§ Q1. Mr. Roger EvansTo ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 4 November.
§ The Prime Minister (Mr. John Major)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.
§ Mr. EvansDoes my right hon. Friend agree that the appropriate conditions and criteria for adoption policy should be common sense and the interests of children, not the curse of politically correct thinking? Will my right hon. Friend join me in congratulating the Secretary of State for Health on her statement yesterday that makes a clear preference in adoption policy for married couples?
§ The Prime MinisterI am certainly happy to congratulate my right hon. Friend on her statement yesterday. I agree with what my hon. Friend has to say about the importance of common sense in adoption policy. There is no place for ideology in adoption; it is not about social engineering but about providing loving homes for children in need.
§ Mr. John SmithCan the Prime Minister tell us whether, following the discussions in Belfast yesterday and the reported comments by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, there is unlikely to be an early resumption of all-party talks among the constitutional parties in Northern Ireland? After the tragic events of recent days, is not there an inescapable moral obligation on all the constitutional parties in Northern Ireland to co-operate in a new dialogue without hesitation or reservation, and for the Government to make that point clearly and firmly to them all?
§ The Prime MinisterI very much hope that it will be possible for the talks to resume, and I shall be meeting the leaders of all the constitutional parties over the next few days. My right hon. and learned Friend and I certainly hope to resume those talks as speedily as possible.
§ Mr. John SmithWhile I appreciate the importance that was rightly attached to dialogue between the Governments and to a proper response to the initiative taken by the Irish Government recently, will the Prime Minister assure the House that he will take the lead at the 512 earliest opportunity to call together the constitutional parties so that what might be a window of opportunity is not lost?
§ The Prime MinisterAs I said to the right hon. and learned Gentleman, I am seeing the leaders of the parties individually in the hope that we can map out a suitable ground so that the talks can resume. I very much hope that that will be possible. However, I do not want an artificially staged event where the talks are called together with no probability of making progress. In my private discussions with the leaders of the constitutional parties, I hope that we can find a way through that will enable talks to resume with a practical chance of proper progress.
§ Q2. Mr. Nigel EvansTo ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 4 November.
§ The Prime MinisterI refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave some moments ago.
§ Mr. EvansDid my right hon. Friend see an article on social security fraud in the Daily Express last week, which estimated social security fraud to be somewhere in the region of £5 billion? It mentioned multiple applications using false identities, phantom children and minicab moonlighting. Will my right hon. Friend give an assurance to the House today that he will take whatever action is necessary to stamp out social security fraud, including the use of ID cards for claimants?
§ The Prime MinisterLike my hon. Friend, I am attracted to the principle of identity cards to combat social security fraud. Of course, there are some practical and serious issues that need to be resolved, but I assure my hon. Friend that we are examining the matter extremely carefully. We will certainly keep up the pressure on social security fraud. We refer to it as fraud, but in practice it is theft from the taxpayer.
§ Mr. AshdownThe Prime Minister has a justified reputation for his skill as a negotiator—[Interruption.] Does he realise—[Interruption.]
§ Madam SpeakerOrder. A number of hon. Members are hoping to be called and such interruptions are very time consuming.
§ Mr. AshdownDoes the right hon. Gentleman realise how important it is that he should take personal charge of Britain's efforts to achieve peace in Northern Ireland? In the light of his remarks a moment ago, is that what he has decided to do?
§ The Prime MinisterI am certainly taking a very direct interest, together with my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, in the possibility of moving towards a proper peace in Northern Ireland. By that, I do not just mean a temporary ceasefire. What the people of Northern Ireland need and deserve is a permanent end to the hostilities and movement towards a proper constitutional structure for local government within Northern Ireland. On the question of negotiation, that is rather like poker—it is best to keep one's hand to oneself for as long as possible.
§ Q3. Mr. MilliganTo ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 4 November.
§ The Prime MinisterI refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave some moments ago.
§ Mr. MilliganDoes my right hon. Friend agree that it is hardly surprising that football hooliganism is so prevalent in this country when Labour Members provide the role model that they did during last night's debate? They used lavatorial antics to divert attention away from some of the real issues that should have been debated—in particular, the future of the railway pension fund.
Will my right hon. Friend repeat the assurance that railway pensioners will continue to enjoy precisely the same benefits as they have hitherto and that on the one outstanding issue the Government will continue to seek the agreement of the railway trustees and report back to this House before orders introducing the new pension fund are laid?
§ The Prime MinisterThere were some unusual scenes last night, but perhaps it is best not to dwell on them—not least because I wish to spare the embarrassment of the Opposition Chief Whip and his colleagues.
On my hon. Friend's substantive point, the Government remain committed to protecting the security of the pension rights of existing, deferred and future British Rail pensioners affected by our privatisation proposals. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport has made that clear on innumerable occasions and I am happy to make it clear yet again this afternoon.
§ Mr. MallonWill the Prime Minister confirm that the objective of his talks with the Irish Prime Minister, Mr. Reynolds, is to facilitate an agreement among the divided people of Ireland that can command the respect of each sector of that diversity and command the support of everyone within the island of Ireland?
§ The Prime MinisterThe Taoiseach and I have made clear our view of the direction in which the talks need to go and what needs to be achieved. It is helpful that the principle of consent has now been acknowledged for Northern Ireland. That is vital if progress is to be made. It is a noticeable advance—as, indeed, was the speech of the Tanaiste last week.
§ Q4. Mr. DuncanTo ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 4 November.
§ The Prime MinisterI refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave some moments ago.
§ Mr. DuncanDoes my right hon. Friend agree that political correctness, so called, has become a pernicious exercise in social engineering that undermines traditional decencies and codes of conduct? Can he confirm that we are the party of "Mrs", "Miss" and "Chairman" and that we will have nothing to do with anyone who describes himself as "Chairperson", "Chairholder" or "Chair"?
§ The Prime MinisterIn the House we have a Madam Speaker. I believe that that is right.
§ Mr. CanavanIs it true that the Government are now considering another U-turn and, introducing a Bill to abolish the House of Lords?
§ The Prime MinisterNo.
§ Q5. Mr. John GreenwayTo ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 4 November.
§ The Prime MinisterI refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave some moments ago.
§ Mr. GreenwayDoes my hon. Friend agree that in the 10 years since British Telecom became a private company, it has become more efficient, offers greatly improved services and now, under the pressure of competition, is reducing its prices? Is not it a fact that that has been achieved because of privatisation? Does my right hon. Friend share my hope that one day those who opposed the privatisation will admit that they were wrong?
§ The Prime MinisterI live in hope, but perhaps not quite as much hope as that. There is no doubt that privatisation has produced better services from BT—prices have fallen dramatically, there are more payphones, in better condition and more speedily repaired when vandalised, and installations are carried out more efficiently. With the solitary exception of the Labour party, everyone recognises the improvements brought about by privatisation. Perhaps that is a little unfair to the Labour party; I neglected to mention that the Liberal Democrats are another exception.
§ Q6. Mrs. AdamsTo ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 4 November.
§ The Prime MinisterI refer the hon. Lady to the answer I gave some moments ago.
§ Mrs. AdamsDoes the Prime Minister recall that the last time I asked him a question in Parliament, I asked him to give a guarantee that he would not increase value added tax? The Prime Minister gave me his word that he would not. He has since broken his promise and increased VAT by putting it on domestic fuel, which will undoubtedly cause great hardship to many pensioners and ordinary families. Why did the Prime Minister give me, and the country, his word and then not keep it?
§ The Prime MinisterFrom the innumerable times that this question has been answered, the hon. Lady knows that we will protect people who are vulnerable. She would be well advised to wait until she hears what those protection measures will be.
§ Q7. Mr. Harry GreenwayTo ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 4 November.
§ The Prime MinisterI refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave some moments ago.
§ Mr. GreenwayDoes my right hon. Friend remember the unlamented Greater London council, with its very high taxation on Londoners and its massive and damaging bureaucracy? Has he heard the calls for higher taxation for Londoners, on cinema seats, on videos, on tourists, on businesses, on jobs and on much else? Is he aware that calls for a mark 2 Greater London council, and a large number of taxes in a wide range of areas, are now being made by the ever-loony Labour party?
§ The Prime MinisterOver the last few weeks the hon. Member for Dunfermline, East (Mr. Brown), on a national level, has moved the Labour party's position from no more taxes, to some more taxes, to lots more taxes. It is hardly surprising that in London the Labour party wants more 515 layers of bureaucracy; it also wants it in the regions, in Scotland and in Wales. It is not the way to produce efficient government, but it is their policy.
§ Q8. Mr. TylerTo ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 4 November.
§ The Prime MinisterI refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave some moments ago.
§ Mr. TylerDoes the Prime Minister recall visiting north Cornwall exactly nine months ago to the day and promising my constituents that he would take action to halt the inexorable rise in water and sewage charges—not this year or next year but as soon as he possibly could, and certainly not at the end of the century? How does the right hon. Gentleman reconcile that undertaking with the United Kingdom's £500 million contribution to the EC cohesion fund, which will be used to clean up the water and sewage problems of Portugal, Greece and Spain?
§ The Prime MinisterI begin to suspect that it must be 1 April. The hon. Gentleman should remember his party's remarks about the cohesion fund at the time that we debated the matter and the moral support that it gave the richer nations of Europe in providing a cohesion fund for the smaller nations. This is yet another example of the Liberals saying one thing in one place and something else in another.
§ Q9. Mr. SykesTo ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 4 November.
§ The Prime MinisterI refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave some moments ago.
§ Mr. SykesWill my right hon. Friend join me in congratulating my right hon. and learned Friend the Home Secretary on his announcement yesterday about sending squatters to gaol if they do not leave the premises in question within a specified time limit?
§ The Prime MinisterMy right hon. and learned Friend has set out some proposals to deal with that problem, which has been a frustration for many people for far too long. Some time ago, we indicated that we would take firm action to deal with the problem. My right hon. and learned Friend has now set out our proposals.
§ Mr. BarronWill the Prime Minister explain to the House and to the country how his Government got into a shambolic mess yesterday over the railways privatisation Bill? Despite those events, next week and the week after five sitting days will not be used.
§ The Prime MinisterI do not know where the hon. Gentleman was last night, but clearly he was not in the real world, in here. The leader of the Labour party speaks fine words about the need to improve standards in public life, but he let some of his colleagues below the Gangway behave in a way that disgraced Parliament.