§ Q1. Mr. AshbyTo ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 15 November.
§ The Prime Minister (Mrs. Margaret Thatcher)This morning I presided at a meeting of the Cabinet and had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall be having further meetings later today, including one with Chief Buthelezi.
§ Mr. AshbyIs my right hon. Friend aware that in 1983, when I was elected to the House, unemployment in my constituency was 16 per cent. but is now 3.2 per cent., despite losing its major industry of coal mining? Is she further aware that a recent study showed that there is more employment and greater prosperity than ever before? Is not that a reflection of experience throughout the country?
§ The Prime MinisterI am glad to hear that my hon. Friend's constituency is doing so well after eleven and a half years of Conservative Government: long may it 704 continue. We have the lowest unemployment rate in the Community, with the exception of Luxembourg. We have created some 2 million jobs since we took office and the future will depend very much on precisely how people run their businesses and keep their costs competitive.
§ Mr. KinnockWill the Prime Minister confirm that the Madrid conditions were imposed upon her by resignation threats from the then Foreign Secretary and the then Chancellor of the Exchequer?
§ The Prime MinisterOur undertaking to join the exchange rate mechanism stems from as far back as 1979, as the right hon. Gentleman will see if he looks at some of the manifestos of that period.
§ Mr. KinnockMy question was specific, and so was the recollection of the right hon. and learned Member for Surrey, East (Sir G. Howe), with the obvious assent of the right hon. Member for Blaby (Mr. Lawson). Is the Prime Minister telling us that there were no resignation threats on the issue of the Madrid conditions?
§ The Prime MinisterI am telling you, Mr. Speaker, that the exchange rate mechanism undertaking is very long standing. The right hon. Gentleman will have heard from the Dispatch Box many times that we would join when the time was right; we did join when the time was right, and no one has really been able to criticise that with validity.
§ Mr. Teddy TaylorIs the Prime Minister aware that local education authorities in Britain last year spent £18.6 billion? Is she further aware that, if the share carried by the poll tax were transferred to national taxation, according to the House of Commons Library it would mean an increase in income tax of 20 per cent., or more than 5p in the pound? Does the Prime Minister agree that anyone who claims that educational spending could be transferred from local councils to the Government without a huge increase in national taxation must be a political joker?
§ The Prime MinisterIf all education costs were transferred to central Government and the grant were left with local government, it would mean a huge increase in income tax—as my hon. Friend has said—or a substantial reduction in the moneys available for other services, such as health, pensions, defence and law and order. There would be either a big increase in income tax or a substantial reduction in other public expenditure. The alternative is to take away the grant from local authorities, which in fact greatly exceeds the amount spent on education.
§ Mr. AshdownDoes the Prime Minister recall saying to the London Standard, exactly five years ago yesterday, that she would "go in 5 years"? Does she recall her words at that time? She said:
then I would have been in 11½years",adding that the time would then have come for someone else to "carry the torch"? What has changed her mind?
§ The Prime MinisterI confess that that was not the foremost thought in my mind at the present time. After three general election victories, leading, as I do, the only party with clear policies—resolutely carried out—I intend to continue.
§ Mrs. Ann WintertonIs my right hon. Friend aware how disastrous it would be for the United Kingdom 705 clothing and textile industries if the multi-fibre arrangement were phased out before we had achieved a real and effective strengthening of GATT rules and disciplines, which, at a conservative estimate, would take at least a decade?
§ The Prime MinisterWe must negotiate those things at the GATT talks. If we do not extend freedom of trade, many of our exports will be denied admission by third-world countries. In the past, textile quotas in one country have deliberately prevented it from making orders for other commodities—especially in engineering—from this country. We must negotiate that at GATT, and we intend to do so.
§ Q2. Mr. Harry BarnesTo ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 15 November.
§ The Prime MinisterI refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
§ Mr. BarnesWill the Prime Minister tell us who and what is fiddling the franchise in England, Scotland and Wales, where there is a shortfall of 600,000 on the electoral register? Will she also tell us who and what is fiddling the franchise in Finchley, where 8.5 per cent. have gone missing from the register in the past two years? That is equivalent to 32 people missing from an electorate of 372, however sophisticated or unsophisticated that electorate is. Are not the "who" the Prime Minister's current Government and former Governments—no matter who were members of those Governments—and the "what" the poll tax, which is unreformable in relation to the electoral register?
§ The Prime MinisterLocal residents have a duty to register for the electoral roll and for the community charge, and they also have a duty to pay the community charge. Those who do not do so are passing their burden on to their neighbours while nevertheless expecting to have all local authority benefits.
§ Mr. ArbuthnotDoes my right hon. Friend agree that the agreement on conventional forces in Europe, which she will sign in Paris next week, represents an historic step forward in arms control? Does she agree that, if the west had not maintained its resolute stand, led by her Government, that would never have been achieved?
§ The Prime MinisterRepresentatives of 35 nations will be at the conference in Paris, where we shall sign that excellent agreement. It is very beneficial to this country. It removes from us the danger of a surprise attack. It reduces the forces that we will have to keep in Europe. I agree with my hon. Friend that none of that would have been possible but for a resolute defence and, in particular, the stationing of cruise and Pershing missiles, Britain being the first to do so.
§ Q3. Mr. Jack ThompsonTo ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 15 November.
§ The Prime MinisterI refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
§ Mr. ThompsonBecause in normal circumstances two heads are better than one, will the Prime Minister consider seeking the help of her right hon. Friend the Member for Henley (Mr. Heseltine) to sort out the poll tax problems?
§ The Prime MinisterMy right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment had a review of the community charge and made an announcement. All the effects have not yet come into action. Further orders following the announcement of that review are soon to be laid before the House. There will be some benefits from the extra transitional charge and from the £2.55 billion extra money that was allocated to the revenue support grant which goes to local authorities. All those measures have yet to come into effect.
§ Sir Hal MillerAt a time when people are trying to spread doom and gloom about our manufacturing industry, will my right hon. Friend reflect on the performance of the motor industry which, even last month, increased production, exports and investment? Will my right hon. Friend please support that success by ensuring that our continental partners do not impose limits on the export of cars made in this country?
§ The Prime MinisterYes, to both parts of my hon. Friend's question. The British car industry is doing extremely well—better than it has done for many years. I think that Rover is the only company in Europe that is working 24 hours a day. It still has a waiting list for some of its products. That is an enormous change from when it was a nationalised industry. Cars are also exported from Ellesmere Port, which is very good. We shall do precisely what my hon. Friend wishes and try to ensure that all cars made in this country are freely exported and circulated around the European Community.
§ Mr. FauldsIn view of the somewhat sleazy appointments of some of the trustees to the boards of national institutions and in view of Gerald Ronson's conviction, what does the Prime Minister intend to do to take him off the board of the natural history museum?
§ The Prime MinisterAll appointments to national institutions are made carefully, as the hon. Gentleman is well aware, and they will continue to be made carefully. People—the overwhelming majority—do a great service for those institutions.
§ Q4. Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 15 November.
§ The Prime MinisterI refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
§ Mr. HinchliffeI should like to draw the Prime Minister's attention to the plight of many people in private care homes. As her Government have cut income support payments to those residents in real terms and as her Government intend to end housing benefit payments to those residents, what advice does the right hon. Lady have for those elderly and disabled people who face the prospect of going down market to cheaper, inferior accommodation or becoming homeless as a direct result of her Government's policies?
§ The Prime MinisterThis Government have increased enormously the amount of taxpayers' money available for residential homes and for nursing homes. If the hon. 707 Gentleman looks up the figures, he will find that for every £1 Labour spent on those people in those homes, this Government are spending something over £100. It is a very good record.
§ Mr. Bill WalkerIs my right hon. Friend aware that when she came into office as Prime Minister in 1979, spinning mills and canning factories in my constituency had closed under the previous Labour Government and that in the small town where I live, almost 600 people found themselves out of work? Today, the unemployment level in that area is about 4 per cent. and take-home pay has increased by more than 25 per cent. over the rate of inflation. Does not that show that my right hon. Friend has done the right thing for Scotland and for the Scottish people?
§ The Prime MinisterWe have not only the highest number ever of people in jobs in this country but the right background for enterprise to flourish and the lowest unemployment rate in the whole of Europe, with the exception of Luxembourg. It is a very good record. Added to that, we have the highest standard of living that we have ever achieved.
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. I inadvertently called two Opposition Members running, so I shall balance it up. I call Mr. Brazier.
§ Mr. BrazierDoes my right hon. Friend agree that the EC Ministers passed a resolute resolution on the Gulf crisis at the previous summit, but that when it comes to action, we see, once again, that Britain is proving to be the best European?
§ The Prime MinisterBoth the United Nations and the European Community have passed excellent resolutions making it quite clear that Iraq must leave Kuwait and that the legitimate Government and the normal way of life in Kuwait must be restored. It is not the United Nations that can put its resolutions into effect, but the separate countries—those countries that have kept their armed forces fully up to date, flexible and able to go anywhere at short notice. In Europe, this country leads.
§ Q5. Mr. DarlingTo ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 15 November.
§ The Prime MinisterI refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
§ Mr. DarlingThe Prime Minister will be aware that her right hon. Friend the Member for Henley (Mr. Heseltine) suggested that the poll tax is capable of a fundamental review—despite the fact that he voted for the poll tax for Scotland. He must have changed his mind 12 months later, but I suppose that that is another matter. Does the Prime Minister consider that the poll tax is capable of a fundamental review or does she accept that the only fundamental review that it needs is complete repeal, which will be undertaken by the next Labour Government?
§ The Prime MinisterThere was a fundamental review whose results have yet to show through in the poll tax or community charge payments next spring. I understand that the Opposition are going back to rates. They will have to have a revaluation after 17 years and the effects on people will be utterly devastating.
§ Q6. Mr. LawrenceTo ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 15 November.
§ The Prime MinisterI refer my hon. and learned Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
§ Mr. LawrenceWhen my right hon. Friend speaks for Britain at the Helsinki review conference next week in Paris, which will be attended by the other world leaders, will she ensure that the momentum in human rights that earlier conferences built up, so that human rights were introduced into the Soviet Union and into the eastern European countries, will be maintained?
§ The Prime MinisterI agree with my hon. and learned Friend that that development was one of the tremendous benefits of the Helsinki accord. It took a long time to show through, although we had increased Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union for some time, which then went down. It meant that those who were fighting for human rights in the eastern European countries and in the Soviet Union knew that they were not alone, and that we could and did inquire regularly of the Soviet Union and of the eastern European countries on their behalf. That was very, very beneficial indeed. We will continue to keep up all our beliefs in human rights and we will constantly raise questions about them. I hope, when I return from that conference in Paris, to make a statement to the House about it next Wednesday.