HC Deb 14 January 1980 vol 976 cc1203-4
36. Mr. Canavan

asked the Paymaster-General when he expects to meet representatives of the news media.

37. Mr. Alexander W. Lyon

asked the Paymaster-General how frequently he meets representatives of the news media.

The Minister of State, Civil Service Department (Mr. Paul Channon)

In the absence of my right hon. Friend the Paymaster-General, who is ill, I have been asked to reply.

I refer the hon. Members to the reply that my right hon. Friend gave to the hon. Member for Lewisham, West (Mr. Price) on 29 October 1979.

Mr. Canavan

Is the Minister aware that many of us sympathise with the Paymaster-General who, as Minister of propaganda for the discredited policies of his ministerial colleagues, has a more difficult job than any other Government Minister? Nevertheless, will he ascertain the media's views on the possibility of making Government and Parliament more open to public inspection by, for example, freedom of information legislation and the televising of our proceedings?

Mr. Channon

A great many of those matters are outside the responsibility of my right hon. Friend and myself, but I shall ensure that the hon. Gentleman's views are conveyed to those of my colleagues who are responsible.

Mr. Lyon

Why is the Minister so coy about his right hon. Friend's activities? Does he agree that it is astonishing for a Government committed to public expenditure cuts to spend so much money on the Paymaster-General and his officials in order to brief the press about the Government's activities.

Mr. Channon

I did not notice a lack of activity on the part of our predecessors. My right hon. Friend conducts himself in a proper and economic manner.

Mr. Adley

Does my hon. Friend agree that, on the whole, Conservatives are polite and tend to believe that repetition is impolite? Will he therefore invite our right hon. Friend to overcome his natural diffidence when meeting representatives of the national press and to keep repeating that the countering of high unemployment and rising living standards [HON. MEMBERS: "Reading".]—requires high productivity and adequate incentives to work?

Mr. Channon

I entirely agree with my hon. Friend and hope that he will repeat that fact on many occasions.

Mr. English

Am I right in my belief that [HON. MEMBERS: "No".]—It is a question, Mr. Speaker. Am I right in my belief that even one Department of State like the Department of the Environment has over 130 information officers, and is it not time that this House of Commons as a whole, on behalf of all its Members, had at least one?

Mr. Channon

That is, thank goodness, more a matter for my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House than for me.