§ Q1. Mr. O'Brienasked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 30 June.
§ The Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Commons (Mr. John Wakeham)I have been asked to reply.
My right hon. Friend is in Brussels for a meeting of the European Council.
§ Mr. O'BrienHas the right hon. Gentleman received a report from his colleague the Government Chief Whip 370 about information received during the election campaign in my constituency concerning the shortage of skilled labour in the Yorkshire area? When will the Government do something about generating jobs and employment opportunities in the Yorkshire and Humberside region, where there is a shortage of job opportunities and skilled labour? When are the Government going to do something about it?
§ Mr. WakehamI did not receive the report to which the hon. Gentleman refers, but since 1979 the Government have spent £13.5 billion on employment measures and training, helping about 6.5 million people. Our intention is to continue that work.
§ Sir Bernard BraineMay I congratulate my right hon. Friend on his new office, which has given infinite pleasure to all his colleagues and, I suspect, to many right hon. and hon. Members on the Opposition Benches.
Can my right hon. Friend tell the House why the Government have not seen fit to include in the Gracious Speech any proposals touching the Warnock committee recommendations, at least one of which—experimentation on the human embryo—caused great abhorrence at the time and has caused widespread anxiety ever since? Is my right hon. Friend aware that such experimentation is now taking place without any legal protection?
§ Mr. WakehamI thank my right hon. Friend for his kind words. I know the interest that he has taken in this matter. The Government are now considering very carefully responses to the recent consultation document on the range of difficult and developing issues dealt with in the Warnock report. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Services will be making an announcement very shortly about the next steps. I can, however, make it clear that it remains our intention to introduce legislation in this Parliament.
§ Mr. HattersleyWill the right hon. Gentleman now repeat the assurances given by the Prime Minister during the general election campaign that the Government are opposed to the imposition of VAT on food, fuel, children's clothing, children's shoes, new building, books, periodicals and newspapers?
§ Mr. WakehamI am happy to reaffirm what the Prime Minister said during the election campaign. The Prime Minister said that we had no intention of imposing VAT on food, gas, electricity, young children's clothes and shoes.
§ Mr. HattersleyIn which case, how does the Leader of the House account for the fact that Lord Cockfield, the Government's nominee in the Common Market, will tomorrow propose the abolition of zero rating and the imposition of VAT at between 4 and 9 per cent. on all those items which the right hon. Gentleman has now said will not carry VAT?
§ Mr. WakehamThe right hon. Gentleman knows better than to say that European Commissioners act as nominees for a Government. Lord Cockfield will do what he thinks to be right. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister is Prime Minister of this country, and I can assure the House that the undertaking that she gave during the general election campaign will be maintained.
§ Mr. HattersleyThe Leader of the House can absolve himself from the allegation of equivocation and the Prime 371 Minister from the allegation of deception by simply saying here and now that the Government propose to veto the Cockfield proposals. Do they, or do they not?
§ Mr. WakehamI have stated what the Prime Minister said, and reaffirmed it. At present the Prime Minister is in Brussels at the European Council meeting and she will make a statement to the House later this week. It would be extremely foolish of me to say anything more until that time.
§ Sir Anthony GrantWill my right hon. Friend assure the Prime Minister that her attempts to bring common sense into the ludicrous financing of the Community has the wholehearted support of the country? Is my right hon. Friend aware that the rapacious attitude of the Socialist Greek Government is entirely out of accord with the spirit of the Community?
§ Mr. WakehamMy hon. Friend makes his points well. However, it would be wrong for me to say anything about the European Council while my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister is there.
§ Q2. Mr. Michael Martinasked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 30 June.
§ Mr. WakehamI have been asked to reply.
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
§ Mr. MartinIn Scotland we have legislation for the poll tax. The financial director for Glasgow has stated that at today's rates in Glasgow it would cost every household member aged 18 and over £292. That means that some families who are the poorest of the poor will have to pay in excess of £1,000. As a former Whip, will the right hon. Gentleman assure the House that when the English legislation comes up every Tory Member will go into the Division Lobby in favour of the English poll tax?
§ Mr. WakehamI must say that the revelations of what the poll tax will be in some Socialist-controlled local authority areas relate to the level of spending of those local authorities more than anything else. The community charge will not be unfair, because 69 per cent. of single pensioners and 83 per cent. of one-parent families will be better off. There will be generous rebates of up to 80 per cent. for all those on low incomes. Income support levels will be increased to reflect the average charge. The severely mentally handicapped and old people living in homes and hospitals will also be exempt. That amounts to millions of people.
§ Mr. ForthDoes my right hon. Friend recollect the clamour in Scotland when the rating revaluation took place there? Is he aware of the concern that would he aroused in England if rates were continued and a rating revaluation inevitably took place? Will he give an undertaking to the House that the Government will honour their manifesto commitment and give the people of England the benefits of the community charge that have already been given to people in Scotland?
§ Mr. WakehamMy hon. Friend goes right to the heart of the matter. The existing domestic rating system is unfair and discredited. Local authorities are not properly accountable to ratepayers. Out of 35 million electors in England, only 18 million are liable to pay rates, and only 372 12 million pay them directly and in full. As my hon. Friend points out, a revaluation would bring chaos and would not restore accountability.
§ Q3. Mr. Tony Lloydasked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 30 June.
§ Mr. WakehamI have been asked to reply.
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
§ Mr. LloydWill the Leader of the House confirm that the poll tax, when applied, will mean that a working spouse will be legally responsible for the poll tax of the non-working partner? Will he confirm that a married pensioner couple will end up paying two poll taxes? Will he further confirm that the poorest people will end up having to pay some of this disgraceful charge?
§ Mr. WakehamI have already said that the community charge will be payable by all adults except those who are exempt, for example the severely mentally handicapped and old people living in homes and hospitals. People on low incomes will receive generous rebates and income support will be increased to cover the average charge.
§ Mr. Beaumont-DarkDoes my right hon. Friend agree that most of us are looking forward to the reintroduction of the Criminal Justice Bill so that when judges pass too soft sentences those sentences may be reviewed? At the same time does he agree that it is important that we reexamine what is the use of reasonable force by people defending themselves, their homes and families against thugs and burglars? Is it not time that the law was changed so that it was more on the side of the victim than that of the villain?
§ Mr. WakehamThe Government will continue to make the fight against crime one of our top priorities. We have already reintroduced the Criminal Justice Bill, which, among other things, will ensure that lenient sentences can be referred to the Court of Appeal. I shall ensure that my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has a note of my hon. Friend's other questions.
§ Q4. Mr. Ernie Rossasked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 30 June.
§ Mr. WakehamI have been asked to reply.
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
§ Mr. RossWill the Leader of the House take time today to end the press speculation rife in Scotland to the effect that the Ministry of Defence does not intend to award the contract that it promised 18 months ago to Scott Lithgow on the lower Clyde? Is he aware that this will not only add to the lengthening dole queues there, but will end Scott Lithgow as a shipyard on the Clyde?
§ Mr. WakehamI do not think that it is right for me at this Dispatch Box to end speculation, but I shall ensure that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence makes an announcement as soon as possible.
§ Mr. Nicholas BakerWill my right hon. Friend do what he can to encourage the moderate elements in the teaching profession to raise professional standards? Does he agree that Mr. Fred Jarvis and the NUT reckon to do for education what Mr. Arthur Scargill and the NUM have done for coal?
§ Mr. WakehamMy hon. Friend is right in saying that we want a teaching profession which is professional in its standards, is properly paid and meets the challenges of the end of this century and of the next century. We shall introduce a major Education Bill in this Session to deal with many of those matters.
§ Q5. Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jonesasked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 30 June.
§ Mr. WakehamI have been asked to reply.
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
§ Mr. JonesWill the Lord Privy Seal look at press reports published at the weekend, which showed that NIREX was looking for possible sites to dump nuclear waste in my constituency of Ynys Môn, and in Wales generally? Will he assure the House that there will he no dumping of nuclear waste in any part of Wales, bearing in mind what happened in various marginal constituencies in England just before the general election?
§ Mr. WakehamI sat for many months in my previous incarnation in the House unable to utter a word about NIREX. I refer the hon. Gentleman to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment, and I shall not add anything more to that.
§ Q6. Mr. Hunterasked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 30 June.
§ Mr. WakehamI have been asked to reply.
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
§ Mr. HunterWill my right hon. Friend comment on the recently published London Business School economic outlook, which predicts four years of solid economic growth, a sustained fall in unemployment and subdued inflation? Is this not further proof of the success of the Government's economic strategy?
§ Mr. WakehamMy hon. Friend is right to draw attention to the report. It is another example of increasing confidence in Britain, bringing greater economic growth and prosperity. When my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer goes to NEDC later this week, he may wish to refer to the seventh successive year of growth. with gross domestic product at record levels. In 1986, inflation was at its lowest for more than 20 years. Our growth is faster than that of all the major EEC countries, and investment growth has achieved nearly 4 per cent. a year since the 1983 election.
§ Q8. Mr. Michael Brownasked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 30 June.
§ Mr. WakehamI have been asked to reply.
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
§ Mr. BrownDo the Government have any plans, if not in this Session certainly during the lifetime of this Parliament, to reform the national dock labour scheme, which is the antithesis of what the Government stand for?
§ Mr. WakehamI have nothing to say on that subject at present, but I shall refer it to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State.