The Rt. Hon. Sir John Major KG CH

Tag: Community Charge

  • PMQT – 26 March 1991

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

    PRIME MINISTER

     

    Engagements

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

     

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

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

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

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

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

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

     

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

     

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

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

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

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

     

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

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

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

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

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

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

     

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

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

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

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

     

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

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

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

    Hon. Members : Consulting.

    Mr. Speaker : Order.

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

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

  • PMQT – 21 March 1991

    Below is the text of Prime Minister’s Question Time from 21st March 1991.

    PRIME MINISTER

     

    Engagements

    Q1. Mr. Eastham : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 21 March.

    The Prime Minister (Mr. John Major) : 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 will be having further meetings later today.

    Mr. Eastham : Noting that unemployment has gone up by more than 300,000 in 10 months, to the highest rate in any EC country, may I ask why we have the second deepest recession in 10 years when we have our own coal, our own natural gas and our own North sea oil bringing in £90 billion? The CBI is telling us that by the end of the year 2.25 million people will be unemployed and that unemployment will increase further next year. What is the Prime Minister’s excuse for that?

    The Prime Minister : The hon. Gentleman will also have seen the very strong welcome from the CBI for the measures in the Budget that will help the cash flow and reduce the taxation of businesses. He will also be aware of the unprecedented amount of help available for people who are unemployed. We have geared that particularly to the areas where unemployment is most severe.

    Sir Timothy Raison : Will my right hon. Friend consider the grave famine that is developing in Africa? Will he make sure that we and the European Community deliver quickly as much aid as possible?

    The Prime Minister : My right hon. Friend the Minister for Overseas Development is studying precisely that matter at the moment.

    Mr. Kinnock : Does the Prime Minister agree that Question Time is an appropriate moment for him to apologise to taxpayers for the £14.3 billion that his Government have wasted on the poll tax fiasco?

    The Prime Minister : The right hon. Gentleman should explain his phoney figures, for he will know that included in his figure is £3 billion for non- payment created partly by his own side urging people not to pay and that the vast majority of the remainder is money that is available to provide extra money for local services. Would he remove that extra money for local services?

    Mr. Kinnock : It was the Prime Minister who described the poll tax as uncollectable when he spoke to his hon. Friends earlier this week. After wasting all that money, why is he not big enough simply to say sorry?

    The Prime Minister : The right hon. Gentleman did not listen. The money that he has counted as wasted is money that will be available for local services. If the right hon. Gentleman thinks that money is wasted on local services he should make it clear.

    Mr. Batiste : Will my right hon. Friend try to find time to reschedule his visit to the Vickers tank factory in Leeds which he had to cancel a few weeks ago due to bad weather? Is he aware that many people there would like to hear from him, following his visit to the Gulf, how the Challenger tank performed and would like to express to him the urgent need for the Government to come to a decision on the replacement contract for the Chieftain tank?

    The Prime Minister : I was certainly sorry– [Interruption.] –that I was unable to make that particular visit. [Interruption.] I am always happy to spread a little amity in the Chamber, so I repeat to my hon. Friend that I am sorry that I was unable to visit the factory, when I would have been able to tell the workers that the Challenger tank performed absolutely magnificently in the Gulf–far above the expectations that anyone could have had of it. I hope that we shall soon be able to draw all the lessons that we need from that and make a decision on Challenger 2.

     

    Q2. Mr. Sillars : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 21 March.

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

    Mr. Sillars : Is the Prime Minister aware that the toast in Scotland tonight will be to absent enemies–Thatcher and the poll tax– [Interruption.]

    Mr. Speaker : Order. We use the constituency name here.

    Mr. Sillars : It will not really matter in Scotland, Mr. Speaker.

    Mr. Speaker : But it does here.

    Mr. Sillars : I am talking about the right hon. Member for Finchley (Mrs. Thatcher) and the poll tax. When will the Prime Minister acknowledge his personal political debt to the non-payers who destroyed the poll tax by making it uncollectable? If we had not done so, it would still be here, she would still be here and he would not be the Prime Minister.

    The Prime Minister : In what he has just said the hon. Gentleman makes clear precisely why his party is so unattractive and undesirable. I am sure that his remarks are not remotely the feelings of the people of Scotland.

    Mr. Tracey : Will my right hon. Friend sympathise with the disgust of the great majority of the British public at those people who have not paid their share towards local government finance? Will he give an undertaking that people who have not paid their community charge will be pursued?

    The Prime Minister : I certainly will. My hon. Friend might share my view that the disgust is redoubled at those people in elected positions who have perhaps persuaded people not to pay.

     

    Q3. Mr. Kennedy : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 21 March.

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

    Mr. Kennedy : As regards the scheme for a reduction in overall poll tax figures, announced by the Chancellor in the Budget statement this week which has become known, I gather, as the Ribble Valley rebate, will the Prime Minister explain why those who will benefit most are those best able to pay and why the people who are still on rebates in the lowest category of income, by the Government’s definition, will not enjoy the same degree of reduction from the real poll tax figure which they have to pay? Can that possibly be just?

    The Prime Minister : I would not have expected such a stupid question from the hon. Gentleman. Even he should recognise that one cannot give a rebate to people who are not expected to pay in the first place.

    Mr. Burt : Should not the real apologies in local government come from the spendthrift Labour councils which have broken ceiling after ceiling and from the Opposition Front-Bench spokesmen who still refuse to spell out their proposals to control local authority finance?

    The Prime Minister : Of course, they will not spell out their proposals. They do not know what they are. They are still dithering.

     

    Q4. Mr. Lofthouse : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 21 March.

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

    Mr. Lofthouse : Does the Prime Minister recall that on nine occasions he supported the poll tax legislation through the House and cast his vote accordingly? Does he now regret that? If he had his time again, would he give such strong personal support to that legislation?

    The Prime Minister : I indicated clearly throughout the debates on the community charge that I thought that the principle was correct. The hon. Gentleman will know our new proposals in a matter of moments and he might reserve judgment until then.

    Mr. Lester : Does my right hon. Friend agree that, far from what Opposition Members say, the greatest contribution that this place makes to society is that we all believe in the rule of law and in the ways in which one can change laws within the democratic framework, not by protesting or refusing to pay the poll tax?

    The Prime Minister : I agree with the principle of what my hon. Friend said. However, I think that he was being over-generous when he said that everyone in the House believes that. Clearly, some Opposition Members do not.

     

    Q5. Mr. Alan W. Williams : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 21 March.

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

    Mr. Williams : Does the Prime Minister recall that in the 1989 autumn statement he predicted that inflation would be down to 5.5 per cent. at the end of last year and that he revised that figure to 7.25 per cent. in the last Budget? In fact, it turned out to be over 10 per cent. What credibility should we give the Chancellor’s forecast that inflation will fall to 4 per cent. by the end of the year when the rise in average earnings is 9 per cent., electricity prices are to go up by 13 per cent., water charges are to go up by 16 per cent. and petrol will rise by 20p a gallon?

    The Prime Minister : The hon. Gentleman is accurate in saying that inflation is currently higher than I expected it to be. However, he will also know that it is not just my right hon. Friend the Chancellor’s forecast that inflation is falling dramatically. That forecast is shared by almost every independent forecaster and I think that the hon. Gentleman will see the accuracy of it in the months to come.

     

    Q6. Mr. Bellingham : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 21 March.

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

    Mr. Bellingham : Will my right hon. Friend find time today to consider the part played by small firms in turning west Norfolk into an economic success story? Is he aware that during the past few weeks they have lobbied hard for various Budget measures? Does my right hon. Friend agree that the Chancellor listened to them and that Tuesday’s Budget was an outstanding Budget for small businesses?

    The Prime Minister : It certainly was an outstanding Budget for small businesses and my hon. Friend, who has a long-standing interest in them, is in a good position to judge that. His view was reflected by the National Federation of Self Employed and Small Businesses, which described my right hon. Friend’s Budget as

    “one to bring a smile to small businesses.”

    That is the clearest possible illustration of the way in which small businesses have accepted the Budget.

     

    The Gulf

    Q7. Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Prime Minister what further plans he has to visit the Gulf region.

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

    Mr. Corbyn : That is rather strange since the question was about the Gulf.

    The Prime Minister : I have no immediate plans to do so– [Interruption.]

    Mr. Speaker : Order.

    Mr. Corbyn : I am quite good at lip-reading and I assume that the Prime Minister said that he was not preparing to go to the Gulf region again. I put it to you, Mr. Speaker, that the Prime Minister should visit the Gulf region and assess the results of the war. There were 150,000 casualties and deaths, there is martial law in Kuwait and environmental destruction throughout the region. It is the product of arms sales. Does the Prime Minister consider that all the money that has been spent by the Government on the Gulf war compares unfavourably with the miserly figure of £28 million spent on the African famine? Should not the right hon. Gentleman now create peace in the Gulf and give resources to solve the African famine?

    The Prime Minister : The hon. Gentleman in his litany missed out one or two material facts–the liberation of Kuwait for a start. He also missed out the fact that the Iraqis were murdering Kuwaitis, dismantling Kuwait, damaging the environment and committing unpardonable sins. I very much regret that the hon. Gentleman does not recall that.

     

    Engagements

    Q8. Mr. Carrington : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 21 March.

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

    Mr. Carrington : The proposal in the Budget to establish high street share shops is greatly welcomed by all of us who want shares in public companies to be more widely held by the public at large. Will my right hon. Friend confirm that high street share shops must conform to all the provisions of the Financial Services Act?

    The Prime Minister : I confirm that to my hon. Friend. The proposed high street share shops will be subject to the Financial Services Act. That will certainly be made clear and I very much hope that this new way of distributing shares will be successful.

  • PMQT – 19 March 1991

    Below is the text of Prime Minister’s Question Time from 19th March 1991.

    PRIME MINISTER

     

    Engagements

    Q1. Mr. Trotter : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 19 March.

    The Prime Minister (Mr. John Major) : 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. This evening, I hope to have an audience of Her Majesty the Queen.

    Mr. Trotter : Will my right hon. Friend confirm that when he visited the Gulf he heard the Challenger 1 tank had performed very well and that the Vickers work force gave stalwart support to the Army before and during the conflict? Does he agree that the new Challenger 2 is designed specifically for the British Army’s requirements and that it meets them? Will those factors be given due recognition and is he aware of the need for an early order if Vickers is to maintain its manufacturing capability and win export orders for this world-beater?

    The Prime Minister : Yes, I confirm what my hon. Friend says. The performance of the Challenger 1 tank in the Gulf was quite outstanding. Before we reach a decision on the replacement–on a Challenger 2 tank–we must analyse the lessons that we learnt in the Gulf. I hope that that will soon be done and then we shall move speedily to a decision.

    Mr. Kinnock : Does the Prime Minister recall saying recently : “Michael’s claim of taking education from the poll tax and putting it into central education has the disadvantage that it has to be paid for elsewhere, either in more borrowing, more taxation, or pre-empting money that would otherwise go to the health service”? Is that still the Prime Minister’s view?

    The Prime Minister : Government services have to be paid for, from whatever pocket they may come, and that is still the case.

    Mr. Kinnock : I know all about that– [Interruption.] –but from the way the Government are behaving, one wonders whether they know all about that, too. Will the Prime Minister now answer my question? Does he still take the view that he enunciated a short time ago, or does he now agree with Michael? If he does not, is he still dithering in between?

    The Prime Minister : I am glad to hear the right hon. Gentleman confirm that he knows that local government services have to be paid for. I just wish that he would tell some of his hon. Friends that–[ Hon. Members :– “Answer.”] The right hon. Gentleman will have all his answers by the end of this week.

    Dr. Goodson-Wickes : Does my right hon. Friend accept that my appalling voting record over the past few months is no reflection on my wholehearted support for him and the Government?

    On a more serious note, does my right hon. Friend agree that the united voice that went out from the House in support of our troops on the ground in the Gulf was of immeasurable help to them and that that, combined with the unsurpassed military leadership under which we served, led to the magnificent military outcome?

    The Prime Minister : I agree entirely with my hon. Friend. I think that I echo the views of the whole House in saying that in recent weeks my hon. Friend has been in the right place. We welcome him back to the House– to the place which is his by right.

    Mr. Ashdown : If the Prime Minister will not recall his own words, will he recall the words of his predecessor, who, speaking in the House on 15 November for a Government in which he was Chancellor of the Exchequer, said that transferring education expenditure to central Government would result in huge tax increases and in a reduction in local services? Does the right hon. Gentleman still agree with his right hon. Friend?

    The Prime Minister : There are many things about which I am in wholehearted agreement with my right hon. Friend the Member for Finchley (Mrs. Thatcher). Those things include clear opposition to proportional representation and a reluctance to do deals with the right hon. Gentleman.

     

    Q2. Mr. Simon Burns : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 19 March.

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

    Mr. Burns : Is my right hon. Friend aware that more than 12,000 of my constituents travel by British Rail from Chelmsford to Liverpool Street every day? Does he accept that although the service has improved somewhat in the past few years, it still leaves a great deal to be desired? Can he reassure my constituents that the current record levels of investment in British Rail will continue, so that services may be improved further?

    The Prime Minister : I sympathise with my hon. Friend. I know that the views of his constituents are shared by my constituents and by the constituents of many other hon. Members. The Government’s investment priority is to ensure that all routes are brought up to the high standard that commuters have a right to expect. That is, and has been, our policy.

    Mr. Mullin : Will the Prime Minister take this opportunity to welcome the release of the six innocent men who were convicted of the Birmingham pub bombings? Does he agree that if confidence in our judicial system is to be restored it will be necessary for someone above the rank of police sergeant to take responsibility for the recent series of disasters?

    The Prime Minister : No one in the House either now or at any time in the past, would have wished to see innocent men gaoled. As the convictions were insecure, it is entirely right that the gentlemen to whom the hon. Member referred have now been released. The whole House will be pleased about that. Clearly, we need to look at procedures. The royal commission on the criminal justice system will report speedily and comprehensively.

     

    Q3. Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 19 March.

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

    Mr. Nicholson : My right hon. Friend will recall personal tax rates of up to 98 per cent., a standard rate of 35 per cent. and weird taxes such as selective employment tax. However deep our party’s hostility to those taxes might have been, no one doubted that they had to be collected and that they had to be paid. Is my right hon. Friend aware that my constituents in Taunton, where the community charge has been collected efficiently, are of the opinion that until the House changes tax measures, public authorities will have a duty to collect taxes and individuals, including hon. Members, will have a duty to pay them?

    The Prime Minister : My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Everyone has a duty to uphold the law as passed by the House. That is particularly true of hon. Members. Those who seek to make the law should never break the law.

     

    Q4. Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 19 March.

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

    Mr. Bennett : Does the Prime Minister agree that an important principle of British public life is that when the Ministers or other senior public figures make grave errors of judgment they resign? In doing so, they restore confidence in their office and they salvage a little of their reputation. Will the Prime Minister draw that principle to the attention of Lord Chief Justice Lane?

    The Prime Minister : I shall certainly not draw that to the attention of Lord Chief Justice Lane. I believe that he applied the facts of the case as he saw them; hindsight knowledge is never an attractive thing.

     

    Q5. Mr. Barry Field : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 19 March.

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

    Mr. Field : Recognising the long hours worked during the Gulf war by my right hon. Friend and the distinguished service– [Interruption.]

    Mr. Speaker : Order. This takes up a lot of time.

    Mr. Field : –and the distinguished service given by my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Wimbledon (Dr. Goodson-Wickes), may I invite them both to partake of the invigorating political air of the Isle of Wight during the Easter recess, where they will observe that the Conservative borough councils of South Wight and Medina have transferred all their housing stock to housing associations, making the Isle of Wight a unique county?

    The Prime Minister : My hon. Friend makes a tempting offer. If I may deal with the underlying concern of his point, to paraphrase Mr. Samuel Clemens, reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated. I know that my hon. Friend the Member for Wimbledon (Dr. Goodson-Wickes) and I would welcome my hon. Friend’s invitation.

    Mr. Salmond : Will the Prime Minister confirm that he told his Back Benchers yesterday that the Achilles heel of the poll tax was its uncollectability? Will he therefore acknowledge that the campaign of resistance to the tax has been a key factor in sinking his predecessor’s flagship? When the Government make their statement on Thursday, will it contain any form of apology to the people of Scotland for the additional year under which we have suffered from this iniquitous tax?

    The Prime Minister : I will confirm no such thing and if the hon. Gentleman played any part in any campaign of disobedience, he has no right to be in the House.

     

    Q6. Mr. Haselhurst : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 19 March.

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

    Mr. Haselhurst : Does my right hon. Friend accept that London commuters generally will welcome the increased emphasis that the Government are putting on the quality of service in rail transport? As the Stansted airport rail link starts, from today, to place heavier burdens on the infrastructure of the West Anglia line, can commuters there hope that their interests will not be subordinated to the interests of airline travellers?

    The Prime Minister : As my hon. Friend knows, improvement in quality is very much the objective of the Government’s policies and of British Rail. He will know that modern rolling stock has been provided for the Stansted express and is intended to provide both fast and frequent services to the newly expanded airport. I shall draw my hon. Friend’s concerns about normal commuter services on the West Anglia line to the attention of my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Transport.

     

    Q8. Mr. Lofthouse : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 19 March.

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

    Mr. Lofthouse : Will the Prime Minister tell us why he recently said that the poll tax would prove to be enduring and would be a vast improvement on the rates? As he appears rapidly to have changed his mind, does he expect the right hon. Member for Finchley (Mrs. Thatcher) to change hers, too?

    The Prime Minister : The hon. Gentleman will find the answers to all those questions on Thursday.

     

    Q9. Mr. Bowis : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 19 March.

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

    Mr. Bowis : Has my right hon. Friend had time to read the editorials pointing out that if Wandsworth had received the same amount of Government grant as neighbouring Lambeth, it could have put a cheque in the post to every charge payer? Does he agree that the lesson to be drawn from that is that whatever system of local government finance we have, the only one worth voting for is one run by Conservative councils?

    The Prime Minister : My hon. Friend makes a valid point–

    Mr. Meale : No, he does not.

    The Prime Minister : Yes, he does. Lambeth received almost £300 a head more in external grant than Wandsworth, yet most Wandsworth residents seem to think that they get better services than do the residents of neighbouring Lambeth. The reason is clear : Lambeth is a Labour council and that is why the service is so expensive and so rotten.

    Mr. Clelland : Although I fully appreciate the need to review defence procurement policy following the Gulf conflict, does the Prime Minister agree that that would affect only the size of the order for main battle tanks, not necessarily the manufacturer which will provide them? Will he therefore have a word with the Secretary of State for Defence with a view to making an early announcement that the order will go to a British manufacturer, Vickers Defence Systems?

    The Prime Minister : I understand the hon. Gentleman’s point and we shall seek to learn all the lessons possible from the Gulf conflict. As soon as it is concluded, we shall endeavour to reach an early decision. I hope that there will be no unnecessary delay.

    Mr. Nelson : Will my right hon. Friend find time to reaffirm the Government’s strong commitment to defence? Does he agree that one reason why our armed forces did the job in the Gulf was that, over the past 10 years, the Conservative Government have voted and spent the necessary money for the right equipment and training, while the Opposition parties have constantly called for disarmament and defence cuts?

    The Prime Minister : I happily reaffirm that. Defence remains a matter of intense importance to this side of the House and, in case there is any doubt, I should make it clear that that includes nuclear defence.

  • PMQT – 14 March 1991

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

    PRIME MINISTER

     

    Engagements

    Q1. Mr. Alan W. Williams : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 14 March.

    The Prime Minister (Mr. John Major) : 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.

    Mr. Williams : Does the Prime Minister recall saying not so long ago that the poll tax system would be fairer, more acceptable and prove to be enduring? Does he think that he is still clear in his own mind about that?

    The Prime Minister : The hon. Gentleman will be a good deal clearer in his mind about the future of the community charge before very long. It is particularly surprising that, some months after the Labour party produced its own roof tax, it is still unable to answer even the most obvious questions about it.

    Mr. Ian Bruce : My right hon. Friend, in paying tribute to the forces in the Gulf, has very often referred to the training that those people had received. Will he assure the House that, in the “Options for Change” review, while we may change where the training is carried out or the number of people being trained, we will certainly ensure that the quality of training, such as that provided in Portland, is not diminished?

    The Prime Minister : The quality and nature of training is clearly very important. Whatever may happen as we consider “Options for Change” in future, that will not change.

    Mr. Kinnock : Does the Prime Minister think that the Ministers who have been responsible for spending £10 billion of taxpayers’ money on the utterly discredited poll tax system should now do the honourable thing and resign?

    The Prime Minister : Shadow Ministers responsible for a scheme that they would foist on the country should explain how it would work. The right hon. Gentleman cannot even tell us, months after his scheme was introduced, what the levels would be in his constituency.

    Mr. Kinnock : The Government have spent and are continuing to spend vast sums on trying to sustain the poll tax system–including the £400 million to set it up, the £300 million a year on trying to maintain it and the £6 billion in an attempt to sweeten it. Does not the Prime Minister agree that any company or public body responsible for spending so much money so wilfully would have the people responsible on their way to gaol, and rightly so?

    The Prime Minister : Perhaps the people leading the queue to gaol should be those Labour local authorities which waste more money than anyone else in the country and whose average community charge is £78 higher than that of Conservative authorities.

    Mr. Ward : When my right hon. Friend considers with his colleagues the lessons of the Gulf war, will he bear in mind the need for amphibious capability and in particular the need for amphibious craft for the Royal Marines and such services?

    The Prime Minister : In the aftermath of the Gulf war, we shall need to consider a number of matters to ensure that our armed forces are up to date and relevant. I shall bear in mind what my hon. Friend says.

     

    Q2. Mr. Cryer : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 14 March.

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

    Mr. Cryer : While the Prime Minister tries to control the warring factions in the Tory party over the poll tax, will he bear in mind the fact that he could bring immediate relief to the millions of people who are groaning under this vicious poll tax–especially those who have been thrown on the dole queue by his economic policies–by restoring Government grants to local authorities to their 1978-79 level under Labour? At the same time, he would get rid of the political corruption that gives an extra £64 a head to Tory-controlled Wandsworth, while low-paid areas like Bradford are left without.

    The Prime Minister : The hon. Gentleman is on shaky ground if he wants to discuss local government, given the attitude of Labour local authorities. If he really wants to see how money is wasted and badly handled, he should go to Lambeth.

    Mr. Brazier : Does my right hon. Friend agree that, under the principle of accountability, it is long overdue that we should introduce into the House a Question Time for the Leader of the Opposition, so that we could ask what his policies are?

    Mr. Speaker : Order. I think that that is a matter for the Select Committee on Procedure.

     

    Q3. Mr. Wigley : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 14 March.

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

    Mr. Wigley : Is the Prime Minister aware that the people of Wales want not only an early end to the poll tax, but something done about the iniquitous level of water charges? Since privatisation, there has been a 45 per cent. increase in Welsh Water charges, and the average bill of £195 compares to £137 in Severn-Trent, which gets its water from Wales? When will he start an inquiry into the monopoly profiteering in the water industry?

    The Prime Minister : The hon. Gentleman is right to say that charges have risen sharply under Welsh Water–[ Hon. Members :– “It is absurd profiteering.”] It is not absurd profiteering but the unprecedented £1.8 billion investment programme which is necessary to improve water and sewerage and bring them up to a standard that the people of Wales would wish to have.

     

    Q4. Mr. Amess : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 14 March.

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

    Mr. Amess : Is my right hon. Friend aware of the “buy British goods from Basildon” campaign that was introduced recently by myself and our local European Member of Parliament, Patricia Rawlings? Does my right hon. Friend agree that such local initiatives can make a useful contribution to reducing the trade deficit? Socialist Opposition Members should follow our lead in backing rather than bashing Britain.

    The Prime Minister : My hon. Friend, as ever, is very inventive, and I am grateful to him for drawing that campaign to my attention. The key to reducing the trade gap is for British industry to produce goods that people want to buy at competitive prices, which is increasingly the aim of British industry. Many British companies already do just that, and I hope that more people will buy British. It is time that the Opposition supported British companies and stopped knocking Britain whenever they can.

     

    Q5. Mr. Ernie Ross : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 14 March.

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

    Mr. Ross : Has the Prime Minister had a chance to study the proposal that Prime Minister Mulroney made for some form of arms control initiative? Before the Prime Minister’s meeting with President Bush in Bermuda on Sunday, will he immediately impose a moratorium on arms sales, particularly to the middle east? Will he assure President Bush that the whole country would support an immediate control on the sale and export of arms?

    The Prime Minister : We have to look at the export of chemical, nuclear and biological weapons, in particular to the middle east. I expect that we shall take up that matter at the United Nations and elsewhere.

     

    Q6. Dr. Twinn : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 14 March.

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

    Dr. Twinn : Is my right hon. Friend aware that the London borough of Haringey has set a community charge £171 higher than neighbouring Conservative Enfield? Does he share the sense of joy of 20,000 of my constituents and of my hon. Friend the Member for Enfield, Southgate (Mr. Portillo), who heard yesterday that the local Boundary Commission will not transfer four wards into Haringey? Will he join my hon. Friend and me in congratulating our constituents who fought hard with us to stop the daft idea?

    The Prime Minister : I am unsurprised to hear from my hon. Friend about the level of charge in Haringey. It is, after all, a Labour authority. Perhaps, if Haringey gets a Conservative authority, it will, as in so many other places, get a far lower charge.

     

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

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

    Mr. Fearn : Is the Prime Minister aware that the figures for housing waiting lists are now at a crisis level, especially in the north-west? Will he institute a crash building programme in local government which would help local government, the people in need and, indeed, the construction industry, which is on its knees?

    The Prime Minister : The hon. Gentleman will know of the estate action programme and the dramatic increase in the funding to many housing associations. I fear that a significant part of the problem is the large number of local authority dwellings that remain unlet with no apparent effort to let them.

    Mr. Sims : Is my right hon. Friend aware that, at a time when pressure had to be gently exerted on certain Governments to make a financial contribution to the costs of the Gulf operation, the Government and people of Hong Kong made a donation of £15 million? Will he take this opportunity to express the appreciation of the Government and the House of that gesture?

    The Prime Minister : I am certainly grateful for that contribution. I expressed my thanks to the Governor of Hong Kong and the Executive Council some weeks ago.

     

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

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

    Mr. Winnick : Which is likely to come first, a substantial fall in unemployment–the figures for which have risen yet again and which the policies pursued when the Prime Minister was Chancellor of the Exchequer helped to create–or the ending of the poll tax, which he justified at every opportunity?

    The Prime Minister : As the hon. Gentleman knows, unemployment rose to 7 per cent. across the United Kingdom in the figures announced today. That is high. It is still well below the European average. It is well below France, at 9 per cent., Italy, at 9.9 per cent., Canada, at 9.3 per cent., Spain, at 15.8 per cent. and Ireland, at 14.8 per cent. If Government policies alone determine the level of unemployment, our record is infinitely better than that of any of those countries.

     

    Q9. Mr. Speller : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 14 March.

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

    Mr. Speller : Has the Prime Minister had any confirmation that poison gas has been used in Iraq in the past few days? What steps is he taking to see that the capacity for chemical and nuclear warfare is destroyed and that that destruction is permanent?

    The Prime Minister : I have no evidence that poison gas has been used, but that is one matter which we shall wish to discuss with our allies in the weeks ahead.

    Mr. Hardy : Would the Prime Minister care to compare his Government’s treatment of the city of Westminster and of the metropolitan borough of Rotherham? Is he aware that Government support per head to Westminster will be 470-odd per cent. higher than that given to Rotherham? Is he aware that if we had had the same treatment, far from charging a low poll tax, our local authority would be giving everyone at least £250 next year?

    The Prime Minister : As the hon. Gentleman knows, the level of support is a good deal higher in inner London boroughs generally, although, as he will know, there is a sharp difference in the level of community charge even between adjacent London boroughs such as Lambeth and Wandsworth.

    Rev. Ian Paisley : Has the Prime Minister been made aware of the statement by Jacques Delors in the European Parliament this week, that the Prime Minister had said that the United Kingdom had substantially changed its position on monetary union? Can he confirm whether this is so, or can he tell us what this change is?

    The Prime Minister : I can confirm that that is not so. I also confirm that I had the opportunity of telling Mr. Delors that over dinner earlier this week.

    Dr. Reid : Is the Prime Minister aware that, in about an hour and a half, the Select Committee on Trade and Industry will publish its report on British Steel’s closure of the Ravenscraig hot strip mill and Clydesdale? Anyone who listened to the information given to that Committee cannot doubt that the report will be a damning indictment of British Steel’s industrial relations policy. Does he recall telling me about three months ago, in a meeting that he was kind enough to have with me, that, should the worst come to Lanarkshire, he would not stand idly by? Since then, another 3,000 workers have been told that they will have to stand idly by, having been made redundant. Can he now tell the people of Lanarkshire what he intends to do, or does he find the same difficulty in making up his mind on that issue as he does on the poll tax?

    The Prime Minister : The hon. Gentleman knows precisely what we propose to do. If he racks his brains, he will recall that I told him when we met some time ago. I made it clear to him at our meeting that the Lanarkshire working group had been established now to identify what measures might be needed at some future stage if the mill were to close. That remains the case, as the hon. Gentleman has known for some time.

  • PMQT – 12 March 1991

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

    PRIME MINISTER

     

    Engagements

    Q1. Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 12 March.

    The Prime Minister (Mr. John Major) : This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall have further meetings later today. This evening I hope to have an audience of Her Majesty the Queen.

    Mr. Marshall : During his busy day will my right hon. Friend consider Lambeth council’s decision to impose a community charge which is more than four times as high as that imposed in neighbouring Wandsworth? Is he aware that in Merton where there was a change of control last year community charge payers will pay 50 per cent. more this year than last, while the Leader of the Opposition can look forward to a 10 per cent. reduction in his community charge? Does not this show that Conservative councils give value for money and that Labour councils squander it?

    The Prime Minister : It is what one has come to expect from Lambeth council and from a number of other councils. One might call it Labour local government in action–if they are not on strike at present.

    Mr. Kinnock : Does the Prime Minister still take satisfaction from the leading part that he played in introducing the poll tax?

    The Prime Minister : As the right hon. Gentleman knows, we are reviewing the community charge. He will be interested to know that we are making good progress and are on track for the announcement.

    Mr. Kinnock : Why is the Prime Minister so coy about his poll tax past? Is he not the man who said just last Friday

    “I think I’m clear in my own mind which way we’re going on the poll tax”?

    Can he tell us today : does he want the floor tax or the roof tax, the bed- and-breakfast tax or the bedroom tax, the capital value tax or the extension tax? Does he want one tax or two? Surely he can tell us what he wants.

    The Prime Minister : The right hon. Gentleman will find out the answers to those questions before too long, and when he does he will perhaps, having introduced a roof tax some months ago, tell us what will be the average rate bill under his tax–even in his constituency–how much people in the midlands and the south will have to pay extra under his proposals and how many people will be eligible for rebates under his tax. None of those questions can he answer.

    Mr. Kinnock rose [Interruption.]

    Mr. Speaker : Order.

    Mr. Kinnock : From his answer it is obvious that the Prime Minister has not made up his mind about making up his mind. Why does he not do the sensible thing, abolish the poll tax completely, which is what the whole of Britain wants and introduce a new system–[ Hon. Members :– “No.”]- -very interesting. But despite his hon. Friends and their enthusiasm for the hated poll tax, why does he not introduce a system calculated on the basis of property and charged according to ability to pay? A fair system– and Labour party policy.

    The Prime Minister : The right hon. Gentleman will find out soon enough. Was not it the same right hon. Gentleman who said that the Labour party would produce several different tax bases and bung the figures into a computer?

     

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

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

    Mr. Thurnham : Does my right hon. Friend agree that children need protection not only from abusers but from officials who fail to provide proper protection? Will he instruct local authorities to use some common sense instead of carrying out secret dawn raids on innocent families?

    The Prime Minister : As my hon. Friend may know, my hon. Friend the Minister for Health said that further guidance would be issued this summer to local authorities and, of course, the Children Act 1989 comes into force this October. That will ensure that the welfare of children is paramount. I hope that those steps will make it less likely that another situation such as that in Rochdale will occur in future.

    Mr. Ashdown : May I congratulate the Prime Minister on the sea change in both the tone and substance of his European speech last night? If he does as he says–place Britain at the heart of Europe, play a constructive part in steps towards a single currency and encourage political and foreign policy integration–he can count on our united support– [Interruption.] –even if he has to cope with splits in his own party.

    The Prime Minister : It is a generous offer, but I am not sure if it is a fair swap. There are only three ways to go in the Community–to leave, which is unthinkable ; to stand aside and let ourselves be dragged along by others, which is untenable ; or to be at the very heart of the Community and to help frame the decisions, and that is our policy.

     

    Q3. Mr. Cyril D. Townsend : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 12 March.

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

    Mr. Townsend : During my right hon. Friend’s admirably timed talks with the crown prince in Kuwait last week, what assurance was he given about the protection of the large Palestinian community there and about future democratic developments in Kuwait? As the Kuwaiti police force was destroyed by the Iraqis, will Britain play a part in rebuilding it and in training the Kuwaiti defence forces so that they can play their full part in the excellent plans for the Gulf, which were recently agreed in Damascus?

    The Prime Minister : I raised the first part of my hon. Friend’s question with the crown prince when we met last week. He gave me a firm assurance, which he has subsequently repeated to others in public and in private, that the Kuwaiti authorities would not tolerate retaliation against the Palestinians. In the present circumstances in Kuwait, it is difficult for the Government to exert control, but I understand that law and order has, to a large extent, been restored.

    In reply to the second part of my hon. Friend’s question, we should be prepared to provide the training that he suggests, as we have done in the past. We are discussing the terms and conditions with the Kuwaiti Government.

    Mr. Hoyle : Will the Prime Minister stop darting, dithering and dodging and tell us that he is ready for turning by announcing the abolition of the poll tax which, as he knows, is unfair and unworkable and which, as he knows to his cost, is also unpopular?

    The Prime Minister : As I have explained, the hon. Gentleman will not have long to wait for the answer.

     

    Q4. Mr. Devlin : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 12 March.

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

    Mr. Devlin : If the Government’s policy is to stand up for small nations that are invaded by their larger neighbours and to prevent atrocities and the trampling underfoot of cultures by invaders, why will not my right hon. Friend meet the Dalai Lama when he visits the United Kingdom next week?

    The Prime Minister : The Dalai Lama is visiting the United Kingdom on a private visit and no conditions have been imposed by the Government. I have no wish to be discourteous to a distinguished spiritual leader. I understand that my right hon. and learned Friend the Lord Chancellor will see the Dalai Lama at a meeting that he will chair.

     

    Q5. Mr. Douglas : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 12 March.

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

    Mr. Douglas : Will the Prime Minister find some time today to reflect on his words yesterday about producing a more tolerant, more efficient and more just society? Will he tell us how those words relate to the continued imposition of the poll tax on the people of Scotland? Will he relate those words to the problem and, instead of disparaging votes cast against him and his party as votes cast into a dustbin, would not he do better to look back on the Scottish votes cast against his poll tax in 1987? How can he justify continuing to impose the tax on people who are on income support and on students? Would not it be best to cast the poll tax into the dustbin?

    The Prime Minister : If the hon. Gentleman will endure with the same patience as his hon. Friends, he will soon know the answer. I may come to Garscadden and make a speech about the matter there.

    Mr. Budgen : May I congratulate my right hon. Friend on the good relations that he has achieved with Herr Kohl, demonstrating that there does not need to be ill will when there are differences of interest? However, will he give the House and the nation leadership and tell us whether he personally favours a single currency?

    The Prime Minister : As I have said to my hon. Friend on previous occasions, we have set out in detail our proposals for economic and monetary union, and we have produced treaty language to that effect. There is now welcome evidence that a number of European nations are following our proposals and moving closer to us.

     

    Q6. Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 12 March.

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

    Mr. Taylor : Is the Prime Minister aware that within the past fortnight, his Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has finished off 2,000 years of tin mining in Cornwall? That decision has been taken despite the pledge of Government support. The cost to the Department of Social Security and to other Departments will exceed the money saved by the Department of Trade and Industry. Will the Prime Minister look again at the way in which Departments operate? At present, one Department may attempt to save money, although there will be an all-round cost to the Treasury in excess of the savings, and there will also be the cost of the jobs of people who lose work as a result.

    The Prime Minister : An overall look is taken on these occasions to see what is the right policy. We have to examine the matter not just in the short term, but in terms of what is sustainable in the medium and long term. That is what my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry will have done.

    Mr. Mills : Will my right hon. Friend comment on whether his discussions with Chancellor Kohl and his speech last night are likely to be more fruitful in achieving European unity, while maintaining national sovereignty, than the more fundamental and more difficult to accept proposals of Commissioner Delors?

    The Prime Minister : The proposals of Commissioner Delors are not generally acceptable in the House and they are not acceptable to me. We have made that clear on a number of occasions and nothing in that respect has changed.

     

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

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

    Mr. Galbraith : In view of the Prime Minister’s strong words against the property tax, which the whole House will have noted, can we take it that he is now in favour of the poll tax, or is he still dithering on the matter?

    The Prime Minister : The hon. Gentleman is as unoriginal as his hon. Friends. He will soon know.

     

    Tourism

    Q8. Mr. Gregory : To ask the Prime Minister if he has any plans to appoint a Minister with responsibility for United Kingdom tourism.

    The Prime Minister : I fully recognise the importance of an industry that contributes more than £22 billion a year to the economy and which provides work for 1.5 million people. The present arrangements allow for the separate interests of England, of Scotland, of Wales and of Northern Ireland to be effectively represented, while ensuring the necessary co- ordination of the policy for the country as a whole.

    Mr. Gregory : As tourism is Britain’s fastest growth industry and is the major employer in cities such as York, will my right hon. Friend look closely at the possibility of appointing a Minister who has overall responsibility, rather than leaving this important area to junior Ministers in England, in Scotland, in Wales and in Northern Ireland?

    The Prime Minister : It would be difficult precisely to do what my hon. Friend suggests without raising difficulties over territorial responsibilities and the territorial Departments. My right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Employment has a co-ordinating responsibility for tourism as a whole in Great Britain, but the day-to-day responsibility in Scotland, in Wales and in Northern Ireland rests with my right hon. Friends the relevant Secretaries of State.

    Sir Bernard Braine : In view of the importance of tourism between our country and all the other countries in Europe, particularly Germany, is my right hon. Friend aware that those of us on both sides of the House who, over the years, have worked hard to promote friendship and understanding with the Germans and who recall their special efforts in our three attempts to enter the European Community, warmly welcome my right hon. Friend’s efforts to establish a trusting and lasting relationship with the Germans in Europe? Does he recognise that the relationship between our two Parliaments which has involved a certain amount of tourism– [Interruption.] is closer than it has been for many years. Indeed, it is closer than the relationship between any other two Parliaments in Europe.

    The Prime Minister : I entirely agree with my right hon. Friend, who expresses his view with great clarity. I hope that, in view of that clarity, he will see many German tourists in south-west Essex.

  • PMQT – 5 March 1991

    Below is the text of Prime Minister’s Question Time from 5th March 1991.

    PRIME MINISTER

     

    Engagements

    Q1. Mr. Bill Michie : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday, 5 March.

    The Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons (Mr. John MacGregor) : I have been asked to reply.

    My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister is in Moscow having bilateral discussions with President Gorbachev.

    Mr. Michie : Will the Lord President admit that, if the Ribble Valley borough council had been given the £1,192 per poll tax payer that was received in Wandsworth–[ Hon. Members :– “What about Lambeth? Start again.”] I shall start again. Will the Lord President admit that, if Ribble Valley borough council had been given the same £1,192 per poll tax payer, Ribble Valley constituents would have saved £225 per head?

    Mr. MacGregor : Ribble Valley is a district council so cannot be compared with the borough that the hon. Gentleman has in mind. Ribble Valley received much less than the adjoining Preston borough council and its community charge is 70p per week compared with £1.40 in Preston. Moreover, Ribble Valley community charge payers will benefit in many other ways. If the hon. Gentleman is trying to compare Ribble Valley’s community charge with the minimum community charge in London, I must point out that the London borough of Wandsworth has an external support grant per adult of £1,192, compared with Lambeth’s £1,557. He will know that there is a phenomenal difference in the community charge between boroughs.

    Sir John Stokes : In view of the large and growing number of hoax bomb calls, does my right hon. Friend think that the present maximum penalty of three months’ imprisonment is sufficient for such a serious and dangerous offence?

    Mr. MacGregor : I believe that the matter is being looked at not only by the Government but British Telecom. I agree about the importance of dealing with hoax phone calls.

    Mr. Hattersley : Did yesterday’s statement on the poll tax in Clitheroe by the Secretary of State for Health represent Government policy?

    Mr. MacGregor : The position on the community charge is clear. The right hon. Gentleman mentions Clitheroe and I think that I know what he has in mind. He will know that the community charge reduction scheme, which we introduced recently, will benefit eight out of 10 households in Ribble Valley next year and that, of those, the average reduction will be about £200. That is a clear position on the community charge, from which many people in Ribble Valley will benefit.

    Mr. Hattersley : I think that the Lord President has blocked his colleague’s statement from his mind. Let me remind him what the Secretary of State for Health said, succinctly and precisely, about the poll tax. He said that the Government’s policy was “No regrets, no apology.” Does the Lord President endorse that view?

    Mr. MacGregor : I am not surprised that the right hon. Gentleman did not like my answer on the community charge reduction scheme, which will clearly benefit a great number of people in Ribble Valley. He will know that we are reviewing all aspects of the community charge scheme–that has been made clear many times.

    Mr. Hattersley : As the Lord President has twice singularly refused to answer my question about what his colleague said, may I suggest that what his colleague really meant was, “No apologies, no regrets about the poll tax and no idea what to do next”?

    Mr. MacGregor : Might I suggest that the right hon. Gentleman should not pay so much attention to everything in the newspapers, because my right hon. Friend said no such thing.

    Mr. Favell : Now that it looks as though the community charge, in its present form, is going to go, will the Cabinet consider abolishing the right of town halls to raise money and give them 100 per cent., based on a formula of what they need to spend? That would save more than £1.5 billion in collection costs and do away with transitional relief and community charge relief.

    Mr. MacGregor : My hon. Friend has made his view known, and will know that the Cabinet is looking at all options in relation to the community charge review.

     

    Q2. Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 5 March.

    Mr. MacGregor : I have been asked to reply.

    I refer the hon. Lady to the reply that I gave some moments ago.

    Mrs. Fyfe : Does the right hon. Gentleman know that last year no fewer than 1,390 operations were cancelled in the Ribble Valley health authority district? Does he also know that, in Ayrshire senior medical staff were balloted twice about opting out of health board controls and voted overwhelmingly against doing so, but that that decision is still to be imposed on the people of that district? What way is that to run a health service?

    Mr. MacGregor : I do know that in Ribble Valley the number of in- patients treated has gone up by 36 per cent., the waiting lists have come down by 65 per cent. over 12 months and £36 million worth of capital has been invested since 1979. That is a clear sign of the priority given to health in that district.

    Mr. Squire : Has my right hon. Friend noticed that the consistent attempts of Conservative Wandsworth and Westminster to reduce their community charge to the lowest possible level were described as a “silly battle” by the hon. Member for Dagenham (Mr. Gould)? Does my right hon. Friend agree that many thousands, if not millions, of people in this country would welcome other councils joining that battle? The real silly battle is between Labour Lambeth and Haringey to see who will have the highest charge.

    Mr. MacGregor : I agree with my hon. Friend. When I am in London I have to live in the London borough of Haringey and have watched its record of mismanagement over many years. It simply cannot be claimed that Haringey receives a small amount of external support in terms of pounds per adult– the amount is high. As Secretary of State for Education and Science, I watched as Haringey spent much more money on central administration for education than any other local education authority in the country. But it is still not able to give the accounts for its education spending later than 1986. Such mismanagement has produced the high community charge in Haringey, Lambeth and other boroughs.

     

    Q4. Mr. Trimble : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 5 March.

    Mr. MacGregor : I have been asked to reply.

    I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.

    Mr. Trimble : I should like to refer the Leader of the House to the explosion that occurred this morning in the design engineering works of Shorts in Belfast. Does he agree that this was an attack upon jobs and fair employment? Will the Government support Shorts and other firms in efforts to screen out from lists of potential employees those who would actively assist terrorism in this way?

    Mr. MacGregor : I am sure that the whole House deeply regrets the incidents in Northern Ireland in the last few days, and would want to extend sympathy to all those who have been affected. The Government’s stance on terrorism is well known. We are determined, as always, to use every effort to stamp it out.

    Mr. Adley : Is my right hon. Friend aware that tomorrow is the 25th anniversary of the running of the final train on the Somerset and Dorset joint railway? After that event, in a fit of corporate vandalism, the track was rendered unusable. Is my right hon. Friend aware that tomorrow I shall present for its First Reading the Railway Re-openings (Tribunal) Bill? The supporters of this Bill include Labour Front-Bench Members, the leader of the Liberal Democrats and the leader of the Scottish National party, as well as many other Members in all parts of the House. Will my right hon. Friend please do his best to ensure that his Cabinet colleagues recognise that ripping up a temporarily redundant railway track is an unacceptable act of national vandalism?

    Mr. MacGregor : I was not aware of the anniversary to which my hon. Friend has referred, but, knowing his very great knowledge of these matters, I shall take his word for it. Until now, his Bill had not been drawn to my attention. I am grateful to him for letting me know about it, and I am certainly willing to look at it.

     

    Q5. Mr. Skinner : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 5 March.

    Mr. MacGregor : I have been asked to reply.

    I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.

    Mr. Skinner : Is the Leader of the House aware that the present squalid Tory Government, in their first 10 years of office, handed out £26.2 billion to the wealthiest 1 per cent. of taxpayers? Does he know that that kind of money would give a cold weather payment and a free television licence to every pensioner, slash the national health service waiting list, get rid of cardboard city and stop the education cuts? Why do not the Government, instead of rabbiting on about the classless society, practise what they preach? Why do not they stop redistributing wealth to the rich and give some to the poor and needy?

    Mr. MacGregor : I am also very well aware of the much more substantial reductions in income tax for the majority of households in this country. I am well aware, too, of the result of the pursuit of successful economic policies, including the 42 per cent. real-terms increase in expenditure on the health service and the big increases in expenditure in so many other areas. If the hon. Gentleman is saying that he wants to return to the regime that we inherited in 1979, is he saying also that his Front-Bench colleagues support a top tax rate of 98p in the pound?

     

    Q6. Mr. Irvine : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 5 March.

    Mr. MacGregor : I have been asked to reply.

    I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.

    Mr. Irvine : Does my right hon. Friend agree that local management of schools is proving to be immensely popular and that many head teachers, who previously had significant reservations about it, are now included among its supporters? Does he agree that the reason for its popularity is the greater flexibility and the improved decision-making powers that it gives to individual schools?

    Mr. MacGregor : As my hon. Friend will know, I have always been a most enthusiastic supporter of the grant maintained schools. That being so, I strongly agree with what he has said. He has drawn attention to two of the virtues of grant maintained status. It is because of such virtues that grant maintained schools are becoming more and more popular and more and more likely to spread throughout the country. My hon. Friend’s point about headmasters is very relevant. I should like to quote one headmaster, who, in the first instance, was opposed to his school becoming grant maintained. After a series of commendations he said, “I wouldn’t miss what is happening here for anything. It is the most professionally fulfilling period of my entire experience as a head.”

     

    Q7. Mr. Wigley : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 5 March.

    Mr. MacGregor : I have been asked to reply.

    I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.

    Mr. Wigley : Is the Lord President aware that thousands of people have extreme difficulty in paying the poll tax for the current financial year and that within three to four weeks they will be receiving bills which will be even greater in many areas? Does he realise that for them a promise of legislation in two years’ time to overcome the poll tax is not sufficient? They need an answer now–this April. Can he give an undertaking that the Government will bring in radical provision for those people to help save those on low incomes, pensioners and disabled people from the full impact of the poll tax in the next financial year?

    Mr. MacGregor : The answer is twofold. First, the community charge reduction scheme, in addition to the other reduction and benefit schemes, will benefit large numbers of those people. As the hon. Gentleman knows, over half of community charge payers will benefit from that scheme. That will be immediate from the start of April this year. The second answer is for them to vote out at the first available opportunity the high-spending authorities which have caused so much of the increase.

    Miss Emma Nicholson : Will my right hon. Friend remind Her Majesty’s Opposition that because of the new initiatives on the community charge and on the back of the excellent service that the Leader of the other place has offered to Ribble Valley, come this Thursday the Conservative candidate will be returned triumphantly and the Liberal and Labour candidates will return to the oblivion from which they came?

    Mr. MacGregor : I am sure that that will mean an excellent new Member for the House in succession to my noble Friend, Lord Waddington, who performed such sterling services for Ribble Valley over the years.

     

    Q8. Mr. Alan W. Williams : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 5 March.

    Mr. MacGregor : I have been asked to reply.

    I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.

    Mr. Williams : Does the Leader of the House know that Mr. Nigel Evans, the Conservative party candidate in the Ribble Valley by-election, said yesterday in a press conference that he favoured the principle of everyone making a contribution towards the community charge–that is, he favoured the retention of the poll tax? Was he expressing a personal view or has someone leaked to him the results of the Government’s review : that the Government intend to keep the poll tax?

    Mr. MacGregor : I find that large numbers of people throughout the country, as well as in the House, think that one of the important features of the community charge is that everyone makes some contribution to the local services from which all benefit.

  • PMQT – 19 February 1991

    Below is the text of Prime Minister’s Question Time from 19th February 1991.

    PRIME MINISTER

     

    Engagements

    Q1. Mr. John Carlisle : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 19 February.

    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. This evening I hope to have an audience of Her Majesty the Queen.

    Mr. Carlisle : Does my right hon. Friend agree that the one event in these troubled times that has given much pleasure to people, and especially to our troops in the Gulf, has been the comprehensive English rugby victory at Twickenham? In that context does he further agree that we should begin to think about providing them with some real opposition which can now come only from South Africa? Is my right hon. Friend encouraged by the meeting of Commonwealth Foreign Ministers at the weekend which virtually saw the beginning of the end of the infamous Gleneagles agreement? Will he take further initiatives to restore British-South African sporting relations?

    The Prime Minister : In answer to my hon. Friend’s first point, I am not sure that many Scots troops in the Gulf would necessarily agree with him. I recall occasions when both the Scots and the Welsh had rather too satisfactory results at Twickenham and elsewhere. I agree with my hon. Friend’s substantive point that the time has come to resume sporting links with South Africa in areas where there is now proper integration of sport within the Republic of South Africa. I have discussed that matter with other Commonwealth leaders and I hope to take it forward.

    Mr. Kinnock : The Secretary of State for Education and Science today said :

    “I’m not interested in proposals that transfer expenditure on education from the local taxpayer to central Government taxation”. Does the Prime Minister agree with his Secretary of State?

    The Prime Minister : As the right hon. Gentleman knows, we are examining a whole series of options in the community charge review. If the right hon. Gentleman will be patient we shall announce the result of that as soon as possible.

    Mr. Kinnock : But the Secretary of State could not have been clearer in ruling out the idea of transferring expenditure from local taxation to central taxation. Will the Prime Minister make his position clear on this aspect of concern? Does he support his Secretary of State for Education and Science?

    The Prime Minister : I shall make the position entirely clear on the matter under review when we have finished the review.

    Mr. Kinnock : Why does not the Prime Minister save a great deal of time and the country a huge amount of money by abolishing the poll tax and accepting the Labour party proposal for a modern system of fair rates? That is the best way to deal with the poll tax.

    The Prime Minister : I am sure that the whole country will have listened with interest to the right hon. Gentleman. What a shame that when he announced his proposals in Scotland they did not meet with the acclaim that he expected.

    Mr. Malins : My right hon. Friend will be aware that the man who was so cruelly murdered by the bomb at Victoria station yesterday came from Thornton Heath, which is in my constituency, and leaves a wife and baby son. Will my right hon. Friend send the sympathy of the whole House to that family, and can he assure us that no expense or effort will be spared, to bring the callous killers to justice?

    The Prime Minister : The whole House will share the views that have been expressed by my hon. Friend. I certainly offer to the family of the gentleman who was killed, and to all those who were injured, our very warmest sympathy. One is bound to ask what sort of people it is that can carry out attacks of this kind. They are certainly consumed with hate, and they are certainly sick of mind. And they can be certain of one thing–that they will be hunted and hunted until they are found.

     

    Q2. Mr. David Marshall : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 19 February.

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

    Mr. Marshall : With unemployment soaring past 2 million, with record numbers of homeless people and home repossessions, with pensioners freezing to death because of his penny-pinching policies, is not the Prime Minister reminded of the tale of the king’s new clothes? Can he tell the House just what is different about his premiership, when it is apparent to all that, if he is not altogether naked, he is simply wearing the threadbare clothes of the previous Prime Minister?

    The Prime Minister : I am not entirely sure that they would wholly suit me. With regard to the hon. Gentleman’s substantive point, I have to say that he left something out of his catalogue. For example, he omitted the work on the £55 million programme to transform a rundown area of Glasgow’s east end. I should have thought that he would know about that. He also forgot that that programme will create 1,000 jobs in that part of Glasgow.

    Mr. Gale : My right hon. Friend is aware of the level of public concern that has been expressed about media coverage of Gulf events– particularly reports from Baghdad. Does he agree that it is not incumbent upon either the BBC or ITN to sink to the levels of some foreign news organisations? Is not it particularly important at this time, when the wives and families of service men are watching television, that every effort should be made to ensure that the public are made well aware that any report coming out of Iraq is subject to very severe censorship?

    The Prime Minister : I think it is clear to people that reports coming out of Baghdad are subject to censorship, and I hope that the BBC and the other transmission channels will make that clear on every occasion.

     

    Q4. Mr. Livingstone : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 19 February.

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

    Mr. Livingstone : In the light of the news from Moscow that President Gorbachev has given Saddam Hussein 48 hours to reply to his peace proposals, can the Prime Minister assure the House that no ground war will be launched by the coalition while those negotiations continue?

    The Prime Minister : I do not think that the hon. Gentleman can seriously expect me, on this occasion or on any other occasion, to give information of a military sort. Certainly I can confirm that President Gorbachev sent to me late last night the proposals that he had put to Tariq Aziz.

     

    Q5. Dame Elaine Kellett-Bowman : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 19 February.

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

    Dame Elaine Kellett-Bowman : Has my right hon. Friend seen this excellent report of the North Western regional health authority, a copy of which I sent him? If so, he will have noted that the health authorities of Lancaster and Blackpool top the league in the immunisation against diphtheria of children under two. Those districts also have the lowest rates of death from cancer at all ages.

    Will my right hon. Friend join me in congratulating all those concerned– the administrators, the doctors, the nurses, the ancillary staff and all others involved–on their splendid team effort?

    The Prime Minister : Yes, I have seen the brochure that my hon. Friend sent me. I congratulate all those concerned in the Blackpool and Lancaster districts on their achievement in respect of immunisation rates and the low rates of death from cancer. The national target for immunisation is 90 per cent., and that has been achieved. It is worth mentioning that the accelerated immunisation schedule for younger children and the introduction of the new GPs’ contract should further improve the immunisation uptake figures nationwide. It is becoming clear that the health reforms are improving preventive medicine in a remarkable way.

    Mr. Kirkwood : Has the Prime Minister had a chance to study reports in today’s press on the progress made to date on the internal Government review of the poll tax? Is he aware that those reports imply that no one involved in those review negotiations is in favour of the Government retaining the poll tax? If that is true, does not the right hon. Gentleman have a duty to make an early statement to the House and the country that, whatever options are still being considered, the poll tax is now well and truly ruled out?

    The Prime Minister : We will make a statement at the end of our review and not before.

     

    Q6. Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 19 February.

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

    Mr. Greenway : Is my right hon. Friend aware that his commitment to an excellent education for all our children is widely supported and welcomed throughout the House and the nation? To that end, is he pleased that Her Majesty’s inspectors’ report shows that the first year of national curriculum maths is going extremely well for five and 11-year-olds and throughout the age range, and that children and teachers are working well to achieve that? Will my right hon. Friend congratulate them?

    The Prime Minister : Yes, I am happy to do as my hon. Friend suggests. The report demonstrates that the national curriculum has stimulated a range of improvements in schools and that teachers have worked hard to take advantage of the opportunities. That can be only to the benefit of the children and I look to see it continue.

     

    Q7. Ms. Primarolo : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 19 February.

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

    Ms. Primarolo : Given the expected statement this afternoon by the Secretary of State for the Environment giving poll tax exemption to forces serving in the Gulf, will the Prime Minister this afternoon agree to extend exemption from this vicious tax to all deserving groups, such as the nurses?

    The Prime Minister : The hon. Lady and her colleagues will carry more weight on the community charge matter when all of them pay their community charge and their fair share of local government taxation. I have no doubt that the hon. Lady has already done so. [ Hon. Members :– “She has not.”] I note that the hon. Lady has not and I hope that others will have noted that, too.

    Ms. Primarolo : The right hon. Gentleman is wrong. I have paid my poll tax.

    The Prime Minister : The community charge reduction scheme will help 18 million people who face community charge bills.

     

    Q8. Mr. Knowles : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 19 February.

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

    Mr. Knowles : Despite the scaremongering from some local authorities, I welcome the community charge relief scheme, but will my right hon. Friend comment on the effects of that scheme throughout the country? If he had available the figures for Nottingham in particular, I and my constituents would welcome them.

    The Prime Minister : As my hon. Friend knows, the community charge reduction scheme will make a significant difference to a large number of people this year with more than 18 million people being eligible for rebates under it. If Nottingham city council sets the same level next year as it did this year, a couple living in an averagely-rated property would receive a reduction of £238 between them.

    Mr. Turner : Will the Prime Minister comment on the recent statement by the hon. Member for Harlow (Mr. Hayes) that unless substantial funds are made available to the NHS before the end of the financial year, elderly people and people from other groups might die? Does the right hon. Gentleman agree with that statement? [Interruption.]

    Mr. Speaker : Order. I did not hear that.

    The Prime Minister : The hon. Gentleman will be pleased to know that my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Mr. Hayes) sitting behind me says that he said no such thing.

     

    Q9. Dame Jill Knight : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 19 February.

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

    Dame Jill Knight : Has the Prime Minister any up-to-date knowledge of the British airmen who were shot down or who ejected over enemy territory? Will he assure the House that any peace terms that are accepted will include as a priority the return of those airmen unharmed?

    The Prime Minister : I wish that I could say to my hon. Friend that I had the information that she seeks. We have tried repeatedly but thus far have had no success in getting it. I share my hon. Friend’s great concern about Iraq’s failure to fulfil its commitments under the Geneva convention and to grant the Red Cross access to prisoners of war. We remain in constant touch with the International Committee of the Red Cross and are urging it to do everything possible to get Iraq to live up to its obligations. I agree very much with my hon. Friend that the immediate release of prisoners of war, including our airmen, must be part of any ceasefire.

     

    Q10. Mr. Strang : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 19 February.

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

    Mr. Strang : If President Saddam Hussein responds to the Soviet peace initiative with an undertaking to withdraw all his forces from Kuwait unconditionally, does the Prime Minister agree that the allies should respond by stopping the bombing and halting moves towards a ground war in Kuwait?

    The Prime Minister : We are all aware that proposals have been put by President Gorbachev to Iraq. I confirmed that to the House earlier. In his message President Gorbachev specifically asked me to keep the proposals confidential. Therefore, upon those I can offer no substantial comment. In any case, as the hon. Gentleman intimated, we have to bear it in mind that it is the Iraqis who have been asked to respond, not us. We await a response from them. Nothing has yet happened which would incline us to agree to a ceasefire or a pause in the conflict. If Saddam Hussein wants to avoid a land battle, he knows what he must do : he has to withdraw unconditionally and immediately from Kuwait and implement the Security Council resolutions in full. Unless and until he does that, the conflict will continue.

  • PMQT – 13 December 1990

    The text of Prime Minister’s Question Time from 13th December 1990.

    PRIME MINISTER:

     

    Engagements

    Q1. Mr. Maclennan : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 13 December.

    The Prime Minister (Mr. John Major) : This morning I presided at a meeting of the Cabinet and had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. After my duties in the House, I shall be leaving for the European Council in Rome.

    Mr. Maclennan : Will the Prime Minister find time to give another impetus to his ideal of a classless society, in which public power is not abused, by responding to the growing movement for constitutional reform? In the spirit of the times, will he institute cross-party talks on a Bill of Rights, decentralised government and a fair voting system?

    The Prime Minister : As I have made clear to the hon. Gentleman and as he will know from what I have said in recent weeks, my vision of a classless society deals with increased opportunity and choice. I have no immediate proposals for constitutional change.

    Mr. Luce : As protectionism would do much to undermine the economies of the world and to increase unemployment, will my right hon. Friend take a positive lead this weekend in the European summit to persuade the Community to adopt a less protectionist stance with regard to agriculture, with a view to unblocking the GATT negotiations?

    The Prime Minister : I shall be arguing for a positive statement from the European Council, which will make absolutely clear the Community’s determination to make a success of the GATT negotiations. They are extremely important and the cost if they fail, to us and to many other countries, is very great.

    Mr. Kinnock : Will the right hon. Gentleman take this opportunity to confirm that the large rises in unemployment are a direct and deliberate result of his policies?

    The Prime Minister : Everyone regrets the rise in unemployment, but, as the right hon. Gentleman knows, I have been warning for some months that if wage rises stay high, they will have a necessary effect on jobs.

    Mr. Kinnock : Does not it strike the right hon. Gentleman as somewhat dishonest that, whenever unemployment goes down, it is evidence of the Government’s success ; but whenever it goes up, it is evidence of somebody else’s failure? Why is not the right hon. Gentleman man enough to own up properly to the reasons for the rise in unemployment and to accept the blame for his own policies? As he knows the economic and human cost of unemployment, what is he going to do now to stop unemployment rising still further?

    The Prime Minister : Upon the right hon. Gentleman’s own premise, he knows precisely the success that the Government have had. If he looks across the whole Community, he will see that our rate of unemployment is among the lowest in the Community, at 6.2 per cent. Long-term unemployment is still falling and the extent to which the economy has been revived can also be seen in the fact that 50 per cent. of those who have just lost their jobs will be back in work within three months.

    Mr. Kinnock : This is the second time in a decade that the Government have brought severe recession and rising unemployment to this country. Will the Prime Minister now answer the question? What does he intend to do to stop unemployment rising further?

    The Prime Minister : As the right hon. Gentleman knows, we have a higher percentage of our work force in work than almost any other country in Europe. If the right hon. Gentleman is so worried about unemployment, why does he support a national minimum wage, which would cost three quarters of a million jobs?

    Sir Peter Tapsell : May I put it to my right hon. Friend that when he leaves for Rome later this afternoon, he will carry with him the exceptional good wishes of the British people, who have been greatly impressed by his decisions and his bearing since he became Prime Minister?

    The Prime Minister : I am most grateful to my hon. Friend. I shall certainly endeavour to ensure at the European Council not only that we protect British interests but that we consider the interests of Europe as a whole.

     

    Q2. Mr. Pike : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 13 December.

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

    Mr. Pike : Does not the Prime Minister recognise that Christmas for many of my constituents and many hundreds of thousands of people throughout Britain will be marred by having to make appearances in court because of their inability to pay their poll tax? When will the Government recognise that making promises–or alleged promises–to do something in two years’ time is not acceptable? Will he do something to remove the requirement on the lowest-paid people to pay 20 per cent. of the poll tax and increase the level of income at which some rebate can be paid to those who cannot afford to pay their poll tax?

    The Prime Minister : As the hon. Gentleman will know, a large number of people are eligible for substantial rebates. The hon. Gentleman would make a good start by persuading some of his hon. Friends to pay their community charge.

     

    Q3. Mr. Gill : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 13 December.

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

    Mr. Gill : When my right hon. Friend goes to Rome this weekend, will he bear it in mind that, in the final analysis, the British Government must go whichever way gives British agriculture and industry the best prospects of creating wealth for the people who live in these islands? Will he tell our European partners that wealth creation through free trade remains our top priority?

    The Prime Minister : I shall be happy to carry that message to all members of the Community. I very much agree with my hon. Friend. A great deal of the growing prosperity in recent years has clearly been the result of the steady removal of barriers to trade. We wish that to continue.

    Mr. Boateng : Last weekend in London the severe weather shelters were kept closed because it was not “cold enough”. In the Prime Minister’s classless, caring, opportunity society, how cold does it have to be and for how long before the homeless are given the opportunity of shelter and warmth?

    The Prime Minister : In view of the hon. Gentleman’s remarks, he may be interested to know that my hon. Friend the Minister for Housing and Planning will announce within the next few days a substantial number of new bed spaces in hostels and long-term housing in central London. [Interruption.] Opposition Members may not like this, but it is directly related to the point that the hon. Gentleman made. My hon. Friend the Minister for Housing and Planning is talking to front-line agencies and together they are developing new and more effective ways of getting rough sleepers off the streets. I should have thought that Opposition Members would wish to hear that and support it.

     

    Q4. Mr. Moate : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 13 December.

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

    Mr. Moate : With regard to the Gulf crisis, will my right hon. Friend reaffirm today that any partial withdrawal by Iraq from Kuwait would be wholly unacceptable and that Saddam Hussein must be required to comply in full with all the requirements of the United Nations resolutions?

    The Prime Minister : I am happy to confirm absolutely what my hon. Friend says. Partial withdrawal simply will not do. Iraq needs to comply fully with all the provisions of the UN Security Council resolutions. That means total and unconditional withdrawal. The United Nations has made it clear that the use of military force will be justifiable if Saddam Hussein has not met the requirements of the resolutions in full by 15 January.

    Mr. Canavan : Does the Prime Minister agree that it is absolutely diabolical in this day and age for a 20-year-old, unemployed person to be sent to prison for failing to pay the poll tax? Would he care to reflect on the fact that if everybody touched the forelock and obediently stumped up the poll tax, herself would still be in 10 Downing Street, Tarzan would still be languishing on the Back Benches and the poll tax would be under no immediate threat whatever?

    The Prime Minister : As the hon. Gentleman knows, we are examining the whole question of the community charge and in due course we shall make a statement.

     

    Q5. Mr. Sumberg : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 13 December.

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

    Mr. Sumberg : Will my right hon. Friend take time today to reflect on two significant, but contrasting parliamentary achievements that have recently occurred : first, that he is now the youngest serving Prime Minister of this country this century, and, secondly that his opposite number is the longest-serving Opposition leader in parliamentary history?

    The Prime Minister : I shall no doubt grow older in the job and no doubt so will the right hon. Gentleman.

     

    Q6. Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 13 December.

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

    Mr. Bennett : Does the Prime Minister agree that when he answered my question on Polaris last Thursday, he was unhappy with his answer? Will he confirm that, having had more time to look into the problems associated with Polaris, he must be even more unhappy? Is he confident that Polaris will go on being an effective deterrent for the next four years and can be kept safely at sea? Would not this be a good time to scrap it and put forward proposals for getting rid of our nuclear seaborne deterrent as part of the negotiations in the spring?

    The Prime Minister : The nuclear deterrent has served this country extremely well in the past few years and I have no plans to change that policy.

    Mr. Peter Robinson : Was the Prime Minister encouraged, as I was, by the reports of the Dail Eireann debate yesterday, which showed growing support for amendments to articles 2 and 3 of the Republic’s constitution? As those two articles claim jurisdiction over a part of the United Kingdom’s territory, will the Prime Minister encourage that process?

    The Prime Minister : I certainly propose to study carefully what was said yesterday.

     

    Q7. Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 13 December.

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

    Mr. Taylor : On this our first opportunity, may I on behalf of my right hon. and hon. Friends in the Ulster Unionist parliamentary party congratulate the right hon. Gentleman on his appointment as Prime Minister? Recently, he will have recognised that it is necessary to create confidence and trust in Northern Ireland to have political progress. Is he aware of the unease and alarm created by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland three weeks ago when he said that the British Government had

    “no strategic, or economic interest in Northern Ireland”? Will he, therefore, prove that he is the leader of the Conservative and Unionist party, not just the Conservative party, and support and strengthen the union between Great Britain and Northern Ireland?

    The Prime Minister : The right hon. Gentleman will know that the troops are in Northern Ireland both because that is the wish of the people of Northern Ireland and to ensure the security of the people of Northern Ireland. That is and remains the position. It is generally accepted throughout Northern Ireland the my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is one of the best friends that the Province has had for a long time.

     

    Q8. Mr. Amess : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 13 December.

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

    Mr. Amess : Is the Prime Minister aware that when he spoke recently about a classless society, he struck a chord with many of my constituents in Basildon? Does he recall that when he visited our town some time ago, he recognised that it had a fine community spirit, despite local socialists who try to cause class divisions by their support of Militant Tendency and the like? Does he agree that it is only the policies of the Conservative party that allow people to get ahead and that Opposition policies cause division and hold people back?

    The Prime Minister : I entirely agree with my hon. Friend. It always has been that way. The Conservative party is determined to increase choice and opportunity and, unlike Opposition Members, we shall not put barriers in the way of such opportunity and choice.

     

    Q9. Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 13 December.

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

    Mr. Griffiths : Would the Prime Minister like to reflect upon the fact that the appalling unemployment figures announced today will be further augmented next month, not least by my constituents who are employed by a company called Euroshape, who had redundancy offered to them this week without any hope of pay? That company once employed 300 people, but what hope can the right hon. Gentleman offer them following his announcement on 27 October last year, when he said that the harsh truth was that if the policy was not hurting, it was not working? Will that message apply this year and next Christmas as well?

    The Prime Minister : As the policy self-evidently is working, we shall first see a considerable reduction in inflation in the next few months. Following that reduction we shall return to a period of growth. I remind the hon. Gentleman that, in the past 10 years, our growth record has exceeded that of any other European country.

  • PMQT – 6 December 1990

    The text of Prime Minister’s Question Time from 6th December 1990.

    PRIME MINISTER:

     

    Engagements

    Q1. Ms. Quin : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 6 December.

    The Prime Minister (Mr. John Major) : 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.

    Ms. Quin : Does the Prime Minister recall that only two days ago he appealed to his party to close ranks? Can he explain why so many of his colleagues refused to support him in the poll tax debate last night? Can he also explain why the British people, many of whom have suffered hardship as a result of this tax, should be expected to have any confidence in the Conservative party, when it is now clear that Tory Members who originally voted to impose the poll tax on us clearly did not believe in it all along?

    The Prime Minister : The hon. Lady is slightly mistaken. A large number of my ministerial and Back-Bench colleagues were abroad unpaired yesterday, and my right hon. Friend the Chief Whip saw no need to bring them back, because we are united.

    Mr. Holt : Is my right hon. Friend aware that it has not gone unnoticed on Teesside and in the north-east that, on Tuesday night, he supported the Tees and Hartlepool Port Authority Bill in the Lobby, and that the Leader of the Opposition did not oppose it? My right hon. Friend will be most welcome throughout the north-east when he makes his frequent visits–unlike the Leader of the Opposition, who has occasionally dropped in on the Durham miners’ gala and then scarpered back to the south.

    The Prime Minister : I am grateful to my hon. Friend. I look forward to visiting Langbaurgh and the north-east on many occasions.

    Mr. Kinnock : When he knows what he knows, why does the Prime Minister refuse to abolish the poll tax now?

    The Prime Minister : Unlike the right hon. Gentleman and his party– who have, on the latest count, changed their policy on this matter on 52 occasions–we are conducting a comprehensive review to determine how best to deal with it.

    Mr. Kinnock : Will the Prime Minister confirm for the British people that the poll tax will still be in place at the time of the next general election?

    The Prime Minister : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment made it perfectly clear yesterday that we were undertaking a fundamental review, and a fundamental review is what we shall undertake. We shall see how long that will take. I think that the country will notice that, although he professes to oppose the system, the right hon. Gentleman will make no constructive moves towards a constructive dialogue to correct it.

    Mr. Kinnock : When the right hon. Gentleman’s proposal last night did not even convince his hon. Friends, how does he seriously expect it to convince anybody else? Will he now answer the question? Will he confirm that the poll tax will still be in place at the next general election–yes or no?

    The Prime Minister : The right hon. Gentleman might confirm that he has made it clear that under his plans the time scale for change may be considerable.

    Mr. Fishburn : Will my right hon. Friend win the hearts of Londoners today by endorsing the proposals for leasehold reform put forward last week by the Lord Chancellor? Does he accept that the draft Bill for commonhold will allow London flat dwellers to own their flats on freehold for the first time, thereby ending the injustices of leasehold that make so many London flat dwellers into second-class home owners?

    The Prime Minister : As my hon. Friend will know, over the past 10 years we have done more to increase owner-occupation, with the personal security that that offers, than any previous Government. It is noticeable that that is not the policy of the Labour party.

    Mr. Ashdown : Does the Prime Minister realise that we welcome the proposal made last night for discussions with Opposition parties on a replacement for the poll tax? My party will contribute constructively to those discussions. We shall not play parliamentary games while millions out there are suffering from the effects of this unjust tax. In that context, may I ask the right hon. Gentleman to remember the promise that he made in his 1974 election address, in which he said that he would abolish the rates

    Mr. Speaker : Order. I do not think that we need visual aids.

    Mr. Ashdown : –in which he said that he would abolish the rates–

    Mr. Speaker : Order. The right hon. Gentleman can make his point without the visual signs.

    Mr. Ashdown : He said that he would abolish the rates and replace them with a tax related to the ability to pay. Does he still agree with that and does he realise that the only tax properly related to ability to pay is a local income tax?

    The Prime Minister : On the last point, the right hon. Gentleman knows that we are considering local taxation at the moment. On the first point, I share what I think is implicit in what the right hon. Gentleman said, which is that the House of Commons need not necessarily be a perpetual cockpit of confrontation. I regret very much that Labour Members, despite all that they said, have no intention of helping to determine common principles for the role of local government. If they do not wish to do so, that is a matter for them, but others will.

    Mr. Speaker : Mr. Michael Lord. [Hon. Members :– “Who?”] Order.

    Mr. Lord : As our new Prime Minister will have considerably fewer problems to deal with on taking over his appointment, may I urge him to bring to the top of the list the problem of haemophiliacs who have been infected with the AIDS virus through no fault of their own? He would earn the undying gratitude of the victims, their families and the House if he could take steps to bring about an out-of-court settlement as quickly as possible.

    The Prime Minister : As my hon. Friend knows, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health has made it clear that we are spending a considerable amount of money to deal with that problem, which we shall continually keep under review.

     

    Q2. Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 6 December.

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

    Mr. Hinchliffe : Is the Prime Minister aware that in the past 12 months a baby has been abducted from a hospital in London, an 11-year-old girl has been raped at a hospital in Surrey, a 77-year-old woman has been indecently assaulted at a hospital in Leeds and last week two doctors were murdered at a hospital in Wakefield? As the Government are committed to spending about £200 million on allowing hospitals to opt out, but a mere £20,000 on hospital security, does the Prime Minister feel that he has his priorities right?

    The Prime Minister : The hon. Gentleman should bear it in mind that the direct management of hospitals lies with health authorities and, in the case of national health service trusts, with the management of those trusts in due course. I am sure that they will take note of what the hon. Gentleman says.

    Mr. Cormack : Is my right hon. Friend aware that there would be almost universal delight and gratitude if, before Christmas, the problem of the haemophilia AIDS victims were solved by adequate compensation being paid without liability being admitted?

    The Prime Minister : As my hon. Friend knows, we have already made a payment into the Macfarlane Trust. I understand the sensitive nature of the matter, but I have nothing further to add today.

     

    Q3. Mr. Mullin : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 6 December.

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

    Mr. Mullin : Is the Prime Minister aware that of the 181 children who left Pennywell comprehensive school in my constituency earlier this year, only 10 found some form of employment, 32 went on to higher education, and of the remaining 150 or so, half went on to Government training schemes, which will lead to the dole, and the other half went directly on to the dole? What hope can he offer the children of Sunderland that life in John Major’s Britain will be any different from life in Margaret Thatcher’s Britain?

    The Prime Minister : As the hon. Gentleman knows, there have been considerable improvements in every aspect of life in the past 10 years, and that will continue. On the specific point that he made, a larger percentage of our youngsters now go on to further education than ever before, a higher percentage of our population is in work than ever before and there is a higher level of opportunities and training than ever before. That bodes well for the young people of Sunderland and indeed for young people everywhere.

    Mr. Riddick : Will my right hon. Friend comment on the fact that many local education authorities, including mine of Kirklees, are holding back far more of their education budgets for central administration than was originally intended by the Government? As the Government have announced that they intend to carry out a full review of the structure of local government, does he think that we should consider taking the control of education out of the hands of local education authorities and giving it to schools?

    The Prime Minister : I have considerable sympathy with that point of view, not least because of the enormous success of local management of schools. I hope that education authorities will release as much money as possible to go directly into the classroom.

     

    Q4. Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 6 December.

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

    Mr. Smith : Will the Prime Minister tell us whether, as a result of the frantic trawling for options and ideas that is under way in the Department of the Environment, there will be any reduction whatsoever in the poll tax bills that people will receive in April, or will the amounts be precisely the same as they were always going to be?

    The Prime Minister : As for trawling for options, I remind the hon. Gentleman that his party has had 52 changes of mind on local government. That is not so much a U-turn as a merry-go-round.

    Mr. Nicholas Winterton : Does my right hon. Friend accept that manufacturing industry is the only genuine source of non-inflationary growth and that the continuing use of high interest rates is damaging to investment and to competitiveness? Will my right hon. Friend look again at an alternative industrial manufacturing strategy?

    The Prime Minister : As my hon. Friend knows, the central core of economic policy is to bear down on inflation. As it reduces–and I expect that it will reduce, which is the general view of external commentators as well- -the options may exist for a reduction in interest rates. I can give no indication of when that may be.

     

    Q5. Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 6 December.

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

    Mr. Bennett : Does the Prime Minister agree that given that two of the Polaris submarines are no longer seaworthy and that the other two were on the Clyde earlier this week, he is the first Prime Minister for 20 years not to have had a nuclear deterrent at his fingertips? Does he further agree that that did not cause him or the country any problems? Will he now agree that, rather than trying to patch up the remaining Polaris submarines, he should abandon the whole programme and give a clear lead to the non-proliferation talks in January that we want to have a non-nuclear world?

    The Prime Minister : Our nuclear capacity remains a deterrent and remains an important part of our defence.

    Sir Robert McCrindle : As my former area Whip–which until now has, no doubt, been his greatest claim to distinction–will my right hon. Friend comment on the possibility of some change being brought to the hours that the House works? Will he tell me why, having had that matter raised on many occasions in the 20 years in which I have been in the House, I remain sceptical? What can my right hon. Friend do to reassure me?

    The Prime Minister : I have fond memories of being my hon. Friend’s Whip some years ago. The hours of work in the House are essentially a matter for the Procedure Committee and for hon. Members themselves. Each will have his own individual views. If the House were to express views, I do not think that I would stand against them.

  • PMQT – 4 December 1990

    Below is the text of Prime Minister’s Question Time from 4th December 1990.

    PRIME MINISTER:

     

    Engagements

    Q1. Mr. Archer : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 4 December.

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

    Mr. Archer : Has the right hon. Gentleman found time to consider which of the policies in which he participated over the past 11 years he now regrets and proposes to change? If the answer is that the Major revolution amounts to no more than requiring back-seat drivers to belt up, what benefits have the public received in exchange for the expensive telephone bills incurred by Government Departments in the course of the past month’s plotting?

    The Prime Minister : I can tell the right hon. and learned Gentleman one thing. There is one back-seat injunction that I shall not follow–I shall not turn left.

     

    Q2. Mr. Paice : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 4 December.

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

    Mr. Paice : Has my right hon. Friend seen this morning’s press tribute to his and my county of Cambridgeshire for the way it has given as much management control to schools as if those schools had adopted grant- maintained status? Will he compare that with the proposal to introduce new, politically appointed bureaucracies, which may aim high but will inevitably lower standards to that of the lowest standard achievable, as one would expect of Labour party policies?

    The Prime Minister : I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that information. I saw this morning’s papers and I know that Cambridgeshire county council has been innovative in education for a long time. I am delighted to see what it is now doing. I agree that expensive bureaucratic control of education will only withdraw resources from the classroom, whereas our policy is to ensure that resources remain in the classroom.

    Mr. Kinnock : The right hon. Gentleman has been good enough to refer to the personal debt of gratitude that he owes to the national health service. Does he think that it would be right to discharge that debt by getting rid of hospital opt-out?

    The Prime Minister : Self-government within the NHS will improve management. That is why so many hospitals are seeking to opt out. In the past 10 years, more resources have been added to the NHS than anyone could have imagined. There is no doubt that in future the NHS will be at the centre of our concerns.

    Mr. Kinnock : It is clear that the Prime Minister intends to make no change for the better in the NHS. Is he not aware that whenever a ballot has been held, consultants, hospital doctors, nurses, general practitioners and the general public have all voted by huge majorities against opting out? Does he realise that opt-out will intensify the crisis in the NHS? As the NHS has never done anything but good by him, why is he doing it so much harm?

    The Prime Minister : Unlike some Opposition Members, I unfailingly use the NHS. Its future is entirely secure, with increased funding, as it has been for the past 10 years.

    Mr. Kinnock : If the right hon. Gentleman believes that to be the case, should not he make a start by trying to convince his constituents about the Hinchingbrooke hospital in his constituency, where waiting lists have doubled in the past two years? The local press has referred to a wall of opposition against opting out. Will the right hon. Gentleman support his constituents?

    The Prime Minister : Self-government is being proposed by the consultants and the staff at the Hinchingbrooke hospital, which holds the enormous affection of people in the area. I can tell the right hon. Gentleman something else about that hospital : it was not available under the Labour Government–it was this Government who provided it.

    Mr. Higgins : I congratulate my right hon. Friend on becoming Prime Minister and also on the speech that he made earlier today, which I thought embodied the spirit of the late Iain Macleod. In that context, and in that spirit, may I ask him to give urgent consideration to two particular injustices–first, the position of those haemophiliacs suffering from AIDS as a result of blood products provided by the national health service and, secondly, the position of those who suffered as a result of being exposed to radiation from the atomic tests carried out immediately after world war 2? I do not expect him to give an answer off the top of his head–that would be unfashionable–but would he give those matters urgent consideration?

    The Prime Minister : As my right hon. Friend knows, I like to consider matters before reaching a conclusion. However, I shall certainly accept his injunction and do so.

    Mr. Ashdown : When the Prime Minister gave his right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment what we now understand to be carte blanche for a fundamental review of the poll tax, did he rule out the option of abolishing it?

    The Prime Minister : My right hon. Friend and I will be discussing later today the precise remit for consideration.

    Mr. Nicholls : Has my right hon. Friend had the opportunity to consider the latest computer analysis from the Institute of Directors on the top-performing companies in Europe? Has he noted that there are more United Kingdom companies than German or French companies in the top 100 and does not that say far more about the underlying strength of the British economy than the economic illiteracy that we hear from the Leader of the Opposition?

    The Prime Minister : My hon. Friend is right. There is absolutely no doubt about the revolution in the prospects for this country over the past decade.

     

    Henley-on-Thames

    Q3. Mr. Skinner : To ask the Prime Minister if he will pay an official visit to Henley-on-Thames.

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

    Mr. Skinner : When the Prime Minister finally gets round to going to Henley and perhaps having a rubber chicken dinner with his right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment, will he tell the voters of Henley why he has managed to offend the Welsh, the blacks and others– [Interruption] including women, in his first seven days in office? Is that how he intends to start building his classless society?

    The Prime Minister : I think that the hon. Member for Bradford, South (Mr. Cryer) was writing down the question that he intended his hon. Friend to ask and not the one that his hon. Friend did ask. In so far as the question presumably relates to Mr. Taylor, the prospective Conservative candidate in Cheltenham, the reported remarks–which I understand have been denied–are not sentiments that have any place in our party.

    Mr. Adley : Is my right hon. Friend aware that the branch line to Henley-on-Thames remains intact? Does he recognise that if more decisions of that nature had been taken by British Rail in the past few years, and fewer decisions of the kind taken following the disastrous Beeching report, many more of our fellow citizens would today have the opportunity to travel by train which has been denied them by the closures of recent years?

    The Prime Minister : I was aware of the excellent service from Henley. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment reports to me regularly on it.

     

    Engagements

    Q4. Mr. Illsley : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 4 December.

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

    Mr. Illsley : Is the Prime Minister aware that in some areas, particularly Sheffield, general practitioners have been prevented from prescribing certain drugs to patients, in particular young children? Without rattling out the old figures about how many patients are being treated under the NHS, will the Prime Minister tell the House whether under his Government patients and, in particular, young children will be denied the medication and treatment that they need?

    The Prime Minister : I will tell the hon. Gentleman that the district health authority in his area has substantially more cash than in previous years, that the treatment of in-patients and out-patients has risen and that the quantum and quality of health treatment rises yearly.

    Mr. John Browne : Does my right hon. Friend accept that one group of our citizens who should not be subjected to the community charge are British hostages in the Gulf?

    Will he agree to issue an advice to that effect, or even a directive under primary legislation, so that uncertainty, anxiety and anger can be removed?

    The Prime Minister : I think that my hon. Friend will find that we have already sent such advice to local authorities.

     

    Q6. Mr. Vaz: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 4 December.

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

    Mr. Vaz : Will the Prime Minister reflect on the case of my constituent, John Hall, who is dying of leukaemia, which he contracted while working on Christmas Island? Will the right hon. Gentleman, as one of the first acts of his new Administration, reverse the Government’s policy and in compassion, humanity and justice, provide John Hall and the other nuclear test veterans with the compensation that the House and the country believe that they so richly deserve?

    The Prime Minister : I will examine the particular case to which the hon. Gentleman refers. I am not familiar with the details of his constituent. I will discuss it and examine it.

    Mrs. Currie : Does my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister agree that today’s performance has demonstrated that the two main parties have both the leaders and the policies for the next general election–for us to win, and for them to lose?

    The Prime Minister : I am grateful to my hon. Friend It is not for me to reply for the right hon. Member for Islwyn (Mr. Kinnock), but if he ever needs a campaign team, I will lend him mine.

    Mr. Rees : The Prime Minister will recall that the Queen’s Speech promised that a Bill would be introduced to give our courts jurisdiction to try alleged war criminals. Does that promise still stand?

    The Prime Minister : That Bill is in the Government’s programme and it will be presented to the House. There will be suggested amendments that the House will want to examine.

    Mr. Rhodes James : Those of us of a particular generation well remember when the Russian and British people were together, when Mrs. Churchill led the campaign to support the Russian people. In the present circumstances, will not only the British Government but the British people respond as they did during the last war?

    The Prime Minister : There is considerable concern in this country about the difficulties faced by the Russian people and by President Gorbachev. There is also great warmth in this country for the changes brought about in the Soviet Union under Mr. Gorbachev’s presidency. That feeling exists not only in the House but throughout the European Community and I have no doubt that the situation in Russia will be one of many matters discussed at forthcoming Community meetings.