The Rt. Hon. Sir John Major KG CH

Category: Prime Minister (1990-1997)

  • PMQT – 16 April 1991

    Below is the text of Prime Minister’s Question Time from 16th April 1991.

    PRIME MINISTER

     

    Engagements

    Q1. Sir Anthony Durant : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 16 April.

    The Prime Minister (Mr. John Major) : This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall be having further meetings later today.

    Sir Anthony Durant : May I congratulate my right hon. Friend on his four-point initiative to deal with the Kurds and Shi’ites, especially the safe haven proposals, which are important? Will he work hard with the agencies to improve aid to the Shi’ites and Kurds and push the United Nations to implement resolutions 678 and 688 so that the Kurds and Shi’ites can return in confidence to their towns and villages and thereby stop this appalling situation?

    The Prime Minister : I am grateful to my hon. Friend. Hundreds of tonnes of aid have already been delivered, of which 220 tonnes have come from the United Kingdom. In addition to the three C130s already there, nine Chinook helicopters operating from Turkey will be fully operational by the end of the week. The two special representatives of the secretary-general are in Iraq and by the end of the week 150 United Nations personnel will be in Iraq to oversee the relief effort. Urgent and intensive international discussions are continuing on a safe haven plan, which I and others believe is the only way forward. Indeed, I believe that it is rapidly gaining ground. Later today, I shall chair a further meeting of Ministers to take stock of aid needs.

    Mr. Kinnock : May I strongly support the Prime Minister in the efforts being made to get aid to the wretched people who are fleeing from Saddam Hussein’s forces? As the agonies of the Kurdish people continue, will the right hon. Gentleman tell me whether he shares my view that the atrocities committed by Saddam Hussein against the Kurdish people mean that the Iraqi dictator has a case to answer under articles 2 and 3 of the genocide convention of 1948? Will the Prime Minister refer the issue of genocide to the United Nations Security Council as a matter of urgency?

    The Prime Minister : I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his first words. I have asked for legal advice on the subject of genocide.

    Mr. Teddy Taylor : As the strict budgetary controls of agricultural spending were effectively blow sky high last Monday when the Council of Ministers voted by 10 to two to go through the ceiling, will my right hon. Friend say what on earth we can do, or is agriculture entirely out of control? In congratulating him on Britain’s being one of the two who voted against, may I ask whether he will tell the consumers and taxpayers of Britain whether we can take any action to hold on to the strict budgetary controls for which we fought so hard?

    The Prime Minister : I agree with my hon. Friend about the importance of keeping strict budgetary control on agriculture and on other items of the European Community budget. We have consistently stuck to that position and we shall continue to argue for it in the Agriculture Council and the other Councils of the Community.

    Mr. Ashdown : Notwithstanding the Prime Minister’s welcome but long- term plans for Kurdish sanctuary in Iraq, does not our present air superiority provide a means and United Nations resolution 688 provide the authority for action now to prevent continuing genocide against the Kurds in Iraq? Is not the only thing lacking for action the political will and international leadership? Why does he still seem reluctant to provide either?

    The Prime Minister : As the right hon. Gentleman is aware, the only comprehensive international plan before the international community is the one that I announced to the European Community on Monday this week. As I said to the House a few moments ago, urgent and intensive international discussions on the plan are continuing at this moment.

    Mr. Churchill : I congratulate my right hon. Friend on his safe haven policies. Will he build on them as soon as possible with our colleagues and partners in the Security Council to ensure that, under United Nations auspices, forces are sent to both the north and south of Iraq to establish at the earliest possible opportunity safe havens into which Saddam Hussein’s armies will not be permitted to go?

    The Prime Minister : I have made it clear to our colleagues in the United Nations and elsewhere that, if the relief effort is harassed or frustrated, in my judgment, under Security Council resolution 688, it is clearly the responsibility of the United Nations to protect both helpers and helped. If necessary, the United Nations would have to act on that responsibility and seek from its members whatever assistance, including military assistance, it might need.

     

    Q2. Mr. Wray : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 16 April.

    The Prime Minister : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.

    Mr. Wray : The Prime Minister will be in no doubt that the question on everybody’s lips is about the disgraceful “Panorama” programme which made allegations that the Prime Minister used an accommodation address in Templar street in Lambeth to gain access to the electoral register, a seat on Lambeth council and thus win a seat at Westminster. Will he give an assurance that that accusation is untrue and what action is he about to take?

    The Prime Minister : The qualification for standing for Lambeth council was to be resident within the area. “Panorama” was told on more than one occasion by the lady whose address they gave that I was living in the area, directly opposite her house, at the time and that that fully met the qualification requirements. I cannot explain to the hon. Gentleman why “Panorama” chose not to broadcast that fact.

     

    Q3. Mr. Bowis : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 16 April.

    The Prime Minister : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.

    Mr. Bowis : Does my right hon. Friend agree that the success of his policies in bringing down inflation, interest rates and mortgage rates shows that the better way for Britain is the Conservative way to opportunity and that it is getting better and better as the months go by? Does he agree that that is why there is such disappointment on the Opposition Benches and such desperate calls for an early election?

    The Prime Minister : My hon. Friend is right. It is precisely because we were prepared to take tough action on inflation that it is now coming down fast and, as I forecast, interest rates are following it down. The economy will continue to improve in the months ahead and we will continue to extend opportunities by spreading wealth, ownership and choice. No other party in the country can offer that to the British people.

     

    Q4. Mr. Pike : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 16 April.

    The Prime Minister : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.

    Mr. Pike : Is not the Prime Minister concerned about the many thousands of struggling pensioners who get a pension increase and immediately lose income support and other transitional arrangements? Is not it time that he ended the practice of giving with one hand and immediately taking back with the other and started to give all pensioners a fair deal?

    The Prime Minister : If that were the policy of the Opposition, any pretence that they might have had of public expenditure control would have gone.

    Mr. John Greenway : Does my right hon. Friend agree that the next decade will be the decade of opportunity for young people, but that one opportunity that the House and the country would rather they did not take is the opportunity to commit crime? Does he agree that in national Crime Prevention Week the one major objective that we should seek is for young people to be deterred from criminal activity?

    The Prime Minister : I certainly agree with my hon. Friend. He will have noticed in particular the initiative on truancy taken this week.

     

    Q5. Mr. Patchett : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 16 April.

    The Prime Minister : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.

    Mr. Patchett : Does the Prime Minister feel comfortable with his policies, given the criticism from within his party, both inside and outside the House, or is he merely a victim of an enemy within?

    The Prime Minister : The hon. Gentleman will find that there are millions and millions of people outside the House who support our policies and who will vote for them.

    Mr. Maxwell-Hyslop : Will my right hon. Friend make an important and clear statement today that the British Government’s policy in support of the safety and security of Iraqi Kurds in Iraq is not support for Kurdish insurrection against successive Governments of Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran to form a separate state and that activity of that kind gives a spurious strength to the present Government of Iraq to take military action of a genocidal kind against Iraqi Kurds in Iraq?

    The Prime Minister : I have made it clear in the House on previous occasions that our concern in Iraq is to ensure that the Kurds are well treated, safe and protected from repression. That remains our policy.

     

    Cyprus

    Q6. Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Prime Minister, what discussions he has held with the Government of Turkey concerning their occupation of part of Cyprus.

    The Prime Minister : I met the Turkish Prime Minister yesterday and the President of Cyprus last week. My discussion yesterday with the Turkish Prime Minister concentrated on the plight of the Kurds. I urged him to help the international efforts to get the Kurds down from the mountains into areas of Turkey and Iraq where they can receive food and medicine. The Turkish Prime Minister and I spoke briefly about Cyprus later in the day.

    Mr. Corbyn : Perhaps the Prime Minister can tell us what discussions he had with the Prime Minister of Turkey. He must be aware that the British Government are a guarantor of Cypriot independence and that the 1974 invasion of Cyprus by Turkey was condemned by the United Nations. Does not he think that the aim should be the withdrawal of foreign troops from Cyprus and the reunification of the island, with guarantees from all communities to end the terrible time suffered by so many people through the division of the island by military intervention?

    The Prime Minister : I made it entirely clear to the Turkish Prime Minister that we supported the efforts being made by the secretary-general and we hoped that he would make progress speedily towards a satisfactory solution.

    Mr. Anthony Coombs : Will the Prime Minister confirm that Cyprus, a democratic member of the Commonwealth, is the only European country at present forcibly occupied by a foreign power? Does he agree that positive action is necessary to persuade Turkey that it is in its interest and in the interest of the regional stability of the eastern Mediterranean that the reunification of Cyprus as a stable and democratic country is implemented as soon as possible?

    The Prime Minister : I agree with my hon. Friend and the Turkish Government are aware that that is our policy.

     

    Engagements

    Q7. Mr. Wareing : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 16 April.

    The Prime Minister : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.

    Mr. Wareing : Is the Prime Minister aware that the answer that he gave to my right hon. Friend the Leader of the Opposition this afternoon will have appalled the whole nation? If a Prime Minister, above anyone, has not yet taken legal advice about the genocide convention, when Kurds are being murdered and tortured every day, it is a disgrace. Indeed, it is a sin that this matter has been allowed to go as far as it has. Will the Prime Minister take action today to instruct our representatives at the United Nations to raise the matter of genocide so that action–even military action–is taken against the butcher of Baghdad?

    The Prime Minister : I note the hon. Gentleman’s remarks with care. It is wise to seek and await proper legal advice on such measures. If the matter is so self-evident, why did not the Leader of the Opposition raise it until yesterday and where has the shadow Foreign Secretary been for the past fortnight?

  • Mr Major’s Speech at the Inauguration of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development – 15 April 1991

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s speech at the Inauguration of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, made in London on Monday 15th April 1991.

    PRIME MINISTER:

    Madam Chairman, Presidents, Prime Ministers, Distinguished Colleagues. I am delighted as I look round this particular auditorium to see the tremendous interest there is in the establishment of the new European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

    I hope among this particular audience that I will be forgiven for saying that banks are not inevitably a cause for celebration, having myself worked in one for a period of nearly 20 years I believe I am in a better position to say that than many. But I believe here today we will agree that today is different because today we are celebrating the birth of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. It is I believe a unique institution and a unique development and for that reason this is a special occasion, special because it symbolises a new beginning for the countries of Europe, special because it stands as a monument to European cooperation and special because it underlines the central role that Britain intends to play within Europe.

    It was at the Paris Economic Summit in July 1989 when President Mitterrand was host that the European Commission was given responsibility for coordinating Western aid to Eastern Europe. Four months later Paris was again the setting for a meeting of Community Heads of State and Government and it was then, once again with President Mitterrand playing a crucial role, that it was decided we should set up a bank dedicated to helping Eastern Europe. And now, only 18 months later, we celebrate the opening of that bank. That is I believe a remarkable achievement and I know that I speak for everyone present in paying tribute to all the people, and perhaps especially Jacques Attali, who played such a part in turning this idea into reality.

    It is of course a particular pleasure to me that London was chosen as the new European Bank’s home, I believe it is a natural fit. I may perhaps be prejudiced but I believe London is and is certainly determined to remain Europe’s greatest financial centre. With our bankers, our stockbrokers, our accountants, our lawyers, we believe we are uniquely well equipped to offer the expertise that Eastern Europe will need as it puts in place its own financial and industrial infrastructure. In Britain’s drive for privatisation, for example, London has built up a wealth of experience on which to draw. It has for a long time been the financial crossroads between East and West and I am delighted that it will now be where Eastern and Western Europe meet at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

    All of Europe is represented here today but of course the European Bank stands for something even bigger and broader. The United States, Canada, Mexico, Japan and South Korea, Israel, Australia and New Zealand, Egypt and Morocco have all been closely involved. So it is goodwill on a worldwide scale that the European Bank has brought together and turned into something practical and lasting.

    Last year the rest of the world watched in admiration as democracy swept through Eastern Europe in the first free elections there in 40 years. Even though many of us were on the sidelines, it was an exciting and a very moving time. But even in the euphoria, we all recognised that political reform alone would not be enough, it was true that without it there would be no economic reform but without economic reform there could be no lasting prosperity. No-one knows that better than the new governments of Eastern Europe, in a way that has increased our admiration for them day after day they have bravely turned their back on the failed nostrums of the command economy.

    We should not pretend for one moment that moving to a free market economy will be easy or painless, it certainly will not, but what we in the West can do is to help make that transition a little easier and a little less painful. The European Bank is unique in having an explicit political aim – to bolster democracy in Eastern Europe. Its membership must be closely involved in the conduct of the bank’s business, the bank needs a strong and an active Board to match the professional staff Jacques Attali is already gathering around him and Britain will certainly be maintaining a close and a very supportive interest.

    The European Bank will be focusing on the private sector, it will foster new businesses, it will encourage competition and promote better business practices, it will in short be helping those sectors in Eastern Europe which have been the backbone of success in Western Europe for the last 20 years.

    The private sector in the East is still small and still weak, it may find the bracing air of competition difficult to breath at first, it needs time to grow strong, it will require special care as well as resources. This the bank will provide, not for all time, but now in the early stages when special help is most needed.

    We in the West are doing what we can to help, in Britain for example through the Know-How Fund, we can train talent, we can lend money, but we cannot instill the will to reform, that has to come from the countries of Eastern Europe themselves. Ten years ago that would have sounded like a very tall order. Ten years ago most people did not believe that Eastern Europe would find the political will or the political leaders to attempt political reform. Today in this hail we can see that such pessimism was utterly misplaced.

    For over 40 years individual enterprise and initiatives were stifled in the countries of Eastern Europe. For those of you here today that is thankfully no longer the case. In helping to put that unleashed energy to work I believe the European Bank can play an important part. And I repeat, I am particularly delighted that this latest chapter of European cooperation is being opened here in London, it underlines our commitment to being at the very heart of developments in Europe. I believe that the European Bank will help us to bind Eastern and Western Europe more closely together and I have no doubt that it has a flourishing future ahead of it. As we all know here today, the new bank carries with it many hopes, many hopes because of what it represents and what it is. I am delighted today, on behalf of the United Kingdom, to wish it well.

  • PMQT Written Answers – 15 April 1991

    Below is the text of the written answers relating to Prime Minister’s Question Time from 15th April 1991.

    PRIME MINISTER:

     

    Iraq

    Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Prime Minister what representations Her Majesty’s Government have received from international doctors about disease in Iraq.

    The Prime Minister : We have received a number of reports about conditions in Iraq, notably that of United Nations Under Secretary-General Ahtisaari. We have announced a pledge of £20 million to be spent partly bilaterally and multilaterally to alleviate the human tragedy provoked by Saddam Hussein. We are also funding daily airlifts to the refugees at a cost of £1 million per week. These contributions are in addition to earlier substantial pledges to the International Committee of the Red Cross and United Nation agencies’ appeals.

     

    Chile

    Mr. Wray : To ask the Prime Minister if, during the official visit of the President of Chile, the Government will offer improved terms of trade for Chilean exports, and increased transfer of technology and financial support for his programmes.

    The Prime Minister : Chile will benefit from any market access concessions negotiated with the European Community during the GATT round. We increased our bilateral technical co-operation funds for Chile following the accession of President Aylwin’s Government and are presently discussing a number of projects.

    President Aylwin’s visit will lead to closer links between Britain and Chile. I was able to pay tribute to the President’s achievement in restoring and consolidating democracy.

     

    Nuclear Weapons

    Mr. Allen : To ask the Prime Minister whether he is prepared to use nuclear weapons first in response to a conventional attack.

    The Prime Minister : The 1990 NATO London declaration made clear that, while NATO will never in any circumstances be the first to use force, nuclear weapons will continue to fulfil an essential role in the overall strategy of the alliance to prevent war by ensuring that there are no circumstances in which nuclear retaliation in response to military action might be discounted.

     

    Migrant Workers

    Mr. Flynn : To ask the Prime Minister what is Her Majesty’s Government’s policy towards ratification of the new international convention on the protection of the rights of all migrant workers and their families.

    The Prime Minister : The United Kingdom does not intend to ratify the convention on the protection of migrant workers and their families.

     

    Vehicle Theft

    Mr. Cohen : To ask the Prime Minister if he will set up a joint working party of the Home Office and Department of Transport to investigate the possibility of designing cars to be more resistant to theft.

    The Prime Minister : The Home Office and Department of Transport have investigated ways in which the security of cars could be improved and discussions are in progress between these Departments, and with the motor manufacturers, on how best their findings and recommendations may be implemented. Home Office crime prevention publicity, particularly during crime prevention week this week, aims to increase awareness of the need for effective car security measures. My right Friend the Home Secretary published today a car theft index which allows owners to see which models are particularly subject to theft.

  • Mr Major’s Speech at Selly Oak Conservatives – 12 April 1991

    Below are extracts from Mr Major’s speech at the Selly Oak Association Dinner at the Centennial Centre at Edgbaston in Birmingham on Friday 12th April 1991.

    PRIME MINISTER:

    There is more good news about the strengthening of the economy today. Inflation is down to 8.2 per cent. Interest rates are down by another 1/2 per cent – the fifth cut since we led Britain into the ERM. And, as a result, mortgage rates to householders are being cut. This shows that the tough action we took on the economy throughout last year was right. It has set the country on the right course. Both businesses and home owners are seeing improving conditions today and better times ahead.

    The Government was right to make fighting inflation our number one priority. If we had not, our competitive position in the growing markets of the European Community, Eastern Europe and beyond would have been weakened. Instead, Britain’s position is strengthening month by month, while other countries face rising inflation and higher interest rates.

    Birmingham was built on exports. It needs a government, like this one, dedicated to making Britain competitive in the world and to keeping it there.

    Today’s good news on the economy follows action we took in the Budget which was vital to a manufacturing and industrial city such as Birmingham. Cutting Corporation Tax, giving the UK the lowest rate among industrial countries. And bringing forward a whole raft of measures to help the cashflow and the growth of small businesses.

    We have also acted to protect business from high spending councils forcing up the business rate year after year ahead of inflation. The benefit of this will be seen ever more clearly as inflation falls.

    And just as we have acted to protect businesses from high spending councils, so too we are taking steps to protect individuals. In the Budget, the Chancellor announced a fundamental shift of the burden of local government funding from local taxes to central taxes, reducing community charge bills by £140. That shift will be permanent.

    Alongside lower local bills, we want a stable system of local finance and a simpler structure for local government overall. We will shortly be announcing the details of our proposals for the reform of local taxation to replace the community charge. Proposals that will work – unlike the bogus figures invented by Labour this week.

    There is a clear message in this local government campaign. And it is message that will be all too well understood in Birmingham. Labour councillors cost you more. When you look at the levels of spending for every council in the country, you find that the average Labour Councillor spends over £200,000 more than a Conservative Councillor. But for all that huge cost, wherever Labour is in control the standards of service are worse.

    That is why on May 2nd when voters choose, if they want value for money and higher quality service, they will vote Conservative.

  • Speech by Mr Major at the launch of the Benefit and Contribution Agencies – 10 April 1991

    Below is Mr Major’s speech at the launch of the Benefit and Contribution Agencies at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London on Wednesday 10th April 1991.

    PRIME MINISTER:

    Thank you very much indeed, Tony [Newton]! I must say it is nice to be back in a DSS context. It does not seem all that long since I left you last time but it has been a fairly eventful period [Laughter] so it is nice to get back to a nice, stable, casual, relaxed outlook [Laughter] which is, of course, entirely how I remember every second of my time at the DSS, whether the weather was hot or cold at that particular moment! [Laughter]

    As Tony said, our purpose here this morning is to launch our two Next-Step Agencies and I was delighted to have his invitation to come today because I would like to emphasise the very great importance that we actually place on these Agencies and the job that we are asking them to do.

    What we are seeing at the moment – not just with the launch today but with the launch of the earlier Next-Step Agencies and those that are yet to come – is, frankly, nothing less than a revolution in management in the Civil Service that will make it more responsive, more open, more effective, more rewarding for the clientele of the Civil Service’s operations and I think providing a better career structure and a more enjoyable life for Civil Servants themselves, so I think it is a very important series of changes that we are seeing.

    There will, by the end of this month, be 50 Next-Step Agencies and by that stage one in every three Civil Servants will work in an Agency – about 200,000 people. That is why I say it is a revolution, a quiet one perhaps, in that it has perhaps sneaked up on people and the public generally without them realising quite what is happening but over the months immediately ahead there will be more Agencies put in place, among them the Inland Revenue, the Valuation Office, the social security Services in Northern Ireland, all very large and very welcome steps forward, and at that stage we will find that Next-Steps will then apply to about one-half of the whole of the Civil Service.

    Those statistics I think in some ways are startling but they are not necessarily important in themselves. What I believe is important is what those steps represent and the opportunity that those steps will actually provide: an opportunity, I believe, to give managers and staff far more scope than ever before to achieve greater effectiveness and greater value for money; far greater scope for improving the management of Government services; and above all perhaps far greater scope for what we are there for in the first place – delivering a better service to the customer.

    We have seen already some impressive achievements by the Department of Social Security – 97 percent of their particular staff now work under Agency arrangements – and the Benefits Agency that we launched today will be the largest of all the Government Agencies that we have yet seen and the Contributions Agency, in a different way, will be the Agency producing the second largest source of Government revenue after income tax, so I have a particular affection for the work of the Contributions Agency! [Laughter] and I hope they will keep up that good work – I can promise them that we need the revenue that they will be bringing in.

    Between them – self-evidently I think but well worth stating nonetheless – those two Agencies with their differing responsibilities affect enormous cross-sections of the community and so the ethos of those two Agencies is especially important if we are to achieve what we are seeking to achieve – and that is the best possible service to the customer.

    In terms of an improving and an efficient service, the Department have got up a very impressive speed on organisational change and that is very welcome, but the acid test of course is not just the speed of establishment; the acid test will be to improve the services and then to provide them in the most cost-effective way and that is what we are looking to the Agencies to achieve.

    What I would like to say both to all the staff who work in the Agencies and I think the people who will use their services is one thing about which I feel extremely strongly: Agencies in no sense are just another bureaucratic binge of reorganisation – that is not what Agencies are about. They are meant to provide a better service and I believe they will do so and one of their main duties will be to put into practice some of the ideas in the “Citizen’s Charter” as I called it that I spoke about recently and that does mean several things.

    It means better accountability to people in the public services that they use in their everyday lives; it means support for the users of services in securing better standards; and it means better quality in every part of the public service. There are no second-class citizens and in my judgement there should be no second-class services, whether in the public or in the private sector, so I am delighted to see that the Agencies have all sorts of initiatives in hand for a more open, more responsive and better service to their customers and it is especially important I think, as reassurance and indication of what is happening, that those targets are published and that annual reports will be published too – and indeed they will by all the Agencies – and I think, like all Agencies, the staff in these two new Agencies today will have a better chance to provide the best possible service and from what recall of the DSS, where I enjoyed greatly the time I spent there, that is actually what the staff who work in the Department and now in the Agencies actually want to do – to produce the best possible service – and that, I believe, is what their clients and their customers have a right to expect of us. I think the new arrangements that we launch today will provide the best possible opportunity for both of those two aims to be met.

    Let me emphasise again, both personally and as a Government, we are fully committed to a better public service throughout the entire range of our activities and so I welcome without a shred of reservation the launch of these two further Next-Step Agencies. I hope they will be two more steps towards reaching that particular aim but I think in many ways they are more than that. The launch of these two Agencies is not just two more steps towards a better public service; because of the nature of these Agencies and because of the size and scale of these Agencies and because of the number of people that uniquely these Agencies actually affect, they are in fact two giant strides towards those goals that I set out just a few moments ago. So, Tony, it is for those reasons that I was particularly pleased to be able to join you here and to launch these agencies today.

    I am now acutely conscious – in that sensitive manner that politicians develop! [Laughter] – that it is only I who is standing between you and a buffet lunch [Laughter] so I will just add one final sentence: I wish you all the very best of luck in the launch of these Agencies and I wish you – not only the staff but all the customers – a very successful future. It is a good day, I think, for the delivery of services today and I wish you the best of luck in bringing that good day into a good future for public service.

    Thank you very much indeed!

  • Mr Major’s Toast to President Aylwin of Chile – 10 April 1991

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s extended toast to President Aylwin of Chile on Wednesday 10th April 1991.

    PRIME MINISTER:

    Mr. President,

    May I extend a warm welcome to you, your wife and your daughter. We are delighted to have you, your Ministers and your colleagues as our guests tonight. Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal is no stranger to this house. But this is the first occasion that Norma and I have had to welcome her here and we do so with real pleasure. Her Royal Highness hopes to visit Chile later this year. That will be another high point in the development of our relations.

    It is a privilege to welcome to Britain a South American President with British origins. A President who, moreover, has an “Englishman” as his Finance Minister (Sr Foxley – and we welcome him too this evening) and a “Scot” (Sr Hamilton) as his Minister of Mines. Perhaps, because we live in the Northern Hemisphere, I have a reverse arrangement in my Cabinet: a Scotsman as my Finance Minister and an Englishman as my Secretary of State for Energy.

    But perhaps these links with Britain should come as no surprise when one recalls that the Republic of Chile’s Navy was founded by an English Lord. Lord Cocheran, and that the struggle for independence against Spain was led by an Irishman, the great Bernardo O’Higgins.
    The President’s British ancestry is well established. While the preparations for this visit were being made, the researchers at the Royal College of Arms, with the help of the President’s family, traced the direct ancestors of the President back to the seventeenth century. This evening I gave the President a scroll showing that his family derives from a long line of Sussex yeomen from a beautiful area of our country round Midhurst. I believe the President will be having a look at the area, and perhaps meeting some very distant cousins when the official part of his programme is over.

    Our research shows the family did not always enjoy good fortune. In the middle of the eighteenth century, Robert Aylwin, as a younger son, had to leave the land and become a tallow-chandler in London. His son Robert Patrick Aylwin was also a tallow-chandler in South London. But, again, times forced a change. His son, Richard Aylwin (under what pressures we do not know) made the tremendous decision to emigrate to Chile. He prospered there, very sensibly married a Chilean lady and became so well-established that Her Majesty’s Government appointed him Consul in the port of Constitucion.

    But the challenges to the Aylwin family were not yet over. In the political troubles of the 1690s the emigrant’s son Ricardo Patricio Aylwin stood up for what he believed was right. He suffered imprisonment and financial ruin. All the more credit then to his son, the President’s father, that entirely by his own efforts, he should have risen from being a farm boy in his grandmother’s care to become President of the Supreme Court of Chile.

    What pride, Sir, your yeoman ancestors from Sussex would take in these achievements. Pride, but not, I suspect surprise. But your achievements surpass even those of your forebears. And they are achievements which have given enormous satisfaction to all of Chile’s friends. To all who watched her suffering with anguish. And to all who have rejoiced in your return to democracy. And that is your achievement. You created the united opposition which led the Chilean people to say ‘No’ to military dictatorship.

    You forged that voice of protest, made up of many disparate forces, into a potent political force. You led Chile peacefully back to democratic rule. And let me stress this: the peaceful return to power. In a world where dictatorship is, thank God, being cast aside the peaceful transition to democracy is a precious achievement. I pay tribute to the maturity of the Chilean people. I pay special tribute to the skill of President Aylwin and his supporters in bringing this about.

    We in Britain were delighted when Chile returned to the democratic fold. As a sign of this we increased our help to Chile and have helped fund a programme to bring exiles back home. The good government policies we see currently in Latin America have led us to increase substantially our bilateral aid budget to the region as a whole.

    Mr President, we welcome you here as we welcomed Chile’s return to democracy and the light of freedom. May I propose a toast to you, President and Mrs Aylwin, to the happiness and prosperity of all your people, and to the long-standing friendship between your country and ours.

  • Mr Major’s Doorstep Statement on the Situation in Bosnia – 4 April 1991

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s doorstep statement on the situation in Bosnia. The comments were made outside 10 Downing Street on Thursday 4th April 1991.

    PRIME MINISTER:

    In recent days there has been growing evidence of human rights abuses at the camps in Bosnia. I think everyone who has seen or learnt about those issues will be shocked. It is perfectly clear that those abuses have to be stopped and have to be stopped speedily.

    I believe the first thing that is necessary is to have independent observers in those camps, with full access, without delay.The moment they are there we must move further and make sure that those camps come under international and independent supervision. We will be promoting a resolution in the Security Council to his effect and promoting that resolution very speedily.

    I believe there are two other things that follow. We need to pull together internationally all the evidence that different nations have of abuses so that those responsible for those abuses can be caught, can be tried and can then be brought to book. And of course, in addition to that, it is necessary for us to continue with the Security Council resolutions to protect the humanitarian supplies that are presently going into Sarajevo and elsewhere. It is essential that those continue.

  • PMQT Written Answers – 27 March 1991

    Below is the text of the written answers relating to Prime Minister’s Question Time from 27th March 1991.

    PRIME MINISTER:

     

    Council of Europe

    Mr. Simon Coombs : To ask the Prime Minister if he will announce the composition of the United Kingdom delegation for the 43rd session of the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe.

    The Prime Minister : The 43rd session of the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe will be opened in Strasbourg on 22 April 1991. The delegation from the United Kingdom for the session will consist of 11 Members of the Conservative party, six Members of the Labour party and one Member of the Liberal Democrat party. I have also appointed a number of substitute delegates.

    The appointments of representatives and substitutes have been made on the basis of nominations by the leaders of those parties concerned.

    The same delegation will be representing the United Kingdom Parliament at the assembly of the Western European Union, which next meets in Paris on 3 June.

    Representatives from the Government Benches will be : My hon. Friend the Member for Hampstead and Highgate (Sir G. Finsberg)–who will act as leader of both delegations.

    My hon. Friends the Members for :

    Warwick and Leamington (Sir D. Smith)

    Calder Valley (Mr. Thompson)

    Twickenham (Mr. Jessel)

    Northampton, South (Mr. Morris)

    Halesowen and Stourbridge (Sir J. Stokes)

    Poole (Mr. Ward)

    Ashford (Mr Speed)

    Streatham (Sir W. Shelton)

    Medway (Dame P. Fenner) and

    The Earl of Kinnoull

    Representatives from the Labour party will be :

    The hon. Members for :

    Newport, East (Mr. Hughes)

    Wallsend (Mr. Garrett)

    Wentworth (Mr. Hardy)

    Tooting (Mr Cox)

    Liverpool, Riverside (Mr Parry)

    Falkirk, East (Mr. Ewing)

    Representatives from the Liberal Democrats party will be :

    The hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn and Lochaber (Sir R. Johnston)

    The following substitutes have been appointed to act as necessary on behalf of the delegates.

    From the Government benches :

    My hon. Friends the Members for :

    Bournemouth, East (Mr. Atkinson)

    Broxbourne (Mrs. Roe)

    Norfolk, North (Mr. Howell)

    Mid-Kent (Mr. Rowe)

    Lewes (Mr. Rathbone)

    Brighton, Kempton (Mr. Bowden)

    Suffolk, Central (Mr. Lord)

    Ravensbourne (Sir J. Hunt)

    Lord Newall and Lord Rodney

    From the Labour party :

    The hon. Members for :

    Wansbeck (Mr. Thompson)

    Manchester, Central (Mr. Litherland)

    Don Valley (Mr. Redmond)

    Warley, East (Mr. Faulds)

    Newham, North-West (Mr. Banks)

    Cunninghame, South (Mr. Lambie)

    and Lord Kirkhill

    From the Liberal Democrats party :

    The Lord Mackie of Benshie

     

    Former Prime Ministers

    Sir Anthony Durant : To ask the Prime Minister whether he has any plans to assist former Prime Ministers with their office and secretarial expenses.

    The Prime Minister : I propose to establish, with effect from 1 April 1991, a financial allowance to help former Prime Ministers to meet the continuing additional office costs which they are liable to incur because of their special position in public life. The new allowance, which will be equivalent in amount to the parliamentary office costs allowance, will be payable in respect of office and secretarial expenses incurred in connection with their public duties. It will be paid from the Cabinet Office vote. The allowance will not be payable to a former Prime Minister occupying the position of Leader of the Opposition and therefore in receipt of “Short” money.

  • PMQT Written Answers – 26 March 1991

    Below is the text of the written answers relating to Prime Minister’s Question Time from 26th March 1991.

    PRIME MINISTER:

    Human Rights Abuse

    Mr. Bernie Grant : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list those occasions over the past year when Her Majesty’s Government have made representations to Governments involved in the allied military coalition in the Gulf war concerning human rights abuses in their respective countries; and if he will indicate the criteria adopted by the Government in deciding why and when such representations are made.

    The Prime Minister : No. Where allegations of abuse are well founded the Governments concerned are in no doubt of our concerns. Our criteria for representations are set out in the foreign policy document “Human Rights in Foreign Policy”, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.

    Gulf War

    Mr. Bernie Grant : To ask the Prime Minister if he will establish an inquiry into the economic effects of the Gulf war upon the countries of sub-Saharan Africa, the Horn of Africa and Bangladesh, the Republic of the Philippines and the Indian sub-continent.

    The Prime Minister : The Government have studied the analysis produced by the International Monetary Fund, World bank and others on the economic effects of the Gulf war. We have supported the rapid steps taken by the international institutions to adapt their facilities to assist affected countries. Fortunately, the fall in oil prices at the outbreak of war, and the rapid conclusion of hostilities mean that the adverse effects will not be as severe as initially feared.

    Mr. Bernie Grant : To ask the Prime Minister what representations were received by Her Majesty’s Government (a) from 2 August 1990 to 16 January 1991 and (b) from 17 January to 8 February concerning the negative ecological consequences of military action in the Gulf ; from which organisations and individuals he received the representations ; and what response he made to each.

    The Prime Minister : Several thousand letters have been received on the subject of the illegal occupation of Kuwait by Iraq and its aftermath, including the ecological damage caused by deliberate release of oil into the Gulf and firing of the Kuwait oil fields.

    Oil

    Mr. Bernie Grant : To ask the Prime Minister if he will propose an international scheme to make available oil at a substantially reduced price to the least developed states to assist them to restore the damage to their economies resulting from the Gulf war.

    The Prime Minister : The United Kingdom has provided through the European Community some £60 million to Jordan, Turkey and Egypt, the states whose economies were most directly affected by the Gulf conflict. Given the size of our military role in the Gulf conflict we consider that the United Kingdom should not make a further financial contribution; the burden should be shared by others. We have however encouraged the IMF and the World bank to make additional resources available on concessional terms to the poorest countries most affected. The IMF has made specific arrangements to compensate countries affected by higher oil prices. Where the international community is providing such assistance, it will enable those countries to maintain imports of oil at market prices. We believe that providing oil at reduced prices would lead to economic distortions and a wasteful use of energy.

  • PMQT – 26 March 1991

    Below is the text of Prime Minister’s Question Time from 26th March 1991.

    PRIME MINISTER

     

    Engagements

    Q1. Mr. Oppenheim : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 26 March.

    The Prime Minister (Mr. John Major) : This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall be having further meetings later today.

    Mr. Oppenheim : Is my right hon. Friend aware that the decision substantially to lower community charge levels is very welcome indeed? Does he not find it somewhat strange that the very people who, in the past, complained of lack of consultation about local government are now whining that the Government are being indecisive in doing just that, especially as the chief whiners are members of a party who for the past 12 years have shillied and shallied, dillied and dallied, without coming up with a single workable policy of their own?

    The Prime Minister : My hon. Friend puts his point very crisply. It is fair to say that the Labour party has spent 12 years reviewing its policies and fudging its principles. On local government, we have come further in three months than the Labour party has in all that time.

    Mr. Kinnock : Does the Prime Minister recall that his predecessor used to describe the right hon. Member for Blaby (Mr. Lawson) as “unassailable”? What word would the Prime Minister use to describe the right hon. Gentleman today?

    The Prime Minister : It may be the fate of Prime Ministers to be assailed by the unassailable, but my right hon. Friend is quite wrong to suggest that we ought not to have consultation on such an important matter. It is important to get the right decisions and to ensure that people are carried with those decisions. This is a critically important matter, and the consultation is necessary. We shall carry it out speedily, and then decide.

    Mr. Kinnock : Is not “perceptive” the best word to describe the contribution of the right hon. Member for Blaby to the consultation? Does the Prime Minister agree that the right hon. Gentleman was perceptive in his warning that the Government are trying to inflict “son of poll tax”, and even more perceptive in his view that the Prime Minister cannot choose and therefore should not govern?

    The Prime Minister : I think that the right hon. Gentleman is mistaken again. With regard to decision-taking, my right hon. Friend the Member for Blaby (Mr. Lawson) will himself confirm that in the past few weeks a number of decisions have been taken that he would have wished to take in recent years but neglected to take.

    Mr. Higgins : Is my right hon. Friend– [Interruption.]

    Mr. Speaker : Order. It is difficult to hear.

    Mr. Higgins : Is my right hon. Friend aware that he is absolutely right to carry out further consultation before deciding on the replacement for the community charge? Personally, I have always believed that the best solution is to switch all the cost of local government expenditure to the central Exchequer, and I set out the reasons in my speech yesterday. I am glad that my right hon. Friend the Member for Blaby (Mr. Lawson) at last agrees, but, in doing so, is it not wholly inconsistent of him then to object to the measure that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor has taken to transfer the burden from the community charge to VAT? That is a move in the right direction.

    The Prime Minister : I understand the point that my right hon. Friend makes. We are setting out our alternative proposals in the consultation document. My right hon. Friend mentions inconsistency. He may care to bear in mind that the Labour party has set new standards of inconsistency day after day by one moment complaining that the level of local taxation is too high and the next moment whining about the level of value added tax.

    Mr. Ashdown : Will the Prime Minister now answer the question posed by the right hon. Member for Blaby (Mr. Lawson) yesterday? In his replacement for the poll tax, which is to be the larger element, the personal charge or the property tax, or has he not been able to choose?

    The Prime Minister : It is interesting that the right hon. Gentleman of all people in the House should believe in decision before consultation.

    Mr. Ralph Howell : I congratulate my right hon. Friend on his bold and courageous decision to abolish the community charge and, in particular, to replace it with extra VAT. As 2 per cent. extra VAT will solve half the problem, why will not 5 per cent. solve the whole problem?

    The Prime Minister : My hon. Friend has consistently advocated that course, and it is accurate so far as the statistical method of collecting the money is concerned, but there are important principles at stake about people contributing directly towards the cost of local government services.

     

    Q2. Mr. Wareing : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 26 March.

    The Prime Minister : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.

    Mr. Wareing : When the Prime Minister visits his constituency he is no doubt in a position to tell his constituents that next year their poll tax will be lower, albeit because the Government have increased taxation by £4.25 billion to pay for that reduction. Knowing how decisive the Prime Minister likes to be, will he be able to advise his constituents on the level of the poll tax in Huntingdon in 1992-93?

    The Prime Minister : The hon. Gentleman clearly does not know very much about Huntingdon’s expenditure pattern next year, and neither at this moment do I. Therefore, the answer cannot be given. The hon. Gentleman should bear in mind that we have taken £140 off the community charge headline level. Do he and his party agree with that or oppose it?

    Mr. Allason : I congratulate my right hon. Friend on the publication on Friday of the security service commissioners’ report for 1989-90. Does he accept that 55 of the complaints considered by the commissioners were vexatious and frivolous and, if so, will he consider extending the scope of the security commissioners’ powers to cover periods before the introduction of the Security Service Act 1989?

    The Prime Minister : I have no immediate plans to consider that, but I will examine the matter in the light of my hon. Friend’s comments.

     

    Q3. Mr. McFall : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 26 March.

    The Prime Minister : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.

    Mr. McFall : Has the Prime Minister any idea whether the poorest and most vulnerable members of society will still have to pay 20 per cent. of the total under the new system, and whether there will be a register for the poll tax element? If he does not know the answer, who does? Should we refer to his right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to the Secretary of State for the Environment, to the Secretary of State for Scotland or, indeed, to the Secretary of State for Wales? To which of those competing voices in the Prime Minister’s Cabinet should we listen?

    The Prime Minister : What the hon. Gentleman must listen to is what is said in the document that we shall be publishing.

    Mr. Hind : Is my right hon. Friend aware– [Interruption.]

    Mr. Speaker : Order. There seems to be something of a holiday atmosphere in the Chamber today.

    Mr. Hind : Is my right hon. Friend aware of the calculations made by the Institute of Fiscal Studies, which suggest not only that the community charge will be lower in the forthcoming financial year but that the new tax that he proposes–on the basis of the amount that will have to be collected –will also be lower? As my right hon. Friend no doubt knows, those projections are available. Perhaps he can persuade the hon. Member for Dagenham (Mr. Gould) to tell the House what the average family living in a semi-detached house would pay under Labour’s system.

    The Prime Minister : My hon. Friend has raised an interesting point. The hon. Member for Dagenham (Mr. Gould), however, has not the slightest idea how his system would work, and not the slightest idea of what the tax levels would be.

     

    Q4. Mr. Darling : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 26 March.

    The Prime Minister : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.

    Mr. Darling : The right hon. Gentleman keeps referring to his consultation document. As it is due to be published in about two weeks’ time, he must have some idea what is in it. Can he tell us how much the Government will contribute to council spending next year, and will he confirm that the poll tax element of the new tax may be higher in Scotland than in England?

    The Prime Minister : The hon. Gentleman is correct in one respect–I have a very clear idea what will go into the document, but he will have to wait until it is published.

     

    Q5. Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 26 March.

    The Prime Minister : I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.

    Mr. Thurnham : When my right hon. Friend meets President Iliescu of Romania next month, will he refer to the desperate plight of the Romanian orphans and ask the president to give the maximum assistance to British couples who are cleared to adopt such children, notwithstanding the lack of support from the Opposition spokesman on children?

    The Prime Minister : I shall certainly be happy to do that. We are committed to helping British couples who wish to adopt Romanian children, and we are keen to ensure that the appropriate procedures are adopted as speedily as possible. A team of Home Office and Department of Health officials visited Bucharest in November 1990 to discuss further how to co- ordinate help to that end, and we are in regular contact with the Romanian authorities.

    Mr. Loyden : Will the Prime Minister today take the opportunity to consult his right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Transport and convey to him the great distress caused by his decision not to open an inquiry into the sinking of MV Derbyshire? The bereaved families have been treated with scant regard by the Secretary of State, who sent me a six-line letter about the matter. He knows about the campaign that has been mounted on behalf of those families. I appeal to the Prime Minister to ensure that his right hon. and learned Friend reconsiders his decision.

    The Prime Minister : As the hon. Gentleman knows from what my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State said the other day, the chief inspector’s published report does not warrant a reopening of the court of formal investigation. The position is perfectly clear, and the hon. Gentleman is aware of it.

     

    Q6. Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 26 March.

    The Prime Minister : I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.

    Mr. Marshall : In the course of his busy day, will my right hon. Friend consider the proposals of some people for public expenditure to be increased by £26 billion? Does he agree that such a course could result only in higher taxes, higher prices and higher inflation? Does he also agree that the British people want to build on the successes of the 1980s, rather than returning to the dismal days of the 1970s?

    The Prime Minister : My hon. Friend has made a good point. The Opposition do not themselves know the cost of their own policies. Their shadow Budget does not add up. Even when they propose to increase child benefit, they forget to include the poor by clawing it back. Their shadow Budget has barely an accurate figure in it.

     

    Q7. Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 26 March.

    The Prime Minister : I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.

    Mr. Foulkes : Can the Prime Minister explain why, under the proposals of the Secretary of State for Education and Science, children in state schools will not be able to study history after 1970 whereas– [Interruption.] I know that the Government have been dithering about it.

    Hon. Members : Consulting.

    Mr. Speaker : Order.

    Mr. Foulkes : In private schools, to which the Prime Minister and members of his Cabinet send their children in this so-called classless society, pupils will be able to study history up to the present day.

    The Prime Minister : If the hon. Gentleman had read the documentation more carefully, he would know that he is wrong. There is no ban on history after the 1970s. The hon. Gentleman is confusing what may be studied with the official curriculum.