Glyn Mathias, ITN
Prime Minister, what were you seeking to achieve in this reshuffle?
Prime Minister
First, to make it quite clear that we are putting great emphasis on enterprise and employment. The two are connected and I hope we have made that abundantly clear in the changes we have made.
Secondly, it is important in politics that as some people get towards the top they make way for others to be promoted and for new people to get their foot on the first rung of the ladder, and we have had quite a lot of that today, so there is quite a lot of fresh faces and new opportunities.
Glyn Mathias, ITN
Is this now the Cabinet to take you into the next election?
Prime Minister
In large measure, I expect so. There may, of course, be a few other changes. One just does not know. [end p1]
Glyn Mathias, ITN
Do you hope the changes will help revitalise your party's fortunes?
Prime Minister
I hope so. I believe they will. You know, it is very strange; people do not really criticise the policies; they have really concentrated on quite trivial things, which means, really, that they do agree with the policies, and we must just get them over a bit more cogently.
Glyn Mathias, ITN
Now, why did you need a new Home Secretary?
Prime Minister
I was very anxious that Mr. Brittan should take over DTI. DTI is an enormous department—Department of Trade and Industry. It has a very very big task ahead; quite a lot of legislation; quite a lot of problems of organisation. It is the key enterprising department. He has spent a time in the Treasury; he has a very great grasp of administration; and I thought he would be best for the job.
Glyn Mathias, ITN
It does seem like a demotion for him. [end p2]
Prime Minister
No! I think if you look at the order of precedence of Ministers you will find he has still exactly the same position—and it is right at the top of the tree!
Glyn Mathias, ITN
Now, you have got two Cabinet Ministers in the Department of Employment. To what extent does this signal a new approach to the problem of unemployment?
Prime Minister
An enormous new approach. You know unemployment … . I am sorry … the Employment Department had not in fact got, I think, enough duties—enough duties—in the enterprising part of job creation, because jobs come from more business. Small businesses really are about creating not only business but jobs. Tourism is about creating jobs.
The enterprise unit which Lord Young ran is about creating jobs and many more things. They have gone there. So I think for the first time we have got enterprise and employment together in the Department of Employment. So it is not just a Department which gives out the figures and so on and looks at the job centres on unemployment. It is a Department which has much more of the enterprise from which the new jobs will come.
Glyn Mathias, ITN
So a reorganisation, but does it mean any change of policy on unemployment? [end p3]
Prime Minister
No. The policy is that you only solve unemployment by getting more business, and it is the business that creates the jobs, and the business comes from more enterprise. That has always been the policy. It is always the truth.
We are going through a period when we are losing jobs because of high technology, but very soon high technology creates more jobs. The thing is: create more business, more enterprise, and the jobs will come.
Glyn Mathias, ITN
Is it not a bit risky to move your Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in the middle of discussions with Dublin about the future of the province? Does it not show a degree of a lack of concern for Northern Ireland?
Prime Minister
No! You have to do what is best under all circumstances, taking many many things into account. I thought about that very very clearly indeed. Douglas Hurd has been quite outstanding as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and I am sure he was the right person to move to the Home Office. Many of our talks are far advanced and I am sure that Tom King will take them forward very very well indeed with all his experience.
One of the great advantages of doing a reshuffle at this stage in one's experience is that you are able to have Ministers who have served in several Departments. That is important for a Government. You know, for a time, they tend to be a Minister of a single Department. By the time they have served in several, they are much more likely to coordinate as Ministers [end p4] of a Government and to pursue Government policies and not only Departmental policies, and to bring the experience of one Department to bear in that of another.
Glyn Mathias, ITN
What is it then that you want Mr. Hurd to achieve at the Home Office which Leon Brittan was unable to do?
Prime Minister
No! You have not got the right thing at all! We have to have both a Home Secretary—a very distinguished one—. We have to have a very very able Head of DTI. I am very fortunate. We have got both, and as I have seen people today, those who have been generous enough to lay down their portfolios so that others might be promoted and new ones coming in, I thought what a marvellous team of Ministers we have got. We are very fortunate to be able to call on so much ability, so much experience, so many fresh ideas.
Glyn Mathias, ITN
So this is the last reshuffle before the next election?
Prime Minister
I believe it is probably the last major reshuffle before the next election, but the next election may be nearly three years away, so there could be time for more before then.
Glyn Mathias, ITN
Prime Minister, thank you very much indeed!