HC Deb 30 November 1976 vol 921 cc684-6
Q6. Mr. Grylls

asked the Prime Minister when he next intends taking the chair at the NEDC.

Mr. Foot

I have been asked to reply.

My right hon. Friend hopes to take the chair from time to time, as he did at the last meeting on 3rd November. But he has no specific date in mind at present.

Mr. Grylls

Will the Leader of the House ensure that the Prime Minister takes the chair at the NEDC very soon in order to explain the current negotiations with the IMF? Will he tell the House and the country whether the Prime Minister agrees with the Secretary of State for the Environment that cuts in public expenditure are a gross act of folly, or with the rest of the Cabinet, which believes that cuts should take place?

Mr. Foot

When the discussions with the IMF are completed, the proper place for the Prime Minister to make his report is to this House. Certainly he should report to this House rather than to the NEDC, although, of course, the consequences of any agreement would be discussed at the NEDC at some time. As for the speech of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment, it was, as usual, very wise and intelligent. I am sure that if the hon. Gentleman studied it in detail he would not only discover that, but would see that it was wrenched out of its context by many newspapers.

Mr. Kinnock

Will my right hon. Friend or other members of the Government, at the NEDC or any other place where our economic problems are discussed, take care to explain to the people of Britain why it is that, for the next 12 months, with the economy in its present dire condition, we are to preoccupy ourselves with constitutional tinkering instead of giving attention to the real issues at stake?

Mr. Foot

It is right that the House should give its attention to the major Bill that we are proposing in this Session and that we have promised to the people of this country, but that does not mean that the time of the House is to be mono- polised for that purpose. Of course there will be time for full and proper discussion of the major economic questions that must govern our deliberations over the next 12 months.

Mr. Hordern

If the remarks of the Secretary of State for the Environment were taken out of context, will the Leader of the House say whether he thinks that public expenditure should be reduced?

Mr. Foot

The hon. Gentleman refers to the speech of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment. When he has studied it, we shall see whether he agrees that it was a very wise speech. My right hon. Friend was putting the cuts that have already been made in public expenditure in the context of the general situation. I think it is much wiser to discuss the matter in that way than to hold the simplistic view presented by the hon. Gentleman.

Mr. Skinner

Will my right hon. Friend suggest to the NEDC that it should prepare a quick paper on the relative retirement ages of miners in the various Common Market and other industrialised countries? Will he say whether he—as the representative of thousands of miners —agrees with some of us on the Government Benches who are fully in support of the miners' claim for early retirement, in 1977, at the age of 60?

Mr. Foot

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. I represent as many miners as he represents, and I agree that miners have a strong case for a reduction in their retirement age. The Government are sympathetic to that view. But we have to proceed towards it in a way that does not destroy the social contract and the agreements that have been made under it, and in a way that does not do great injury to the economic position of the country. I am sure that the miners will take that into account, just as the rest of the country has to.