§ Q1. Mr. Butcherasked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 21 July.
§ The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. William Whitelaw)I have been asked to reply.
My right hon. Friend is taking part in the economic summit in Ottawa.
§ Mr. ButcherDoes my right hon. Friend agree that the demolition of large areas of our inner cities has destroyed the natural habitat for small businesses, and that until the planners reverse that trend and local authorities reduce their demands on commercial and industrial ratepayers, the exodus of small businesses from our urban areas will continue?
§ Mr. WhitelawI agree entirely that the inner cities are a most important area for small businesses. That is why the Government have set up the land register scheme, and teams of three local people will monitor developments. Of course, my hon. Friend is right about high rates. Those 160 Labour authorities in inner city areas which insist upon high rates to cover extravagant expenditure had better realise that they are destroying jobs at the same time.
§ Mr. FootHas the right hon. Gentleman had an opportunity to discuss with the Prime Minister in Ottawa the terrible unemployment figures published today? Can he now explain why this country should suffer so much more in that respect, with all the human misery involved in those figures, than any of the other countries represented at the Ottawa conference? Can he tell us also whether the Government as a whole now accept the suggestion by the Secretary of State for Employment that we are heading for the terrible official figure of 3 million unemployed?
§ Mr. WhitelawThe answer to the right hon. Gentleman's first point is "No, Sir." On his second point, of course the figures are serious, and the position of this country is bad, but let us be clear that that is due to years of problems and years of Socialist Government. Let no one imagine that the problems faced today in the competitive power of British industry do not lie at the door of the right hon. Gentleman and all that he did when Secretary of State for Employment.
§ Mr. FootThe right hon. Gentleman has not studied the figures properly. Prior to the arrival of himself and his fellow Ministers on the Treasury Bench, we were doing better than some of those other countries. Now we are doing infinitely worse than all the other great industrial countries. The right hon. Gentleman has not replied to my charge that we are heading for the 3 million figure. What has he to say about that? Before the House adjourns for the Summer Recess the matter must be debated, and the Opposition will table a motion of censure on the Government.
§ Mr. WhitelawIf the right hon. Gentleman decides to put down a motion of censure, my right hon. and hon. Friends will respond to it. The last time that we had such a debate, the right hon. Gentleman made a pretty poor show. He offered no sensible proposals to deal with our problems. Therefore, he should be careful before he mounts such an attack again.
As to the figure of 3 million unemployed, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of Stale for Employment has made clear the risks attached to the present position. I have nothing to add to what he has said.
§ Mr. David SteelIs the Home Secretary aware that among the unemployment statistics are some 69,000 school leavers who signed on the register last month?
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. The hon. Member for Keighley (Mr. Cryer) is being very unfair to a right hon. Member who is trying to put a question.
§ Mr. SteelWhat advice does the Home Secretary have to give to those 69,000, considering that not only can they not get a job but that now, under the new rules, they cannot even draw supplementary benefit until September?
§ Mr. WhitelawThe Government, through the youth opportunities programmes and—much more important in 161 the long term for our country—expanded training opportunities, are doing everything that they can to help the position of those people.
§ Mr. Charles MorrisonHas my right hon. Friend noticed that England has just won the Test Match? Will he congratulate Ian Botham and the England team? Does not their achievment demonstrate again how often it is possible to snatch victory out of the jaws of defeat by a combination of applied ability and changed tactics?
§ Mr. WhitelawI agree with my hon. Friend about a remarkable achievement. There are many remarkable achievements in this country which right hon. and hon. Members on the Opposition Benches never seem likely to recognise.
§ Q2. Mr. Canavanasked the Prime Minister what are her official engagements for 21 July.
§ Mr. WhitelawI have been asked to reply.
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply which I have just given.
§ Mr. CanavanNow that the Government have brought unemployment even closer to 3 million and brought parts of our country so close to anarchy that our policemen are being sent to places such as Hong Kong and Belfast for anti-riot training, is this not the time for the rest of the Cabinet to get rid of our biggest criminal and the biggest menace to our society, before she gets back from Ottawa?
§ Mr. WhitelawI do not think that the level of the hon. Gentleman's question deserves a serious reply.
§ Mr. Robert AtkinsHas my right hon. Friend seen the recent opinion poll which suggests that nearly three-quarters of the population favour the retention of independent public schools, and that 54 per cent. of Labour Party supporters feel the same way? Will he draw this forcibly to the attention of right hon. Gentlemen on the Opposition Benches as well as to the attention of the former right hon. Member for Hitchin, Mrs. Williams, who is pretending that she is also in some way doubtful about public schools?
§ Mr. WhitelawIt would not be for me to be doubtful about public schools, would it? I am strongly in favour of what has been said. I am glad to note what has been said in the public opinion survey, and perhaps the House will take notice of it.
§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonOn a point of order, Mr. Speaker. Is it appropriate for a Member of this House—I refer to the hon. Member for West Stirlingshire (Mr. Canavan)—to describe the Prime Minister as a criminal?
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. I thought that the whole House had taken the attitude of the right hon. Gentleman the Home Secretary, but it is entirely out of order to refer to any right hon. or hon. Member as a criminal. The hon. Member may now care to withdraw the remark.
§ Mr. CanavanI did not refer directly to the Prime Minister. I did not name the Prime Minister, who is the head of a criminal Government, but if it is your wish—
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. That, the House will understand, is an apology.
§ Mr. Donald StewartWill the Home Secretary take some time today to deal, as a matter of urgency, with the 162 Foreign Office over the German trawlers which have been fishing in the Minch with the full backing of the German Government in areas designated by Britain as the subject of a herring ban? Will he, as a start, call off all negotiations for a common fisheries policy and revert to a right of 200 miles, which we would have enjoyed had we not gone into the Common Market?
§ Mr. WhitelawI must take very seriously what the right hon. Gentleman says about a matter which greatly affects his constituents. I shall refer the matter to my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary.
§ Mr. James HamiltonWill the right hon. Gentleman, in the interests of the unemployed and people in receipt of social security benefits, now get off the backs of the civil servants, carry out the Government's election pledge on free collective bargaining, get the civil servants back to work and, on that basis at least, partially assist those who are unemployed and suffering hardship?
§ Mr. WhitelawAs the hon. Gentleman knows, there have been discussions on this matter. The Civil Service unions are putting this matter to their members, and I have nothing further to add at this stage.
§ Q3. Mr. Chapmanasked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 21 July.
§ Mr. WhitelawI have been asked to reply.
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply which I have just given.
§ Mr. ChapmanWill my right hon. Friend draw the Prime Minister's attention to the recent extraordinary remarks from certain leaders of the Labour Party in London in their vicious verbal assaults on the Metropolitan Police force? Will he be assured that the overwhelming majority of Londoners support the Metropolitan Police in their difficult and sometimes dangerous duties? Does my right hon. Friend further agree that the recent assertion of the leader of the GLC that the police force is prone to violence is not only ill-founded but ill-timed, since nearly 400 policemen were injured in the recent outbreaks of civil disorder?
§ Mr. WhitelawI am grateful to my hon. Friend for what he has said about the support for the Metropolitan Police, which I believe is very strong throughout London. I recognise many of the strong feelings that have been expressed recently. I have no wish to add to them, but I am bound to say that, with all the responsibilities that I have had to carry on behalf of this House and the country, I deeply resented the way in which the leader of the GLC decided to make the remarks which he did.
§ Mr. James A. DunnWill the right hon. Gentleman ask his right hon. Friend the Prime Minister when she intends to fulfil her promise to request Lord Scarman to inquire into the disturbances at Liverpool and to report his recommendations to the House?
§ Mr. WhitelawI think that the hon. Gentleman appreciates that Lord Scarman's inquiry into what happened at Brixton has been somewhat broadened. He is pursuing these inquiries. I do not wish to comment further on what Lord Scarman is seeking to do, but I have every confidence that his report will be of great value to the House and to the country.
§ Mr. Beaumont-DarkHas my right hon. Friend had a chance to note that the university Grants Committee has 163 cut the grant to the university of Aston, the second biggest in the country? Is he aware that the University of Aston does more for technological education—which this country needs—than any university in the country? Will he bring pressure to bear to see that this stupidity is reversed?
§ Mr. WhitelawI appreciate my hon. Friend's special knowledge of the West Midlands and of Aston university, and I shall bring his important remarks to the attention of my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science.
§ Mr. Roy HughesNow that the ambulance service pay claim has been settled in line with the Government's pay norm, will the right hon. Gentleman say what further consideration the Government are giving to classifying this service as an emergency service with pay and conditions equal to those that apply to the police service?
§ Mr. WhitelawI note what apparently has been agreed, and, if that is so, I shall be very gratified. As for the contribution of the ambulance service in difficult circumstances, I hope that this House and the country will recognise what the service has done during the recent emergency, and, indeed, at all times, for the safety of our people.
§ Mr. BestWill my right hon. Friend draw to the Prime Minister's attention the utter lunacy of the motions submitted to the next Labour Party conference? Is he aware that 100—[Interruption.]
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. The right hon. Gentleman and the Prime Minister can answer only for matters for which the Prime Minister is responsible. I gather that the right hon. Lady does not claim responsibility for those motions.
§ Mr. BestDoes my right hon. Friend agree that it is not the wish of either side of the House that motions should 164 go forward suggesting that there should be unilateral nuclear disarmament on the part of this country, that the troops should be withdrawn from Northern Ireland, and that the banks and insurance companies should be nationalised? Does he agree that that does not represent the views even of the majority of Opposition Members?
§ Mr. WhitelawThe fact that my hon. Friend and I might regard some of those motions as pretty loony does not mean that I have to take any responsibility for them.
§ Mr. WinnickIn view of the latest tragic and shameful unemployment figures, was not the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food right last Friday in his television interview to dissociate himself from the Cabinet's economic policies? If the Minister of Agriculture has dissociated himself, why do not other Cabinet Ministers—who disagree so strongly with the right hon. Lady's disastrous policies—have the courage to do so?
§ Mr. WhitelawMy right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food is always wise, and he did not dissociate himself from Government policy.
§ Mr. McQuarrieDuring the visit of my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to Ottawa, will she be discussing with Prime Minister Trudeau the British North America Act and his proposals for that Act? If so, when she returns to this country, will she make a statement to the House on the discussions that she has had with him on that matter?
§ Mr. WhitelawI understand that on her return my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister will make a statement to the House on her discussions in Ottawa. At this stage, I cannot say whether that will include the matter to which my hon. Friend refers.