WOMBOURNE

HC Deb 08 May 1975 vol 891 cc1608-10

Q4. Mr. Cormack

asked the Prime Minister whether he will pay an official visit to Wombourne.

Mr. Edward Short

I have been asked to reply.

My right hon. Friend has at present no plans to do so, Sir.

Mr. Cormack

I am obliged for that answer. The right hon. Gentleman, after his geographical exposition last week, would be welcomed.

If the Prime Minister is not to go to my constituency, will the right hon. Gentleman arrange for the Lord Fauntleroy of the barricades—the Secretary of State for Industry—to go there and explain to my constituents just how much his plans have led to the decrease in the value of the pound in their pockets over the last year?

Mr. Short

This is the eighth stop in the pilgrimage. I am sure that my right hon. Friend would be delighted to go to the hon. Gentleman's constituency if the invitation were forthcoming. If the hon. Gentleman will arrange a meeting, I am sure that my right hon. Friend will be pleased to go along.

Mr. Leslie Huckfield

Will my right hon. Friend bear in mind that the last time that I went canvassing in the village of Wombourne—

Mr. Lawson

Not very successfully.

Mr. Huckfield

The last time that I went canvassing in the feudal village of Wombourne I was asked if I had come round from the Income Tax. Will my right hon. Friend bear in mind that it is exactly that kind of feudalism, which the hon. Gentleman seeks to perpetuate, which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Industry seeks to get rid of?

Mr. Short

I think there is a great deal in this. Looking behind all the neurosis and hysteria in the Press in recent days about my right hon. Friend, I think that he is doing an excellent job for industry in this country.

Mr. Marten

If the Prime Minister should go to Wombourne, will the Leader of the House ask him to make a speech in which he would say whether he supports the speeches of my right hon. Friend the Deputy Leader of the Opposition and my right hon. Friend the Member for Sidcup (Mr. Heath) that, if the answer to the referendum is "No", there will be a take-over or a drift towards Marxist Communism in this country? Does the Prime Minister agree with that philosophy? If so, will he tell us how it will happen within the Labour Party?

Mr. Short

I am sure that the answer to the referendum will not be "No". If it were "No", this Government would put the necessary legislation before Parliament to withdraw this country from the Community.