HC Deb 04 April 1995 vol 257 cc1521-3
Q1. Mr. Robert Hughes

To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 4 April. [16033]

The Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons (Mr. Tony Newton)

I have been asked to reply. [HoN. MEMBERS: "Oh."] I am grateful to OppositionMembers.

My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister is currently on an official visit to the United States.

Mr. Hughes

Is the Leader of the House aware of the sad plight of about 3,000 haemophiliacs who have contracted hepatitis C from contaminated blood used in their ordinary treatment? Do the Government accept the overwhelming moral responsibility that exists and the case for a hardship and compensation fund? When the Prime Minister returns from America, will the Leader of the House ask him to have a word with the Secretary of State for Health and tell her to stop resisting that claim and allow justice to be done?

Mr. Newton

The straightforward answer to the first part of the hon. Gentleman's question is that of course I am aware of that tragic position. Indeed, I had some experience of a related one when I was Minister for Health and there was the problem of haemophiliacs with AIDS. I will, of course, do as the hon. Gentleman requests and bring his question to the attention of not only my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister but my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health.

Mr. Knapman

I congratulate my right hon. Friend on Scotland's continuing success in attracting inward investment. Might that in any way be prejudiced by Opposition parties' policies with regard to devolution?

Mr. Newton

It is certainly the case that all the signs are that Scotland has just enjoyed another record year for inward investment. I understand that it is attracting inward investment projects at the rate of about 100 a year, examples being Motorola at East Kilbride and NEC at Livingston. One thing is certain: that inward investment is coming as a result of Conservative policies and would be put off by Labour policies.

Mr. Prescott

Can the right hon. Gentleman tell me why, if the economy is now so strong that the Prime Minister can offer tax cuts in November 1995 and November 1996, taxes are going up again on Thursday?

Mr. Newton

The right hon. Gentleman well knows that taxes have had to be increased as part of a number of difficult decisions to bring about recovery from recession and the sustained economic growth that is now going on. As my right hon. Friend said once again at the weekend, as those policies pay off we shall seek to reduce taxes as soon as it is prudent to do so. The one thing that everyone in the country knows is that a Labour Government never have, and never will, reduce taxation.

Mr. Prescott

Is it not the case that the Government are taking £800 a year in new taxes now, so that at the next general election the Tories can bribe us with our own money? Does the right hon. Gentleman not understand that the British people now know that, when it comes to tax, you can never trust a Tory?

Mr. Newton

I hope that the right hon. Gentleman will reflect on two facts. The first is that, on average, households are expected to be about £250 better off this year than last, even after tax and inflation, and the second, on which I hope he will reflect, is that, if we had maintained the tax regime that we inherited from the last Labour Government, more than 1 million more people would be paying tax next year.

Sir Patrick Cormack

Does my right hon. Friend agree that middle England is not a land that takes kindly to political correctness or positive discrimination? Will he give a firm assurance that under the Conservatives it will never have to submit to either?

Mr. Newton

I think that I can safely give my hon. Friend that assurance in general terms, but I would want to look carefully at each specific proposition.

Q2. Mr. Pearson

To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 4 April. [16034]

Mr. Newton

I have been asked to reply.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave some moments ago.

Mr. Pearson

Now that the Prime Minister has promised tax cuts in November, will the Leader of the House say whether that is a real promise or the sort of promise that the Chancellor makes on a wet night in Dudley?

Mr. Newton

It is a point that is reflected in the fact that one in five taxpayers now pays tax at the lower rate of 20p in the pound compared with the basic rate which stood at 33 per cent. when the Labour party was in office. That point is also reflected in the fact that last year's increased allowances for pensioners took 190,000 people out of taxation—many of them, no doubt, in Dudley.

Q3. Mr. Harry Greenway

To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 4 April. [16035]

Mr. Newton

I have been asked to reply.

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave some moments ago.

Mr. Greenway

Is my right hon. Friend aware that there are 56,000 asylum applications awaiting decision? Are not bogus asylum applications damaging to the prospects of honest and true immigrants as well as damaging to race relations? Will my right hon. Friend do something about it? [Interruption.]

Madam Speaker

Order. The House must settle down.

Mr. Newton

My right hon. and learned Friend the Home Secretary has already announced measures to speed up the processing of asylum applications to deal with the backlog. As a result, 7,000 more cases will be processed every year. My hon. Friend will be aware of, and no doubt welcome, the fact that my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister made it clear last weekend that there will be a new Bill in the autumn to tighten up the asylum rules further. I believe that that will be widely welcomed, as it is, as my hon. Friend said, in the interests of good race relations.