The Rt. Hon. Sir John Major KG CH

Category: 1996

  • Mr Major’s Message to Conservative Party Association Chairmen – 29 December 1996

    Below is the text of the New Year message sent by Mr Major to the Conservative Party Association Chairmen on Sunday 29th December 1996.

    PRIME MINISTER:

    1997 will be a watershed year for Britain.

    At the election, people will face a choice. A choice of two futures.

    They can choose a future where prices and mortgage rates are firmly under control. They can choose a future that looks rosy, with the best economic conditions this country has seen for a century, created by millions of hard-working people and the government, together. And they can choose a future where British interests will be fought for in Europe.

    Or they can risk a future with an untried, inexperienced, unrealistic alternative. We will win that election, because on all three counts it is too risky to trust Labour with Britain’s future.

    I know how hard the British people have had to work to make life better in this country. As a result we have made real gains – more spending money, more jobs and record investment. But I know, too, how easy it would be to lose those hard-won gains.

    We will safeguard the stability and lasting prosperity of British families with a clear and reliable agenda for those who work hard. Here are my five economic pledges for stability and prosperity:

    Tax : Having cut the basic rate of tax from 33p to 23p, we aim to get it down to 20p. Labour has £30 billion spending pledges but will not say where the money will come from.

    Prices : We keep inflation firmly under control. Labour has no plan for controlling prices and no inflation targets.

    Mortgages : By keeping inflation and interest rates low, we will ensure that the repayment on people’s homes – their biggest monthly outlay – remains affordable. Labour cannot be trusted to protect people’s mortgages.

    Jobs : We will continue to help businesses create more jobs, particularly for the young. Labour would destroy jobs with the minimum wage and Social Chapter.

    Britain : We will fight for a Europe of globally competitive nation states, not a federal Europe. Labour would undermine our right to say “no” to policies that would harm our country, and sign up to the job-destroying Social Chapter.

    Only Conservatives can deliver and build on Britain’s stability and prosperity. The evidence is all around us. A hard-working family on average earnings is £1,100 a year better off than at the last election, after taking tax and inflation into account.

    Over the next five years, Conservatives will fight to build on the higher standards in our schools, to build on the better treatment in our hospitals, and to build on the increase in police numbers on the streets. We have built a platform for lasting prosperity in a tough and competitive world.

    Having come this far, people are now going to ask themselves if they are prepared to put their security and Britain’s success at risk.

    Every previous Labour government has mishandled the economy and every person has paid the price through higher taxes, mortgages, prices and fewer jobs. If a new Labour government acted as Labour has always done, we would all suffer.

    Labour’s aims are unachievable. They have made £30 billion of spending pledges, so everyone knows they will either put up taxes or run up the nation’s debt. They say they’d help the unemployed – but we all know that a minimum wage would price people out of jobs. They say they are on the side of the people, but they are determined to make them pay more for gas, electricity, water and telephones and reduce the value of their shares and pensions, by imposing a windfall tax on business.

    The real danger lies in the fact that Labour won’t say where the money is coming from. After seventeen years in opposition, they still won’t tell us how they would raise the money to achieve what they promise. This is an unbelievable stance for a party wanting the responsibility of government. It is not surprising that their deputy leader, John Prescott, says that it would be “stupid” to tell the people what their tax plans are.

    But this election will decide more than just how Britain is run. Our great country faces two futures.

    At the European Inter-governmental Conference in Amsterdam next year, the British Prime Minister will have to negotiate about the future of Europe.

    I have one overriding principle in my policy towards Europe: to put the British interest first. That is the best policy for Britain and our party. I want Britain to play a full part in building a Europe of nation states. Our agenda is to help make Europe more competitive, so all hard-working people will benefit.

    But I will firmly resist any policies that would damage Britain’s prosperity, or result in a significant shift of power to Brussels. As I have said before, if Europe goes federal, Britain will not follow.

    But there is another future.

    Imagine if Tony Blair represented Britain in Amsterdam. He says he would never be isolated in Europe, so he would just follow the crowd. He would sign up to the job-destroying Social Chapter. He would undermine our veto – our right to say “no” – in many crucial areas.

    While destroying Britain’s influence abroad, Tony Blair’s policies would dismantle Britain at home. He clings to the wreckage of a discredited policy – devolution. He says it is a priority for government, but it would undermine the United Kingdom. He would give Scotland a tax-raising parliament, Wales an assembly and England a series of regional assemblies. No-one can know the damage this would do to our country.

    Two futures. A united and successful Britain, holding its head up high in the world – as the respected Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development has just confirmed. Or a country weakened abroad and divided at home.

    Stability and prosperity, or a leap into the unknown. That is the choice.

    When people ask, “But isn’t it time for a change?” tell them that there is a stark choice. Do people want to see the achievements of 17 years, and the brightest of prospects for generations, handed over to a party that is inexperienced and will say anything to win power? We get the basics right, Labour will get them hopelessly wrong.

    It is not in my nature to walk away from a fight. I am not going to do so now. I look forward to your help in winning a fifth term in office.
    Happy New Year.

  • Mr Major’s Comments on Pairing Arrangements – 20 December 1996

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s comments on pairing arrangements in the House of Commons, made during an interview held in London on Friday 20th December 1996.

    QUESTION:

    [Mr Major was asked if the good economic figures were overshadowed by pairing disputes in the House of Commons].

    PRIME MINISTER:

    I hope they weren’t overshadowed because the economic statistics we’ve seen this week are perhaps the most relevant thing that has happened during the whole year. The relationship of what happens in the economy to people’s prosperity is absolute and what we have seen is not just the Government saying the British economy is doing well – we have been saying that for some time – but I think people like dispassionate evidence of that. Here, we have had this week from the OECD, a report saying not only have we had the highest growth for the last couple of years in Europe but we will this year, next year and the year after, and inflation will stay low and unemployment will fall and the unemployment fall, of course, was spectacular this year, larger than we anticipated, but very welcome.

    QUESTION:

    [Mr Major was asked about the pairing row].

    PRIME MINISTER:

    It is rather an arcane dispute this. To try and put it in context, pairing arrangements generally are personal arrangements though sometimes they are conducted on a different level. Quite what misunderstandings occurred here I don’t know but there were two separate things.

    Firstly, this was a Take Note motion; secondly, the Government would clearly have won quite comfortably even without whatever misunderstanding happened.

    QUESTION:

    [Mr Major was asked if the whips knew who was going to win in advance].

    PRIME MINISTER:

    You don’t know precisely what the whips know and neither, frankly, do I, about who was going to vote where but I think this is a pretty arcane matter.

    QUESTION:

    [Mr Major was asked if it made politicians look dishonourable].

    PRIME MINISTER:

    Yes, of course it does if that is what people think, but I don’t think that is the case. We have more checks and balances in the British constitutional system than any other nation and to give you a wider example, European Councils are often fairly rough affairs, there are agreements hammered out some of which you like, some of which you don’t, some of which you can block, some of which you don’t, you have to strike a proper balance on what is overall in the British interest.

    Almost uniquely amongst Europe, the British Prime Minister than has to come back, make a full-scale statement to Parliament, answer questions for about an hour, explain himself and answer questions often on very technical and detailed matters. I hear often this talk about the British political system in one form or another. It has its faults, it has its defects and so do politicians, they are human and they are fallible but overall the checks and balances in the British political system – it is a rough, tough adversarial system – are the best that I know anywhere in the world and it does show the fallibility of politicians, I agree with that, but I think it is very much in the interest that we maintain that system.

  • PMQT Written Answers – 18 December 1996

    Below is the text of the written answers relating to Prime Minister’s Question Time from 18th December 1996.

    PRIME MINISTER:

     

    Staff

    Mr. Hain: To ask the Prime Minister how many (a) permanent and (b) non-permanent staff there have been in (i) his Department and (ii) executive agencies of his Department in each year since 1992.

    The Prime Minister: For these purposes, my office forms part of the Cabinet Office, Office of Public Service. I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him by my hon. Friend the then Paymaster General on 10 December, Official Report, columns 83-84.

     

    Dublin Summit

    Mr. Spearing: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the (a) topics and (b) documents considered at the Heads of Government meeting at Dublin on 13 and 14 December on which he placed a United Kingdom scrutiny reserve.

    The Prime Minister: The contents of the Economic and Finance Council report to the Dublin European Council on preparations for stage 3 of economic and monetary union are subject to a United Kingdom parliamentary scrutiny reserve. This point is reflected in the ECOFIN report itself and in the presidency conclusions of the European Council.

     

    Ministers (Severance Pay)

    Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make it his policy that the severance payment received by a Minister on resignation shall not be paid when that resignation followed criticism of the conduct of the Minister by a Select Committee of the House.

    The Prime Minister: The terms under which a Minister is entitled to a severance payment are laid down in the Ministerial and Other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991, which was approved by Parliament without any Divisions.

     

    Ministerial Leave

    Mr. Ian McCartney: To ask the Prime Minister (1) how many days of leave he plans to take during the Christmas adjournment;

    (2) how many days leave he has taken in the Easter, Whitsun and summer adjournments; and how many days leave he took during the time in which Parliament was prorogued this year.

    The Prime Minister: Ministers are required to be available for Government business at all times. Subject to this overall requirement they may take leave as and when Government business permits.

  • Mr Major’s Speech at Ulster Folk and Transport Museum – 18 December 1996

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s speech at Ulster Folk and Transport Museum held on 18th December 1996.

    PRIME MINISTER:

    It’s never a hardship to come to Northern Ireland as, as on every other occasion, I’ve enjoyed the varied experiences that one always has here. Failing to land at Dungannon in fog, arriving by road more or less on the same day I was intending to, but then having the opportunity to talk and listen to so many experienced views about what is actually happening on the ground in Northern Ireland.

    I’m not a starry-eyed optimist, I believe in looking at the reality of what has happened and we might as well honestly acknowledge to ourselves that we’ve hit a sticky patch in Northern Ireland at the moment and the last few months have been difficult. And I think it is worth making that point because I see that from my own particular area in London, Paddy sees that from his day to day responsibilities in Northern Ireland, but you see that from your day to day activities within Northern Ireland either in the partnership schemes or in the various aspects of community relations work that I’ve had the opportunity of discussing briefly with you over the last few moments.

    Is it going to change? Is it going to get better? Well I believe that it is, but I will tell you one or two other things I believe as well, I’ve never believed we’re going to snap our fingers and everything that we wish to achieve in Northern Ireland is suddenly magically going to change in precisely the direction, with precisely the good humour that we expect, it isn’t going to be like that. It was always going to be a long, perhaps a hard grinding road to get in the direction that we wish to go.

    But before I say about where we are just let me cast your minds back a few years, of course in the last six months of this year, post-Drumcree particularly, it has been a difficult period particularly for those of you I know in community relations in one respect and a few days through the old suspicions straight back in the trenches from where we had taken some time trying to get them to emerge, but go back four or five years and then look at the changed atmosphere, the changed nature of the way the debate is conducted, the sort of meetings that take place that could never possibly have taken place just four of five years ago.

    Now I know that seems a long time and I know that it is so frustrating that it isn’t faster to think of 20 years in which nothing happened at all except positions getting more and more entrenched and then think of the developments there have been in the past five years and then I think there is every reason for optimism and hope rather than people being depressed because the speed of progress we seem to be making until the middle of this year has slowed a little.

    What you do on the ground is as crucial a part of changing the face of Northern Ireland as anything else, we will not impose a new Northern Ireland from above, you will create a new Northern Ireland from the grass roots, that is where it will effectively be done if it is going to last and be real and is solid and that is why the work that you do is so very important in so many ways.

    If I could just say a word first about the partnerships. The European Union often gets a very bad press, it gets a very bad press but then don’t we all in the United Kingdom, but in fact the European Union has a very high recognition of the special factors and the special problems of Northern Ireland and I’m very grateful for what the European Union has sought to do and I encourage them to go on doing it in the future because there is a lot still to be done. And talking to many of you about the different partnership schemes, the very large ones that have, in some cases, millions of pounds to play with, that and the smaller ones that have hundreds of thousands of pounds to play with, there was one word that kept emerging when I asked you what you did with your money and the word inclusive or inclusiveness became repeated both from those looking after the large schemes and those looking after the small schemes, and if there was one word that is going change the face of Northern Ireland in the years to come I suspect that is the right word, inclusiveness.

    If people are going to come together so that it does not matter which side of the divide they come from in terms of their employment, in terms of where they love, in terms of where they go to school, in terms of their personal relationships, if we can get that inclusiveness to become an established pattern from childhood upwards, rather than the divisions that so often had been developed from childhood upwards in previous generations, then I think you’ll build more solidly for the future of Northern Ireland than any politician ever could. So I am very grateful for what you do on the partnership schemes, I’ve learned over the last few minutes how bureaucratic it is that you have to fill in 27 pages for the European Union before you get your money. I’m bound to say, given my experience, 27 pages is far less than it might have been. Nonetheless I will mention that and see if there is something that can be done about reducing the bureaucracy, but thank you for the word you’re doing on the ground. It’ll build up and if you build the foundation soundly I’m sure the end product for Northern Ireland will be very real.

    For those of you in community relations I think there are several things really I would wish to say. The first is simply thank you, because it is not an easy job anywhere at any time, you need people to help with community relations when there is a fracture in community relations so self-evidently it is never an easy job but when you have some of the events you’ve had to face in the last six months I know it is a particularly difficult job and it takes a certain amount of courage and mental hardness to carry on with that job and do it, but I’m very grateful for you doing so and I know there’s been a vast range of different community relations activities that we have been talking about. And again, if I may pursue the same theme for a moment, community relations isn’t handed down from the Northern Ireland Office, of course there is a role for the Northern Ireland Office and for the Councils. But is is when it goes in the other direction that it is going to be most effective and I know that the majority of the people I have met over the last hour or so actually operate community relations in that direction and do so it seems to me with some courage and great skill.

    What other factor is there that might make your tasks easier? I think there is one, it’s a very material factor in every sense of the word, material in that it makes a difference and material in that it is concerned with people’s material well being and that is the prosperity of Northern Ireland. If Northern Ireland is not prosperous and long-term unemployment goes on and more people live longer without jobs, without prospects, without hopes than you are trying to fight very hard to improve the atmosphere and remove the sectarian divides.

    If you have a Northern Ireland that is getting more prosperous, where there is more investment, where there are more jobs then you are finding events are working with you rather than working against you as they have done so often in the history of Northern Ireland over the last quarter of a century or so. That is why the changing economic prospects for Northern Ireland are so vitally important.

    By today’s very dramatic drop in unemployment in Northern Ireland taking it below 10% for the first time I think in 16 years or so, is very encouraging, not because it was a one off drop, because it is part of a continuing trend and we can expect the reduction to continue, though I doubt it will continue at quite the same dramatic rate we have seen at the moment. But the fact it is falling, the fact that the international examinations of the UK economy suggest that our economy is going to grow very fast, not just this year but next year and the year after, at least gives every indication to believe that the job creation programme, that natural job creation programme of people who have markets and who will want to employ people is going to continue. So we are going to have events working with us over the next few years.

    There is just one other thing I wish to say and then Paddy, I will shut up because I have gone on too long. There is just one other thing. During that previous 17 months when we had no violence, you could see, feel even, a change in the economic atmosphere in Northern Ireland. You could see people being prepared to invest in Northern Ireland, you could see the change in the economic atmosphere in Northern Ireland. You could see people being prepared to invest in Northern Ireland, you could see the change in Belfast city centre in terms of what was actually happening in the shops and in the opportunities and there is outside Northern Ireland a huge wall of investment money prepared to come into Northern Ireland and invest in Northern Ireland in your future prosperity and jobs, just as soon as they believe you have got a secure security situation and an end to violence.

    So if we have the economy moving in our direction, and we have, and the fall in unemployment moving in our direction, and we have, and the extra help from the European Union, and we have, and the well established community relation structure, as we have, the missing ingredient that will accelerate, I believe, all these things in the right direction is to try and put the peace process back on track so that people not only can see the other things that are happening and can have a realistic hope that the politicians and the divided parties can reach an accommodation in the interests of all the people of Northern Ireland.

    That is what I would like to seek to do, I look forward to the day, if I may borrow the word again, when we can credibly, credibly have inclusive talks that will enable the representatives of the constitutional parties and others to get together and see if we can build on the progress that has been made in the peace process so far. That is the missing piece of the jigsaw, the other pieces are in place, I will do what I can, I know Paddy will, I know many other people will, to try and properly and credibly put that missing piece of the jigsaw on the board. So I think there is quite a lot to be optimistic about. Somebody said to me just over there, who had been working in community relations for 25 years, I think he said there is every reason for hope and optimism in Northern Ireland. I believe that too.

    The Christmas message was pretty hopeful and optimistic nearly 2,000 years ago, I think we can be hopeful and optimistic now, I am, I hope you are. Thank you for your hospitality today and I wish you a happy Christmas and please God, a peaceful new year.

  • Mr Major’s Doorstep Interview in Carrickfergus – 18 December 1996

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s doorstep interview in Carrickfergus, held on 18th December 1996.

    QUESTION:

    Could I just ask you against the backdrop of what President Clinton said yesterday, in terms of the whole peace process, he said that following a ceasefire Sinn Fein would be invited to participate in the talks fairly soon thereafter. Would you concur with those remarks?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    I think the President made it clear that words and deeds were necessary. That is exactly the position I have made for some time. We need to see both words and deeds. Once we are satisfied that the deeds support the words then there is no need for undue delay.

    QUESTION:

    Would you use the word ‘soon’ though?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    Well I think we would have to see how soon we could determine that the deeds followed the words. I am not going to put a timescale on it except to repeat what I would have said in the past. No one is looking for undue delay. I would wish for us to get to a position where we can have inclusive talks, but they must be genuine inclusive talks and we need to know that any future ceasefire is a genuine ceasefire, so we first need to see what is said about it, secondly we need to monitor the deeds to make sure it is genuine. Providing that is so let us get on with the talks.

    QUESTION:

    Are you disappointed that the talks are now stuck?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    Yes of course. I would like the talks to make progress. But we always expected that there would be moments when it would be stuck. I don’t think anybody believed that this was going to be a smooth easy passage from beginning to end, so of course whenever it is stuck it is a disappointment and when there is a disappointment we have to try harder to see whether we can unblock whatever is causing the stoppage, that is what we are seeking to do.

    QUESTION:

    Can I ask you given the breakdown of the pairing arrangements at Westminster, is Derek Conway’s job as a whip now safe?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    Well I gather that the pairing arrangements broke down last night and so far as I hear, though I have no corroboration yet large numbers of Labour pairs were just withdrawn, so I don’t really know what is happening. We will have to wait and see when we get back after Christmas.

    QUESTION:

    Do you regret the action of your Whips Office though in double pairings?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    I think we must get back after Christmas and look and see what’s happened. I certainly regret we didn’t get the bill through last night that we hoped to get.

    QUESTION:

    Do you see this as a farewell visit?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    No, I shall be back many times Eamonn, I look forward to answering your questions on this and many matters on many future occasions.

  • Mr Major’s Speech in Carrickfergus – 18 December 1996

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s speech at Ryobi in Carrickfergus, held on 18th December 1996.

    PRIME MINISTER:

    Well John, thank you very much indeed and thank you for the invitation to be here at Ryobi today and to have the opportunity of turning on the natural gas. It was a very easy prospect for me simply to turn it on, very low tech, my operation was very low tech in a very high tech enterprise, but I was very privileged to be here and delighted to see what has actually happened.

    In a sense I can scarcely believe it has happened. I remember discussing the prospect of natural gas coming to Northern Ireland, must be at least 10 years ago and there seemed at that stage so many obstacles to overcome, so many difficulties before we could see whether it was a commercial proposition, whether the inter-connector could be done, whether British Gas could deliver and actually make sure that it happened. But they have and I am delighted to congratulate British Gas on that and Phoenix as well for their work here in Northern Ireland.

    As I say at least we have added another dimension to the increasing competitiveness that I think is Northern Ireland’s industrial future. The prospect of natural gas is very welcome, it adds to the competitiveness of Northern Ireland, it adds to the options and choice of industry and commerce in Northern Ireland at a time when there is every sign that that is going to expand. All of this self-evidently isn’t going to happen overnight. I dare say it will be some years before all of the options of the present licensing position to have natural gas in Northern Ireland are themselves exercised. But I would be very surprised indeed if there isn’t a tremendous expansion of demand and if that growth of energy supply and growth of choice in energy supply, and growth of competitiveness in energy supply doesn’t add to the competitiveness of industry here in Northern Ireland and I think that is very welcome.

    And it comes, if I can touch upon another matter, on a day where we can see the increasing competitiveness. We had this morning some extremely good news for Northern Ireland, the unemployment figures in Northern Ireland have fallen by a record amount in the figures released this morning. For the first time I think in the last 15 or maybe 16 years, unemployment in Northern Ireland has now at last come down below 10%, it’s fallen by very nearly 1% in the figures over the last month and there’s every sign of a sustained fall in unemployment, not just here in Northern Ireland where it has long been overdue, but also across the United Kingdom. And I am very optimistic about the industrial and commercial future both here in Northern Ireland and right the way across the United Kingdom as well. Not just because of the fall in unemployment, not just because of the arrival of natural gas, welcome though that is, but also because the economic prospects that we have across the United Kingdom at the moment are probably better than we had, we have better prospects at the moment that any people can remember for a very long time indeed.

    We have had in the last day or so independent corroboration of that, the independent OECD reports suggest not only that we will have had the largest growth across Europe in the last two years but that we will have the largest growth across Europe this year, next year and the year after next and they make no forecast for beyond that. But that will mean for four or five years the United Kingdom will have lead the growth pattern across Europe and you see the impact of that in the extent to which people are getting back into employment, investment is increasing and developments like natural gas coming to Northern Ireland are themselves being carried forward. So it is out of the amalgamation of a whole series of individual events that prosperity itself blossoms and I think that is what we are seeing.

    If I could briefly touch on another element in Northern Ireland. For 17 months in Northern Ireland we have had a ceasefire. And I think in that 17 months people began to sense what the economic prospects for Northern Ireland could be if that ceasefire was turned into a permanent settlement. There was no doubt in the change in the inward investment figures, no doubt about the change in the everyday way of life, no doubt about the change in commercial and economic prosperity, investment and hope during that period. And so there is a very glittering prize, not just with the investments we have seen this morning, not just with the fall in unemployment, not just with the prospects of economic growth outstripping the rest of Europe, but if Northern Ireland can add the final glittering prize to that in the period that lies ahead then I believe we will see an outbreak and growth of prosperity in Northern Ireland on a scale at the moment that few people had perhaps imagined. That is something I would dearly love to see, at a time when the process has run into a sticky patch as we come up to Christmas perhaps is a good time for hope and optimism and I believe there is every reason for us to look forward optimistically and with hope for the future that there will be in Northern Ireland.

  • Mr Major’s Speech in Dungannon – 18 December 1996

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s speech at Bush Primary School in Dungannon, held on 18th December 1996.

    PRIME MINISTER:

    I just wanted to say this morning how pleased I am to be here in Northern Ireland this morning and how much I’ve enjoyed the visit to the Bush School. I’m sorry we didn’t have time to finish the school play, it was just getting to the tense part but I’m reliably informed that it ends happily. I have, this morning, three places of extremely good news for every part of the United Kingdom. The unemployment figures announced a few minutes ago show the largest drop in unemployment since records were first kept, 25 years ago. We’ve seen today unemployment drop by just under 96,000 and we’ve seen that drop reflected right the way across the United Kingdom in terms of male unemployment, that has fallen, female employment has fallen and it has fallen in every region across the United Kingdom. This fall this morning doesn’t just take unemployment below 2 million, it takes it down to over 1.9 million, a very long way below 2 million, and it’s extremely good news for very many people.

    The other two pieces of good news I think, perhaps, help explain the drop in unemployment. The first is the report of the OECD into the economy across the United Kingdom. The OECD independent forecast not only notes that we’ve had the largest growth in the United Kingdom of anywhere in Europe last year and this year, but forecasts that we will have the largest growth across Europe next year and the year after that and that we will do that by maintaining very low inflation.

    The third piece of good news is the growth in retail sales showing yet again that the economy at the moment is extremely buoyant, so what we can see as we come to Christmas 1996 is perhaps the best economic prospects that we’ve seen across the United Kingdom for a very long time. I don’t think many people will remember when the prospects were quite as rosy as they were at present and we now have to make sure that those rosy prospects are turned into future realities and I have every intention of ensuring that we do. Here in Northern Ireland we’ve seen today’s unemployment figures take unemployment down below 10 per cent for the first time, I think, in about 15 or 16 years and that is a trend, I think that looks as though it’s going to continue, so extremely good news for very many people.

    QUESTION:

    Prime Minister, can I just ask you if you’re still committed to the peace process?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    I’m totally committed to the peace process and I will remain committed to the peace process for as long as I remain in politics, which I expect to be a very long time.

    QUESTION:

    Prime Minister, are you disappointed with all this good news you’re telling us about doesn’t extend to good news about real progress in the peace process which you might have expected coming back?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    I would have liked to have had more progress. I’ve said from the outset of this that it would often be two steps forward and one step back and I’m afraid over the last few weeks we’ve been in the one step back mould. I very much regret that but I think if we take the long view and see the changes that have occurred over the last few years, the change not just in terms of tangible progress but the changes in the terms of debate, the way in which the debate is expressed, I think we can see that over the longer run a lot of progress has been made and I believe that more progress can be made and will be made. The principal reason I’m confident about that is what I see every time I come to Northern Ireland. I come to Northern Ireland and I see people, whichever side they may instinctively support, who wish to see progress. I don’t believe people can stand in the way of that progress, it may be slow, it may be painful, but progress I’m confident there will be.

    QUESTION:

    What words of hope would you offer to the people of Northern Ireland for 1997? 1996 started off looking very good, ‘97 doesn’t look so good?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    Well I hope from where we are that we will be able to move forward. As I said a moment ago there’s a pause in the move forward but I don’t think this pause will last for good, providing everybody who speaks about their will to have peace means that they say, then there’s no reason why we can’t make progress. We have always known there’d be some very difficult hurdles to overcome but we know those hurdles would come at irregular intervals in the process, we have now hit a hurdle, but I think it is a hurdle we will be able to overcome, we’ve done so in the past, I have every intention of trying to do so again.

  • PMQT Written Answers – 17 December 1996

    Below is the text of the written answers relating to Prime Minister’s Question Time from 17th December 1996.

    PRIME MINISTER:

     

    Libya (Sanctions)

    Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Prime Minister (1) what action he is taking to enter into dialogue with Arab and African countries about sanctions against Libya;

    (2) what recent representations he has received from (a) France, (b) Arab states and (c) the USA on the reconsideration of UN sanctions against Libya.

    The Prime Minister: When the need arises, we remind other Governments, including Arab and African Governments, that sanctions against Libya must remain in place until Libya complies fully with the requirements of the United Nations Security Council’s resolutions. These requirements include the surrender of those accused of the Lockerbie bombing for trial in Scotland or the United States.

    The Arab League and some Arab Governments have pressed for sanctions to be lifted and a compromise reached on Lockerbie.

    The US and French Governments agree with us that sanctions against Libya must remain in place until Libya complies fully with the requirements of the UN Security Council’s resolutions.

     

    Engagements

    Sir Peter Tapsell: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 17 December.

    The Prime Minister: 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.

     

    Council of Europe and WEU

    Sir Michael Shersby: To ask the Prime Minister if he will announce the composition of the United Kingdom delegation for the 1997 ordinary Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

    The Prime Minister: The 1997 ordinary Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe will be opened in Strasbourg on 27 January 1997. The delegation from the United Kingdom for the Session will consist of 19 members of the Conservative party, 15 members of the Labour party and two members from the minority parties.

    The appointments of representatives and substitutes have been made on the basis of nominations by the parties concerned in accordance with the resolution of the House on 22 May 1992, Official Report, column 682 and the House of Lords on 18 June 1992, Official Report, House of Lords, columns 290-92.

    The same delegation will be representing the United Kingdom Parliament at the Assembly of the Western European Union.

    Representatives from the Government benches will be:

    My hon. Friend, the Member for Reading, West, (Sir A. Durant) who will continue to act as leader of both delegations.

    My right hon. and hon. Friends the Members for Northavon (Sir J. Cope) for Warwick and Leamington (Sir D. Smith), for Calder Valley (Sir D. Thompson), for Ashford (Sir K. Speed), for Medway (Dame P. Fenner), for Bournemouth, East (Mr. Atkinson) for Ravensbourne (Sir J. Hunt), for Bridlington (Mr. Townend), and Lord Newall.

    Representatives from the Labour party will be:

    The hon. Members for: Wentworth (Mr. Hardy), for Tooting (Mr. Cox), for Wansbeck (Mr. Thompson), for Newham, North-West (Mr. Banks), for Don Valley (Mr. Redmond), for Birmingham, Hodge Hill (Mr. Davis), and Lord Kirkhill.

    The representative from the minority parties 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: The hon. Members for Sheffield, Hallam (Sir I. Patnick), for Norfolk, North (Sir R. Howell), for Brighton, Kemptown (Sir W. Bowden), for Salisbury (Mr. Key), for Hayes and Harlington (Mr. Dicks), for Chipping Barnet (Sir S. Chapman), for Newark (Mr. Alaxander), Baroness Hooper and Earl of Dundee.

    From the Labour Party the hon. Members for Sunderland, North (Mr. Etherington), for Glasgow, Provan (Mr. Wray), for Newport, East (Mr. Hughes), for Glasgow, Maryhill (Mrs. Fyfe), for Leigh (Mr. Cunliffe), for Leicester, South (Mr. Marshall), for Manchester, Central (Mr. Litherland) and Baroness Gould of Potternewton.

    From the minority parties: Lord Mackie of Benshie.

    Sir Anthony Durant: To ask the Prime Minister if he will place in the Library a copy of the latest information bulletin of the United Kingdom delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the Assembly of the Western European Union.

    The Prime Minister: I have done so today.

     

    Public Appointments

    Mr. Milburn: To ask the Prime Minister how many of the individuals appointed by his Department to public positions in the last year were first identified by the public appointments unit.

    The Prime Minister [holding answer 10 December 1996]: Eight of the individuals appointed by me in the last year were first identified by the public appointments unit.

     

    State Opening of Parliament

    Mr. Flynn: To ask the Prime Minister what proposals he has to reduce the expenditure on the state opening of Parliament; and what is his latest calculation of the total cost of the last state opening.

    The Prime Minister [holding answer 6 December 1996]: Expenditure on the state opening of Parliament properly reflects the nature of the occasion. The deployment of police officers to maintain public order on the route of the procession is an operational matter for the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis.

    On the cost of the last state opening, I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 11 November, Official Report, column 32, and to the answers given by my hon. Friend, the Minister of State for the Armed Forces, 19 November, Official Report, column 504 and by my right hon. Friend, the Minister of State, Home Office, 16 December, Official Report, column 450.

  • PMQT – 17 December 1996

    Below is the text of Prime Minister’s Question Time from 17th December 1996.

    PRIME MINISTER:

     

    Engagements

    Q1. Mrs. Fyfe: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 17 December.

    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.

    Mrs. Fyfe: Has the Prime Minister seen today that another London hospital has shut its doors to emergency patients? At the Victoria geriatric unit in Glasgow, a notice asks staff to think cost-effectively and limit incontinence wipes to two per person. Does the Prime Minister still maintain that the NHS is safe in Tory hands?

    The Prime Minister: Not only is the NHS safe, it is improving its service day by day. What the hon. Lady missed out of her litany were the 70 or so improvements in primary health care announced by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health. The hon. Lady knows that not only is the health service improving, but resources for the health service are improving both globally and per patient.

     

    Q2. Mr. Harry Greenway: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 17 December.

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

    Mr. Greenway: Does my right hon. Friend recall reports from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development some years ago, when inflation was 27 per cent., there was disaster everywhere and the International Monetary Fund had to be called in? Will he contrast those reports with the latest OECD report, which says that this country is set for record economic expansion and more growth than for 30 years, which will benefit the health service and everyone else? Would not all that be put at risk by uncosted Labour promises if the Labour party was ever elected to office–which it will not be?

    The Prime Minister: A few weeks ago, the shadow Chancellor dismissed the economic improvements in this country as propaganda. The OECD report published today shows how inaccurate he is. It says that prospects for achieving sustained output, growth and low inflation are the best for 30 years. The OECD now expects the UK’s growth rate next year–and the year after next–to be the highest in the group of industrial nations, easily outstripping Japan, Germany, France and the United States. It also forecasts falling unemployment on the back of that. There is no doubt that it is a glowing report. It is the best OECD report that this country has received for very many years, and it shows the best economic prospects that we have had for very many years.

    Mr. Blair: Will the Prime Minister now tell us specifically by what date the European beef ban will be lifted?

    The Prime Minister: I note, first, that the right hon. Gentleman does not deny the OECD report and does not wish to comment on it.

    The right hon. Gentleman knows that the beef ban will be lifted by our European partners and that I cannot tell him precisely what date that will be. We have taken measures for the ban to be lifted, and I shall seek the lifting of the ban progressively as soon as possible. We are now in the process of discussing a certified herd scheme that would cover the whole of the United Kingdom and from which we hope to see a progressive lifting of the ban.

    Mr. Blair: If the Prime Minister wants to ask me questions, I shall be happy to swap roles whenever he wishes to call the general election.

    The Prime Minister’s answer on beef is extraordinary. Does he not recall that, after the Florence summit, he came to the Dispatch Box and said that he had a firm agreement that, if we did certain things, the ban would be lifted, and that the timetable was in our hands, not Europe’s? [Hon. Members: “He did not say that.”] He certainly did say that. He said that, at the end of November, the ban would be lifted on scientific evidence. Is it not clear that he had no such agreement; that there was no guarantee that the ban would be lifted; that the timetable is in the hands of the veterinary committee; that he cannot give us a date; and that the lifting of the ban was not proceeded with on scientific evidence? Can the Prime Minister tell us the date by which the ban will be lifted, if the Florence agreement holds?

    The Prime Minister: The right hon. Gentleman is misleading the House.

    Madam Speaker: Order. I am sure that the Prime Minister does not mean the words that he has just said. I must ask him to withdraw them. No hon. Member misleads the House.

    The Prime Minister: No doubt innocently, the right hon. Gentleman has misunderstood the situation on beef–and not for the first time. The conditions that are necessary for the scientific committee to consider lifting the beef ban depend on actions that we take. That is correct. Among those actions is the selective cull. That is correct. As I reminded the right hon. Gentleman yet again yesterday–not for the first time–the selective cull was delayed because of the extra evidence on maternal transmission and because the over-30-months scheme was larger than anybody had supposed. The position now–

    Dr. Strang: Who are you kidding?

    The Prime Minister: The hon. Gentleman is the Opposition’s agriculture spokesman and he is supposed to know. If he does not know, I understand why the right hon. Member for Sedgefield (Mr. Blair) does not know. We now know who is providing the information that the right hon. Gentleman misunderstands. We are now seeking to obtain progressive lifting by means of the certified herd scheme, as we have set out, on more than one occasion, to the right hon. Gentleman.

    Mr. Blair: So the Prime Minister cannot give us a date for lifting the ban. [Interruption.] The Government gave us a date before, they did not honour it and they cannot give us a new one. I have just checked in Hansard, and the Prime Minister specifically said that the date for lifting the ban was in the hands of the British Government. If that is correct, why can he now not give us a date? The answer is that it is not in his hands. [Interruption.] Conservative Members may shout, but the truth is that BSE is a symbol of the Government–they are incompetent, incapable and can never be trusted.

    The Prime Minister: If the right hon. Gentleman reads what I said a few moments ago, he will understand why his third question is absurd, as was his prepared sound bite. It is no good his trying to fix facts. He cannot fix polls, as we have seen, and he should not try to fix facts.

    Mr. David Atkinson: Does my right hon. Friend recall the question that I put to him almost exactly a year ago about the failure of most computer systems in this country and throughout the world to recognise the year 2000, which will have enormously damaging consequences, not least for British business? Does he accept that, one year on, widespread ignorance of and inaction in response to the problem remain? Will he now give serious consideration to my ten-minute Bill, the Companies (Millennium Computer Compliance) Bill, which would do much to ensure that the computer systems of British businesses will be safe in three years’ time?

    The Prime Minister: I shall undertake to ensure that my hon. Friend’s ten minute Bill is examined carefully by my right hon. Friends. The underlying problem to which my hon. Friend refers is very serious, and we do not intend to leave it without action.

    Mr. Ashdown: The Prime Minister can huff and puff as much as he likes, but speak to any farmer in this country and they will say that the BSE fiasco tells us all we need to know about this Government: they dither at home, posture abroad, surrender at the end and blame it all on Europe. Does the Prime Minister realise that the anti-European opinion in his Cabinet, on his Back Benches and overwhelmingly among his candidates throughout the country means that, far from fighting for Britain in Europe in 1997, the Conservatives will become Britain’s out-of-Europe party in 1997?

    The Prime Minister: The right hon. Gentleman has a long tradition of being very supportive of the European Union. After all, some time ago he said:

    “We want Ministers to make decisions in public and without single nation vetoes”.

    The right hon. Gentleman would surrender that. He has also said that he does

    “not believe in the sovereignty of Parliament”

    as far as the European Union is concerned. The hon. Member for North Devon (Mr. Harvey) has written to my right hon. Friend the Minister Without Portfolio claiming that his party does not want a united states of Europe. I find that very odd, as the same hon. Gentleman said some time ago:

    “our”–

    that is, Liberal–

    “ideas on Europe are totally illiberal . . . we want to create a bureaucratic and centralist nightmare”.

    Not only are the Liberals unable to agree among themselves, they cannot even agree with themselves.

    Sir Roger Sims: Is not today’s White Paper, to which my right hon. Friend referred earlier, to be welcomed, as it both extends the facilities available to patients and increases the involvement in primary care of health care professionals such as nurses and pharmacists? Will my right hon. Friend assure the House that additional resources will be given to the national health service to develop the White Paper proposals?

    The Prime Minister: We have set out a commitment for additional resources over and above inflation for the national health service throughout the next Parliament–a commitment that we have honoured during the past 17 years and which other parties seem unable to match. My hon. Friend is right about the importance of primary care services. The proposals announced today by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health will lead to better general practitioner premises, a wider range of services available closer to home, better training for GPs and other staff, expansion of nurse prescribing, more funds for research into primary health, and much else besides. It is a very significant advance in the march towards far better primary health care.

     

    Official Visits

    Q3. Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Prime Minister when he intends to pay an official visit to Wakefield.

    The Prime Minister: I have no plans to do so.

    Mr. Hinchliffe: Has the Prime Minister had the opportunity to study the correspondence that I sent him last week concerning my constituent, Mr. Wayne Hood of Wakefield, who was recently sent to prison for four years for the attempted murder of his former foster parent who seriously sexually abused him over a seven-year period during his childhood and adolescence? Bearing in mind the fact that the foster parent has been gaoled for seven years for those serious offences against Mr. Hood and other children in his care, will the Prime Minister support the call for a review of Mr. Hood’s sentence? While I do not condone Mr. Hood’s actions, has he not been treated very harshly by the courts in view of his background and circumstances?

    The Prime Minister: I have seen the correspondence that the hon. Gentleman sent to me, and I am grateful to him for giving me notice of his question. I am aware of the hon. Gentleman’s deep interest and concern about this case. I made inquiries, and I understand that an application for leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal has been lodged. The hon. Gentleman will know that, in those circumstances, it is not appropriate for me to say anything further now. I believe that that is the correct way to pursue the matter. If the hon. Gentleman wishes to discuss it with me privately, I will be happy to see him.

    Mr. Robert G. Hughes: Does my right hon. Friend agree that the people of Wakefield would not want us to leave this year without congratulating Damon Hill on winning the sports personality of the year award? Would not they be amazed to know that he achieved that without an audience participation unit?

    The Prime Minister: I should like to congratulate Damon Hill on his success. The whole country took a great deal of pleasure in his many wins throughout the year. He is a very deserving winner of that poll. In the spirit of amity at Christmas, I shall not respond to the latter part of my hon. Friend’s question.

  • PMQT Written Answers – 16 December 1996

    Below is the text of the written answers relating to Prime Minister’s Question Time from 16th December 1996.

    PRIME MINISTER:

     

    Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe

    Sir Peter Emery: To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his speech at the Lisbon summit of 2 December, if he will make a statement on the role of the parliamentary assembly of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and in respect of the expansion of the activities of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

    The Prime Minister: I represented the United Kingdom at the summit meeting of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe in Lisbon on 2 and 3 December, accompanied by my right hon. and learned Friend, the Foreign Secretary. The meeting adopted the Lisbon summit declaration and the Lisbon declaration on a common and comprehensive security model for Europe for the 21st century. Copies of these documents will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

    The summit welcomed a separate decision on the mandate for negotiation next year on modernising the treaty on conventional forces in Europe.

    In the margins of the summit, I had discussions with several Heads of State and Government, including the Presidents of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, Chancellor Kohl of Germany, Prime Minister Chernomyrdin of Russia and Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel.

    Prospects for strengthening European security in the next century were the theme of many speeches to the summit and of my bilateral meetings. I explained to Prime Minister Chernomyrdin not only that enlargement of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and the European Union would be evolutionary transparent processes, but our strong conviction that European security for the future should be built in partnership with Russia.

    The declaration on the security model includes a decision to consider developing a charter on European security which can serve the needs of our peoples in the new century. The United Kingdom will contribute actively to this work. We shall emphasise the need for security organisations which adhere to OSCE commitments to work together, as in Bosnia, to defuse tension, prevent conflict, and build prosperous, democratic civil society throughout Europe.

    The Lisbon declaration draws attention to the OSCE’s expanding role in conflict prevention, management and resolution, including particularly the high commissioner on national minorities and long-term missions in countries such as Moldavia and Georgia. The parliamentary assembly contributes to this effort particularly through its election monitoring programme. The Lisbon declaration confirmed moreover, that the OSCE would continue to play an important role in the consolidation of peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1997.