§ Q1. Mr. Crawfordasked the Prime Minister when he next proposes to pay an official visit to Oslo.
§ The Prime Minister (Mr. Harold Wilson)I have at present no plans to do so, Sir.
§ Mr. CrawfordWhen the Prime Minister does visit Oslo, will he lose no opportunity to inform the Norwegian Prime Minister that with self-government the people of Scotland will be able to emulate the economic achievements of the Norwegians—1 per cent. unemployment, a competitive bank rate, and access to their oil revenues? Does the Prime Minister agree that the people of Scotland could not possibly make a bigger mess of running their economic affairs than this House is doing for them?
§ The Prime MinisterThe hon. Gentleman will know that in preparing our plans for North Sea oil we have drawn considerably on the successful experience of the Norwegians. However, I understood that in the last General Election campaign particularly, the SNP was totally opposed to anything of the kind and wanted to hand over all the profits to private enterprise.
§ Mr. JayCould not the Prime Minister save much of his time and that of the House if he published from time to time a list of all his intended visits?
§ The Prime MinisterIt takes up quite a lot of time of the House to indicate those visits that I shall not be making.
§ Mr. RifkindWill the Prime Minister remind the SNP that in its admiration of all things Norwegian it has forgotten that Norway has conscription to its armed services? Will he ask the SNP to make it clear to the people of Scotland whether an independent Scottish army would be completed by means of conscription?
§ The Prime MinisterThere is no ministerial responsibility for the SNP—and as far as I can see, no other kind of responsibility either.
§ Q3. Mr. Weetchasked the Prime Minister if he will pay an official visit to Lee.
§ The Prime MinisterI have at present no plans to do so, Sir.
§ Mr. WeetchWhen my right hon. Friend does have a chance to make a visit, will he visit the Homes Limited property conveyancing association, a firm which, like others, can conveyance property for half the charges of a solicitor's office but which is hounded through the criminal courts for doing so? Knowing that my right hon. Friend is aware that a promise was made in the Labour Party manifesto of 1964 to undertake a fundamental reform of conveyancing, will he please tell me what is the state of that promise now?
§ The Prime MinisterI am aware of the work of the organisation to which my hon. Friend has referred, but to visit it is not one of my highest current priorities. However, I ask my hon. Friend to await the statement that I hope to make after Question Time.
§ Mr. TebbitIs the Prime Minister aware that the River Lea runs through my constituency and that it is quite near to the town hall? If he visits the town hall at Waltham Forest he will find that the borough council is attempting to force all its employees to join trade unions, under the threat of dismissal, although at the moment fewer than half of them wish to join. Why should the borough council be allowed to jump the gun of his rotten legislation in this way?
§ The Prime MinisterThere is no ministerial responsibility for which river has the misfortune to run through the hon. Gentleman's constituency. I do not think that asking me to go by circuitous routes to places that I was not going to go to 610 anyway, arises out of the original Question.
§ Q6. Mr. Martenasked the Prime Minister if he has any plans to visit Copenhagen.
§ The Prime MinisterI visited Copenhagen on 18th and 19th January to attend the meeting of Socialist Party Leaders at Elsinore. I have no plans at present for a further visit.
§ Mr. MartenAs the Prime Minister is not going there again, will he have a telephone conversation with the Danish Prime Minister about Mr. Tindemans' conclusion, in his report, that Europe will further its destiny only if it espouses federalism?
§ The Prime MinisterPerhaps the hon. Gentleman will repeat his Question.
§ Mr. MartenAssuming that the Prime Minister telephones the Danish Prime Minister, will he refer to Mr. Tindemans' report, in which it is said that Europe will further its destiny only if it espouses federalism? Does he agree that Britain is utterly opposed to being part of a federal Europe?—[Interruption.] In spite of the Liberal Party, is he aware that many Opposition Members are believing increasingly that direct elections are one step on the road to federalism?
§ The Prime MinisterI answered the hon. Gentleman's Question, and I mentioned Elsinore hoping for a typical Shakespearean quotation from him, which I was disappointed not to get. The Tindemans Report will come up for discussion at the next meeting of the European Council. In view of the magnitude of the issues raised, I doubt whether we would want to have any definitive or final discussion, but that will be a matter for the Council. As for federalism, I have never been a federalist, and most of my right hon. and hon. Friends have never been federalists.
§ Mrs. ThatcherWhen the Prime Minister next travels to Copenhagen or elsewhere, will he take the opportunity to charter a plane, from Laker Airways, preferably—[Interruption.]
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. Presumably, if the Prime Minister went to Copenhagen he would have to travel by some means of transport.
§ Mr. Roy HughesOn a point of order. Although I have great respect for your decisions, Mr. Speaker, I hope you will appreciate that they give the impression of siding with the Opposition.
§ Mr. SpeakerI am sure that no personal reflection is intended. I am trying, if I may use an English expression, to play as straight a bat as I can.
§ Mr. Eldon GriffithsFurther to that point of order, Mr. Speaker. In view of your ruling about the Prime Minister's possible means of locomotion on any visit that he may make to Copenhagen, is it not more likely that he will merely walk upon the water?
§ Mr. SpeakerThe hon. Gentleman has been here too long not to know that that is not a point of order.
§ Mrs. ThatcherWhen the Prime Minister visits Copenhagen or elsewhere, will he charter an aeroplane, from Laker Airways, preferably, with Freddie Laker on board, so that he may hear at first hand of the cheap air services that private enterprise can provide and that the Labour Government are denying to the people?
§ The Prime MinisterHowever cheap the service provided by Mr. Freddie Laker, I am sure that he has never had a cheaper commercial than that. The right hon. Lady's memory departs further and further from the collective responsibility of the Government of which she was a part. She must know that in these and in other matters I have totally followed the precedent set by my predecessor, the previous Prime Minister. I have followed the advice that he was given on security grounds—namely, that on such visits I should travel at home and abroad by Service aircraft. That was the advice I was given. If the right hon. Lady regards that advice as wrong, I am surprised that she did not raise the matter when she was a Cabinet Minister.