HC Deb 23 February 1976 vol 906 cc24-5
42. Mr. Gow

asked the Lord President of the Council whether he will appoint an additional special adviser to his Department.

Mr. Edward Short

I have at present no plans to do so, Sir.

Mr. Gow

As the Lord President has only one special adviser and the Prime Minister has seven, will the Lord President tell us the nature of the advice that is given to him by his lone adviser? Will he tell us whether he has had advice on the Government White Paper on devolution? In view of the nonsense in that White Paper, will the Lord President dismiss his special adviser?

Mr. Short

The answer to the end of that long supplementary is "No, Sir". My special adviser occupies a chair and a desk in a room which, during the last Conservative Government, was occupied by a special adviser to that Government—a person who was paid for, presumably, by the Conservative Central Office. In my view it is highly undesirable that an employee of the Conservative Party should be sitting in a Government office in Whitehall. A more straightforward and a cleaner way of going about the matter is to have special advisers paid for out of public funds. In that way they are subject to Civil Service disciplines and to all the rigours of the Official Secrets Act. However, quite apart from that, I am sure the hon. Gentleman is aware that a large number of young people are now employed by the Opposition Front Bench and paid for out of public funds. Why does the hon. Gentleman not table a Question about that matter?

Mr. Edwin Wainwright

Will my right hon. Friend accept the recommendation from the Conservative Party for a special adviser to one of our Ministers? If my right hon. Friend agreed to such a course, we might find out what Conservative Party policies were, and recommend them to the Government.

Mr. Short

The Government have provided a great deal of money to finance the Opposition parties. However, it has not improved the quality of the Opposition.

Mr. Gow

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. In view of the grotesquely unsatisfactory nature of the Lord President's reply, I beg to give notice that I shall raise the matter on the Adjournment.