GM
Prime Minister, you have only recently completed four years of your five year term—how do you justify going to the country now?
PM
Because you will recall that I have been asked about little else for about five or six months now, other than when is the date of the election going to be. It started with the New Year's Eve interviews. I have been asked by television interviewers, by radio interviewers, I have been asked by leaders in the House. The uncertainty was becoming very very bad for Britain. I have always said that I would not consider it until after four years. My four years is complete and I decided that it would be best to end the uncertainty and it would be in Britain's interest to do so.
GM
Yesterday you said that you weren't in a hurry. Now you seem to be in a rather desperate hurry.
PM
No I said I would not be pushed around. I have never been pushed around and I haven't now. We considered the matter yesterday, came to a preliminary decision last night, I slept on it, I do sleep on these very important decisions, decided this morning, called the Cabinet together. Once one has decided one has to put the decision into operation quickly. Its best that way.
GM
But wasn't one of the main factors, your fear that the Labour Party are perhaps catching up with the Conservative lead?
PM
Not in any way. I believe that we have a very good chance of winning the election, and I am cautiously optimistic about the result.
GM
Well one of the main accusations against you is that you are cutting and running because of the fear of economic bad news to come, what do you say to that? [end p1]
PM
Well I have no economic bad news to come. I believe that we have grounds for thinking that an economic recovery is on the way and so I believe that in the longer run the news will be better. But the cutting and running—I wouldn't take too much notice of that. The Opposition have only two things to say, either you are cutting and running or clinging to office and they will trot out one or the other. So just lets talk about the issues instead of what they say.
GM
Well indeed what is this election going to be all about. What is going to be the dominant theme as far as you are concerned?
PM
The whole range of issues. First of course prosperity and the future will be one. I put it that way because if you are going to talk about unemployment and the prospect of jobs you have to talk about it in the context of the whole industrial and financial policy. We'll discuss all of that. But then of course there can be no more important issue than how we are going to defend our traditional way of life. We've defended it successfully and have security and peace for 38 years, I beg of people not to put those at risk now by changing the way in which we have done it.
GM
But unemployment nevertheless is perhaps going to be one dominant issue. Do you really expect the unemployed—more than three million of them—to believe that you deserve a second term as Prime Minister?
PM
Yes I do. Because I believe that the prospects for the long-term for good jobs are far better with the policies we are running. We have run policies which have now got rising prices down much much lower than anyone else. That's good for exports. We have run policies which have had to get industrial efficiency up—that's good for exports. We've run policies which have helped good management to make their decisions by taking away many many of the controls—that will help business and exports. All of those things are what you need to get jobs in the future. [end p2] Not Labour's policy—they have adopted inflation as a positive policy. That would be disastrous.
GM
Is it going to be a clean campaign?
PM
I hope so.
GM
And how do you think the relationship between yourself and Mr. Foot as personalities in this campaign will shape out?
PM
Well I have been opposite Mr. Foot Tuesdays and Thursdays in the House for a very long time. I don't imagine the campaign will be as noisy as it has sometimes been in the House of Commons.
GM
Prime Minister, thank you very much.