§ The Prime Minister (Mrs. Margaret Thatcher)This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House I shall be having further meetings later today. This evening I hope to have an audience of Her Majesty the Queen.
§ Mr. DuffyHow does the Prime Minister reconcile the continuing assumption in last week's public expenditure White Paper of nearly 3 million unemployed, based on social security calculations, with the continuing constraints on public sector capital spending, excluding defence? What is the sense of depriving town halls of resources and neglecting housing and infrastructure investment when the relevant resources, including workers, are lying idle?
§ The Prime MinisterBecause the resources would then have to be taken out of the private sector, where they could well be effectively and productively employed, and put into the public sector. The public expenditure White Paper contained the figures on which we fought the election, when we received a massive majority.
§ Mr. KinnockHas the Prime Minister personally agreed to the procedure whereby the recently announced concessions on housing benefit are to be financed by withdrawing benefits from other groups of needy people?
§ The Prime MinisterMy right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Services made it perfectly clear that some of those increases in housing benefit from the figure previously announced would be financed by economies elsewhere. That is perfectly right. Otherwise, there would be a general increase in public expenditure and sooner or later that would call for a general increase in taxation or national insurance contributions.
§ Mr. KinnockDoes not the Prime Minister agree that those concessions are to be financed partly by taking housing benefit from people who need it and that the remainder will come from cuts in other benefits to people who have demonstrated their need by qualifying for them? If the right hon. Lady needs additional revenue to pay for 693 those who need such help, why does she not take it off the very rich? Why does the right hon. Lady always make the poor pay for the poor and the sick pay for the sick?
§ The Prime MinisterAbsolute nonsense. We are spending about £3.7 billion on housing benefit, which is about 80 per cent. more than was spent in the lifetime of the Labour Government, so the right hon. Gentleman should be the last person to complain.
§ Mr. HaselhurstWill my right hon. Friend have the opportunity to study the latest offerings of the Leader of the Opposition on the treaty of Rome? Does she agree that the use of the words "rejection", "revision" and "re-writing" show no retreat from hostility towards the Community, which view does great damage to Britain's interests in the long term?
§ The Prime MinisterI saw what the Leader of the Opposition wrote about rejecting, revising or re-writing the treaty of Rome. That was absolutely cloud-cuckoo-land. There are now 10 members of the EEC, and the number is about to go up to 12. The prospect of solemnly re-writing the whole thing means that the right hon. Gentleman utterly rejects the EEC, and this is merely a ploy to get him over the European elections.
Mr. J. Enoch PowellCan the Prime Minister give an assurance that there will be no question of Her Majesty's warships being engaged in the Persian Gulf in co-operation with American forces?
§ The Prime MinisterI cannot give that assurance because in certain circumstances—we do not know what those circumstances might be—it might be in Britain's interests to join with the United States forces to protect that part of the world and the oil supplies that are so vital to the West.
§ Mr. Ian LloydIs it the Government's policy to attempt to confer credibility, legitimacy and dignity on terrorist leaders, who have the blood of thousands on their hands, by arranging for them to be received by the Foreign Secretary, and for offers of scholarships to be made to those whom they purport to represent? I refer to Mr. Sam Nujoma.
§ The Prime MinisterMy right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary will have heard my hon. Friend. My hon. Friend knows full well Her Majesty's Government's policy towards terrorism. We are totally and utterly against the use of violence.
§ Q2. Mr. Flanneryasked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 21 February.
§ The Prime MinisterI refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
§ Mr. FlanneryDoes the Prime Minister realise that her coming out against the working people at GCHQ Cheltenham having the right to join a union is seen as a continuation of the anti-trade union legislation which her Government have been passing for some time? Does she also realise that that is bound to give aid and comfort to the anti-trade union groups, such as the pro-Nazi group that is deeply entrenched in the bowels of the Tory party? [Interruption.] It sounds bigger than I thought. Will she explain why the Government are so passionately fond of free trade unionism in Poland, but will quite definitely kill it in Britain if they can?
§ The Prime MinisterThe hon. Gentleman must be hard put to it for a question. I remind him that hon. Members from all parts of the House fought deeply against Nazi socialism. Hon. Members from every part of the House fought against it and we would all resent any implication to the contrary. The majority of GCHQ staff have now accepted the Government's offer and a minimal number have refused it.
§ Mr. LeighHas the Prime Minister noted the remarks made in Chesterfield by the Leader of the Opposition that he would kick the Americans out of their nuclear bases in Britain? Has she noted that that policy is totally at variance with the remarks made earlier by the right hon. Member for Leeds, East (Mr. Healey)? Will she advise the voters at Chesterfield that they should reject the Labour party now in the same way they rejected a totally split Labour party at the general election?
§ The Prime MinisterYes, I noticed the right hon. Gentleman's remarks that he would dismantle our own nuclear deterrent and send back all nuclear weapons on British soil. That would mean that he would go back totally on the policy of NATO. Doubtless he has pleased Mr. Benn, but not the sounder members in his own party.
§ The Prime MinisterI refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
§ Mr. FarrHas my right hon. Friend seen the notable indicators today of further economic improvement, especially the fact that our gross domestic product in 1983 increased by the biggest amount in the past 10 years, and the greater optimism expressed by many owners of small businesses? With those two facts, which have just come to light today, does the Prime Minister not agree that the economic position has taken a marked turn for the better?
§ The Prime MinisterYes, I agree with my hon. Friend. The economic situation is improving, and is improving in a sustainable way. That is what the Opposition cannot stand.
§ Dr. MarekDoes the Prime Minister agree that where there is legitimate public doubt or general public anxiety over instances where a Minister has or has not separated his ministerial duties from his private interests, it is in the general public interest—[Interruption.] I am trying to help the right hon. Lady—not just for that separation to be made, but for it to be publicly seen to be made?
§ The Prime MinisterI have answered question after question on this matter. There is nothing I can usefully add to what I have already said.
§ Q4. Mr. Pawseyasked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 21 February.
§ The Prime MinisterI refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
§ Mr. PawseyWhat advice would my right hon. Friend give to the Chesterfield electorate at the present time?
§ The Prime MinisterThere is no difficulty about that—Vote Conservative.
§ Mr. Ron LewisIs the Prime Minister aware that Shaw's guide to recently published price increases shows 695 over 1,400 increases this month alone? The price rises in gas and electricity, fostered by the Government, must be added to that. Bearing in mind her wealth, is she conscious that the unemployed, the poor and the pensioners have to shop in the same markets as the wealthier sections of society? What will she do about that?
§ The Prime MinisterI point out that under the Labour Government food prices rose by 122 per cent. and that this Government's record on inflation is the best for 15 years.
§ The following question stood upon the Order Paper:
§ 5. Mr. Loydenasked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 21 February.
§ The Prime MinisterI refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. I am not certain that the hon. Member is here.