FINCHLEY (Hansard, 7 February 1978)

§ Q1. Mr. William Hamilton
asked the Prime Minister if he will pay an official visit to Finchley.

§ The Prime Minister (Mr. James Callaghan)
I have at present no plans to do so.

§ Mr. Hamilton
I did not hear the reply, but I can guess what it was. Will my right hon. Friend reconsider that decision, because it would make for an exciting political exercise if he did so? Does he not think that it was the height of lack of principle for the right hon. Member for that constituency—for purely squalid party political gain—to descend into the political gutter, to the great revulsion and anger of her more enlightened and principled colleagues, both inside and outside the Shadow Cabinet?

§ The Prime Minister
I would not dream of using intemperate language, but I think that there is some confusion on the Conservative Front Bench between opposition and opportunism, and we are seeing much more of the second than of the first.

§ Mr. Hordern
On his way to Finchley will the Prime Minister call into John Lewis, in Oxford Street? When he gets there, will he ask why the staff have been instructed not to serve an elderly gentleman with an Irish name who claims to come from Cardiff and is got up as a Sussex farmer?

§ The Prime Minister
If I were to go to Finchley I do not think I would go by way of John Lewis. With regard to my personal credentials, I can tell the hon. Gentleman that the electorate of Cardiff have elected me with a steadily increasing majority for much longer than his constituents have elected him.

§ Mr. Molloy
Is the Prime Minister aware that he would have a much more interesting time if he came to the London borough of Ealing? He would then be aware that people there are not particularly disturbed at the vulgar remarks of the right hon. Lady the Leader of the Opposition, despite the fact that they know that this has been the cry of all those who favour some form of racialism while looking for someone as a scapegoat on whom to hang their political arguments, in the hope that they frighten people rather than console, aid and try to maintain the decent society that we have built up in this country.

§ The Prime Minister
I have constantly taken the view that as far as possible there should be an all-party approach on both immigration and race relations. I stick to that as offering the best prospect for the future of this country. I hope that the Opposition will not desert some of the principles that they have so far appeared to embrace, especially in relation to both United Kingdom passport holders and the admission of relatives and dependants, to whom they have given the clearest possible assurances in the past.

§ Mrs. Thatcher
May I take it that the Prime Minister totally rejects the conclusion of the 1976 Labour Party conference—that the 1968 and 1971 Acts dealing with immigration should be repealed?

§ The Prime Minister
Yes. The Government have never accepted that view, as the right hon. Lady knows. I hope that she will not try to divert attention from the discussion that she has started raising false fears in this connection. I hoped that the right hon. Lady would say that in no circumstances would she repudiate the speeches that have been made by the right hon. Member for Penrith and The Border (Mr. Whitelaw). I do not know on what occasion she intends to be completely clear about this, but, for the good of the country, the sooner the better.