§ Ql. Mr. Moateasked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 21 May.
§ The Prime Minister (Mrs. Margaret Thatcher)This morning I presided at a meeting of the Cabinet and had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in this House I shall be having further meetings later today, including one with the Kenyan Foreign Minister.
§ Mr. MoateHas my right hon. Friend had time today to study the report that the treasurer of the Labour Party plans to apply strict cash limits, to impose a tough pay policy on its employees, to privatise Labour Weekly and to increase subscriptions to the old and sick by 300 per cent.? Now that the Labour Party has seen the economic facts of life, may we take it that the official Opposition will support the Government's economic strategy?
§ The Prime MinisterIf I know anything about the official Opposition, they will find a way for the Shadow Cabinet to move two different amendments.
§ Mr. FootLet us move aside from those trivial questions. The right hon. Lady treated them with proper contempt—almost as if they were Under-Secretaries of State for the Royal Navy the way she cast them aside. May I ask her a serious question about a serious matter? At the Cabinet meeting today, did she have the opportunity to look afresh at the appalling unemployment figures? Did she have before her any report from the Secretary of State for Employment along the lines of the evidence that he submitted to the Select Committee about a much higher figure than the Government have so far mentioned as being possible, indeed even probable? Will she now reconsider the reply that she gave a day or two ago to a request from the representatives of the People's March for Jobs? Will not she have the grace, courtesy and courage to meet them and discuss the issues with them?
§ The Prime MinisterI read what my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Employment was reported to have said before one of the Select Committees. He is worried, as I am, about the number of school leavers who will come on to the employment market. This year as a whole about 700,000 school leavers will be looking for jobs or some form of youth opportunities.
My right hon. Friend wishes, as I do, to try to secure a scheme similar to that in Germany under which every 16-year-old school leaver either has a job, further education or training. We are trying to achieve that, but I am afraid that it will take some time. My right hon. Friend is working very hard on that matter—[Interruption.] It will not make matters worse. It will make the unemployment figures better. It will give school leavers training and jobs. I am sorry that the Opposition do not appear to like the scheme. It is an excellent scheme.
With regard to the march from Liverpool, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Employment has agreed that he will meet representatives of that march on 1 June.
§ Mr. FootI ask the right hon. Lady once again: will not she meet the representatives with the Secretary of State for Employment or any other Ministers responsible? Will not she consider that? What she has given them so far is 415 a pretty mean and miserable reply. These are people who are voicing not merely their own opinions but the opinions of growing millions of people throughout the country who are protesting against the outrage of mass unemployment. Apparently she agrees with the figure mentioned by her right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Employment—namely, 3 million. That is the first time that that has been mentioned officially by a Government spokesman. Will she define exactly the precise circumstances in which her Government are contemplating an increase in unemployment to 3 million?
§ The Prime MinisterI did not confirm that as a forecast and neither did my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Employment. Last year, there were about 700,000 school leavers. There will be another high number this year and there will be another high number next year. We are doing our best to try to provide work opportunities and training for these young people. We shall continue to do our best. I should have thought that the right hon. Gentleman would accept it in that spirit. After all, he faced very similar problems of increases in the unemployment figures. With regard to the offer of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Employment to meet the march, I do not regard that offer as mean and miserable.
§ Sir Timothy KitsonDuring the course of the day, will my right hon. Friend give some thought to the anxieties and sufferings of many families due to the growth of religious sects, the Moonies especially—
§ Sir Timothy KitsonWill my right hon. Friend consider whether a Royal Commission or some form of inquiry should be set up to investigate their entry, their activities, their fund-raising methods and their charitable status in the United Kingdom?
§ The Prime MinisterI note that my hon. Friend is obviously very concerned about the activities of the Moonies, as indeed are many of us. He will be happy to know that the Charity Commissioners are reconsidering charitable status. The Attorney-General has also considered what action might be appropriate to take in relation to trusts. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Services has asked his officials to examine the evidence as presented, as far as it relates to mental health and family life. These are three very positive things that are already taking place. I shall, of course, consider my right hon. Friend's suggestion with regard to the other matter.
§ The Prime MinisterI refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some time ago.
§ Mr. DubsWill the Prime Minister confirm today's reports that the Cabinet intends to axe £900 million from local authority spending because of alleged over-spending by certain local authorities? Is the right hon. Lady aware that this decision will cause great damage to local authority services, be they education, housing or employment? Will she explain why the announcement of this decision has been delayed until after the local authority elections?
§ The Prime MinisterIf I were asked to confirm or deny every report of what Cabinet is supposed or not supposed to have done, I would be giving a great deal of misinformation. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment will give his decision when he has made it. One of the real problems is over-spending by local authorities, which bears heavily on both the taxpayer and the ratepayer.
§ Mr. GrimondWill the Prime Minister advise those of us who have been saying to civil servants that they should not go on strike and should accept 7 per cent. now that the Ministers negotiating with them, and Members of Parliament, are to get an 18 per cent. increase? Will the Government make it clear that they do not consider themselves bound by previous arrangements about pay? Does this mean that they will examine these matters again?
§ The Prime MinisterI do not very often find the right hon. Gentleman giving what I consider to be a very unfair account of increases for hon. Members and Ministers. I hope that he will accept that civil servants had their last staged increase, the third stage, last year. Hon. Members and Ministers did not have their last staged increase, which Edward Boyle accepted that they should have, two years ago. They have had to wait two years for it. The last stage comes into operation this year. I think that it would have been grievously unfair if hon. Members and Ministers, having forgone that increase for two years, were now to be criticised for taking it, and therefore for adding what other people are getting—6 per cent—which is less than that which has been offered as an increase to the civil servants.
§ Mr. Patrick McNair-WilsonAs 30 per cent. of our imports are paid for in dollars, will my right hon. Friend consider the effects that high American interest rates are now having on the value of sterling? Will she assure the House that, in our determination to fight the battle against inflation, she will take whatever action is required to protect our currency?
§ The Prime MinisterI think that American interest rates are probably having an effect on the value of the dollar in relation to the value of several European currencies. At the same time, I think that if the United States were to go in for a policy of inflation that, too, could be important and could have a devastating effect on world currencies. I do not think that we can argue with them about the measures that they should take to protect their currency. I think that it would be most unwise to do so.
§ Mr. LeightonIf the Prime Minister wants to increase trade, will she withdraw the Employment and Training Bill, the purpose of which is to destroy the training boards?
§ The Prime MinisterNo. What we are trying to do is to find very many more training places for young people who leave school, and we are already looking at the facilities that the education service offers.