§ Q2. Mr. Stoddartasked the Prime Minister if she will pay an official visit to Swindon.
§ The Prime MinisterI have at present no plans to do so.
§ Mr. StoddartIs the right hon. Lady aware that my constituents, oppressed by accelerating prices, by swingeing increases in mortgage rates and rents, are now extremely concerned that they may be laid off because of her capricious negligence of the steel dispute? Will she come to Swindon and try to explain her policy and, better still, apologise to my constituents for the way in which she grossly misled them during the election about her policies and the results of those policies?
§ The Prime MinisterWith regard to our policy on steel, as the hon. Gentleman knows, the taxpayer has been very generous to the steel industry in fully and properly equipping it so that it can increase productivity in the future. The question we have to ask is whether many people whose incomes are lower than the average income in the steel industry, should rightly be asked further to subsidise the steel industry in the future over and above the £450 million budget that we have decided to make available to the British Steel Corporation next year.
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. I treated that question as a constituency question, as I have done on all occasions when hon. Members have invited the Prime Minister to visit their constituencies. We shall reach the open question soon, when the other issues can come up.