Autumn Statement

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 6:21 pm on 24 November 1983.

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Photo of Peter Lilley Peter Lilley , St Albans 6:21, 24 November 1983

You may recall, Mr. Deputy Speaker, that this Parliament began its deliberations on an auspicious day for my constituency—St. Alban's day. I was tempted to use that as an excuse to catch Mr. Speaker's eye, but I felt that it would be presumptuous to do so at such an early stage unless I was incredibly brief. So I enquired what was the briefest maiden speech ever delivered.

It was not the brilliant and punchy speech delivered earlier today by my hon. Friend for Mid-Norfolk (Mr. Ryder). It was a speech delivered in the prohibition era of the 1920s when Lady Astor was trying to convince the House that we, too, should banish the demon drink. It was delivered by a Labour Member who represented a mining constituency. It is said that he was so incensed by that outrageous idea that he leapt to his feet, caught Mr. Speaker's eye, and, with commendable brevity, uttered the words, "No bloody beer, no bloody coal."

I could not match that succinctness and still do justice to my constituency and to my predecessor. But I assure the House that even if I shall not be the first and briefest maiden speaker, I shall not be the last and longest.

My constituency comprises the town of Harpenden and the villages of Colney Heath, Redbourn and Sandridge as well as the city of St. Albans. The Boundary Commission did not do us much damage, but neither did it, as I had hoped, extend the boundaries slightly to the north to include the village of Lilley where my tribe originated. It did, however, give me the village of Colney Heath, which was formerly represented by my right hon. Friend the Member for Hertsmere (Mr. Parkinson), the value of whose work there is warmly recognised by those whose interests I now serve.

The rest of the constituency was represented for 23 years by Sir Victor Goodhew. It will be no surprise to Sir Victor's many friends in this House, who remember the distinction with which he served here, to know that I meet countless people in the constituency who express their gratitude for his work on their behalf during that long period. His is a daunting record to follow, but it is a great privilege to represent this ancient seat.

St. Albans has an inspiring Christian heritage. It gave this country its first English martyr, its only English pope and its current Archbishop of Canterbury. St. Albans has been associated with many famous historical figures, including Matthew Paris—not my hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire, West (Mr. Parris) but the medieval historian—Francis Bacon and some formidable women including Boadicea, who sacked the city, Nell Gwyn who gave us a duke, and Sarah Jennings, Duchess of Marlborough, who manipulated the country from St. Albans.

My constituents share my pride in the historic origins of the constituency. They are determined to uphold not only the historic character of the city but the beauty of its buildings and of the villages and countryside. The one thing that unites the inhabitants of the sometimes disparate settlements is their desire to remain separated from each other by a stretch of green belt. There will be a universal welcome in my constituency for the news that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment is to allay fears that the sanctity of the green belt might be threatened by his recent circular.

The Government were elected to subject all aspects of public expenditure to stringent scrutiny. I want to uphold the tradition that one does not make partisan or party political points in a maiden speech. So I wish to suggest that we should apply this rigorous scrutiny not only to those areas where we are said to be "hard-hearted"—for instance, the social services—but to those areas in which we are said to be a "soft touch"—agriculture, defence, and our gross contribution to the European budget.

I congratulate the Chancellor on restricting total public expenditure to the levels previously planned. I could not help noting, however, that the largest increase above the previous plans is in agriculture—a difference of £422 million in the intervention fund for agricultural support. We cannot blame that increase entirely on the European Community. We have some discretion over the amount spent on agriculture in this country through the way in which we influence the price settlement in the EC and manipulate the green pound. I hope that in future we will apply stringent criteria and prevent overruns.

My eye was also struck by the continuing 3 per cent. growth in defence expenditure. I welcome the fact that the commitment to 3 per cent. growth will end in 1985–86. The 3 per cent. figure was a purely arbitrary one designed primarily to encourage other states which were not pulling their weight although we were doing so. With the expansion in the defence budget that we have achieved there will be scope to fulfil our obligations and enable my constituents, many of whom work in the defence industries, to earn a satisfactory living and to contribute to the defence of the realm.

It is not easy to identify, in the autumn statement, our gross contribution to the European budget. I fear that some deal may be clone in Athens to augment our contribution to the budget and to increase the own resources of the European Community. When my hon. Friend the Member for Beaconsfield (Mr. Smith) referred to the contingency reserve, I feared that the size of the contingency reserve might be a recognition of the contingency that we might make such a settlement. I hope that it is not.

I am not opposed to our membership of the Community. I have always been a passionate supporter of membership. During the referendum campaign I supported our continued membership of Europe. Perhaps I ought to declare an interest. It was during that campaign that I met the young lady who is now my wife. She was the local secretary of the European movement. Together with the farmers and the bureaucrats in Brussels, I have "done rather well out of Europe".

If we are serious about controlling public expenditure, we must control it not only at home but in our contribution to the European Community. It would not be easy for me to tell the 4,000 health workers in my constituency that we have to blight their job prospects in order to preserve the jobs of inefficient farmers in France. I cannot go to the teachers in my constituency and say, "I am terribly sorry, but there are no extra resources to deal with falling rolls because we have to finance an olive oil lake in Greece." I cannot go to the defence workers and say, "I am sorry, I supported an end to the commitment for an ever-growing 3 per cent. expenditure on defence, but I am prepared to see an increase in the European budget which would have the effect of increasing expenditure by more than 3 per cent."

I am fairly convinced that the Government and my right hon. Friends, by imposing certain conditions, will prevent agreement to such as increase in the own resources of the European budget. However, I find the Government's conditions slightly puzzling. They say that we might agree to an increase in own resources if the EC gets its act together and controls the agricultural policy. I find that a little hard to justify, because the matter is simple. The EC wants extra money to spend on agriculture. If we give it the extra money, it will spend the bulk on agriculture. If we do not give it the money, it will not be able to spend it on agriculture and will be obliged to reform the common agricultural policy. If it does that we shall not need to give it any more money. Quod erat demonstrandum. I hope my right hon. Friends will take note that there is a deep feeling that this expenditure would be contrary to the broad thrust of our policy, so admirably achieved, and outlined in the autumn statement. I hope they recognise that they will have the wholehearted support of the House if they resist any increase in this area of public expenditure.

I am grateful to the House for its forbearance.