HC Deb 19 February 1976 vol 905 cc1481-3
Q1. Mr. Adley

asked the Prime Minister if the public speech by the Secretary of State for the Home Department on economic policy, in Anglesey on 23rd January, represents the policy of Her Majesty's Government.

The Prime Minister (Mr. Harold Wilson)

Yes, Sir.

Mr. Adley

As in that speech the Home Secretary doubted whether it was possible to maintain the values of a plural society with freedom of choice if the level of public expenditure exceeded 60 per cent., what is the Prime Minister doing to push back the frontiers of compulsory State intervention to achieve that essential 40 per cent. freedom figure in health and education?

The Prime Minister

No doubt the hon. Gentleman will study the White Paper on Public Expenditure that is to be published this afternoon. He will know that in 1973–74, under the Conservatives, the percentage of gross domestic product accounted for by public expenditure was 53.5 per cent. When he reads the White Paper he will be able to make his own calculations about Her Majesty's Government.

Mr. Kilroy-Silk

When does the Prime Minister expect to be able to make a speech announcing that he will lance the obscene boil of growing unemployment and will return people to work, as we promised in 1974?

The Prime Minister

My hon. Friend will be aware of what was said by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Employment in the recent debate on unemployment, and he will recall the measures taken by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer last week—measures that were widely acclaimed throughout the country.

Mrs. Thatcher

The Prime Minister will recollect in that there was reference in that speech to tax levels. Does he accept that the burden of taxation is now too high. If so, how does he propose to cut it next year without also cutting public expenditure next year?—or will he make up the difference by yet more borrowing, thus postponing the day of reckoning even further?

The Prime Minister

That is a rather long question to answer, but I would ask the right hon. Lady a question—[HON. MEMBERS: "Oh."] Observing Mr. Speakers injunction, I refer the right hon. Lady to the White Paper which is to be published this afternoon. I hope that she has read it. Will she say which of the public expenditure cuts she does not agree with and what further cuts she would make. We have never had those figures from her. On the question of taxation I have never known a time when taxation has not been too high in the view of all of us, but I cannot anticipate my right hon. Friend's Budget Statement.

Mrs. Thatcher

The Prime Minister is avoiding the question. He has frequently said that he will not cut public expenditure next year, but he has also hinted, as has the Chancellor of the Exchequer, that he will cut tax next year. How will he do the one without doing the other?

The Prime Minister

The right hon. Lady had better wait for the Budget to find the answer to that question. The Leader of the Opposition, who dodges every question, has never yet said what she would cut—apart from increasing defence expenditure by £5 billion and apart from her election bribes on rates and mortgages. Will she now tell us what she is going to cut? I have asked before, and ask again—[HON. MEMBERS: "Answer the question."] I have answered the question. We are not cutting Government expenditure this year. The Shadow Chancellor has said he would cut public expenditure this year, even though it would mean more unemployment. Does the Leader of the Opposition agree with him?