty lawyers of the Distillers to end their work, the matter may drag on for another 10 years, because they must look after the interests of their clients, and that if the right hon. Gentleman waits for the Distillers the matter may drag on for another decade, since they must serve their shareholders? Is not it the right hon. Gentleman's responsibility to establish this fund now without prejudice to the legal negotiations and to take a leaf from the book of his distinguished predecessor by calling for "action this day" on the setting up of a special fund?

§ The Prime Minister
I cannot accept the hon. Gentleman's view. I am sorry that he has made comments in such an extreme form about the letter which I wrote to him. It was a letter written in good faith trying to help these children. I think that everyone appreciates the tragedy of these children. The hon. Gentleman said that this should be done without prejudice. However, it is not possible for the Government to set up a foundation without prejudice to a legal settlement. It is just not possible to do that. I believe that I have taken the proper view, which is that when a legal settlement is reached—and I am not associating myself with what the hon. Gentleman said about the responsibilities of the parties concerned—the Government can see what is required on the financial side as compensation for this tragedy. I have already offered to investigate any case of real need or of requirements of any kind brought to my notice, if they are not being met by Government bodies at the moment. I think that that is the proper attitude to take with regard to the setting up of a foundation.

§ Mr. Harold Wilson
Taking up the right hon. Gentleman's point about not wishing this matter to become a party issue—the Motion to which I have referred has been signed by members of all parties—nevertheless is not the right hon. Gentleman aware that while both Governments, his own and ours, tried and are trying to help in those matters, both of us hoped that they would be settled between the parties much earlier than this?
The right hon. Gentleman uses the phrase "these children". With the present state of the law's delay, is there not every 214 likelihood that they will be grown up before there is a settlement?

§ The Prime Minister
Obviously the whole House hopes that that will not be the case. Neither is there any evidence that that will be the case. I should have thought that public opinion was clearly that this matter ought to be settled at the earliest opportunity and that proper provision should be made for these children.

§ Mrs. Castle
Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that while he is being so nice about not bringing pressure to bear on the Distillers while the legal talks are going on, pressure is being brought to bear upon the parents all the time to accept a settlement which they believe is unjust? Is he aware that some parents have been threatened with the withdrawal of legal aid unless they accept the settlement, that six families have been taken to court by their former solicitors because they refused to sign, and that the Distillers Company, in a letter to one of its shareholders, which I have in my hand, has threatened to withdraw the offer if there is a breakdown of these talks? In other words, the Distillers Company is using every legal device known to man to suppress these facts. Will the Prime Minister become the champion of these unfortunate children?

§ The Prime Minister
I do not think that the right hon. Lady, with her experience in Government, would expect the Government to interfere on either one side or the other and to bring pressure of the kind of which she complains. The Government, as far as they possibly can, are prepared to meet the needs of these children, and I repeat my offer to look at any specific case. If there is any matter for which the right hon. Lady feels the Government have a responsibility in the correspondence which she has in which there is a grievance against the exercise of the law—she referred to people being refused legal aid as a threat— obviously I would investigate that as well.