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Prime Minister (Engagements)

Volume 951: debated on Tuesday 6 June 1978

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Q1.

asked the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for 6th June.

This morning I greeted the Prime Minister of India on is arrival for an official visit to this country. In addition to my duties in this House, I shall later today be having talks with Mr. Desai and tonight I shall be host at a dinner in his honour.

Since his return to this country, has the Prime Minister had an opportunity of looking at last week's issue of The Economist, which published a Tory plan for conflict and confrontation in public industry? Does he not agree that the Leader of the Opposition owes it to the public and to workers in the public sector to make clear whether she supports those bizarre proposals?

I am sure that the Opposition will make their position clear, but if they are drawing up battle plans for future industrial conflict I can only say that that is in contradistinction to what the Government are doing, namely, to try to promote industrial cooperation at all levels. That is why we are increasingly getting support from both sides of industry.

If the Prime Minister wishes to talk about party policy documents, will he say whether he endorses the Labour Party's programme, passed by his own Labour Party conference, to nationalise building, banking, insurance, land and 32 major private companies?

There seems to be—[AN HON. MEMBER: "Answer 'Yes' or 'No'."] I shall answer in my own way and in my own time. There seems to be an early outbreak of party skirmishing now that we have come back. I was trying to divert it into the more peaceful channels of indicating what the Government were doing to promote cooperation. Our programme will appear in due course and it will utterly satisfy the nation. I have no doubt about that.

As usual, the Prime Minister is trying to avoid answering the question. Will he now answer it? Does he endorse that document or not?

As the right hon. Lady well knows, I have no responsibility at this Dispatch Box for party documents, but I am very happy at any time to answer for Government policy. Government policy will be enunciated by me through the Cabinet at all times to the complete satisfaction of the right hon. Lady.

Will my right hon. Friend contact the Soviet authorities today and indicate to them the continued sense of outrage about the trial and sentence of Yuri Orlov? Will he also indicate that the possible further trials of dissidents Shcharansky and Ginsburg will be in clear breach of the Helsinki Final Act and can do nothing but undermine the support in the West for detente?

The NATO conference last week expressed its concern about human rights, the infringement of which is bound to jeopardise the improvement in detente. As my hon. Friend knows, I have expressed this view on behalf of the Government frequently and regularly. We are deeply concerned about the need for respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. But I do not believe that a public approach by me to the Soviet Union today would help in that matter.