§ Q2. Mr. Brothertonasked the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 20th June.
§ The Prime MinisterIn addition to my duties in this House, I shall be holding meetings with ministerial colleagues and others.
§ Mr. BrothertonWill the Prime Minister find time today to think about the problem of Rhodesia? Does he not think that it is time to heed the views of people of such divergent opinions as Mr. Smith and Mr. Sithole and start to support the internal settlement? Does he not agree that the pursuit of a vendetta against Mr. Ian Smith is no substitute for a positive policy by a Government who ought to be but are not seeking peace in Central Africa?
§ The Prime MinisterThe answer to those questions is "No, Sir".
§ Mr. David SteelWill the Prime Minister, on the contrary., make it absolutely clear that the House of Commons has always stood by the principle that sanctions will be lifted only when majority rule acceptable to the people as a whole has been achieved? Does he agree that the fact that some Members of the House have reneged on the commitments of their own previous Government is no reason for changing the view of the House of Commons?
§ The Prime MinisterI understand that that has been the view of both sides of the House, and, therefore, I assume that the hon. Member for Louth (Mr. Brotherton) is not speaking for the Opposition on this matter.
§ Mr. LoydenWill my right hon. Friend consider the still unacceptable level of unemployment? What plans are there, in view of the present rate of inflation, to begin to expand the economy in order to provide employment in the areas which at the moment have high levels of unemployment?
§ The Prime MinisterThe figures for unemployment, as my hon. Friend may have seen, although in gross total they are higher, reflect the number of school leavers last month. Excluding school leavers, the level is down. More important, perhaps, the number of vacancies in employment exchanges has risen, and I always regard that as a good sign. The unemployment level is still too high, but my hon. Friend will know of the steps taken by the Government through the temporary employment subsidy and of the international measures that we are trying to secure in co-operation with other major industrial countries. That is the best way, as well as keeping inflation down, to overcome unemployment.
§ Mr. John DaviesMay I ask the Prime Minister to come back to the question of Rhodesia? Is he not aware that the issue of a solution in Rhodesia transcends the whole question of party relationships? Is he aware that at the moment we are in the course of losing perhaps the single greatest opportunity of achieving a solution to this problem? Can he not, please, bring his influence to bear to try to ensure that the grave suspicion which is harboured against his Government by those who have signed the internal settlement is removed, to enable a proper peaceful solution to take place?
§ The Prime MinisterI am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for what he said about the significance of this issue transcending the parties. He is quite right. I can assure him in return that hardly a day goes by without the Foreign Secretary or myself being involved in some exchange or other in an attempt to get all the parties to this dispute together. There is no doubt that the attitude of some of the parties—I shall not particularise this afternoon—is making it difficult for them to co-operate. As far as I can sec, there is no prospect of this Government or the American Government being able to enforce a settlement. However, we are constantly making moves with all the individual parties concerned to try to get them to discuss this issue and secure a settlement as quickly as possible.
§ Mr. Kilroy-SilkWill my right hon. Friend say how many jobs would be lost if the Opposition's proposals to cut public expenditure were introduced, and how many kidney patients would suffer if the suggestion by the Leader of the Opposition when she was in the United States that we should not spend any more money on kidney machines were carried out?
§ Mrs. Thatcherindicated dissent.
§ The Prime MinisterI am unable to give such figures, but it is time that we had a clear statement from the Opposition about whether they wish to decrease or increase public expenditure. I have here a clear list of additional expenditure that the Opposition want to undertake, but they go on pretending to the country that they wish to cut public expenditure. Which is it?
§ Q3. Mr. Temple-Morrisasked the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 20th June.
§ The Prime MinisterI refer the hon. Member to the reply which I have just given to the hon. Member for Louth (Mr. Brotherton).
§ Mr. Temple-MorrisMay I return the Prime Minister to the subject of inflation, because two weeks ago he clearly informed the House that there was no reason why single-figure inflation could not continue indefinitely if he were able to continue his policies? Does he now agree, since he now knows the facts, that wage rates are running at 15 rather than 10 per cent., that unemployment is up and that the matter is far more complicated? Will he tell the whole truth to the House and to the country as to the prospects of phase 4 when phase 3 has already failed?
§ The Prime MinisterI understand the hon. Gentleman's gleeful gloom when he thinks that phase 3 has failed. It is understandable that he should want it to fail. If it fails, he, with others, will have helped to make it fail. But I do not think that we should accept one month's figures annualised as being necessarily the true reflection of the situation. For example, 800,000 building workers have today settled for 9.75 per cent. That is a most significant addition to the present statistics. Although, as I have said on a number of occasions, I believe, with regret, that the figure will be above 10 per cent., it may well not reach the annualised total suggested by the hon. Gentleman. I still have considerable hopes for phase 4, but whether or not my hopes are justified makes no difference to the need for the Government to state their position. I promise the hon. Gentleman that that will be done clearly, truthfully and without regard to any of the consequences.
§ Mr. Edwin WainwrightWill my right hon. Friend try to find time today to contact President Carter? If he finds that most inconvenient, will he endeavour to do so at least before 13th and 14th July, when President Carter is to visit Germany? Will he impress upon the President that it is time that the United States, Germany and France helped this country by reflating their economies so that there could be an improvement in the standards of the Western world?
§ The Prime MinisterI shall not be contacting President Carter today, but I shall be visiting New York, with the permission of my colleagues, next Monday in order to receive the Hubert Humphrey Memorial Award. I hope to have conversations with President Carter then. I trust that we shall be able before 13th and 14th July to work out a mutually agreeable package on growth and the other issues that are now facing us.