– in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 29 November 1973.
Mr Joe Ashton
, Bassetlaw
12:00,
29 November 1973
asked the Prime Minister whether he will place in the Library a copy of his public speech to the Institute of Directors on 8th November on economic policies.
Mr Edward Heath
, Bexley
I did so on 8th November, Sir.
Mr Joe Ashton
, Bassetlaw
Does the right hon. Gentleman remember saying in that speech :
I can tell you from personal experience that explaining what it is all about is a very testing business"?
Has the right hon. Gentleman read the speech of the right hon. Member for Wolverhampton, South-West (Mr. Powell) this morning in which the right hon. Member, whom I see entering the Chamber, fears for the Prime Minister's mental health and emotional stability? Has he any method of denying this? Can he give us the reassurance that the Government have not gone barmy?
Mr Edward Heath
, Bexley
I would have thought that the words of my right hon. Friend were belied by the three-and-a-half hours' valuable discussion I had with the miners yesterday.
Sir Harmar Nicholls
, Peterborough
Was not the copyright for questioning the mental capacity of their leaders claimed by the Opposition last week, and ought they not to object to others infringing it?
Mr Edward Heath
, Bexley
It is rather difficult to disentangle who has disfranchised whom.
The Opposition are the political parties in the House of Commons other than the largest or Government party. They are called the Opposition because they sit on the benches opposite the Government in the House of Commons Chamber. The largest of the Opposition parties is known as Her Majesty's Opposition. The role of the Official Opposition is to question and scrutinise the work of Government. The Opposition often votes against the Government. In a sense the Official Opposition is the "Government in waiting".
