§ Q2 Dr. Edmund Marshallasked the Prime Minister whether he will place in the Library a copy of the public speech he made at High Wycombe on 15th March about the responsibility of government.
§ The Prime MinisterI did so on 18th March, Sir.
§ Dr. MarshallWhen, in that speech, my right hon. Friend said that the Opposition were trying to split the nation in order to cover up their own divisions, did he not underestimate the honesty of Mr. Tony Kerpel, of the Greater London Young Conservatives?
§ The Prime MinisterI was not trying to anticipate anything—and he is a gentleman of whom I have not heard.
§ Sir John HallIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that I much regret that I did not know he was visiting my constituency, as I should like to have been on hand to give him a welcome appropriate to the occasion?
§ The Prime MinisterI am very sorry indeed. When I do visit the hon. Gentleman's constituency, we almost invariably meet and have an enjoyable time together. I am sorry that I did not give him notice. Certainly, the hon. Gentleman would have received a very warm welcome had he gone to the High Wycombe Labour Club.
§ Mr. HeathOn a more serious note, will the Prime Minister tell the House the constitutional basis on which he threatened the country with an election in the speech which he made on that evening?
§ The Prime MinisterThe right hon. Gentleman has obviously misunderstood the speech. I saw in the briefing given by his office that he would make a statement on the Saturday, referring to advice that he would give to the Queen— [Interruption.] The right hon. Gentleman can look at the Evening Standard headline "Dictation to the Queen"—but he did not make a statement at all. He, not I, was the one who, that weekend, was attempting to trespass—not very helpfully—into constitutional matters.
§ Mr. HeathMay I correct the right hon. Gentleman? There is absolutely no truth in the right hon. Gentleman's statement, or in anything in the Press, that I intended to make a statement about the constitutional position. There is absolutely no truth of any kind in that. I am asking the Prime Minister—and it is of great importance to historians and constitutional historians—whether there was a constitutional basis for his threat of a 1087 General Election—or was he not threatening a General Election?
§ The Prime MinisterI think that the right hon. Gentleman's manoeuvrings of that weekend will be of immense interest to historians. What I said in relation to those manoeuvrings involving electoral peril to the right hon. Gentleman was in accordance with what I said in the House —the right hon. Gentleman interrupted me a number of times during my comments—in the debate on the Gracious Speech.