Opposition Parties (Access to Civil Service) (Hansard, 29 April 1991)

HC Deb 29 April 1991 vol 190 cc31-2W 31W

§ Mr. Kirkwood
To ask the Prime Minister whether he will consider allowing opposition parties equal access to civil servants and publicity budgets to enable them to prepare and publicise their own policies.

§ The Prime Minister
No. By long-standing convention, civil service time and Government publicity budgets are not used for party political purposes.
32W

§ Mr. Kirkwood
To ask the Prime Minister what discussions he has had with the civil service trade unions regarding the effectiveness of the rules set out in the Armstrong memorandum of December 1987 on the propriety of publishing party political material using civil servants' time.

§ The Prime Minister
None.