HC Deb 07 December 1976 vol 922 cc233-5
Q3. Mr. Madden

asked the Prime Minister when he next intends to make a ministerial broadcast.

The Prime Minister

I will do so at an appropriate time.

Mr. Madden

When my right hon. Friend next broadcasts will he confirm that all Labour Members of Parliament were elected on a promise to secure a fundamental and irreversible shift in the balance of wealth and power in favour of working people and their families? Will he further tell his audience, which will doubtless include millions of people on or below the poverty line, that that promise is incompatible with savagely deflationary economic policies?

The Prime Minister

There is no prospect of savage deflationary economic policies. The definition of the word "savage" is important, and that is what will count in the end. I shall tell the country, as I have before, that there is no soft option and that I do not promise any real easement in standards of living for some time to come. I said that within hours of being elected, and I stand by it.

Mr. David Steel

When he next makes a broadcast will the Prime Minister clarify whether it is Government policy to try to unite the nation or to stir up envy, greed and class conflict in the manner of the previous Labour Government?

The Prime Minister

I did not see the last party political broadcast, but I read the script and I was not over-impressed by it.

Mr. Kinnock

I hope that this does not sound too unctuous, but is my right hon. Friend aware that we are all against greed, envy and conflict and that there is no monopoly, even in the Liberal Party, of such virtue? Is my right hon. Friend aware that, while we on this side of the House agree that there are no soft options, there are certainly some Socialist options available including raising pro- duction and returning to proper collective bargaining rather than cutting the social wage of the worker. Such a policy would ensure the economic prosperity that we need, not on the terms of the people who dictate but on the terms of those who produce.

Mr. Nicholas Winterton

Go back to the valleys.

The Prime Minister

My hon. Friend is right to emphasise the importance of the industrial strategy and of continuing a policy to ensure that there is a higher rate of investment and a concentration on exports. In the short run I am not sure that we can link together all the alternatives that my hon. Friend put forward. Until the country is living more nearly within its own means and not borrowing so much, I am not sure that we can always preserve the standards that we want to see.

Mr. Baker

Before he makes his next broadcast, will the Prime Minister look at the Houghton proposals on Cabinet secrecy which recommend that members of the Cabinet should be more discreet and not talk about Cabinet discussions outside the Cabinet? How does he think that the world will be able to recognise the moment when those proposals are implemented?

The Prime Minister

A statement will be made from the Dispatch Box.

Mr. Ford

In his next broadcast will my right hon. Friend explain what aid the Goverment have given to the textile industry and in measures announced by the Secretary of State for Industry in connection with aid for the clothing industry?

The Prime Minister

I should be glad to do that. My hon. Friend has pinpointed an important matter—selective assistance to industry. The Government have given assistance to the ferrous foundry, machine tool, paper and board, printing machinery, wool textile, and clothing industries. There is no doubt that our industrial strategy is working well in those directions. It is important that we should continue to stick at it. We shall win through.

Mr. Rost

Will the Prime Minister explain to the nation why he intends to lumber the British people with still more foreign debt so that he can continue his Socialist extravagance?

The Prime Minister

That is a total misrepresentation of the position. When I recall how we have controlled the money supply by comparison with spendthrifts on the Opposition Front Bench—

Mr. Nicholas Winterton

That is not true.

The Prime Minister

—and the fact that we have cut back—I regret to say it—the local authorities' rate support grant, I believe that there is no doubt that public expenditure, as is openly acknowledged, and was acknowledged by the right hon. Member for Down, South (Mr. Powell) in his speech last week, is under more severe and complete control than it has been for many years. That is what we intend to continue.