HC Deb 05 July 1977 vol 934 cc1111-4
Q3. Mr. Rifkind

asked the Prime Minister whether he will list his official engagements for 5th July.

The Prime Minister

In addition to my duties in this House, I shall be holding meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. This evening I hope to have an audience of Her Majesty the Queen.

Mr. Rifkind

Will the Prime Minister spend some time today discussing with Mr. Roy Jenkins his speech at the weekend in which he accused certain members of the Government of seeking to subvert the voice of the British people as expressed in the referendum on the Common Market? Does the Prime Minister agree with that view expressed by a former Foreign Secretary and Deputy-Leader of the Labour Party?

The Prime Minister

Among my many duties, I do not have to take responsibility for speeches made by the President of the Commission.

Mr. Buchan

Reverting to the Prime Minister's earlier answer, may I ask whether he will have time today to meet his ministerial colleagues in relation to the Drax B order? Is he aware that the delay is becoming unbearable and that, while we accept his concern for the long-term future of the industry, if the order is not placed quickly there will be no industry left? Can he, therefore, take the chance today to knock the heads of his ministerial colleagues together and get a decision?

The Prime Minister

I cannot undertake to do that today.

Mr. Mike Thomas

How about tomorrow?

The Prime Minister

Not even tomorrow. The problem must be properly processed. I regret very much that the restructuring of the industry seems unlikely to go ahead. I do not believe that this is in the best interest of the people working in the industry, and in five years' time they may come to regret the obduracy being shown on this matter. The CEGB will have to consider the ordering programme. The Government are in touch with the Board on that matter and we shall have to reach a conclusion as soon as we can. I do not want anyone to lose his job, but I am bound to say to the handful of my hon. Friends who share the view of my hon. Friend the Member for Renfrewshire, West (Mr. Buchan) that Drax B will not prove the salvation of this firm.

Mrs. Thatcher

As one of the Prime Minister's official engagements today is answering Questions, will he take time to repudiate the view contained in a recent article written by his hon. Friend the Member for Ealing, Southall (Mr. Bidwell), who said that his views were virtually indistinguishable from those of the Communist Party except in one particular—namely, that he did not rule out civil war as a means of keeping Socialism in power?

The Prime Minister

If I were to spend time answering questions about every speech made by every public figure in this country, I should never do anything else. If I were asked to make a marginal comment on the speech of my hon. Friend—and I wish to say nothing unkind in his absence—I should say that I have always regarded him as a philosophical revolutionary rather than one who really understands how a machine gun works.

Mrs. Thatcher

So the Prime Minister does not repudiate—[Interruption.]

Mr. Speaker

Order. Hon. Members expect to be heard when they are called.

Mrs. Thatcher

So the Prime Minister does not repudiate that view but is content to rely on the support of such fellow travellers to keep him in power?

The Prime Minister

I could, of course, give the right hon. Lady my views on these matters, but unfortunately I do not seem able to endow her with a sense of humour.

Mr. David Steel

Will the Prime Minister have time today to follow the deliberations of the conference of the National Union of Mineworkers? Since he referred at the weekend to one man's excessive wage demand being another man's ticket to the dole queue, will he comment on the deliberations and the decisions that the members of the NUM appear to be taking against the advice of their president?

The Prime Minister

It would be imprudent for me to comment, in the middle of the conference, on decisions that are just coming over the tape. There is too much instant comment demanded of all public figures, and we might sometimes take a little time to reflect on what has been said.

Mr. Heffer

Will my right hon. Friend, in giving advice to my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing, Southall (Mr. Bidwell), take a little time to give advice to the right hon. Lady the Leader of the Opposition, who apparently fails to understand that Adam Smith contributed a great deal to Marxist ideas? Is he aware that Adam Smith, together with Ricardo, was one of those who developed the Labour theory on values, which was a contribution that was taken up by Marx and developed further? Perhaps the right hon. Lady should understand a little more about Marxism before she becomes involved in something that she obviously knows little about.

The Prime Minister

I am looking forward to studying the speech that the right hon. Lady made yesterday. I hope to cull a few quotations from it to adorn future speeches. As for the relationship between Adam Smith, Marx, Ricardo, Malthus, John Stuart Mill and all those other great figures who have contributed, I do not wish to denigrate any of them but I must remind my hon. Friend that it was Morgan Phillips who said that the Labour movement owed more to John Wesley than it did to Marx.