§ Q1. Mr. James Hamiltonasked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 18 December.
§ The Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Commons (Mr. John Biffen)I have been asked to reply.
My right hon. Friend is paying an official visit to the People's Republic of China.
§ Mr. HamiltonWill the right hon. Gentleman inform the Prime Minister, when she returns, of the great anger on both sides of the House and outside at the imposition of VAT on each record sold in aid of the Ethiopian disaster fund? Is the Prime Minister aware that it is estimated that £500,000 has been raised by that record? Will the right hon. Lady recognise this as a one-off appeal? Bearing in mind that the Government changed their minds about student grants, cannot they change their minds on this?
§ Mr. BiffenI appreciate the motivation of those involved in the records production. I fully appreciate that many hon. Members on all sides are disappointed that the Government cannot find some discriminatory fiscal arrangement for the sales of the record, but in their stand the Government are following the tradition of successive Governments. The real test is to set that decision against the amount of money spent on aid by this regime.
§ Mr. W. BenyonWill my right hon. Friend draw the Prime Minister's attention to the trial in Northern Ireland last week of private Thain of the Light Infantry? Will he tell the Prime Minister how deeply disturbed many of us are at the sentence imposed in the dangerous conditions applying in Northern Ireland? Has not the time come for a radical review of the working of the yellow card?
§ Mr. BiffenI shall, of course, carry out my hon. Friend's request.
§ Mr. SteelWill the right hon. Gentleman explain to the Prime Minister when she returns that one of the reasons for the Government's drop in popularity at the Enfield, Southgate by-election, and in opinion polls, is that on a range of matters the Government are completely out of touch with the public's mood? Does he understand that that applies particularly to the relatively simple case of imposing VAT on the Christmas record made to benefit Ethiopia? Why does the Chancellor refuse even to see an all-party delegation on that subject?
§ Mr. BiffenThe physical embodiment of the success at Enfield, Southgate will soon be at this Table. The right hon. Gentleman has to live with the bitter harvest of not very near misses.
§ Mr. PenhaligonWe would have the right hon. Gentleman on that swing.
§ Mr. BiffenI should be more than delighted to have the hon. Gentleman's posse campaigning for me in Shropshire, North. I can think of no better counter-production than that.
The case for the record causes genuine sentiments of charity and compassion for the Ethiopian famine. However, the Government are following their well-proven record of not making discriminatory gestures. The real test 155 of our policies can be measured by the £35 million that we are giving to Ethiopia and by the £51/2 million to £6 million to the Sudan.
§ Mr. GregoryWill my right hon. Friend ensure that county councils and all those engaged in the welfare of former prisoners are instructed by the provision of clear guidelines so that there is no repetition of the appalling tragedy that took place concerning the sex pervert who killed four-year-old Marie Payne? Will he ensure that clear guidelines result in proper social welfare for ex-prisoners so that children are not put into such tragic danger?
§ Mr. BiffenMy hon. Friend raises a matter which I know will cause the gravest disquiet within the House and outside. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister will pay particular attention to his point about vetting and investigation.
§ Q2. Mr. Meadowcroftasked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 18 December.
§ Mr. BiffenI have been asked to reply.
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
§ Mr. MeadowcroftDid not the Government completely misread the feeling in the country and. I believe, in the House over VAT being imposed on the Band Aid single by sheltering behind bureaucratic traditions? Is there not a feeling throughout the country that in this instance the expression of concern for Ethiopia should be recognised and that the Government should not be the sole beneficiary of VAT revenue from this record?
§ Mr. BiffenI do not think that I can helpfully add to what I have already said.
§ Mr. LawrenceIs my right hon. Friend aware that the entire House will welcome the visit to Britain of Mr. Gorbachev and the Russian delegation? Is he aware that they are here to engender a feeling of trust, which we all welcome? Does he agree that the best way in which they can engender that feeling is to show that they are trustworthy in their undertaking to abide by the Helsinki agreement and their undertakings on human rights? If they give us the trust that will enable us to believe that they will honour those commitments, it will be so much easier for us to believe their promises on peace and security.
§ Mr. BiffenI am sure that my hon. and learned Friend speaks for the whole House when he talks of the welcome that there is for the visit of Mr. Gorbachev and the Russian delegation. I agree with him that the real hope lies in the development of trust, which is a patient plant which is nurtured by long and quiet negotiations rather than in a hothouse of propaganda. He is right in saying that the way in which it is monitored, both in the House and by the British public outside, is the extent to which human rights are upheld.
§ Mr. KinnockWhen the Prime Minister said yesterday evening that the Government can give training to every young person up to the age of 18 years—"and we know that we can do that" — did she mean that the Government will provide two years of training for all those who leave school at 16?
§ Mr. BiffenThe answer depends very much on the outcome of the investigation that is now being undertaken by the committee under the chairmanship of my hon. Friend the Minister for Social Security.
§ Mr. KinnockWill the Lord Privy Seal join me in regretting that the Prime Minister appears to have raised false hopes in what she said yesterday before she went off on her visit? May I prevail upon the right hon. Gentleman to urge upon the Prime Minister, when she returns, to recognise that an extension of training to two years—universally—would be very welcome, especially if such a training programme ensured training of high quality, permitted satisfactory education provision, leading, if necessary and where appropriate, to qualifications, ensured adequate pay and led to a job? Lastly, and importantly, the right hon. Lady should ensure that such a scheme is not compulsory or takes the form of conscription or coercian by the withdrawal of benefits to make young people destitute.
§ Mr. BiffenThe remarks of my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister yesterday were some sound and robust observations that were legitimate and consistent with consideration of an issue that is under discussion by a committee. Of course I shall convey to my right hon. Friend that the right hon. Gentleman is now a convert to the Government's policy and their highly successful youth training scheme. The scheme is at the centre of the Government's policy against unemployment for the young and its growing success will be a part of our fortune.
§ Q3. Mr. Maplesasked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 18 December.
§ Mr. BiffenI have been asked to reply.
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
§ Mr. MaplesWill my right hon. Friend find time today to congratulate the England cricket team on coming back from the dead so spectacularly, and will he join me in expressing the hope that the Opposition do not discover how to pull off the same trick?
§ Mr. BiffenI should be happy to comply with both parts of that request.
§ Mr. O'BrienWill the Leader of the House convey to the Prime Minister the situation facing the unemployed in my constituency, which covers Leeds and Wakefield metropolitan district areas? Will he inform the Prime Minister that, over the past five years, eight collieries have closed in the West Yorkshire county council area and that the plight of the unemployed, particularly miners, is serious? Will he advise the right hon. Lady to do something about bringing in some resources to reduce unemployment in west Yorkshire?
§ Mr. BiffenOf course I shall pass on that message, but I must say to the hon. Gentleman that a campaign to bring about greater employment must be run throughout the United Kingdom, not merely in one selected region or another. In that context, I hope that the hon. Gentleman will take comfort, as I do, from the fact that 250,000 people are at work today who were not at work a year ago.
§ Q4. Mr. Fallonasked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 18 December.
§ Mr. BiffenI have been asked to reply.
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
§ Mr. FallonDoes my right hon. Friend accept that on the day when the victor of Enfield, Southgate is due to take 157 his seat, many people outside the House will be appalled to learn that its facilities are extended to convicted terrorists, whatever their cause?
§ Mr. BiffenI think that there was a hidden message in that question, and if it is what I imagine it is, I do not think that anything that I could say would be half as adequate as what was said by the Labour Chief Whip, the right hon. Member for Bristol, South (Mr. Cocks).
§ Mr. BennIn congratulating the Prime Minister on her visit to Communist China to hand over British colonial control in Hong Kong, may I ask the Leader of the House to tell the right hon. Lady that that creates an excellent precedent for ending colonial control in the Falklands, Gibraltar and Northern Ireland?
§ Mr. BiffenThe right hon. Gentleman is in the market place of politics, and, very rightly, is marketing a very exotic brand that enables those issues to be linked. I think that we all understand why he sits where he does.
§ Q 5. Mr. Doverasked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 18 December.
§ Mr. BiffenI have been asked to reply.
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
§ Mr. DoverDoes my right hon. Friend accept that any announcement made later today about the reduction in the percentage that local authorities can spend on capital expenditure from receipts from council house sales will be a bitter disappointment and a let-down to hon. Members on both sides of the House who have supported council house sales when the construction industry is at such a low level as it is today? Would that not show that the Government are able to control public expenditure only by cutting capital spending?.
§ Mr. BiffenI note with interest what my hon. Friend has to say, and I am sure he will realise that I cannot anticipate what may be said later by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment.
§ Q 6. Mr. Sean Hughesasked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 18 December.
§ Mr. BiffenI have been asked to reply.
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
§ Mr. HughesAs it appears that the youth training scheme is to be compulsory, will the Leader of the House ask the Prime Minister whether she will ensure that machinery is set up to make sure that the scheme is not used, under any circumstances, for cheap labour?
§ Mr. BiffenThe hon. Gentleman is getting a little over-excited in this pre-festive season. I merely ask him to await the outcome of the inquiry that is being presided over by my hon. Friend the Minister of State.
§ Mr. WardIs my right hon. Friend surprised that, in order to get the electors of Enfield to read its election literature, the Liberal party found it necessary to disguise it as Labour party propaganda?
§ Mr. BiffenThere must be a very snappy and succinct answer to that question, but, alas, it eludes me. All that I can say is that that did not seem to succeed.
§ Q7. Ms. Clare Shortasked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 18 December.
§ Mr. BiffenI have been asked to reply.
I refer the hon. Lady to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
§ Ms. ShortGiven the propaganda from the Government Benches suggesting that the answer to unemployment is to cut wage levels, is there any decent minimum which the right hon. Gentleman thinks the people of Britain should earn in return for employment, or does he want our wage levels to drop to the standard in Third world countries?
§ Mr. BiffenThe hon. Lady is confusing the argument that we should keep an increase in wage levels to below the rate of inflation with all those other arguments which she now makes and which are a total distortion. Again, I must ask her to judge the policy, not her own rhetoric.