PMQT Written Answers – 25 April 1995
Below is the text of the written answers relating to Prime Minister’s Question Time from 25th April 1995.
PRIME MINISTER:
Engagements
Sir Peter Tapsell: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 25 April.
Mr. Harry Greenway: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 25 April 1995.
The Prime Minister: This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in this House, I shall be having further meetings later today.
Downing Street Admissions
Mr. Tony Banks: To ask the Prime Minister (1) how many individuals accompanying delegations of hon. Members were refused admission to Downing Street on 19 April; and on what grounds they were refused entry;
(2) what dress restrictions govern admission of individuals to Downing Street;
(3) when the decision was taken to restrict delegations to 10 Downing Street to six people; who took it; and if he will list all restrictions applying to hon. Members.
The Prime Minister: Three members of the public were refused entry to Downing Street on 19 April because they were dressed as foxes. Since 1980s, if petitioners have wished to wear costume, it has been the practice to restrict admission to those wearing national dress or working uniforms. This is to maintain the dignity of the street and its surroundings. Delegations are normally restricted to six people in order to ensure the staff in the street can cope during busy periods.
There are no written restrictions on access to the street by hon. Members, but entry must remain at the discretion of the police on duty.
VE Day Commemorations
Mr. Mackinlay: To ask the Prime Minister if he will state which of the VE commemorations Her Majesty the Queen will be participating in the United Kingdom and overseas as (i) Head of State of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, (ii) head of all those countries of which she is Head of State, (iii) Head of the Commonwealth and (iv) on which combination of (i) to (iii) above; and if he will make a statement.
The Prime Minister: Her Majesty the Queen, who is Head of the Commonwealth, will be participating in the VE day commemorations in the United Kingdom as Head of State of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Her Majesty will not participate in VE day commemorations outside the United Kingdom.
Governor-Generals
Mr. Mackinlay: To ask the Prime Minister on whose advice governor-generals make visits in their capacity as representatives of Her Majesty the Queen to overseas countries; and if he will make a statement.
The Prime Minister: Governor-generals make official visits to overseas countries in their capacity as representative of Her Majesty the Queen on the advice of her Ministers in the realm concerned.
Mr. Mackinlay: To ask the Prime Minister if the governor-generals of the countries of which Her Majesty is Head of State are deemed for the purpose of the VE commemorations to be Head of State in their own right; and if he will make a statement.
The Prime Minister: The only governor-general of Her Majesty’s other realms who is expected to attend the VE day commemorations in London on 6 and 7 May is the Governor-General of Jamaica. He will attend in his capacity as Her Majesty’s representative in Jamaica on behalf of the people of that country.
Her Majesty the Queen
Mr. Mackinlay: To ask the Prime Minister (1) if a state visit made by an overseas Head of State to Britain is a visit to (a) Her Majesty the Queen as Head of State of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, (b) Great Britain hosted by Her Majesty the Queen, (c) Her Majesty the Queen as Head of State of all those countries of which she is Head of State, (d) Her Majesty the Queen as Head of the Commonwealth or (e) in a combination of the above.
(2) if on the occasion of the state visit of (a) the President of Zimbabwe in May 1994 and (b) the King and Queen of Norway in July 1994, the Queen received these guests in her capacity as (i) Head of State of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, (ii) Head of State of all those countries of which she is Head of State, (iii) as Head of the Commonwealth on (iv) or which combination of (i) to (iii) above; and if he will make a statement.
The Prime Minister: State visitors to the United Kingdom are invited by Her Majesty the Queen, who is Head of the Commonwealth, as Head of State of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, on behalf of the nation as a whole following consultation with her Ministers in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Mackinlay: To ask the Prime Minister (1) by what method and which Heads of government the Queen is advised before and during an official visit to republics where she is making the visit as Head of State and not merely as the Head of State of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.
(2) on the occasion of the visit by Her Majesty the Queen to Russia in October 1994 and South Africa in March 1995, if the Queen was received in her capacity as
(i) Head of State of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,
(ii) Head of State of all those countries of which she is Head of State,
(iii) as Head of the Commonwealth, or
(iv) on which combination of (i) to (iii) above; and if he will make a statement.
The Prime Minister: Her Majesty the Queen makes official visits overseas in her capacity as Head of State of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, on the advice of her Ministers in the United Kingdom unless the visit is to one of Her Majesty’s other realms. In those latter cases, her visit is as Head of State of the realm concerned, and is made on the advice of her Ministers in that realm.