PRIME MINISTER
Engagements
Q1. Mr. Tredinnick
To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 14 July.
The Prime Minister (Mrs. Margaret Thatcher)
This morning I presided at a meeting of the Cabinet and had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in this House, I shall be having meetings later today.
Mr. Tredinnick
Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is remarkable that Mr. Gorbachev should look to her and to a Conservative Administration rather than to a Socialist Administration for ideas and inspiration? Does she further agree that, whereas the Russians were delighted to stop jamming so that millions could hear her across Russia, they are most unlikely to do the same for the Leader of the Opposition?
The Prime Minister
I agree with my hon. Friend. I think that the Soviet people wish to hear about successful policies. They want to get away from failed Socialism.
Mr. Hattersley
Will the Prime Minister give a categorical assurance that every regional health authority will receive sufficient additional Government funds to meet the cost of the nurses' pay award and the regarding which she promised to finance in full?
[column 551]The Prime Minister
The Government have made available £566 million additional to the extra amount of £237 million already in the forecast for the nurses' pay award this year. This includes the whole of the estimated cost of the clinical grading exercise put forward by the Nurses' Pay Review Body.
Mr. Hattersley
The Prime Minister must try to grasp the question, because she has chosen to answer one which I did not ask. So I ask her again: will every regional health authority be given sufficient additional funds to meet the cost of the new pay bill, because five of them understand that they will be left short in October? Yes, or no.
The Prime Minister
The amount that has been made available was the amount that was estimated by the Nurses' Pay Review Body. That full amount has been put forward [Interruption.] The formula used for estimating the total sum required was agreed between representatives of National Health Service chairmen and the review body. That amount is intended to be the amount which they said regarding of the structure would cost.
Mr. Hattersley
The sum was not agreed, but the Prime Minister's error of fact is not the matter at issue. The issue is that unless every regional health authority can be sure of its ability to meet the increased pay bill there will be closed wards and bed cuts—five authorities say that. Does the Prime Minister not understand that, or does the Cabinet, insulated by private medical care, not care what happens in the Health Service?
The Prime Minister
No, £803 million was the figure estimated not by the Government but by the Nurses' Pay Review Body. [Interruption.] Perhaps the right hon. Gentleman, instead of trying to make trouble—[Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker
Order.
The Prime Minister
Perhaps the right hon. Gentleman would first read the letter of 13 July 1988 from Mr. Trevor Clay—[Hon. Members: “Read it.” ] I shall gladly read it out, but I thought that the Deputy Leader of the Opposition might be able to read it for himself. Mr. Clay said:
“There are many problems at local level. But some managements are succeeding in some districts. Why can't others make the same speed?”
Secondly, perhaps the right hon. Gentleman will remember that it was his Government who cut nurses' pay, whereas this Government have increased it. He is the cutter of nurses' pay.
Mr. Batiste
What hope can my right hon. Friend offer to the many air travellers stranded at British airports that their plight, caused by air traffic control problems over Europe, will not get progressively worse in the years to come? What initiative can the British Government take with their European partners to provide a long-term solution to the problem?
The Prime Minister
We shall certainly have a look at that. My hon. Friend asked about our air traffic control. As he is aware, we have been trying to get the very latest computers, which should be sufficient and well able to cope with the increase in air traffic control needs. We shall have a look at the co-operation, which I am sure our air traffic controllers have, and need to have, with other air traffic control authorities.
[column 552]Q2. Mr. Kennedy
To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 14 July.
The Prime Minister
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Mr. Kennedy
Does the Prime Minister concur that those Conservative Back Benchers who voted against the European Communities (Finance) Bill earlier this week in all likelihood share her gut instinct? Given that she seems to occupy an increasingly ambivalent position at home, and an increasingly isolated position within the Community on greater financial integration, will she concede that the net outcome is likely to be final confirmation of Frankfurt and the Bundestag as the sole financial centre of Europe, to the long-term loss of our country?
The Prime Minister
I would reply to that by saying that my position is direct at home and direct in Europe, and both are to the advantage of Britain.
Q3. Mr. Bellingham
To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 14 July.
The Prime Minister
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Mr. Bellingham
In the course of her busy day, will my right hon. Friend plan a visit to west Norfolk? If she comes to west Norfolk she will be told that today's excellent unemployment figures are reflected locally. Since 1983 unemployment has fallen by half to 7.5 per cent., and since 1979 expenditure on the local health authority has increased by a staggering 60 per cent. in real terms. Is that not a classic case of wealth creation benefiting the whole community?
The Prime Minister
Yes. The record has been excellent. Since the last election unemployment has fallen by half a million. The increase in employment goes on apace. The increase in prosperity also proceeds apace, and it is due to the excellent policies pursued by my right hon. Friend Nigel Lawsonthe Chancellor of the Exchequer—policies which must continue into the future and which benefit the whole country.
Mr. Home Robertson
Has the Prime Minister read the report of the Scottish constitutional steering committee entitled, “A Claim of Right for Scotland” ? Is she yet aware of the strain that her Administration are placing on the unity of the United Kingdom, and are there any circumstances in which she would be prepared to take account of our national status and the wishes of the people of Scotland?
The Prime Minister
Scotland has its own national status and always will. That has never been in doubt, since the very Union between Scotland and this country. I have not read the report, but I doubt very much whether either the hon. Gentleman or the Labour party wishes Scotland to separate from England.
Q4. Mr. Cran
To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 14 July.
The Prime Minister
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Mr. Cran
Is my right hon. Friend aware that in the latest seven years for which statistics exist GDP grew in the [column 553]north of England at the rate of 90 per cent. per head of the population, which was above the British average, and that the figure for Yorkshire and Humberside was 89 per cent., which was the British average? Will my right hon. Friend take this opportunity to announce her intention to improve on that in the coming years, and to improve the prosperity of every region in the United Kingdom, which is undoubtedly the case at the minute?
The Prime Minister
The figures given by my hon. Friend are excellent, but then the record for the whole country is excellent as the new prosperity spreads over every region. My right hon. Friend Nigel Lawsonthe Chancellor of the Exchequer has provided a firm basis of prosperity that will continue and stretch long into the future.
Q5. Mr. Boyes
To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 14 July.
The Prime Minister
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Mr. Boyes
Does not the proposed privatisation of the water industry make nonsense of the arguments used on the Conservative Benches that privatisation leads to greater competition among suppliers and greater choice for consumers? When the right hon. Lady turns on a tap in the morning, does she have a choice of supplier, and where is the competition?
The Prime Minister
Many water companies are already in private hands. There is nothing new about water being in private hands, as the hon. Gentleman would know if he knew history.
Mr. Conway
During the course of my right hon. Friend's busy day, will she reflect on the fact that home ownership has grown substantially during her premiership, and that that growth could not have occurred without her protection of mortgage interest rate relief? Will she assure the House that that relief will not be tampered with and that the Government do not intend to introduce a property tax of any kind?
The Prime Minister
I agree with my hon. Friend that we would not have seen the enormous extension of home ownership without mortgage interest tax relief. I am a great believer in it. As my hon. Friend knows, I get very cross if anybody wants to stop it, when they themselves got their foot on the first rung of the ladder by making use of that very relief. So long as I am here, it will continue.
Q6. Mr. Salmond
To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 14 July.
The Prime Minister
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Mr. Salmond
Can the Prime Minister explain to the House why, if no decision has been made about the hot strip mill at Ravenscraig, Sir Robert Scholey should be publicly writing its obituary? Will she undertake to visit the Ravenscraig complex, to meet the shop stewards and a representative selection of Scottish opinion, and to hear at first hand why the closure and dismemberment of the Ravenscraig plant is not acceptable to the Scottish nation?
The Prime Minister
I answered an almost identical question last Tuesday, except that I was not asked to visit Ravenscraig. I doubt very much whether I can take up that kind invitation immediately. The position was made clear [column 554]by my right hon. and learned Friend the Minister of Trade and Industry when he answered a parliamentary question last December concerning the future of Ravenscraig, privatisation and the difficulty with hot strip mills, where there is at the moment a surplus of capacity. We do not know what will be the position following the abolition of European steel quotas. When we do, we shall know precisely whether hot strip mill capacity will be in excess of demand and whether some mills may have to be closed.
Q7. Mr. Marlow
To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 14 July.
The Prime Minister
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Mr. Marlow
May I ask my right hon. Friend what responsibility she has for British citizens overseas? I give as an example a pair of innocents abroad—a short, red-headed Welshman and his wilful wife—who, no doubt tanked up on South African wine, have offered to give £1,500 million of British taxpayers' money to their hosts each year.
Mr. Speaker
Order. I hope that the hon. Gentleman will relate his question to the Prime Minister.
Mr. Marlow
Is that something that we ought to ignore, or should we think about taking away their passports?
The Prime Minister
I thought that my hon. Friend started off his question by asking about overseas aid, but it was a little difficult to hear. Is that correct?
Mr. Marlow
indicated assent.
The Prime Minister
The overseas aid record of this Government is extremely good, not only in terms of direct aid, but in terms of the massive amount of investment that has gone overseas from the private sector. I agree that to increase it enormously, as has been proposed, would put a great deal of burden on our people. I also commend the excellent initiative taken by Nigel Lawsonthe Chancellor of the Exchequer to cancel some of the aid loans, which has now been taken up by the Toronto summit. I hope that my hon. Friend heard more of my reply than I did of his question.
Q8. Mr. Madden
To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 14 July.
The Prime Minister
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Mr. Madden
Will the Prime Minister break the habit of a lifetime and give a straight answer to a straight question that has been put to her four times? Will the Government fund fully the pay award and the regarding exercise for our nurses? Does she understand that nurses in every constituency do not regard concern about their pay as troublemaking? They are much more concerned with Government treachery. That is what will be committed if the Prime Minister now says that the Government will not fund fully the pay award to the nursing profession.
Hon. Members
Yes or no?
The Prime Minister
The amount necessary to fund that award in full is £803 million. That was not calculated by the Government, it was calculated by the Nurses' Pay Review Body. It is intended to fund it in full—[Hon. Members: “Yes or no?]——
[column 555]Mr. Speaker
Order. We do not have the chanting of that sort of thing here.
[column 556]The Prime Minister
Most nurses in the United Kingdom rejoice at the £803 million, compared with the cut, cut, cut that they had under Labour.