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pocket-lining approach so dear to the hearts of Conservative Members is not the sole interest of the people. They are not interested only in the price tag ; nor are they as stupid, as mathematically illiterate or as uninterested as some Conservative Members seem to assume. They do not care only about one-off rebates or transitional reliefs. They want good government--government in which they can believe and which they can trust. They do not want a Government who chop and change with such fervour and violence. Like all the Government's previous rebates, the poll tax rebate will prove a short-changing sleight of hand. It is the most unjust tax that has ever been introduced in the House of Commons. Not only does it epitomise the present Government's style ; it now demonstrates that they have lost the confidence of the people. The Prime Minister cannot tell the people to wait and see for ever. A deadline is approaching--the last possible date for the general election. Opposition Members are confident that the people will give their vote of no confidence to the Conservatives in that general election, and will return a Labour Government as soon as they have the opportunity to do so.8.13 pm
Mr. William Hague (Richmond, Yorks) : I am grateful for the opportunity to comment on this rather curious motion, and on the extraordinary speech with which the Leader of the Opposition launched it on its way.
I find the motion curious because it links the House's confidence in Her Majesty's Government to a single issue. As a junior Member, I am reassured to note that others who have been here several decades longer also consider that strange. The Government are responsible for a wide range of matters, and the House's confidence in any Government depends on that Government's ability to deal with them. In a general election, the electorate will judge a Government on that basis. The Opposition, however, have ordained that the House's confidence should rest on a single policy.
One would imagine that, if the Opposition consider that policy to be of such overriding importance--an importance that dwarfs that of all other policies--they would at least be able to present their own carefully documented and detailed alternative. The extraordinary feature of the speech of the Leader of the Opposition, however, was that, although he spoke for more than half an hour, the time that he devoted to presenting an alternative to the House and the country could be counted in seconds.
No one listening to the right hon. Gentleman's speech would think that his was the party that had twisted and turned, ducked and weaved, backtracked, deviated, prevaricated and delayed on the issue for several years. No one would think that his was the party that at one point had one policy north of the Scottish border and no policy south of it. Still less would anyone think that it was the party that, after three years of frantic head- scratching and hand-wringing, could only come up with the old discredited system that it had been committed to replacing for a good two years. Even now, the Labour party can hardly claim to be the proud possessor of a clear alternative with numbers attached. If it has such an
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alternative, which it is waiting to reveal, there was certainly no sign today that the Leader of the Opposition was privy to the details.Given the strident language of the right hon. Gentleman's attack on my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, no one would imagine that the public had so little confidence in the former compared with their confidence in the latter. That comparison is apparent to anyone who studies an opinion poll, reads the mail in his postbag or simply walks down the street and talks to half a dozen people. My right hon. Friend has that support because of the impressive way in which he has dealt with such a wide range of matters during his first 110 days in office.
There are many reasons for having confidence in Her Majesty's Government that the Opposition do not want us to discuss tonight. There is, for example, our confidence that the nation's defences will be secure rather than neglected ; that the incentive to work will be maintained rather than stamped on ; that choice in education will be enhanced rather than removed ; and that unions will be kept within the law rather than released from some of its restraints. All those are reasons for expressing confidence in the Government rather than in the alternative presented by the Opposition. The Opposition, however, have chosen perhaps wisely--to attempt not to discuss them today.
Mr. Simon Burns (Chelmsford) : They are frit.
Mr. Hague : They are frit, as my hon. Friend so eloquently says. Nevertheless, it can also be risky for the Opposition to concentrate on the issue of local government finance. The right to be so critical of the change in Government policy would normally be associated with the responsibility to present a detailed policy of one's own.
The Opposition have criticised the Government for taking time to reach their final conclusions. Which policy will be finished first, the Government's or the Opposition's? Which will be presented in the most detail in the next few months? When the Secretary of State for the Environment has completed his consultations about the new local charge, or tax, and published the details of his proposals, will the Opposition undertake to publish theirs in the same detail? Will they undertake now to be as specific as my right hon. Friend will be, and as clear about the financial consequences for households in different circumstances? I very much doubt it. But, if they are to be the critics of consultation, the Opposition should have the courage to give such a commitment now.
Mr. John P. Smith : May I take up the hon. Gentleman's reference to consultation? The principles of the so-called alternative tax have already been laid down : it is to be a property tax combined with another poll tax. That resulted from what was presumably a lengthy review. Will the hon. Gentleman ask the Minister to list the individuals and organisations responsible for proposing that hybrid tax during the review period? He will be lucky to name one.
Mr. Hague : I think that the hon. Gentleman will find that one of the purposes of the consultation period is to enable a long list of individuals and organisations to give their views, and to assist in the development of our policy. I see no reason for the Opposition to object to that. The country is still in the dark about the details of their
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proposals, and, indeed, about whether they agree or disagree with the proposal to transfer part of local revenue raising to VAT. Judging by all appearances, so are they. They huffed and puffed about it last week, with much noise and indignation, but when it came to the vote on Monday night they abstained--or most did ; some voted against.What did the Opposition do when they voted last night on the £140 reduction in community charge bills? They raised no objection on either Second Reading or Third Reading--again after much huffing and puffing before the vote. At least on that occasion they all managed to do the same, but what clarity of leadership and what remarkable decision-making powers the Opposition displayed. What would the Opposition do if they were in office? Would they maintain the rate of value added tax, or increase local taxes, or increase income tax? The country will want to know before they reach their verdict on the Opposition.
The motion refers to the damage done to the country, but we do not require any lectures from the Opposition about damage to local government. Labour councillors throughout the country have shown a persistent inability to control local authority spending. If the Opposition want to talk about damage, they ought to reflect on what Labour councils, under the rating system, did to former prosperous urban areas, or ponder upon the damage done to the rule of law when one in seven of their elected Members of Parliament decided not to pay a tax that had been approved by the House, a tax that their constituents have had to pay for them.
The Opposition appear to be saying that the time taken for consultations is doing the damage. That is a bit rich from a party that has already spent three years in consultation, albeit only with itself. How much damage, though, would have been caused if at least a few weeks had not been spent upon consultations, and how foolish it would have been not to provide time for local authorities and other bodies to have their say before fixing the final details. One can imagine what the Opposition would have said. They would have used words such as "hasty", "dictatorial" and "inadequate consultation". The Government ought to finalise these matters according to their own timetable, not according to a timetable wished upon them by Opposition spokesmen who would oppose the result whatever it might be.
Some good has come out of the community charge experience, if we can call it that. It would be wise of the Opposition to recognise that fact. First, the public have understood for the first time the extent of the cost of local government and the importance of efficiency in providing its services. Secondly, the wide disparity in the efficiency with which councils run their services has been revealed. Thirdly, the difficulty of improving accountability while retaining the existing local government structure has been demonstrated. The review of the local government structure that is now under way provides us with a great opportunity to improve the effectiveness and comprehensibility of local government and to make its scale in each area more appropriate to the needs and wishes of local people. The scope for debate and ideas that the review creates ought to be welcomed by the Opposition, not attacked as indecision. We know why the Opposition tabled the motion. They are worried that the new system will prove acceptable and
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will be seen as a perfectly proper way to raise money. They are horrified by the popularity that my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister's performance during the past few months has attracted. They are dismayed by the stream of sensible decisions that have emerged from No. 10 Downing street during that time. A year ago, the Opposition were 28 points ahead in the opinion polls. Today they are level pegging with the Conservative party. The awful news for them is that, if they were to lose one quarter of the ground over the next year that they have lost during the last year, their future would be very bleak. So it should be after their performance today. The House ought to reject their motion.8.23 pm
Mr. Geoffrey Lofthouse (Pontefract and Castleford) : Unlike the hon. Member for Thanet, South (Mr. Aitken), who is just about to leave the Chamber, I am not used to pillow fights before the hols. I do not really understand them. I do not believe this debate to be a pillow fight before the hols. I believe that it is a very important debate. I have sat through most of it. Almost without exception, Conservative Members have defended what has been done on two counts. Their argument is that the poll tax was not a sufficiently important issue for the Opposition to move a motion of no confidence in the Government. Secondly, they seem to want to get the boot into Blaby. That is what most Conservative Members have done in this debate. The poll tax has created great hardship for people. It was one of the worst measures that ever passed into law. Can any Conservative Member still say that he supports the poll tax? A few of them, such as the right hon. Members for Cirencester and Tewkesbury (Mr. Ridley) and for Finchley (Mrs. Thatcher) will stick to their guns, but few Conservative Members now have a kind word to say about the poll tax. It is not all that long ago that they appeared unanimously to agree that it was excellent. A few of them kicked up a bit of a fuss, but the vast majority of Conservative Members went through the Lobby only a few months ago to pass the measure. That legislation led finally to a crisis within the Conservative party and to the overthrow of the former Prime Minister. The person who first opposed the Prime Minister, the present Secretary of State for the Environment, used the poll tax as one of the main planks in his campaign.
The Government are trying to make us believe that the poll tax is to be abolished, but they know in their hearts that it will not be abolished. It created, and it will continue to create during the next two years, great hardship for the British people. The Government will eventually pay the penalty for this stupid legislation. The £140 reduction in the poll tax is acceptable to all concerned, but it is a panic measure. What will it achieve? Will it assist local authorities such as mine in West Yorkshire? Will it assist the police and fire services in West Yorkshire? Recently, the police service had to fix its budget in accordance with the standard spending assessment guidelines. The result is that the chief constable of the West Yorkshire police has had to admit that, during the next financial year, there will be 500 fewer police officers on the beat. Moreover, last week the authority decided that it could not fill the vacant post of assistant chief constable, yet that police authority saw a 27 per cent. increase in crime last year.
It does not stop at that. The same can be said of the fire authority. Up to 150 jobs and nine special appliances that
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are needed for emergencies on motorways and chemical works and coal mine explosions had to be withdrawn from service because of the fear of poll tax capping. What will the £140 poll tax reduction do to solve that problem? The House knows full well that it will do nothing to solve it.We hope that the Government's review of local government finance will not take too long, because the electorate wants to know the results before the election. Whether it is in June, September, October or in 1992, it is not far away. Last Thursday, in his statement, the Secretary of State talked about councils being irresponsible and not being up to the job. He said that the Government would have to consider policies to alter the administration of local government.
Is it Government policy in the review to put education, police and fire services under central Government financing and then under central Government control? If so, who will be responsible for running the services? Will they be run by elected bodies or by bodies selected by the Secretary of State, similar to the water authorities and health authorities? What will happen to the authorities? Will county councils be abolished and will we be left with district councils? If so, and if the fire and police services are taken away, what duties will they be left with?
Will the main local government services be controlled centrally by selected bodies, and will district councils be left with the old parish council status? If that is the case, it will mean the complete destruction not just of local government but of local democracy. If the Government go down that path, they will pay a heavy price because it will not work. Like all other sections of the community, local government is not perfect and never will be--just like the House. We must never desert the position where local government is run democratically by locally elected councillors. That is the danger of the so-called review.
The hon. Member for Richmond, Yorks (Mr. Hague) talked about the new system. I do not know whether he is privy to more knowledge than we are. Does anyone, including the Government, know what is planned? I do not believe that they do. I do not think that the Government know how to go about it.
We will end up with a so-called property tax and a head tax. Again, it is a panic measure. Because of that, we are to have an increase in VAT of 2.5 per cent. Everybody, rich and poor, will have to pay that increase. That is being introduced to get the Government off the hook because of the poll tax action which they took, for political dogma. The vast majority of Conservative Members followed their leader although many of them knew well that the poll tax was wrong. Government policy on local government should be put in place so that the public know about it long before the general election. If that does not happen, it amounts to deceiving the people. By whatever means the Government try to cover the mess that they have created, they will not deceive the people. The day hon. Members voted in favour of the legislation to introduce the poll tax, they were all guilty. The motion is about only one of the no-confidence issues which warrant debate. There will be many others.
8.34 pm
Mr. Michael Morris (Northampton, South) : The motion alleges no confidence in the Government's ability to rectify the damage done by the poll tax, yet the actions of the Prime Minister in the four months that he has been
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in office have instilled confidence in the people. Every poll taken over the past four months has amply shown that confidence in the Prime Minister is growing all the time. That is the key fact.Mr. Lewis : What about Ribble Valley?
Mr. Morris : The Ribble Valley poll was not on confidence in the Prime Minister.
The confidence of the people arises because of the Prime Minister's ability to take difficult decisions. His first difficult decision, now coming to fruition, was to join the European exchange rate mechanism. We see the result, with sterling today above its norm. His second decision was to build a better relationship with Europe ; that, too, has increased confidence in him.
At 1 o'clock today, I stood on the steps of All Saints in Northampton, having had the privilege of taking part in a service of thanksgiving for the cessation of the war in the Gulf. As I stood with the mayor, the councillors, the bishops and the families from Simpson barracks, all of them to a person were talking about the Prime Minister's handling of the Gulf crisis and their confidence in his leadership. I am afraid that the Leader of the Opposition, although he was generous with his support in the House, was not mentioned.
The discussion went on to the community charge, because local councillors were there. What did they say?
Mr. Lewis : Did they call it the community charge?
Mr. Morris : They talked about the community charge and the review of the community charge. Then they remembered that my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister had much experience in local government, being the first Prime Minister for a long time who had been a councillor. Those of us who were in local government at the same time remember that he played a particular role on Lambeth council. In those days, councillors from other London boroughs went to Lambeth to see the pioneering work that it was doing. They went there to see the housing advisory service set up on the initiative of my right hon. Friend--a pioneering service that was a model for the rest of the country. What would happen if other councillors went to Lambeth today? It is the pits. Right hon. and hon. Opposition Members know that its record is one of the worst in the country and that it is run by the Labour party.
One of the earliest decisions by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister was to take the homeless off the streets of London. He asked my hon. Friend the Minister for Housing and Planning to ensure that hostel accommodation was available for them.
One problem for Labour Members today is that they face a Prime Minister who understands local government and who understands what is practical, realistic and possible. He is a realist. One of the greatest changes that hon. Members have seen in the Chamber has been Prime Minister's Question Time. Hon. Members now get a direct answer, which they never got from any former Prime Minister, regardless of party, since I have been in the House. There are not many hon. Members on the Opposition Benches who have had experience of a Labour Government. The former Prime Minister, Lord Wilson of Rievaulx, never answered a question : he never dealt with more than two or three questions at any Prime Minister's
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Question Time. Opposition Members should remember that. But my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister does answer questions and face up to difficulties.Of course, that embarrasses the Opposition. They do not like someone who recognises when something is wrong and who is prepared to face up to change. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister was right to recognise that the community charge has not worked. That is why the community charge is now dead. There is no debate about that. The community charge is dead ; it is finished. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has put forward a framework for the future of local government finance--a household tax.
Mr. Lewis : Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Mr. Morris : No. The hon. Gentleman is happy to comment from a sedentary position, so I am not giving way to him. He is a newcomer to the House.
The framework that the Prime Minister has proposed is a good one. It is based on a household tax and it has two elements. The Labour party's proposals as I understand them have three elements, so there cannot be much wrong with something that has two elements. The Prime Minister has recognised that any local government tax has to be at a lower level. That is why he is right to reduce its absolute level. It was a good move to ensure that that reduction was by way of a sales tax, an increase in VAT which, incidentally, brings us into line with the standard rate for the rest of Europe so it has a double benefit. One could argue that any future Government would have to bring us into line with the standard rate in Europe, and my right hon. Friend has done that in regard to local government, a key part of government in this country.
That is what really needles the Opposition. At last they realise that the Prime Minister believes in local government, understands it and will make it work. That worries them stiff. They know that almost all the local authorities that offer the worst services are Labour councils. Which local authorities are criticised by the Audit Commission? They are almost all Labour local authorities. Which local authorities have the most abuses in terms of direct labour? They are all Labour local authorities.
It does not matter which aspect of local government one considers--the areas of failure are all Labour-controlled areas. Year after year, they are being found out. The Prime Minister has rumbled them and the structure he now proposes is right. If there is to be consultation, who are we to complain? Consultation is a good thing and it takes time--[ Hon. Members -- : "Consult the electorate."] We shall consult the electorate. I support wholeheartedly what my right hon. Friend is doing. I remember that under the last Labour Government there was not much consultation about the selective employment tax, and what a failure that was.
At last we have a Prime Minister who is prepared to recognise that a tax has not worked and that a new structure and a new tax is needed and he is putting forward proposals for discussion within a broad framework. I wish him well in that, and the exercise has my total confidence.
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8.43 pmMr. Ron Leighton (Newham, North-East) : I report to the House that nowhere in the London borough of Newham is there any confidence in this Conservative Government. There is virulent opposition and hostility, in particular because of the poll tax debacle, which is surely the biggest fiasco in modern political history. It is a U-turn of quite staggering proportions. The once-proclaimed proud flagship is not only dead in the water but is visibly sinking beneath the waves before their very eyes. But I have yet to hear a single word of apology from Conservative Members. There has not been a word of apology or contrition from the hon. Member for Northampton, South (Mr. Morris), or even from the Government. Any Government with an ounce of decency or shame would resign, and that is what we want them to do. They are talking about consultation and we want them to consult the British people through the ballot box.
Since last April, the Government have spent £3.7 billion to ameliorate the poll tax. Yesterday, they voted a further £4.3 billion. I hope that we do not hear any more from the Government about throwing money at problems. The poll tax was not only a unmitigated disaster but a costly one.
It was obvious to all sensible and rational people that the poll tax would be a disaster. If they had listened to the Labour party the Conservatives would never have made that mistake. The hon. Member for Northampton, South tells us that the present Prime Minister understand local government. If the Prime Minister understands local government, why did he support the poll tax? He was one of its main architects. After all that, the Government have the gall to expect the country to let them continue running our affairs after such a spectacular display of incompetence.
Many local authorities, including my own, have had to take on a huge number of costly staff and have had to buy in an awful lot of expensive computer equipment to implement the poll tax. What will happen to those staff and that expenditure? Local councils have been thrown into turmoil. In Newham the day before the U-turn was announced, the staff worked a 24-hour shift to get the poll tax bills ready. All that work has gone to waste, all that paper is now being shredded and, as I understand it, no bills are likely to go out before June. So how on earth do the Government expect the tax to be collected? They are sabotaging the collection of the tax. We should understand that the poll tax was not an aberration or an accident. It was not introduced by mistake. The poll tax is the epitome of Conservatism. It is the essence of Toryism. It tells us all we need to know about the Tory party. It represents their political values. It shows in stark clarity their contempt for fairness.
The previous Prime Minister, the right hon. Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup (Mr. Heath) told us about the ideology behind the tax--that a duke should pay the same as a dustman. That is the essence of the Tory party and its political values. After all, the poll tax was merely the last of a long series of measures that have passed the burden of taxation from those at the top to those at the bottom. For the past 12 years, the Conservative party has been making the rich richer and the poor poorer. It is not as though the poll tax was different ; it was the essence of Conservatism. It was blatantly biased and it offended the British people's
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concept of fairness and that is why it failed. The British people would not accept something which was blatantly unfair. But there is more to it.The poll tax has a political aim and object. It was a conspiracy to drown Labour local government in a wave of unpopularity. It was contrived that everyone should pay a large bill. It was thought that Labour local authorities would get the blame. The political thinking behind it was that when everyone was given a large bill the anger of the people and the blame would be directed at the Labour town halls. That backfired. The British people are not so naive as to fall for such a confidence trick. They know where the blame lies. The right hon. Member for Finchley (Mrs. Thatcher) was swept away, not Labour local councils. Where is the right hon. Member for Finchley? Why has she not been here? I know that she has been voted a great deal of extra money today. Perhaps she is arranging her bank account or setting up a research department in which to put all her poll tax papers.
What about the accomplices on the Conservative Benches? My right hon. Friend the Leader of the Opposition gave details of all the speeches they made and how they were all in favour of the poll tax. We knew they were. Now they are panicking. The measure announced yesterday was conceived out of panic and opportunism. The rats are deserting the sinking flagship and everyone will have to pay a surcharge when they go shopping in order to get the Conservative party out of a hole.
This is part of a wider collapse of Tory policy. The reason for the suffering and turmoil in local government over the past 12 years has been the way in which the Government have shifted the burden of taxation from the taxpayer to the ratepayer--from central taxation and central Government to local government. In 1979, 61 per cent. of local government expenditure came from rate support grant. That has now been reduced to 42 per cent. That is the simple reason why there were increases in the rates and cuts in services.
The object and political thinking behind that is that the Conservative Government were supposed to get the credit for the tax cuts and the Labour local councils were to be blamed for the increases in rates and poll tax and simultaneous cuts in services. That is what the Government thought would happen. All that has failed. The British people have seen through all that and the game is up. Therefore, the policy has had to be reversed. We now have the big shift of billions of pounds away from local government to central Government finance.
The Government have had their come-uppance and surely they will get it again at the general election, which we want as soon as possible. 8.52 pm
Mr. Robert Hicks (Cornwall, South-East) : During the debate, criticisms have been expressed about the way in which Her Majesty's Government have conducted themselves over the review of local government. It is a comprehensive review in that it relates to structure and functions as well as finance. I am a little surprised by the terms of reference of the motion of no confidence. It is far too restrictive and, as many of my right hon. and hon. Friends have pointed out, local government is a matter on which the Government have been active since my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister took office in November.
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From listening to the Leader of the Opposition, it would seem that one of his principal criticisms of my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister is his alleged dithering, particularly in respect of the financing of local government. Opposition Members should not confuse dithering with analysis and consultation. Before making such accusations, Opposition Members should remind themselves of the sequence of events since November.My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister took over at a time of rising tension in the Gulf region. During the intervening period, United Kingdom armed forces have been involved in a war. There is universal agreement and admiration for the manner in which all those involved, whether militarily or as international leaders, conducted themselves. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister's actions were hardly those of a man acting in a dilatory manner.
Parallel to that, my right hon. Friend has had to repair fences with our European Community partners. He made it clear from the outset that he wished the United Kingdom to be at the centre of the decision-making process, influencing events rather than constantly complaining on the touchline. The manner in which he immediately sought to establish a close working relationship with the German Chancellor was not only highly commendable but hardly the approach of a dithering man.
As I interpret the political scene, the Government, and particularly my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, are now giving their maximum attention to domestic matters, and that includes the economy and the review of local government. As the House will know, I represent a low-income area. Average earnings are about 14 per cent. below the national average. The introduction of the community charge to replace the former domestic rating system undoubtedly created difficulties for family budgets. In my area in 1989-90, the last year of the old domestic rating system, the average rates paid on a typical semi-detached house or bungalow were £380. The following year, with the introduction of the community charge, a couple living in the same property had to find £650 out of their net disposable income. Even allowing for the increase that would have taken place in their rates bill, the change to the community charge meant an additional financial burden of between £4 and £5 per week for a couple living in that typical dwelling in my constituency. Clearly, that was unacceptable and something needed to be done. Whatever conclusions are to be drawn, they have to be right. We could not, and the nation cannot, afford any more costly errors. I see nothing wrong with a Government admitting that a mistake has been made. After all, in other walks of life and other organisations and companies, we individuals frequently change our minds. Furthermore--it is worth reminding the House of this--had there been any obvious alternative to the domestic rates that commanded universal support, it would have been implemented many years ago. It is worth mentioning that the Labour party reached its conclusions only relatively recently. It was pointed out earlier today that the Liberal Democrats now favour a local income tax. When I became a Member of this House more than 20 years ago, they were always advocating a system of site value rating. They too have changed their minds, and I have no quibble about that.
Last week, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment announced a number of interim conclusions about the basis of the proposed local tax.
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Broadly, I agree with those conclusions. Clearly this must be the starting point. We all await with interest the consultation document to which my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister referred today. In respect of the functions and structure of local government, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment last week laid down parameters of his findings, so we shall be able to proceed with more detailed consultations. Last week, too, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a major transfer of financial resources, so that the financial burdens placed on charge payers will be at more acceptable levels in the future.This is a sensible and mature approach to the solution of what, after all, is a very complex problem, for which there is no obvious and universally acceptable solution. Most people would welcome the opportunity to be involved in this consultation process, in the knowledge that they were now genuinely being listened to. I sincerely hope that my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister will continue in this vein and will retain his style of leadership. I am certain that the country as a whole will appreciate his approach, and I hope that all my hon. and right hon. Friends will do likewise.
9 pm
Mr. Roy Hattersley (Birmingham, Sparkbrook) : The Prime Minister-- wherever he is--may well be pleased to know that, within five minutes of his sitting down this afternoon, one of my constituents, previously unknown to me, telephoned my office. Having watched the Prime Minister on television, my constituent asked two simple questions : "Does he know that the poll tax is a desperately serious issue? Does he understand how much suffering the poll tax has caused families like mine?" Thousands of families, hounded by the poll tax, must have watched the Prime Minister this afternoon with a mixture of bewilderment and contempt as he desperately struggled to avoid talking about the Government's record and their proposals. The Prime Minister gave us three platitudes that he called general principles. He then promised that the new system would be fairer than the old rates. The Prime Minister has made similar promises in the past. Indeed, on 26 April last year, in a letter to one of his constituents, he promised a new system, saying categorically : "The poll tax"--
poll tax--
"is a very much fairer and more acceptable system of paying towards the cost of local government."
The Prime Minister says whatever seems convenient at the time. Of course, much of the Prime Minister's speech today was devoted to an attack on Labour councils. I have no doubt at all that the Secretary of State for the Environment, true to form, will do exactly the same when he addresses the House tonight. I hope that he will not be foolish enough to describe Labour councils and Labour councillors as the Prime Minister did--as unpopular, and growing increasingly unpopular. When the Tory Government came to power, there were 7,300 Labour councillors in England and Wales ; now there are more than 9, 000. By the most obvious test of political popularity-- electoral success--Labour councils have grown steadily
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more popular with the years of Labour government. By pretending otherwise, the Prime Minister simply makes himself ridiculous. However, I offer a word of consolation to the Prime Minister, who, in defiance of the usual courtesies, is not with us. My word of consolation is that the right hon. Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup (Mr. Heath) supports him. So far as the right hon. Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup is concerned, the present Prime Minister has one overwhelming advantage : he is not the previous Prime Minister.Mr. Anthony Beaumont-Dark (Selly Oak) : I have high regard for the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Sparkbrook (Mr. Hattersley) as a Birmingham Member of Parliament. Last night's Birmingham Evening Mail reported the results of a poll for which the Labour-controlled city council had asked. According to that poll, three quarters of the population think that the Labour-controlled council wastes money. Does that show that my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister was wrong in criticising Labour councils ?
Mr. Hattersley : The test that I asked the still-absent Prime Minister to apply was that of electoral success. We shall wait until May to see which party is in control of the council in Birmingham. The hon. Gentleman knows very well which party has been in control there for the past four years, and I believe that it will continue in control for the foreseeable future.
I turn away from the Prime Minister briefly and come to the poll tax, which was the product of political prejudice. In the graphic phrase of the right hon. Member for Cirencester and Tewkesbury (Mr. Ridley), the calculated intention was to make "dukes and dustmen" contribute the same amount towards the cost of local services. It was intended to emasculate autonomous local government and to make local government the creature of Westminster and Whitehall. It was meant to reduce the level and the quality of local services--and the dogma remains.
As we have heard time after time today from Conservative Back Benchers, the poll tax has not lost its charm for the Conservative party. It has not lost its ideological appeal. There has been no gradual intellectual conversion--
Mr. Patrick Cormack (Staffordshire, South) : It had no charm.
Mr. Hattersley : On this occasion, as on many others, the hon. Gentleman will speak for himself, but he will recall some of the speeches made in the past--if he does not, I promise to recall them for him--which took a rather different view from that which I freely admit has always been his.
There has been no gradual intellectual conversion or sudden spiritual revelation. There has just been the sickening feeling that if the Government follow their honest beliefs, they will lose the general election. If they could get away with it again, they would. I have no doubt about that.
I watched the Secretary of State for the Environment being interviewed on Sunday afternoon--wriggling and turning, twisting and weaving, and saying anything and everything rather than express a word of regret that the poll tax had been introduced in the first place. Last Friday,
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in his stuttering speech in Southport, he said nothing about the burden on low-income families ; nothing about the damaging effect on local services ; nothing about the inefficient way in which the poll tax was collected, and nothing about the fact that it took less from the rich and more from the poor. There was no remorse.As my hon. Friend the Member for Newham, North-East (Mr. Leighton) rightly said, the Government will not and they do not, for they cannot, admit the basic intrinsic unfairness of the poll tax. Indeed, on television, the right hon. Member for Henley (Mr. Heseltine) could bring himself to say only that the poll tax had to go because it was "seen" as unfair by many poll tax payers, as if the play was a great success, but the audience was a total disaster.
There is absolutely no feeling of guilt about the poll tax on the Tory Benches. There is no embarrassment about the money wasted on its collection and no shame at the extravagant claims that were once made about its advantages. In the Tory party, the poll tax produces only one emotion-- fear, the fear of defeat. Anyone who doubted that that Tory fear is escalating into Conservative panic must have had those doubts dispelled by listening to the radio yesterday morning. The hon. Member for Shipley (Sir M. Fox) is back on the "Today" programme--a sure sign that there is trouble in the ranks. There he was--the Corporal Jones of the 1922 Committee-- urging his colleagues not to panic. But it is too late--poll tax panic is now endemic in the Tory party. To be fair, as is always my habit, that is only reasonable, because the introduction of the poll tax, together with the incompetence of its administration and the chaos that now surrounds its retreat, is enough in itself to lose the Government the next general election.
Unfortunately for the country, the fear that has gripped the Tory party has rendered it incapable of taking decisive action or even coming to any agreed public position. On some days, a Minister argues that the poll tax has been killed off, but on others we are told that it is not dead, but sleeping. Last Sunday, the Chancellor of the Exchequer was categorical in his assertion that the essential characteristic of the poll tax--the obligation of every adult citizen to pay the tax--would be preserved.
There is also the open and well-documented dispute between Ministers about whether a poll tax register has been maintained. The Secretary of State for the Environment has added to the confusion. When told that he had said,
"We shall not need a register",
he replied with all the dynamic certainty that once made him a candidate for the Tory party leadership,
"We haven't said that. We have said that we might."
In fact, the Government are in such a position that the rats cannot even agree among themselves about the best way of leaving the sinking ship.
The dithering and the doubts begin at the top. On this issue in particular, the Prime Minister is incapable of providing incisive leadership. He has claimed that he was "bounced".
Mr. Gerald Kaufman (Manchester, Gorton) : The Prime Minister is here, but no one has seen him.
Mr. Hattersley : My right hon. Friend suggests that the Prime Minister is here, but no one has noticed him. The right hon. Gentleman has claimed that he was "bounced"--his word--into acceptance of the poll tax. He seems to
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think that the confession that he was "bounced" is an excuse. In truth, anyone who is bounced into so catastrophic a decision is not fit to be Prime Minister. Throughout the poll tax debate, the right hon. Gentleman has bounced and bent in a way that must have reminded him of one of the circus figures of his youth--the incredible indiarubber man. In 1989, he told the Sunday Mirror,"I have been in the Cabinet for just two years. I haven't run my own department. Nobody knows how I would react if something went horribly wrong."
Thanks to the poll tax, we know now--he dithers.
I do not accuse the Prime Minister of lacking principle
Mr. Graham Riddick (Colne Valley) : This is very cheap.
Mr. Hattersley : I repeat, I do not accuse the Prime Minister of lacking principle ; I simply assert that he lacks ideas of his own. No Prime Minister since the war has come to that high office with so few firm convictions and so few strong opinions, and it shows. Last July, the Prime Minister warned the Conservatives of Wales--a small gathering of men and women--of the horrors that awaited them if a Labour Government were elected. "They intend to freeze the married couples allowance," he warned-- the Government did that last week. "They plan to meddle with mortgage interest relief," he warned--the Government did that last week. He went on to give another warning certain to make all Welsh flesh creep. He said, "They intend to introduce a new local government tax, but they will not tell us what it is."
When yesterday, in a fit of pique, the Prime Minister attacked the right hon. Member for Blaby (Mr. Lawson) for failing to change the poll tax and mortgage tax relief, honesty should have compelled him to admit that, although the right hon. Member for Blaby was not making those changes, the Prime Minister was publicly attacking the idea that such changes might be made.
The unfortunate right hon. Member for Blaby was the subject of most of the speech of the right hon. Member for Sutton Coldfield (Sir N. Fowler), who attacked his former colleague almost from start to finish. It would have been extraordinary, had we not experienced their work together, to recall that they once sat in the same Cabinet. It reminds me of an old adage that will be repeated time after time after time between now and general election day, "If they cannot agree among themselves, how can they hope to run the country?"
The game of quoting what Tory Ministers have said about the poll tax and the iniquities of property tax, not to mention the catastrophe of property tax and poll tax combined, is so easy that it is barely worth playing. There are two members of the Cabinet, however, who deserve special mention.
I absolve from all blame the Minister for Local Government and Inner Cities who, being a junior Minister, has all those problems associated with that rank. He will rightly say, for I have experienced similar difficulties, that he was acting under orders. We cannot say the same about the Secretary of State for Wales, who continually makes himself ridiculous over this issue. A year ago, he said that a property tax was
"A tax on house improvements, a tax on the improvement of the neighbourhood a tax on people trying to better themselves." The Secretary of State for Wales will vote for such a tax tonight.
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