§ 5. Mr. Tebbitasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what effect on the services for which he is responsible he expects as a result of the Chancellor's Budget Statement of 12th November.
§ Mr. PrenticeThe education service, along with other public services, will be affected by the decision to limit growth of public expenditure to an average rate of 2¾ per cent. over the next four years.
§ Mr. TebbitDoes not the right hon. Gentleman regret that, having been defeated by the Marxists in the Cabinet and committed to the Cabinet's policy of aid to the Clay Cross Mafia, he is now also defeated by the monetarists in the Cabinet and committed to a lower level 1083 of education expenditure than that for which he criticised my right hon. Friends only a few months ago?
§ Mr. PrenticeThe hon. Gentleman can rely on me to stand up to arguments put by Marxists or Conservatives. I do not regard it as a defeat. There will be a growth of education spending. It will be a slower growth than we should like, but, in so far as it represents a reduction of our hopes and a postponement of things we want to do, education will not bear a disproportionate share of the sacrifices.