§ Q24. Mrs. Wiseasked the Prime Minister what criteria he uses in selecting the functions at which he makes public statements of Government policy; and which of these he applied to his recent speech at the annual dinner of the Birmingham Chamber of Industry and Commerce, critical of workers at British Leyland and Chrysler.
§ The Prime MinisterI apply no fixed criteria for accepting invitations to functions at which I make public statements of Government policy but make a choice depending on the appropriateness of the occasion and the time I have available. In commenting on labour relations in the motor industry at the annual dinner of the Birmingham Chamber of Industry and Commerce, I emphasised views which I have made clear on a number of public occasions, including a speech in my constituency on 3rd January 1975.