§ Q4. Mr. Brothertonasked the Prime Minister if he will pay an official visit to Louth.
§ The Prime MinisterI have at present no plans to do so.
§ Mr. BrothertonIs the Prime Minister aware that if he were to visit Louth he would find an overwhelming majority of the electorate who believe that capital punishment should be reintroduced for crimes of terrorism? Will he therefore afford us time to debate this matter again at the earliest possible opportunity? Will he give a lead to the House and to the nation by saying that he has now changed his mind and is himself in favour of capital punishment for these crimes?
§ The Prime MinisterI have made clear, in relation to questions whether I will visit particular places, that it is not my task to go around Conservative constituencies finding out what people think because their views are not adequately represented by their own Members in this House. The hon. Member for Louth (Mr. Brotherton), with his long experience in this House, will know that over very many years all decisions in this House on capital punishment have been left to a free vote of right hon. and hon. Members. There seems no reason to change that. It is only a very short time since we had a debate in this House and since a clear decision was taken on a free vote.