HC Deb 21 June 1979 vol 968 cc1493-5
Q2. Mr. Mike Thomas

asked the Prime Minister when last she met the Trades Union Congress.

Mr. Whitelaw

I have been asked to reply.

My right hon. Friend met the general secretary of the TUC on 31 May. She will be meeting the economic committee next Monday.

Mr. Thomas

As the Financial Secretary has confirmed the fact to me in parliamentary answers, will the Prime Minister tell the TUC when she next meets it that what she refused to admit to the House on 14 June in reply to me is true—namely, that no taxpayer earning less than £10,000 a year will benefit from the Budget?

Mr. Whitelaw

I do not accept what the hon. Gentleman says, and I have nothing to add to what my right hon. Friend said previously.

Mr. Adley

Is my right hon. Friend aware that many trade unionists in my constituency, who are not privy to the meetings between members of Her Majesty's Government and the TUC, are none the less anxious to hear proposals from the Government for the introduction of secret ballots and for some curb on secondary picketing? Will he give an assurance that these measures will be put before the House at the earliest possible moment?

Mr. Whitelaw

As my hon. Friend knows, they were promised in the Queen's Speech. I assure him that they will be put before the House at the earliest opportunity.

Mr. Wrigglesworth

When the right hon. Gentleman and members of the Government meet the TUC next time, will they give it further details about the economic forum that is to be established as announced by the Prime Minister on Tuesday? Will the forum be considering the implications of 17½ per cent. price increases and the effect that these will have upon wages? What will it be discussing, and who will be part of it?

Mr. Whitelaw

Whether there should be a forum and what it should discuss will be among the matters considered at the meeting.

Mr. McCrindle

When my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister next meets the TUC, will she tell it that, while the Government will be prepared to discuss matters with it, as with any other important body which has a responsibility for the economy, as often as is necessary, it was the Government and the Government alone who on 3 May were returned to run the country?

Mr. Whitelaw

Yes, of course. As my hon. Friend knows, the electorate, after years of decline under a Labour Administration, voted for a new start and a new opportunity for Britain, and that is what it is getting.

Mr. Russell Kerr

When does it start?

Mr. Kilroy-Silk

When the Prime Minister meets the economic committee of the TUC, will she explain to it why she used the Budget to launch an attack upon the sick, the poor, the pensioners and the unemployed?

Mr. Whitelaw

Considering many of the provisions in the Budget, including large increases for retirement pensioners, I am amazed by the hon. Gentleman's remarks.

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