The Rt. Hon. Sir John Major KG CH

Category: Prime Minister (1990-1997)

  • PMQT Written Answers – 15 February 1991

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

    PRIME MINISTER:

     

    Coastal Zone

    Ms. Walley : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list all Government Departments and non-departmental public bodies with an interest in the coastal zone.

    The Prime Minister : All Government Departments may have an interest in the coast or coastal waters in the exercise of their normal duties. The same will apply to many non-departmental public bodies.

     

    Secure Accommodation

    Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Prime Minister which Department will be responsible for funding the new Social Services Department secure units required under the proposals to abolish prison remand of juveniles.

    The Prime Minister : The Department of Health already has powers to make grants to local authorities to meet the capital cost of new secure units, and intends to meet the local authority associations to discuss the nature and extent of any further secure provision required for remanded juveniles.

  • Mr Major’s Comments on Saddam Hussein – 15 February 1991

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s comments on Saddam Hussein, made in Merseyside on Friday 15th February 1991.

    PRIME MINISTER:

    As further details have become apparent throughout the day, it has become crystal clear that there seems to be a very large number of conditions attached to the apparent offer that had come out of Baghdad early this morning. That is very disappointing but it does look as though it is not a serious attempt to reach a conclusion but something of a bogus sham. That seems to be apparent and the more we learn about what has been said, the more that seems to be the case. I regret that very much but I fear that is the only conclusion that we are able to draw from what we have heard thus far.

  • PMQT Written Answers – 14 February 1991

    Below is the text of the written answers relating to Prime Minister’s Question Time from 14th February 1991.

    PRIME MINISTER:

     

    The Gulf

    Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Prime Minister what communications he has had with King Hussein of Jordan since 6 February concerning the situation in the Gulf.

    The Prime Minister : We are in continuing contact with the Jordanian Government. We have made clear our regret at King Hussein’s misleading description of coalition objectives and activities in his 6 February speech to his people. I last communicated directly with King Hussein on 3 January, when I met him in London.

     

    Saddam Hussein

    Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Prime Minister who was the last Minister to meet President Saddam Hussein; and what matters were discussed.

    The Prime Minister : My right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Putney (Mr. Mellor), the then Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, met President Saddam Hussein on 24 February 1988. A number of regional and bilateral issues were discussed.

     

    Engagements

    Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 14 February.

    The Prime Minister : This morning I presided at a meeting of the Cabinet and had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall be having further meetings later today.

  • PMQT – 14 February 1991

    Below is the text of Prime Minister’s Question Time from 14th February 1991.

    PRIME MINISTER

     

    Engagements

    Q1. Sir Hal Miller : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 14 February.

    The Prime Minister (Mr. John Major) : This morning I presided at a meeting of the Cabinet and had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others.

    Sir Hal Miller : Does my right hon. Friend agree that reductions in interest rates following a fall in inflation will sharpen the already competitive position of our motor industry which increased exports last year by 18 per cent? Are not rising exports, rising investment and increased skill levels proof positive that we are achieving what Labour claims to want, and that we should stick with our policies, rather than cut and run?

    The Prime Minister : I can scarcely disagree with my hon. Friend. The motor industry has a very impressive export record, which is a tribute to good design, increasing competitiveness and the increasing work rate of employees in the industry.

    Mr. Kinnock : Will the Prime Minister take this opportunity to explain to the 110,000 people who lost their jobs in the course of the last month that they did so as a direct result of his incompetent economic policy?

    The Prime Minister : It is interesting that during the 40 months in which unemployment fell, month after month after month, the right hon. Gentleman made no mention of this matter. I regret the rise in unemployment, but the right hon. Gentleman will have to concede that the level of unemployment in this country, at 6.6 per cent., is not only well below the European Community average but very well below the average levels of most of our European partners.

    Mr. Kinnock : Today’s figures show the biggest January rise in unemployment since 1981–the time of the last Tory slump. When the Conservatives have done this twice in a decade–regardless of who has been the leader, or who the Chancellor–is it any wonder that they will always be known as the party of unemployment?

    The Prime Minister : The right hon. Gentleman may find it difficult to explain the following unemployment rates : 9 per cent. in France, 9.9 per cent. in Italy, 9.3 per cent. in Canada, and 6.6 per cent. here. He may also have overlooked the fact that there has been a considerable rise in the number of job vacancies.

    Mr. Kinnock : Perhaps the Prime Minister–who is the Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, not of France–will explain why, if Tory policies are to work, hundreds of thousands of people have to stop working.

    The Prime Minister : The right hon. Gentleman’s track record on such predictions is simply not good. He will recall predicting that mass unemployment of 6 million was inevitable. It was not, and his predictions now are wrong.

    Sir Anthony Grant : When my right hon. Friend reflects today on the position in the Gulf, will he consider that a dictator like Saddam Hussein, who has been unscrupulous enough to murder his own people over several years, will probably have no scruples about allowing innocent people to suffer in a bombing raid for propaganda purposes? Does my right hon. Friend agree that the tragic event in Baghdad and the sad loss of life should not mean that a single allied soldier should be put at risk by a premature land assault?

    The Prime Minister : As my hon. Friend knows, we shall consider very carefully when it is right to launch a land assault. The position in that regard remains as I have described to the House in the past. Everyone regrets the death of civilians, particularly in the tragic circumstances of the past few hours. But the United States has explained why it attacked that particular site : it did so on the basis of an assessment that showed that it was a legitimate military target, which played a part in the Iraqi war effort.

    Mr. Ashdown : Does the Prime Minister agree that, in considering the lessons of the terrible tragedy that took place in Baghdad last night, we should not forget that Saddam Hussein has, not through inadvertence, but through acts of deliberate policy, killed more Muslims than any other living person? Does he also agree that, as the terrible toll of the war rises, so should our determination to build a just and durable peace to follow it?

    Will the Prime Minister answer the question that I fear he dodged last week and say whether he is prepared to give the United Nations, in whose name we are fighting the war, the lead role in building the peace that follows?

    The Prime Minister : I agree with the observations that the right hon. Gentleman made at the outset of his question. To avoid doubt, I shall repeat the point that the allies are not targeting civilians, unlike Saddam Hussein, who continues to fire missiles wholly indiscriminately at built-up population centres. On the subject of the United Nations, clearly we must consider with all our colleagues in the allied forces, particularly the Arab states upon and around whose lands the conflict is taking place, how to proceed at the end of the conflict.

    Mr. Dykes : Will my right hon. Friend accept the congratulations of the House on his successful visit to Germany on Monday? If he will forgive the pun, far from being a “brugeing” experience, it was a successful visit, both bilaterally and in terms of the resuscitation of European solidarity?

    The Prime Minister : I am grateful to my hon. Friend. It is important to ensure that we play a leading part in the centre of the Community, which means that we have the closest possible bilateral contact with all our European partners.

     

    Q2. Mr. Nellist : To ask the Prime Minister if the will list his official engagements for Thursday 14 February.

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

    Mr. Nellist : Was yesterday’s massacre of women and children in Amiriya a good example, under the 1977 Geneva protocol, of precision targeting of the right or wrong target? Was not the burning and lasceration of those children’s bodies, to correctly use a military euphemism, the degrading of nobody in Baghdad but of those in whose name that slaughter took place?

    The Prime Minister : The hon. Gentleman puts the matter with his customary bad taste and inaccuracy. As I explained a moment ago, there has been precision bombing, and that site was bombed because there was legitimate reason to believe that it was a military target.

     

    Q3. Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 14 February.

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

    Mr. David Nicholson : My right hon. Friend will be aware of the concern at the advertising and the unsolicited temptations to borrow pursued by banks and other lenders in recent years, for which many businesses and many individuals are now paying a painful price. As interest rates come down, will my right hon. Friend use his influence as Prime Minister, as former Chancellor and as a former banker to impress on the banking industry the need for responsible lending–and will he consider what role the Government might play in that?

    The Prime Minister : I have done as my hon. Friend suggests. My views on this subject are well known. I am very glad to see that the banks and building societies are addressing the issue of the marketing and provision of credit. As the banks have freely acknowledged, the code that they have covers only banks and building societies. That is why, in December, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry issued a consultative document proposing a number of specific changes to tighten the law on consumer credit. These measures will have a wider field of application than just banks and building societies.

     

    Q4. Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 14 February.

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

    Ms. Armstrong : Did the Prime Minister notice the figures published yesterday that show that the top 20 local education authorities providing nursery education are Labour, and the bottom 20 are Tory? Given the abysmal performance of Tory authorities, when the Secretary of State for Education and Science two weeks ago abandoned any commitment to the expansion of nursery education, did he have the Prime Minister’s approval?

    The Prime Minister : The hon. Lady should look at the whole provision of education services throughout the country, and if she is looking at lists of the top and the bottom authorities she should also look at the authorities with the highest community charges.

     

    Q5. Mr. Robert G. Hughes : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 14 February.

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

    Mr. Hughes : Will my right hon. Friend take time today to send a message of congratulations to the voluntary bodies and statutory agencies that have worked so hard during the past few days to provide shelter for the homeless in London? Will he note the comments of the deputy director of Shelter, who said the other day that the arrangements made were magnificent and excellent?

    The Prime Minister : I am happy to join my hon. Friend in congratulating all those involved–particularly the voluntary organisations that have co-operated so willingly with my hon. Friend the Minister for Housing and Planning. As a result of that swift response there should be no need for anyone to sleep rough on the streets of London during this period of extreme bad weather.

     

    Q6. Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 14 February.

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

    Mr. Foulkes : What is the Prime Minister going to do now that John Yates, the highly respected NHS management consultant appointed by the Government to advise on reducing waiting lists, has resigned, describing the Government’s policy, of spending £100 million to find out that waiting lists have increased, as a total waste of money? Would not it be better to sack the Secretary of State for Health and keep Mr. Yates?

    The Prime Minister : As it happens, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health invited Mr. Yates to see him to discuss the reduction in waiting lists. Mr. Yates refused.

     

    Q7. Mr. Hague : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 14 February.

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

    Mr. Hague : Will my right hon. Friend take time today to reflect on the successful expansion of higher education under this Administration? Are not the one in five school leavers going into further and higher education, compared with the miserable one in eight when Labour was in power, a crucial part of building a better trained and educated workforce? Are not this Government providing the resources for that?

    The Prime Minister : Indeed they are. My hon. Friend is right and I entirely agree with his remarks about the importance of higher education– both universities and polytechnics–and the role that they are playing in trying to equip our young people for a better start in life.

    Mr. Andrew Welsh : Is the Prime Minister truly aware of the crisis facing agriculture, with farm incomes at their lowest in real terms since the second world war and record numbers leaving the industry? Why then is the Ministry of Defence supplying Argentine and Uruguayan beef to British forces in the Gulf when British cold stores are jam packed with intervention beef, subsidised and paid for by British taxpayers? Will the right hon. Gentleman assist taxpayers, the armed forces and agriculture by sorting that out?

    The Prime Minister : It is because of such absurdities that we are keen to see a proper reform of the common agricultural policy. My right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has made it clear that that is a top priority for us and we shall seek to negotiate it with our colleagues in Europe.

     

    Q8. Mr. Riddick : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 14 February.

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

    Mr. Riddick : Does my right hon. Friend agree that today’s problems of homelessness have been caused, first, by the way in which the private rented sector has been regulated almost out of existence and, secondly, by the incompetence of many local authorities, mainly Labour controlled, which have more than 100,000 vacant council houses up and down the country? [Interruption.] Will my right hon. Friend take this opportunity to confirm that the Government will take the necessary radical action to free and deregulate the private rented sector in order to bring many hundreds of thousands of empty flats and rooms back on to the market?

    The Prime Minister : Nothing could better have illustrated the Opposition’s hostility to the private rented sector than their activities while my hon. Friend asked his question. It was absurd that the private rented sector was declining and properties were left empty because of rent control. We have introduced to the subsidy arrangements all sorts of incentives to encourage local authorities to bring properties into use. We continue to examine further ways to stimulate the private sector.

     

    Q9. Mr. David Marshall : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 14 February.

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

    Mr. Marshall : What does the Prime Minister have to say to the record number of 40,000 home owners who had their homes repossessed during the past 12 months as a result of his high interest rates policy? What advice does he give those people?

    The Prime Minister : All repossessions are a tragedy for those who are involved. The hon. Gentleman should bear it in mind that repossessions account for less than one fifth of 1 per cent. of home owners and that the overwhelming majority of those are as a result of marriage breakdown.

  • PMQT Written Answers – 12 February 1991

    Below is the text of the written answers relating to Prime Minister’s Question Time from 12th February 1991.

    PRIME MINISTER:

     

    United Kingdom 2000

    Mr. Beith : To ask the Prime Minister what has been the total funding to date of the United Kingdom 2000 initiative set up by his predecessor under the chairmanship of Mr. Richard Branson; which voluntary organisations have been involved; what have been the achievements of the initiative ; whether he has any further proposals to develop this initiative; and whether he will make a statement.

    The Prime Minister : Total Government funding to March 1991 will be £9.434 million. The partner voluntary organisations in England are the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers, the Civic Trust, Community Service Volunteers, Groundwork, Friends of the Earth and the Royal Society for Nature Conservation. In Wales the organisations involved are the same apart from the Civic Trust, and in addition the Keep Wales Tidy Campaign. In Scotland, the organisations are the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Scottish Conservation Projects, Community Service Volunteers and Keep Scotland Beautiful.

    The main achievements have been high-quality, practical environmental improvement projects, training and work experience together with the creation of new environmental enterprises. This work has been carried out in partnership with the public and private sectors. In 1989-90 there were 717 projects which generated 7,819 training places and 54,218 volunteers and which attracted £2,423 million support from the private sector.

    In England United Kingdom 2000 phase 2 began on 31 March 1991 and, subject to performance, the voluntary organisations will continue to receive grant until March 1993. United Kingdom 2000 (Scotland) will be launched as a company limited by guarantee in April 1991. The initiative in Wales has recently been fully reviewed ; the next steps are now under consideration.

     

    United Nations

    Mr. Wray : To ask the Prime Minister (1) if he will make it his policy to put forward proposals to amend the United Nations charter to provide for periodic elections of all members of the United Nations Security Council; (2) if he will make it his policy to put forward proposals to amend the United Nations charter to provide that United Nations Security Council members should have veto powers; (3) if he will make it his policy to put forward proposals to amend the United Nations charter to provide that in the event of war waged in the name of the United Nations basic decisions are taken by all member countries of the United Nations with an ad hoc executive committee to supervise the conduct of hostilities by the armed forces acting for the United Nations.

    The Prime Minister : No. The Government do not believe that reform of the United Nations charter is either necessary or desirable.

    Mr. Wray : To ask the Prime Minister when he expects the United Nations Security Council to meet to discuss the conduct of the war in the Persian Gulf.

    The Prime Minister : The United Nations Security Council has met frequently since the outbreak of hostilities in the Gulf on 2 August, most recently in informal consultations on 8 February.

     

    Lanarkshire

    Mr. Tom Clarke : To ask the Prime Minister what specific plans he has to improve investment in Lanarkshire.

    The Prime Minister : The Lanarkshire working group, which met last month, will identify the main constraints to revitalising the Lanarkshire economy and recommend measures to resolve those problems. Investment in Lanarkshire from the private and public sector, is among the working group’s concerns. The working group expects to report to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland around the end of April.

     

    Pensioners

    Mr. Beggs : To ask the Prime Minister what is the estimated additional cost incurred weekly by pensioners in Northern Ireland for heating, lighting and travel when expenditure is compared with that of pensioners in a comparable region in Great Britain.

    The Prime Minister : Information on the expenditure of pensioner households on heating, lighting and travel is available at household level from the family expenditure survey. Northern Ireland compares with Wales in terms of average normal weekly disposable income for all households, including pensioner households. The table provides information from the amalgamated results of the 1988-89 family expenditure survey for pensioner households.

     

    1851 Exhibition

    Mr. Barry Field : To ask the Prime Minister when the holder of his office last attended a meeting of the royal commissioners for the exhibition of 1851.

    The Prime Minister : I am not aware of such a meeting.

     

    Probation Officers, Liverpool

    Mr. Parry : To ask the Prime Minister what representations he has received from the probation officer based at Liverpool about salaries ; and what reply he has sent.

    The Prime Minister : My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has received representations from seven probation officers from Merseyside about probation officers’ salaries. They either have received or will receive official replies.

     

    Correspondence

    Mr. Terry Davis : To ask the Prime Minister whether the policy of the Government with regard to correspondence between hon. Members and officials remains as set out in the letter from the hon. Member for Mid-Worcestershire (Mr. Forth) to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Hodge Hill, of 18 May 1989.

    The Prime Minister : It is for Ministers in each Department to decide how correspondence will be handled. Following the recent scrutiny of ministerial correspondence, Departments are considering how to assist Members of Parliament to direct their inquiries to the point which is best able to give them a fast, informed and helpful reply.

    The Government reply to the eighth report from the Treasury and Civil Service Committee–Cmnd 1263–states that Ministers will normally ask the chief executive of an agency to reply to letters that concern day-to-day operational matters delegated to the agency.

     

    East Timor

    Mr. Flynn : To ask the Prime Minister what is Her Majesty’s Government’s policy towards the Timor Gap agreement between Indonesia and Australia; and whether this agreement was discussed during his telephone conversation with Prime Minister Hawke of Australia on 5 February.

    The Prime Minister : The Timor Gap agreement is a matter between Indonesia and Australia, who recognised East Timor’s incorporation into Indonesia in 1979. The agreement in no way affects our own stance on recognition. I have not discussed the agreement with Prime Minister Hawke.

     

    Engagements

    Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 12 February.

    The Prime Minister : This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. I also called on Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and presented her with a gift from the Cabinet to mark her 90th year. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall be having further meetings later today. This evening I hope to have an audience of Her Majesty the Queen.

     

    The Gulf

    Mr. Flynn : To ask the Prime Minister what steps have been taken by allied bombing sorties over Iraq to avoid disruption of the ecological balance of the marshes in the River Euphrates delta and to the habitat of the striped hyenas, jackals and wolves of the western desert of Iraq and northern Saudi Arabia.

    The Prime Minister [holding answer 8 February 1991] : Allied aircrews have instructions to attack only military targets which could pose a threat to allied forces or facilities supporting Iraq’s occupation of Kuwait. The missions are carefully planned to minimise the risk of damage to other areas.

     

    Nuclear Test Veterans

    Mr. Higgins : To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his answer to the right hon. Member for Worthing on 4 December 1990, Official Report, column 17, by what process British nuclear test veterans may seek to establish the Crown’s legal liability for compensation for the effects of radiation while serving in Her Majesty’s forces.

    The Prime Minister [holding answer 11 February 1991] : The process to establish the Crown’s legal liability in this matter is the need, in common law, to show that participants in the test programme had been exposed to radiation due to Ministry of Defence negligence and that such exposure caused them harm. The Government commissioned a study by the National Radiological Protection Board into this and the report published in 1988 did not establish a causal link between participation and an increased incidence of cancer. A further study by the NRPB to validate the findings of the previous study has been commissioned and the report is due to be published in 1992.

     

    Elderly People

    Mr. Rooker : To ask the Prime Minister if he will convene a working group comprised of representatives of the Departments of Health, Social Security and the Environment and of the public, private and voluntary sector providers, funders and user representatives to undertake an investigation into problems and issues involved in funding care for the elderly.

    The Prime Minister [holding answer 11 February 1991] : There are regular opportunities for interdepartmental consultation on the care needs of elderly people. Provider and user interests are fully reflected in this process. We believe that the creation of a formal working group of the kind suggested would add little to the existing effective collaboration machinery, and might in fact diminish its effectiveness.

     

    Toxteth Riots

    Mr. Wareing : To ask the Prime Minister if he will now place in the Library (a) the report of the Secretary of State for the Environment about the Toxteth riots, entitled “It Took a Riot”, (b) the letter of the right hon. and learned Member for Surrey, East (Sir G. Howe) in response to that report and (c) the report of the former Central Policy Review Staff on problems of the inner cities ; and if he will make a statement.

    The Prime Minister [holding answer 11 February 1991] : No.

  • PMQT – 12 February 1991

    Below is the text of Prime Minister’s Question Time from 12th February 1991.

    PRIME MINISTER

     

    Engagements

    Q1. Mr. Maclennan : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 12 February 1991.

    The Prime Minister (Mr. John Major) : This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. I also called on Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and presented her with a gift from the Cabinet to mark her 90th year. In addition to my duties in the House, I will be having further meetings later today. This evening I hope to have an audience of Her Majesty the Queen.

    Mr. Skinner : It was a cold weather payment.

    Mr. Speaker : Order.

    Mr. Maclennan : While welcoming the Cabinet’s recognition of my constituent, the Queen Mother, in that way [Interruption.]

    Mr. Speaker : Order.

    Mr. Maclennan : Would the Prime Minister say why, when he came to the House last week to announce the waiver of the exceptionally severe weather payment seven-day condition, he gave no inkling that it was to last 24 hours and that within four days, his Minister for Social Security and Disabled People would announce that things were to go back to where they are now. The “now you see it, now you don’t” approach cannot be the way to look after those who are so heavily dependent upon that payment.

    The Prime Minister : If there is doubt about that point, let me seek to remove it beyond peradventure at the moment. As I said last week, given the exceptionally severe weather, we wanted to ensure that vulnerable groups would take appropriate steps to keep warm so we waived the seven-day qualifying period. Given the continuation of severe weather since then, we shall once again be waiving the seven-day period. Of course, we shall continue to monitor the situation carefully and if the cold weather continues we shall take similar measures.

     

    Q2. Mr. Evennett : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 12 February.

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

    Mr. Evennett : While my right hon. Friend was enjoying his much publicised breakfast at the weekend, the people of Lithuania were voting in a referendum. Does he agree that the desire for independence by the Lithuanians, as expressed in the result of that referendum, should be heeded by the Soviet Union?

    The Prime Minister : I sympathise very much with my hon. Friend’s point. I would like to see the Soviet authorities negotiate with the elected representatives of the Baltic authorities about their aspirations. That is a point I hope to be able to put to President Gorbachev when I meet him next month.

    Mr. Kinnock : Does the Prime Minister share our deep concern that unemployment, business bankruptcies and factory gate prices are all up while investment and output are down? Whose policies does he blame for that–the current Chancellor’s or the previous Chancellor’s?

    The Prime Minister : I think that everyone shares the concern about bankruptcies and unemployment. We also share the considerable degree of pleasure at the growth that there has been in recent years, at the growth in the number of businesses–which, even last year, was running at more than 1,000 a week–and at the prospects that will continue to exist for this country as we increasingly drive inflation downwards.

    Mr. Kinnock : Does the Prime Minister understand that he has taken many of those new businesses–and longer-established businesses–straight into slump with his policies? Why will he not now cut interest rates, use a more sensible system of managing demand and try to stop the slump now, before the damage gets even worse and goes on for even longer?

    The Prime Minister : The right hon. Gentleman should know that the generalised slogans that he uses simply will not do. Let me quote to him what even The Guardian said of the alternatives :

    “As for the Opposition parties, their call for interest rate cuts with no accompanying recognition of the economic realities is politically opportunistic and economically naive.”

    I agree with The Guardian.

    Mr. Kinnock : May I put it to the Prime Minister that, this very week, factory gate prices are up, unemployment will be up and bankruptcies are up? Is that what he intends to continue to do? If so, I put it to him that his policies are hurting just about everyone and working for just about no one.

    The Prime Minister : I think that the right hon. Gentleman will find that our policies are working. I believe that that will become increasingly apparent. The right hon. Gentleman referred to the rise in output prices. I must say that I think that that is a suspect figure. In any event, the January figure may well reflect the delayed and continued impact of the autumn increase in oil prices. Throughout this year, the right hon. Gentleman will see a continuing fall in the rise of inflation.

    Mr. Rowe : Although at this moment it may seem bizarre to imagine that there could be advantages in transferring from road to rail, will my right hon. Friend confirm that, in better times, when the Department of Transport appraises capital projects it allows for both freight and passenger savings on roads?

    The Prime Minister : In so far as I could hear the first part of my hon. Friend’s question, I believe that I agree with him. British Rail has a substantial investment level at present ; indeed, it is the highest level for 30 years. As the former chairman said not long ago :

    “the investment programme is about the maximum rate we can physically manage.”

     

    Q3. Mr. Fisher : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 12 February.

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

    Mr. Fisher : Is not the Prime Minister ashamed that an estimated 50 young homeless people are sleeping rough on the streets of Stoke-on-Trent? They are not eligible for his severe weather payments or his emergency aid. What place is there for them in his classless society?

    The Prime Minister : As the hon. Gentleman knows, on a number of occasions I have expressed my concern and outlined the action that we are taking to deal with the position of young people who are sleeping rough. My hon. Friend the Minister for Housing and Planning set out some policies some time ago and explained that a considerable amount of resources would be devoted to implementing them. One of the problems that is recognised and acknowledged by the voluntary groups – if not, perhaps, by every hon. Member – is that some of those who sleep rough have every option to go into shelters but frequently do not exercise it.

    Mr. Janman : Is my right hon. Friend aware of press reports which speculate that the public sector borrowing requirement for 1991-92 will be £9 billion? Does he agree that during the forthcoming 12 months it is important that the Government apply the same discipline to themselves as companies in the private sector are having to apply, and that Government spending should take into account prevailing economic conditions, not pretend that they do not exist?

    The Prime Minister : We must certainly always take into account the prevailing economic conditions in terms of public expenditure control. That is certainly what we shall do.

     

    Q4. Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 12 February.

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

    Mr. Bennett : Does the Prime Minister recall one of his early votes in the House of Commons on 20 December 1979, when he voted to break the link between pensions and earnings? Does he realise that as a result of that, pensioners have not enjoyed increases in their standard of living through general improvements and that they are now worse off by £22 a week for a married couple and £13 a week for a single pensioner? Does he realise that if those links had not been broken, people would have had sufficient money to pay for fuel, make sure that they had enough to eat and put on warm clothing and so combat the cold weather? Does not the Prime Minister realise that against that background, the announcement that he has made today of the extra £1 heating allowance is extremely miserly?

    The Prime Minister : The hon. Gentleman is being very selective in the figures that he quotes. If he cares to examine the degree of net disposable income among all sectors of the community, including the elderly, he will find that it has risen substantially throughout the past decade.

    Mr. Lee : Given that our nation likes a modest flutter as much as it likes a traditional Happy Eater breakfast, does my right hon. Friend care to give some encouragement today to those of us who favour the concept of a national lottery designed to provide additional resources for sports, the arts and museums?

    The Prime Minister : My hon. Friend raises an intriguing question.

     

    Community Care

    Q5. Mr. Tom Clarke : To ask the Prime Minister what is Her Majesty’s Government’s present policy towards Sir Roy Griffiths’s recommendation that local authorities should perform the lead role in the provision of community care.

    The Prime Minister : The Government’s policy on community care remains as set out in the White Paper “Caring For People” and the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990. Local authorities begin implementation of those policies in April this year.

    Mr. Clarke : What steps does the Prime Minister intend to take to deal with the increasing problems of many elderly people in residential care who have witnessed a growing number of closures of private and voluntary sector homes as a result of the care gap and inadequate income support? Will he absolutely insist that elderly people do not suffer, in spite of the need for social service and social work departments to reduce their expenditure in order to avoid poll tax capping, even though the real anxiety is to respond to elderly people’s needs, which they recognise in their own communities?

    The Prime Minister : The concerns for elderly people that the hon. Gentleman sets out and which local authorities have are well understood and appreciated. He weakens his case by his remarks about community charge capping, not least because a large number of those authorities that face capping do so because of a flagrant and wilful abuse of their expenditure in many aspects.

    Mr. Nicholas Winterton : Does my right hon. Friend accept that there is considerable anxiety in local government, not least among the staff of part III residential homes and also, of course, the residents of those homes, that many local authorities feel obliged to put such homes into the private or charitable sector, thus creating considerable instability? Will my right hon. Friend take account of the anxiety, particularly among elderly people and their families, who are deeply upset by the instability that is being created?

    The Prime Minister : What we are seeking to do is to ensure the maximum availability of the appropriate sort of accommodation and to ensure that it is provided in the most cost-effective manner. That accommodation may, on occasion, be in the public or the private sector, but it is the quantum of assistance with which I know my hon. Friend is most concerned.

     

    Engagements

    Q6. Mr. Fraser : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 12 February.

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

    Mr. Fraser : Does the Prime Minister recall that shortly before he became Prime Minister he said that the subject that he cares most about is education? He repeated those sentiments at the Young Conservatives’ conference at the weekend. I have in my hand the sum total of all those speeches made by the right hon. Gentleman on education since 1979 – it averages one line a year. Can the Prime Minister put in the Library any other speeches on this subject, which is so close to his heart?

    The Prime Minister : The hon. Gentleman is being uncharacteristically fatuous.

    Hon. Members : Withdraw.

    Mr. Speaker : Order.

    The Prime Minister : If colleagues insist, I shall withdraw “uncharacteristically”. For the bulk of the period in the House since 1979 I have either been in the Whips’ Office, and thus unable to speak, or a Minister with other departmental responsibilities. If the hon. Gentleman had had what undoubtedly would have been an education to him from listening to the speeches that I have made outside the House he would not have asked that question.

     

    Q7. Mr. Squire : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 12 February.

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

    Mr. Squire : Despite my right hon. Friend and I both having left state schools at 16 and therefore, perhaps being poor educational advertisements [Interruption.] I said perhaps. Would my right hon. Friend underline his determination that standards and diversity in our state schools are enhanced and improved, and above all, that the staying-on rate of students beyond 16 and 18 is increased?

    The Prime Minister : I am happy to endorse my hon. Friend’s point. Education is undoubtedly the key in the future to opening new paths for people, not just people with high abilities, but, of course, people with much lesser abilities as well. We want an education system that rewards dedicated teachers and provides education in the state sector of which we can be proud. That is what we shall be increasingly reaching towards throughout the Conservative Governments of the 1990s.

  • Mr Major’s Speech at RAF Bruggen in Germany – 11 February 1991

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s speech at RAF Bruggen in Germany, made on Monday 11th February 1991.

    PRIME MINISTER:

    I have got one piece of extremely good news for you and that is that I am going to be extremely brief and the reason I am going to be extremely brief is it is beginning to snow very heavily out there and I am told if I do not take off pretty soon, I will not take off at all! The thought of missing Questions in the House of Commons tomorrow is more than I could bear so I really think I had better be fairly brief because I suspect it would not only be embarrassing to me, it might be rather embarrassing to you if I was not able to take off at the end of this particular visit!

    Can I just say collectively what I have been able to say privately over the last few minutes and that is to express my thanks to all of you for everything you have done in the period since the beginning of August. I know that you have been involved in your different ways with your different skills right from the beginning of August; I know it has meant twelve-hour shifts; I know it meant that Christmas was a bit truncated this year with just Christmas Day; and I know the very deep personal commitment that many of you have had to ensuring the success of what goes on in the Gulf and the fact that many of you have been out there for a while and have now returned.

    I just want to say to you really two or three things very briefly:

    Firstly, it is not possible to express in words that will convey it accurately quite how much what has happened here is appreciated both by the air crews and the army who are actually out in the Gulf and also by the broad mass of people back at home in the United Kingdom who watch with the most immense pride the sheer scale of the logistical operation to ensure that we have all the servicemen properly equipped and properly able to do their job out in the Gulf. It has been a fantastic operation and I think many people back at home who perhaps do not always in other days have a full appreciation of the role of the armed forces, whether it be the RAF, the Navy or the Army, are beginning to see in a new light precisely the professionalism and the skill that is actually available to ensure that the work that is necessary to be done in the Gulf can be done.

    I need not, I think, elaborate at any length to you about why your colleagues are there but I believe quite passionately that it is right that they are there; that they are for an entirely just cause and that if we had not taken this problem head-on now at this time, that we would have had on our hands a far greater problem to solve within the next two or three years. One only has to see at close quarters the sheer scale and size of the Iraqi military machine to realise that that machine could not have been there for defensive purposes and that at some stage in the future we would have had to ask you and your colleagues to do a far bigger job even than the big job that you are in the process of dealing with so successfully at the present time.

    I cannot tell you how long this conflict will continue – I cannot tell you because I do not know – but I do know that it has gone supremely well so far; it has been handled with the most immense professionalism both by the servicemen who are out there engaged in the conflict and all the logistical back-up that you and many others have provided to enable them to carry on with that fighting.

    The other thing of which I am absolutely certain is this. Although there may be some doubt about when this conflict will end – and I cannot tell you that – there is not a shred of doubt about how it will end. There is no way that the Iraqis can win this conflict. Whatever particular circumstances there may be that will bring it to an end are uncertain – that, too, is not something we can be sure about at present – but the Iraqis and Saddam Hussein will have lost this conflict at the end of it and they will have lost it not just because of the enormous bravery that we have seen, particularly in those early days with the immensely brave sorties by the Tornados on airfields often against very heavy fire, but they will have lost it comprehensively because in every aspect of the profession of warfare they will have been beaten by the Allied Forces.

    I can only say in conclusion that I hope that happy day comes sooner rather than later and once it has been done, I assure you that we will be bringing your colleagues from the Gulf home just as speedily as we possibly can and I know you and their families will give them a very warm welcome; and I can assure you than when they and you come back to the United Kingdom as well, there will be a very warm welcome for you too.

    So thank you very much indeed for all you have done; thank you for making me so welcome today; and thank you for the work that I know you will continue to do between today and that happy day when the conflict is finally concluded. Thank you all very much indeed! [Applause].

     

    QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

    QUESTION:

    You spoke to Christine Ankerson. Can I ask you what that was like and what you said?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    It was a private discussion with Mrs. Ankerson and I do not wish to comment.

    QUESTION:

    Right! Can we return then to your meeting with Herr Kohl earlier? You come away clearly delighted – can you explain to us why?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    It was an extremely good meeting. There are a vast range of things to discuss with Herr Kohl, a vast series of areas where there is a common British and German interest; a great deal is happening in Europe and a great deal is happening elsewhere. We had the opportunity of running down a whole range of matters and we found a very satisfactory community of thought on a large number of them.

    QUESTION:

    Included in that, of course, was monetary union in Europe.

    PRIME MINISTER:

    That was one of a large number of things we discussed; we found great unity on a number of others. There is not complete unity over monetary union in Europe but there are certainly some common objectives: we both want low inflation in Europe – there are matters of that sort. we are just beginning to discuss monetary union in the IGCs and there is a great deal further to go and as we both said in the press conference we had afterwards, of course there are some differences but the IGCs, I hope, will be areas where we can sort them out.

    QUESTION:

    Prime Minister, how did you find the morale of the families when you spoke to the wives and children here?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    I thought it was both remarkable and admirable. It is difficult for someone who is not a member of the family of one of our servicemen in the Gulf to quite understand the concerns that they must have at the present time. We can imagine what it is like but we cannot actually know what it is like for we do not have that particular burden to bear at present but I must say they were absolutely remarkable, very impressive indeed.

    QUESTION:

    When you were at Munster, I am sure that were many people who were very concerned about when the land war would start in the Gulf. Were you able to give them any indication, the wives of those army personnel who are out in the Gulf?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    No, I was not able to give them an indication of when the land war will start – that is not something that I can do and it is not something that is fully known yet.

    I think it is now becoming probable rather than possible that there will be a land conflict but precisely when that will be is as yet uncertain.

    QUESTION:

    Did you feel that they needed reassurance, the wives that you met today?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    I think everyone in those circumstances would like to know that other people are concerned about them and care about them and to hear the immense admiration that is being expressed everywhere in the United Kingdom for the way our servicemen are performing in the Gulf but I must say I found the wives very resolute indeed.

    QUESTION:

    One other question on the talks with Chancellor Kohl. I understand that Chancellor Kohl said that there was a new era in Anglo-German relations that was opening. Do you also share that view?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    I think there is a very good relationship between the United Kingdom and Germany. I am delighted that that is the case and Herr Kohl and I will remain in close contact. We hope to build on that and we are sure it will continue.

  • Mr Major’s Speech to Servicemen at Munster Army Base – 11 February 1991

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s speech to servicemen and their wives at Munster Army Base in Germany, made on Monday 11th February 1991.

    [Quality of initial recording was poor, numerous sections are indistinct]

    PRIME MINISTER:

    Thank you very much. I am delighted to be here today and I only regret [indistinct] able to have on this particular occasion. Can I just say something to you first about what is happening out in the Gulf and about the visit I made [indistinct].

    I think all of you know why your husbands are out there and why your colleagues are out there in the Gulf; there are serious, important principles at stake. It is not just the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq, important though that it is. I think there are wider issues as well and one of the wider issues, of course, is the fact that if a large [indistinct] nation like Iraq is able to invade a small defenceless nation like Kuwait and get away with it, then I wonder how many other small defenceless nations around the world [indistinct] a problem on our hands elsewhere if we do not deal with the problem that exists in Kuwait now.

    The second problem, of course, and is that if this were to continue uninterrupted and the Iraqis were to keep control of Kuwait, then I believe very strongly that we would have a much more serious problem on our hands in two or three years time and a much more difficult and widespread problem to deal with. In fact, that it is better to deal with it now, rather than have a much wider and large-scale conflict to deal with in two or three years time, for in two or three years time the Iraqis could be better prepared; they might have the nuclear weapons they do not have now or the biological weapons they do not yet have and so to [indistinct] and to [indistinct] of other people it seemed to us to be necessary to deal with the particular problem immediately and I know from those of your husbands I met while I was out in the Gulf that [indistinct] is their view as well.

    When I went out there early in the New Year, I went out there because I wanted to see for myself because I do not believe, however well you are briefed, you can understand a matter unless you do see it for yourself. I wanted to see for myself what it was actually like out there and I wonder if I can just paint you [indistinct] picture.

    I went right out in the desert [indistinct] and they were well dug-in. If you, were for example, to travel as I did in a helicopter [indistinct] for mile upon mile upon mile [indistinct] encampment, with little pieces of armour [indistinct] headquarters [indistinct] that was actually dug well into the ground and covered with camouflage nets [indistinct] every single day regardless of the possibility of attacks [indistinct] from Iraq. It was [indistinct] a most remarkable operation [indistinct] for as far as you could see from the helicopter [indistinct] every single [indistinct] there were literally [indistinct] all well dug-in [indistinct] at that time [indistinct] they will have moved on now [indistinct] what they were doing.

    I had the opportunity of having a lot of informal meetings with the boys over there rather like the meeting we have got here except that we were obviously short of microphones and it was just a question of gathering round and talking.

    [Indistinct] when I went out there I was not at all certain what I would actually find [indistinct] professional army of course, but a professional army [indistinct] did not expect to be out in a place like the desert [indistinct] that is going on at the present time and I wondered what people would feel about that and I was naturally [indistinct] about the reaction. I do not think I will ever come away feeling so proud of people as I did of those people as I had [indistinct] just after [indistinct] but Iraq was [indistinct]. People knew what they were there for, they knew how difficult the task would be, they were totally and completely confident of their ability to do it and although on many occasions they made it clear how much they missed their families, they were utterly under-standing of the reason they were sent there and completely understanding of the fact that it would take some time before the work would be completed.

    You have all seen what has been happening [indistinct] conflict in the middle of January. The Royal Air Force, the American Air Force and the other allies have done [indistinct] over the period of the last month. They have [indistinct] with the most remarkable skill; you can actually see from photographs out there how military targets have been picked out in the middle of large areas and destroyed [indistinct] have not been damaged at all and it has been a remarkable operation [indistinct] longer than many people imagine. It will go on for a little longer yet, for a very good reason: we want to make sure that if and when it comes to a land battle – and I think it is probable rather than possible that it will come to a land battle – that everything possible has been done to minimise the severity of that battle. We will not commit our troops to a land battle until we are absolutely certain it is the right time to do so and until the air forces have finished the work that they have been engaged on for a very considerable period of time. So I cannot tell you precisely when that will be: I can tell you that we will take every measure that we possibly can to minimise the scale and to minimise the possibility of casualties should that land battle come about.
    When I was there, I [indistinct] some of the boys I met actually came from and I do assure you that they are totally prepared for what lies ahead.

    There were several other things I had the opportunity of discussing with them and that I would like to mention to you today. When this [indistinct] is over we will, I promise you, bring them home just as soon as we can. I do not propose to leave them out there for a lengthy period at the end of this conflict. It may be we will have to bring the troops who are out there back home and replace them for a short while for logistical reasons, clearing up and bringing home equipment, with some other troops; that is a decision to be taken and quite possibly that is what will happen but I will not keep them out there for a lengthy time at the end of this particular conflict.

    Let me also just say a word about the future of the army and [indistinct] at the end of this particular conflict what we can learn from it, what it actually may mean in terms of the future size, scale and skills that we need for the Armed Forces generally and for the Army in particular and we also will need to look and see what is needed for the future of individual regiments. That will take a while but I think it is a wise decision to stop, regroup and consider at the end of this conflict though it will not delay a decision unnecessarily because I know of the difficulties and uncertainties that that causes in many people’s minds.

    One other thing [indistinct] here in Germany [indistinct] I will just say to you I do not know quite how clearly you get a feel of what opinion is like in the United Kingdom but I must say to you that the support that there is for your husbands and for those troops out there in the United Kingdom is so tangible you can [indistinct] feel it, not just in the House of Commons though certainly [indistinct] the House of Commons, but also there among the public at large there is a total and overwhelming support for your husbands out there and tremendous respect for the work that has to be done and is going to be done. I think many people who perhaps often do not think about these matters will have gained new respect for the work of the Armed Forces as a result of what they can see and learn in this the first-ever television war.
    I wish you could feel how strong that support is because I think it would be a comfort and I think to your husbands in the Gulf it certainly would be a great comfort [indistinct] the support that they have.

    [Mainly indistinct, but regarding the large number of letters the Prime Minister had received at Downing Street]

    [Indistinct] from other people in this country who support has been tremendously important. Your letters are getting through and the fact that they are getting through and the support that you are actually giving to your husbands from here is of the most immense importance. That is one of the things, I believe, why morale out there is so very high and if they cannot be here to say that to you, I am pleased that I am, to say “Thank you” for those letters and to keep on writing to them even though it is not always easy for them to reply and may not be so in the future, I do assure you [indistinct] all the things may not be so in the future, I do assure that [indistinct] receive your letters sent out there is very much appreciated

    So thank you very much indeed for your welcome today and I was very pleased to be able to come today. I hope this matter will not drag on too long. I cannot tell you how long it will be because I do not yet know, but I can reiterate finally the promises that I made some time ago that when it is over, we will not delay in bringing your husbands back home to you and I hope that that day will not be far away. [Applause].

    QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

    QUESTION:

    [Inaudible].

    PRIME MINISTER:

    [indistinct] but now I have had the opportunity of seeing their families and seeing the tremendous support they are being given by them [indistinct] I am very pleased that I came.

    QUESTION:

    [Inaudible].

    PRIME MINISTER:

    We will, I think, have to consider, at the conclusion of the events in the Gulf, precisely what lessons we have learned from it in order to be sure that we make the right decisions. That is the most important thing: to make sure we make the right decisions to have the right size and nature of army for the threat to be [indistinct] in the future, so that will be my first concern. I will not delay in making those decisions but I think I do have to gather together the facts and the lessons we have learned in order to be able to make them so I am afraid I cannot give you a time-scale but I can give you the promise that we will not delay unduly about it.

    QUESTION:

    [Indistinct] people will be coming back home [indistinct] back to Germany?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    Back to where their families are. I think that is where they will want to come.

    QUESTION:

    Finally, Prime Minister, do you have any message – any additional message – for the families of troops in the Gulf?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    Only that I hope I can understand how they feel at this difficult time. I do understand that it is very easy for people to say it is very necessary but a particular stress and strain is placed upon the families of the troops who are actually out there. I admire them tremendously in the way they have responded to that strain and I hope that that strain will come to an end as soon as possible in the most favourable way.

  • Mr Major’s Joint Press Conference with Chancellor Kohl – 11 February 1991

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s joint press conference with Chancellor Kohl, held in Bonn on Monday 11th February 1991.

    CHANCELLOR KOHL:

    It is a great pleasure to me, dear friend, to welcome you here today to the Federal Chancellor’s office in Bonn. It is your first official visit, Prime Minister, to Bonn and it was a further very intensive talk in a series of intensive talks that we have had since you assumed office and I am very happy that you have been my guest here today, if only for a few hours, and we have agreed that these talks are to be continued at regular intervals; our next meeting will take place in the first half of March. I also should like to express my gratitude for the fact that in these very difficult times we have kept in regular contact on the phone at least once a week and that we intend to continue to do so.

    For us and for me, it is of the greatest importance to develop the very close and friendly relationship existing between the United Kingdom and Germany as intensively as possible.

    We owe a lot to Great Britain; together with our American and French friends, they have over four decades guaranteed freedom and peace for the larger part of Germany; this is especially true for Berlin and we will never forget it. We are fully aware of what it means when British soldiers now stand in the Gulf to fight for freedom and international law also on our behalf and it is especially in these difficult hours that I should like to assure these soldiers of the United Kingdom and the Alliance as well as their wives and children, of our utmost sympathy.

    In the few hours at our disposal today, we discussed quite a number of subjects and touched upon a further few; allow me to mention just a few.

    Understandably, the subject of the Gulf War was one of the central issues that we discussed today. We all wish that international law will be restored as quickly as possible, that the occupation of Kuwait, which is in violation of international law, be ended and that international law will then see the light of day and it is now exclusively in the hands of Iraq and of its President to restore peace as quickly as possible. I should like to tell you, Prime Minister, that we, the Germans and the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany, stand at the side of our friends and allies in the Gulf and we know that the Allies have assumed a very difficult and important task on behalf of the international community. We hope that the war can be ended soon and that the decisions of the United Nations are fully respected and implemented by Iraq.

    Secondly, we discussed the situation in Central and South-Eastern Europe and the situation in the Soviet Union. We both share the view that it is of the utmost importance that the Soviet leadership continues to pursue the policy of perestroika, a policy of openness, and that problems that have come up will be solved in a peaceful manner without the use of force.

    We also intensively discussed further work within the European Community, on the continuation of the work of the two Inter-Governmental Conferences, on political union and on economic and monetary union. We have cooperated closely, as was agreed on the day of the inauguration of these conferences in London, and we intend to continue this cooperation.

    We also touched on a number of other points – I would simply like to name but one.

    We share a great interest in a successful outcome of the GATT Round and that the time is being used in the best manner possible, for example by the EEC delegation now present in Washington and then afterwards, in order to keep within the time framework. We are very much interested in the success of the GATT Round.

    Mr. Prime Minister, you have the floor!

    PRIME MINISTER MAJOR:

    Chancellor Helmut, firstly may I thank you for your hospitality today and for the warmth of your welcome.

    We have had the opportunity in the last two months or so of having a very large number of conversations on the telephone and the occasional meeting and I am delighted that we have been able to agree today not only more meetings in March but to retain and expand the very close relationship that I believe we have been developing over the last two months in the future.

    I was particularly pleased that the Federal Chancellor was able to accept my invitation to join me for a week-end in the United Kingdom at some undisclosed date when the weather is a little better, when I might have the opportunity of showing him rather more of England.
    I was encouraged by the large number of policy areas where we share both a common objective and a common assessment of the problem.

    There is, for example, no difference in our assessment and objectives insofar as the Gulf conflict is concerned and I was able to express to the Federal Chancellor my very warm thanks for the most generous donation that the German people have made towards the costs of that conflict that are currently being borne by the United Kingdom. We both share a complete commitment to meeting all of the Security Council Resolutions in this present matter.

    We also found a remarkable unity of view in our perception of the present difficulties in the Soviet Union and in particular in the Baltic States. Both Germany and the United Kingdom are very strong supporters of perestroika and we agreed that we wish to see perestroika continue and Mr. Gorbachev to continue with his reforms.

    We were also very pleased by the developments in South Africa and the further reforms proposed by President de Klerk. It is our view that these should be encouraged in the hope that in the not too distant future South Africa may be brought back within the African community of nations and the world community of nations.

    As the Chancellor said, we were also able to discuss a wide range of Community matters, both the Inter-Governmental Conferences and, of course, the very great importance of a successful outcome to the present GATT Round.

    There were a wide range of other matters we discussed, including the desirability of as close as possible a relationship between the CDU and the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom. These are all matters that I look forward to developing in our continuing contacts.

    The list we have given you of the matters we discussed is not, I think, exclusive but it does indicate the very wide range of matters that we were able to touch upon in our discussions today.

    I would like to conclude, for the moment, by reiterating my thanks to Chancellor Kohl for the very warm welcome and the most useful and friendly discussions that we have had today.

    QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

    QUESTION:

    Prime Minister, you said there is no difference in your views on the objectives of the Gulf War. Is the aim of the Allied Forces now not only to free Kuwait but to drive Saddam Hussein out of government and maybe into another world?

    PRIME MINISTER MAJOR:

    No. Our objectives are as they have always been. I think one needs to recall that the Allied Forces are there under the international authority of the United Nations and we set out our objectives in the Security Council Resolutions that the United Nations have approved. Those are our objectives, those and no other.

    QUESTION:

    Mr. Chancellor, was the subject of specific German financial assistance to the countries involved in the Gulf war discussed?

    CHANCELLOR KOHL:

    You may have heard that the Prime Minister expressed his gratitude but we do not know what the future will bring. If the future brings further financial necessities, we will speak on them. I do not think you can deal with solidarity on a monthly basis.

    QUESTION:

    Could I ask you both, on the issue of political and economic union, do you not still find yourselves far apart on the ultimate aims of both?

    CHANCELLOR KOHL:

    Of course there are differences in views between us but what does that mean? We have come here in order to fight for a very important objective and if that question had been put to us ten years ago, we would have considered it completely impossible to imagine that ten years from that point in time we would have gone so far in the process of European unification.

    It is important now that we understand each other, that we work on the objective together, that of course we do not leave out the differences in views but that we try to find means and ways of getting together. You cannot expect things that have developed away from each other over a period of three hundred years to develop towards each other in a period of only thirty years.

    There are two things that are important for me:

    – that the obligation that our constitution places us under is taken seriously, to achieve German unity and European unification;
    – and second – this is also the policy that I pursue – not to box any party into a corner in European politics and least of all our British friends.

    I should like to walk along this path together with our British friends. Maybe we will have to make a detour but in politics detours have very often turned out to be the short cuts.

    PRIME MINISTER MAJOR:

    We have a saying by a very famous British politician that total unity is the unity of the graveyard and even though he was a Socialist politician, it is quite a good comment! [Laughter].

    So yes, there are differences of emphasis and concern in some of the IGCs at the present time but we are only just beginning to discuss all these matters in the Inter-Governmental Conferences. There is a very long way to go yet and there are very many things that need discussion.
    I am optimistic that at the conclusion of these Inter-Governmental Conferences we will have been able to reach a conclusion that is satisfactory both to the United Kingdom and to our European partners and there are many areas of agreement upon which we can build. So we will enter into those Conferences in a very constructive frame of mind with some very clear ideas and we will bring those ideas before all our partners in the Community.

    The prize of an agreement in those Inter-Governmental Conferences between all the Twelve together is a very considerable prize. That may mean, therefore, as the Chancellor said, the occasional detour but that, of course, is what we have the discussions in the Inter-Governmental Conferences for and I remain confident that at the end of it, we will have an agreement that each member state will be able to present to its domestic parliament and invite them to approve. I very much hope that that will prove to be the case.

  • Mr Major’s Comments on the IRA Mortar Attack – 10 February 1991

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s comments on the 7th February IRA mortar attack on Downing Street during an interview made on Sunday 10th February 1991.

    QUESTION:

    [Mr Major was asked how he reacted to the IRA mortar bomb attack].

    PRIME MINISTER:

    I was pretty contemptuous about it, to be frank, it is the sort of thing that people in Northern Ireland have had to live with on and off for a very considerable period of time. On this occasion the IRA have tried it in London, it is contemptible whether it is in Northern Ireland or London.

    QUESTION:

    [Mr Major was asked if he was shaken by the attack].

    PRIME MINISTER:

    No, I do not believe that I am shaken by it. The policies that we had before are the policies we will have in future and we have no intention of changing those as a result of this sort of attack, no intention whatsoever.

    QUESTION:

    [Mr Major was asked if it undermined the democratic process].

    PRIME MINISTER:

    The IRA have been trying to undermine the political process for a very considerable period of time, they have demonstrably failed and every time they even contemplate joining the political process they are rebuffed. The fact of the matter is they have no support from the public at large, either here or in Ireland, and nor will they have because I think the public share my feelings about the way they behave, they are as contemptuous of people who will murder indiscriminately in the way the IRA do as I am.