§ Q4. Mr. Heddleasked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 25 October.
§ The Prime MinisterI refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
§ Mr. HeddleHas my right hon. Friend yet had time to study the remarks made by the president of the National Union of Mineworkers when arriving at talks with the National Coal Board today, when he said that he had nothing to offer in these talks? Is this not the clearest possible sign that, although he may talk of wanting a negotiated settlement, he has neither the wish nor the will to negotiate or settle?
§ The Prime MinisterMy hon. Friend will agree that the settlement reached with the National Association of Colliery Overmen, Deputies and Shotfirers yesterday was a fair one. It was a settlement reached between a union which was anxious to settle but had certain points to put to the NCB, and it was a settlement which suited NACODS and the NCB because it enabled the latter to run the coal industry efficiently and in accordance with its statutory obligations. I hope that any other people on strike will agree that that was a good settlement and join NACODS in accepting it and ending the strike.
§ Mr. Ron DaviesDoes the Prime Minister not understand that there will be no return to work in the coal mining industry—[Interruption.]—until there is a settlement that is acceptable to the NUM and its membership? What action or initiative does the Prime Minister have to bring about such a settlement?
§ The Prime MinisterThe NCB has already negotiated within the limit of its statutory obligations, which are to run the industry efficiently, in accordance with the nationalised industries Acts and the objectives that it has been given. There is no longer any industrial reason for this dispute to continue.
§ Q5. Mr. Nicholas Bakerasked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for 25 October.
§ The Prime MinisterI refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
§ Mr. BakerIs it not the case that those miners who are working are those who have had a local ballot, and that the members of NACODS are working after having a ballot? Therefore, would it not be appropriate if those who are on strike were allowed the opportunity to have a ballot? Is my right hon. Friend aware that I had a conversation this morning with the family of a miner on strike, which revealed that many who are on strike would like to have a ballot and would like to work?
§ The Prime MinisterThere are some 70,000 people at work in the collieries under the NCB. Most of those people exercised their right to have a ballot and voted to 807 continue to work under the rules of the NUM. They are at work, and so are the members of NACODS—which also had a ballot—as are those who work for the other union. Of the people on strike, I believe that most would like to have a ballot so that they can express their wish to return to work. They are being prevented only by the leadership of the NUM, supported by the Labour party and mob violence.
§ Mr. O'BrienWill the Prime Minister have regard to the serious incident at the Stanley Royd hospital in my constituency during the summer recess, in which it is alleged that 21 people died through food poisoning? Is she 808 aware of the concern over the incident and the allegations that have been made about shortages of materials and staff? Will she impress upon her right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Services the need to speed up the public inquiry so that evidence can be taken while events are fresh in the minds of those who want to give it, and the matter resolved?
§ The Prime MinisterI am aware of the incident and I shall make a point of bringing it to the attention of my right hon. and learned Friend the Minister of Health. I shall draw his attention to what the hon. Gentleman has said.