§ Q1. Mr. Rogersasked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 10 July.
§ 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. Later today I hope to have an audience of Her Majesty the Queen.
§ Mr. RogersWill the Prime Minister tell the House what advice she gave, and what instructions she issued, to the chairman of the National Coal Board at the secret meeting last week?
§ The Prime MinisterNo. No instructions were issued. Mr. MacGregor came with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy to make a report on the industry as he saw it.
§ Mr. Teddy TaylorIs my right hon. Friend aware of the serious concern in the Essex county council and the Southend-on-Sea borough council arising from the fact that, having loyally kept to every guideline set by the Government, they have had their grants cut, while at the same time the Government have suddenly been able to pluck millions of pounds out of thin air to help the Liverpool council, which has broken every rule in the book? Would it not be helpful for the Government to help those who follow their guidelines rather than those who break them?
§ The Prime MinisterI can understand my hon. Friend's concern about Conservative councils which have loyally kept within spending limits. I shall make the position about Liverpool clear. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment has issued a statement. There are no concessions on targets on Liverpool, on GREA, on block grant, on penalties or on disregards. The rules will apply to Liverpool just as they apply to every other local authority area. Nor are the Government re-opening this year's housing investment programme allocations to give Liverpool extra. Like every other local authority, if Liverpool reduces overspending, it will benefit from reduced penalties and, therefore, a higher rate support grant. It is misleading to count that as an addition to expenditure from the Government.
§ Mr. SteelFollowing this entirely arbitrary grant of badly needed money for the city of Liverpool, does the Prime Minister hold out any hope of a return to a principled system of financing local government, or is the Labour party councillors' weekend threat of noncompliance with central Government the only way to make the Government finance local services? When will this trench warfare come to an end?
§ The Prime MinisterI do not think that the right hon. Gentleman can have heard exactly what I said about the statement. There are no concessions on target, on GREA, block grant, penalties or disregards. The rules will apply to Liverpool just as they apply to every other local authority in England. The right hon. Gentleman is now asking whether there is anything extra. Conditional on Liverpool making a legal rate, the Government have agreed to a modest increase of £2.5 million to supplement Liverpool's inner city partnership programme. This comes out of an existing national urban programme provision.
§ Mr. ChopeIs my right hon. Friend aware that today more than 1,000 dock workers are on strike in Southampton and that most of them have no idea whatever why they are on strike? Will she appeal on their behalf to the leaders of the Transport and General Workers Union to put an end to this pointless strike as soon as possible, which otherwise threatens job opportunities for many dockers and others in Southampton and elsewhere?
§ The Prime MinisterI agree with my hon. Friend that if the strike goes on many jobs will be threatened as ships 875 go to other ports on the continent. Consequently, the dockers here will be helping to solve the unemployment problems of Belgium, Holland and Germany, who will take jobs away from this country. I understand that the port employers and the union are likely to meet in the national joint council for the port industry later this afternoon. I hope that they will arrive at satisfactory conclusions, so that the dockers can get back to work.
Mr. J. Enoch PowellDoes the Prime Minister agree that the present dispute in the mining industry differs radically from many that have preceded it, in that they were primarily concerned with remuneration, real or monetary, whereas this one turns on the right and opportunity of British industry to renew itself for the future?
§ The Prime MinisterI agree with the right hon. Gentleman. This dispute is not about the conditions offered to the miners, which are the best ever in the history of coal mining in this country.
§ Mr. WeetchGiven the sinking value of the pound on the foreign exchanges, the deteriorating industrial situation and the inevitable rise in interest rates which is to come, is not the Prime Minister's world collapsing around her head? When, as will inevitably be the case, higher interest rates feed through to owner-occupiers, what words of comfort will the Prime Minister have for them then?
§ The Prime MinisterMy world is not collapsing. The hon. Gentleman's world should be collapsing, given that the Labour party is supporting strikes, miners who are on strike against those who are at work, and those who look to bring about industrial anarchy as a means of getting round democracy. The economy is in good shape —[Laughter.] Inflation is well under control, and despite this month's high money supply figures the monetary situation is satisfactory, but the United States situation is still unsettled. The recent rise in interest rates demonstrates the Government's commitment to firm monetary conditions. When the miners' strike is off, the economy will have every reason to go ahead. So long as it is on, Labour Members are deliberately trying to create unemployment and to destroy jobs.
§ The Prime MinisterI refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
§ Mr. YeoWill my right hon. Friend join me in condemning without reservation the appalling violence of pickets yesterday at the Rossington colliery? Can she assure the House that the Government will not give way to anyone using these appalling tactics? Does she look forward as eagerly as I do to hearing the Leader of the Opposition. condemn this behaviour?
§ The Prime MinisterThis strike is not about industrial relations. I hope that we can contain mass picketing, which inevitably turns to violence. Those who undertake mass picketing know that it will turn to violence.
In the Doncaster region, Rossington colliery was yesterday taken over by pickets. Roads were blocked with trees and girders, and safety cover teams had to be escorted out of the pit by police. [HON. MEMBERS: "Reading"] I am reading the facts from an accurate report. Of course, hon.
876 Gentlemen do not want to hear an accurate report of what is a deplorable incident. The pit was extensively vandalised. Personnel records were burnt, telephones ripped out and the canteen smashed. The National Coal Board locked the pit at 9.15 last night, and management has not been back to it. It is vital that the barricades do not stay in place so that management can be restored, because otherwise the pit faces abandonment.
§ Mr. WinnickHas the Prime Minister seen the article in the current issue of The Economist describing her Administration as the most inept since the war? Will the right hon. Lady give a firm pledge today that, whatever may happen to other Ministers, such as the Secretary of State for the Environment, she will in no circumstances resign her position as Prime Minister before the next election, because next time round she will be worth millions of votes for the Labour cause?
§ The Prime MinisterI am afraid that it is the Leader of the Opposition who is worth millions of votes to the Conservative cause, and will be when we come to win the next election in this country.
§ Q3. Sir John Farrasked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 10 July.
§ The Prime MinisterI refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
§ Sir John FarrCan my right hon. Friend confirm the regret of the whole House at the tragic fire at York Minster on Sunday night and, if that is the case, as I am sure it is, can she say what the Government can do towards helping to restore the fabric of this cathedral?
§ The Prime MinisterIt is a great tragedy that the roof of York Minster was severely damaged by fire and parts of the cathedral were seriously burned. I have asked for a full report on the damage. I understand that in the first instance it will be for the cathedral authorities and the insurers to decide the financial implications, but I have made it clear that the Government stand ready to help, if help is needed.
§ Mr. KinnockThe Prime Minister says that the economy is in good shape. When we have a rise in the unemployment trend, when we have had 1.2 million people unemployed for more than a year, 650,000 for more than two years and 356,000 for more than three years, when we have an increase in bankruptcies, when we have a rise in interest rates and when we have a pound worth $1.30, about which economy is she talking?
§ The Prime MinisterIf the right hon. Gentleman takes that view, I wonder why he does everything that he can to increase unemployment.
§ Mr. KinnockThe record unemployment that this country endures at this time is directly due to the stupid policies of the right hon. Lady and her Government. Only one thing is crazier than the introduction of the policies, and that is the absolutist way in which she insists on sustaining them. She is ruining this country. Will she apologise, quit or change?
§ The Prime MinisterNo, Sir. I wonder then what the right hon. Gentleman would say to those Socialist countries which have similar levels of unemployment, much worse levels of inflation and much worse prospects than this country.
§ Q4. Mr. Donald Stewartasked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 10 July.
§ The Prime MinisterI refer the right hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
§ Mr. Donald StewartIs the Prime Minister aware of the unanimous resolution passed by the Merchant Navy Officers Association, which accuses her of total abdication of responsibility for the shrinkage of the British merchant fleet and lack of consideration for the seafarers, who will have their pay reduced by between £10 and £40 per month as a result of her actions? Is she further aware that the association has no confidence in her policies to maintain the commercial and strategic needs of the United Kingdom? What will she do to reverse this disastrous situation?
§ The Prime MinisterAs the right hon. Gentleman is aware, those who compete in the shipping world have to compete for business with others who have extensive fleets and, as the right hon. Gentleman will be the first to be aware, a docks strike will damage shipping in this country and the interests of the seafarers. I hope that he will join me in asking that it comes off, and comes off today.
§ The Prime MinisterI refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
§ Mr. MoateDoes my right hon. Friend agree that it is a gross abuse of union power that a national dock strike should be called on the flimsiest of pretexts? Is it not clearly an irresponsible and opportunistic bid to bring the dockers into the mining dispute, which can only cause a loss of jobs in the dock industry and in British industry generally?
§ The Prime MinisterI agree with my hon. Friend. All the ports and dockers on the mainland of Europe will be cheering as a result of the decision of dockers in this country to go on strike. I shall soon get questions about why unemployment has risen in the docks. It will be because the dockers have decided that they will strike and lose their jobs to others.
§ Q6. Mr. Tony Banksasked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 10 July.
§ The Prime MinisterI refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
§ Mr. BanksIn view of the Prime Minister's dissociation from the Secretary of State for the Environment last week, has she abandoned the principle of Cabinet responsibility?
§ The Prime MinisterNonsense. If the hon. Gentleman is talking about Liverpool, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment and I were both today trying to put the facts right. The GLC and the MCCs will be abolished.