§ The Prime MinisterI have at present no plans to do so, Sir.
§ Mr. RostWhat cast-iron safeguards has the Prime Minister secured for the nation to ensure that the freedom of the Press will be preserved? Or will the right hon. Gentleman be paddling away from the sinking ship in his lifeboat, leaving freedom and democracy—
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. The Question is about a visit to Barnsley.
§ Mr. RostWill the Prime Minister be paddling away from the sinking ship in his lifeboat, leaving freedom and democracy—
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. There must be some relation between the supplementary question and—[Interruption.] Order. Hon. Members are only wasting time. There must be some relation between the supplementary question and the original Question on the Order Paper.
§ Mr. RostWill the Prime Minister be paddling away from Barnsley, leaving the sinking ship and allowing freedom and democracy to sink with his abandoned crew?
§ The Prime MinisterThe hon. Gentleman is even more pathetic in reaching the end of his supplementary question than he was when he started it. That is really plumbing the depths. I cannot remember whether Barnsley is on a canal, but I do not intend to paddle there. I have no immediate plans to go there. If the hon. Gentleman is referring to the answer that I gave to the right hon. Lady the Leader of the Opposition about the NUJ, he might have made it clear. I would then have had an answer ready for him.
§ Mr. MaddenDoes the Prime Minister accept that the greatest dangers to Press freedom in Barnsley and in other parts of the United Kingdom flow from the concentration of ownership of newspapers into fewer and fewer private hands? Does he also accept that the National Union of Journalists has done more to defend Press freedom than any Member on the Opposition Benches in recent memory?
§ The Prime MinisterI am afraid that my researches into Barnsley have not led me to be in a position to say whether there is a concentration of Press ownership there. On the question raised a little time ago by the Leader of the 199 Opposition, when I joined her in expressing disapproval at what had happened, the House will be aware that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Employment has made an important statement about the serious implications involved and has asked the NUJ executive to reconsider its position in this matter. I understand that the general purposes committee of the NUJ has put a recommendation to that effect to the executive.
§ Mr. WhitelawDoes the Prime Minister appreciate that my question will relate to his last answer about the NUJ at Barnsley? In view of what he said—I accept that this is a serious question for the House—does he agree that if Press freedom is to be preserved, information should be given to all journalists, whether or not they are members of a union affiliated to the TUC?
§ The Prime MinisterI welcome the right hon. Gentleman and hope to hear from him again. He will recall that that was the implication of what I said to his right hon. Friend the Leader of the Opposition. That is the motive behind the action taken by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State.