§ 39. Mr. Skinnerasked the Minister for the Civil Service on how many occasions the Hospitality Fund has been used to sponsor functions in Trust House Forte hotels.
§ Mr. Charles R. MorrisThe information is not readily available, since the Government Hospitality Fund does not record details of which commercial group a particular hotel belongs to.
§ Mr. SkinnerI suppose that is why my hon. Friend finished in the mess that occurred a few weeks ago, when a Minister was faced with the choice of having to face a picket line, cross it, or go back whence he came.
Would it not be more beneficial to remove the Hospitality Fund from any criticism by departmental Ministers making a declaration—say, to the Prime Minister this week—to the effect that on no future occasions will any Minister or official acting on behalf of his Ministry cross a picket line of any kind?
§ Mr. MorrisThe Civil Service Department and, certainly, the Government Hospitality Fund do not instruct any Minister in regard to the crossing of picket lines. I should have thought that the Government Hospitality Fund was taking a very reasonable approach to this issue by keeping in the forefront of its mind the basis on which Government hospitality is provided. The basis of Government hospitality is the promoting of good will. If there is an industrial dispute at an individual hotel which might give rise to embarrassment to guests of Her Majesty's Government, that is not the hotel that we would select for Government receptions and hospitality.
§ Mr. Ronald BellWill the Minister be very careful not to follow the bad example of three of his colleagues in taking sides in industrial disputes recently, and will he not allow blackmail of the kind that is going on at, for example, the Randolph Hotel, Oxford to prevail against the operations of the Government?
§ Mr. MorrisI have spent half my life taking sides in regard to industrial disputes. However, having said that, the Government Hospitality Fund is in no way involved in blackmail and would not wish to associate itself with any such charges. I have explained the basis. Our concern is to prevent embarrassment to guests of Her Majesty's Government.
§ Mr. TebbitThe Minister said that this was not a matter of taking sides but of avoiding embarrassment to the Government's guests. If some bunch of thoroughgoing nasties, such as the National Front, had an embarrassing picket line outside a hotel, would the Government not expect its guests to go through that line?
§ Mr. MorrisGovernment hospitality would certainly take account of any picket lines, or demonstrations of any sort that were calculated to embarrass guests of the Government.