§ Q4. Mr. Redmondasked the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on his recent official visit to Bonn.
§ Q5. Mr. Meacherasked the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on his recent official visit to West Germany.
§ The Prime MinisterI have nothing to add to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Banbury (Mr. Marten) on 6th March.—[Vol. 852, c. 231–2.]
§ Mr. RedmondWhen my right hon. Friend was in Germany did he discuss, or compare with the Germans, our different methods of dealing with social security payments to strikers? If he told the Germans what we do about them, surely they regard us as being stark staring honkers. Has my right hon. Friend noticed that the Ford Motor Company is now manufacturing in Germany cars which used to be manufactured in Britain?
§ The Prime MinisterWe had a discussion about domestic issues and the social service benefits in the Community as a whole, but not particularly on the question of payments to strikers. As I told the House earlier this week, as far as we can ascertain, no other countries in the Community carry on the same system as ourselves.
§ Mr. MeacherIn view of the Government's insistence on unlimited EEC support if sterling joined the collective float, has the Prime Minister discussed the reported West German view that they would not give such support to any country unless it were to pursue "acceptable economic policies"? Will the Government ever join the float on that condition, or could they ever join the float without such conditional support?
§ The Prime MinisterThat was not the position taken by Chancellor Brandt in our discussions.
§ Sir Gilbert LongdenAll his allies were fully informed of and agreed with Herr Brandt's Ostpolitik, but did my right hon. Friend discuss with Herr Brandt the urgent necessity of all the Western allies speaking with one voice at the European Security Conference?
§ The Prime MinisterYes, Sir. This was not the first time that we had discussed it. We have discussed it on previous occasions at our meetings. It has been evident in Helsinki that certainly the members of the Community have been speaking with one voice. It is fully accepted by the member Governments.
§ Mr. GrimondDid the Prime Minister take advantage of his visit to Bonn to discuss the question of directors of companies elected by the workers? If not, will he have a study made of this matter, because it will be a very live issue in the Common Market?
§ The Prime MinisterYes. I discussed this matter at my two previous meetings with the German Chancellor. This was why we included in the Summit communiqué in Paris in October a reference to the fact that the Commission was asked to carry out a study of worker participation and social developments of this kind and to present its study to the Council of Ministers for decision.