§ Q1. Mr. Ashtonasked the Prime Minister whether he will place in the Library 1130 a copy of his public speech at Masham near Ripon on the economy on 25th March.
§ Q2. Mr. William Hamiltonasked the Prime Minister if he will place in the Library a copy of his public speech made on 25th March at Swinton Conservative College concerning national unity.
§ Q3. Mr. Frank Allaunasked the Prime Minister if he will place in the Library a copy of his public speech on the economy at Swinton College on 25th March.
§ Q8. Mr. Meacherasked the Prime Minister if he will place in the Library a copy of his public speech at Masham on 25th March on industrial and economic matters.
§ Q9. Mr. Skinnerasked the Prime Minister if he will place in the Library a copy of his public speech to the Swinton Conservative College on 25th March on economic matters.
§ Q11. Mr. Molloyasked the Prime Minister if he will place in the Library a copy of his public speech to Swinton Conservative College at Masham on 25th March on industrial relations.
§ Q12. Mr. Bidwellasked the Prime Minister if he will place in the Library a copy of his public speech at the Conservative College, Swinton, Yorkshire, on Sunday 25th March on industrial relations.
§ Q13. Mr. Duffyasked the Prime Minister if he will place in the Library a copy of the public speech he made on 25th March at Swinton Conservative College on national unity.
§ Q14. Mr. Wyn Robertsasked the Prime Minister if he will place in the Library a copy of his public speech on tripartite partnership, delivered at Masham on 25th March.
§ Q15. Mr. McCrindleasked the Prime Minister if he will place in the Library a copy of his public speech at Swinton, Yorkshire, on industrial relations on 25th March 1973.
§ Q16. Mr. Redmondasked the Prime Minister if he will place in the Library a copy of his speech on 25th March at Swinton Conservative College on the subject of industrial relations.
§ The Prime Minister (Mr. Edward Heath)As I told the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr. Grimond) on 29th March, I did so on 26th March.
§ Mr. AshtonIn his speech the Prime Minister said that the Conservative Party represented all the people and the consumers and not just sectional interests. Therefore, will he say why his Government agreed in Luxembourg last week to sell butter to the Russians for only 8p per 1b. when butter sells at 28p per 1b. in Britain? Hundreds of tons of butter are involved. It is forecast that before the end of this year there will be a further increase of 5p per 1b. to the British housewife.
§ The Prime MinisterThe full co-the mountain of butter which had been accumulated before we became a member of the Community and which was held as a result of intervention by the six former members of the Community. We did not, therefore, think that we were entitled to prevent this taking place.
§ Mr. HamiltonWhich of the Government's policies does the Prime Minister consider has had the most unifying influence in the nation? Is it his taxation policies which favour the rich, his housing policies which favour the owner-occupier against the council tenant or the Industrial Relations Act which penalises the trade unions? [HON. MEMBERS: "Speech."] Have not those policies been the most divisive policies for 100 years? For the right hon. Gentleman to talk about unifying the nation is absolute nonsense.
§ The Prime MinisterThe full cooperation which we have had from the trade union movement as well as from employers in the standstill now in stage 2 completely contradicts everything that the hon. Gentleman has said.
§ Mr. RobertsDoes my right hon. Friend agree that what Mr. Scanlon described as a victory for the Government was a victory for common sense? Does he also agree that industrial action is costly not only to individuals but to industries and the country as a whole? Furthermore, does my right hon. Friend agree with the right hon. Member for East Ham, North (Mr. Prentice), who described the proposed strike on 1st May 1132 as wrong in principle and wrong in tactics?
§ The Prime MinisterI certainly agree with the remark which has just been quoted. It is not a question of a victory for anyone; it is a national victory that we should be able to move forward together with an expanding economy in these circumstances. I hope that it can become a voluntary arrangement, as I have previously said.
§ Mr. AllaunIs it not dishonest of the Prime Minister to talk about curbing prices when at the end of this month he will impose a further rent increase on millions of private tenants and council tenants? Is it not a poor excuse to say that there will be rent rebates when only a minority will be eligible? Only 750,000 will have the opportunity of applying for these rebates out of a total of 6 million council house families. Is that a good Government excuse?
§ The Prime MinisterThe hon. Gentleman is quite wrong with his figures. If he takes the total number of those in local authority houses and the private tenants who will be able to get rebates, he will find that the figure is very much greater than 750,000, because the 750,000 figure relates to private tenancies alone.
§ Mr. LoughlinGive us the number.
§ The Prime MinisterThere is no need for the hon. Gentleman to shout. The plain fact is that by putting up the needs requirement by £3.50 we have covered all of those up to average industrial earnings level even after the payment of £1 plus 4 per cent. This means, therefore, that this will be of great benefit to all those tenants.
§ Mr. MeacherSince the right hon. Gentleman emphasised national unity, whatever happened to the women in view of the Daily Express revelation about the slump in the Tory female vote? Is he not interested in having women in his "one nation"?
§ The Prime MinisterUnlike the hon. Member's leader, I pay no attention to public opinion polls.
§ Mr. McCrindleFurther to Mr. Scanlon's suggestion that discussions 1133 might be resumed between the trade unions and the Government during the coming summer, may I ask my right hon. Friend to make it clear, as he has done in the past, that this is the Government's wish and that, if these negotiations were to be successful, they might lead to a phase 3 of the counter-inflation policy which would be much easier for both the unions and the Government to sustain than phases 1 and 2 have proved to be?
§ The Prime MinisterYes, Sir, that is of course the Government's view and it is our wish to resume these talks. I was glad that Mr. Scanlon expressed the same desire yesterday and I hope that we shall now be able to arrange for them to take place.
§ Mr. SkinnerCan we get back to the butter mountain? Does not the right hon. Gentleman remember telling the House, along with his colleagues, time and time again that the reason why we had to join the Common Market was to enable us to compete with the two super-Powers? This is a funny way of competing, is it not?
§ The Prime MinisterThe hon. Member would not be able to appreciate that by this sale the Commission has removed what the hon. Gentleman rightly calls a mountain of butter which has been a threat to world markets, a threat recognised particularly by those countries for which the hon. Gentleman always claims to have such concern—namely, New Zealand and the other Commonwealth countries.
§ Mr. MolloyIs not the right hon. Gentleman aware that, despite his remarks in that speech about unity in the nation, Great Britain is terribly divided at the moment. [Laughter.] I know that this is a joke to Conservative hon. Members but there are feelings of great bitterness, with the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer under the right hon. Gentleman's policies. How can he reconcile that with calling for national unity? Would he not agree that in times of stress the British working man will rally to his country, provided that there is fair play and social justice? Will the Prime Minister therefore give us today a date on which he will repeal or amend the Industrial Relations Act, to 1134 ensure that a new climate can be created?
§ The Prime MinisterIn the two years up to October 1972, the real income of the poorest section of the community rose by nearly 5½ per cent. a year—faster than that of any other section of the community and twice as fast over the first two years of this Government as over the previous six years of the Labour Government.
§ Mr. Redmond rose—
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. The hon. Member has a Question down and he is entitled to put a supplementary question.
§ Mr. RedmondWould my right hon. Friend agree that it would help the situation in Europe if Labour Members would join the British delegation to the European Parliament?
§ The Prime MinisterI always like to take the optimistic view that for the Labour Party to accept its responsibilities would always be helpful. [Interruption.]
§ Mr. SpeakerI heard the hon. Member's intervention. A Member is entitled to be heard if I call him.
§ Mr. Hamilton rose—
§ Hon. Members: Order.
§ Mr. BidwellIn that speech the right hon. Gentleman pretended to be on the side of the poor as well as on the side of the rich. Does he think that he is being thought of now in the Conservative ranks as one who has deserted the rich, since the racialist millionaire Monday Club members have decided to back the right hon. Member for Wolverhampton, South-West (Mr. Powell)?
§ Mr. MartenDoes not the question of this butter illustrate to ordinary British people the absurdity of the common agricultural policy? [HON. MEMBERS: "Hear, hear."] Is it not time that the Government's representative made it clear to the Common Market that the CAP has to be radically changed or abandoned?
§ The Prime MinisterWe have always pointed out the weaknesses of the common agricultural policy and also its 1135 strengths. The Minister of Agriculture is at this moment dealing with these problems with the other Ministers of Agriculture in the Council of Ministers.