handbag, what greater thing could anyone hope for? >> in the first televised program of questions, margaret thatcher talked about teen education, and health care around the country. this is 20 minutes. >> mr. speaker, this new parliamentary session is the start of a new decade. the 1970's where a decade when britain was in decline. when socialism that we had to be treated like some third world country. the 1980's have been a decade where britain regained her strength and pride. we can respond to change with confidence. british industry -- one, until i finish this particular paragraph.

being set free to adapt to new ways and new technologies and an unparalleled rage. businesses can once again get a good return on investment. that is why over the three years, we are seeing a 40% increase in business investment and at an unprecedented advance. that is why this country has been getting the lion's share of business coming into the community. they prefer to come to britain. i will give way to the honorable gentleman. >> the prime minister talks about pride in our country.

what sort of pride does she have in the fact that she is the only prime minister since the second world war who has presided over a situation in which teenaged children are homeless and hungry in britain? >> mr. speaker, if the gentleman listened to the statement, he will know that extra sums have been allocated. he also will know, he also will know, he also will know of 1,900,000 more homes than there were, in fact, during the last labour government, but i was dealing with industry, and i will go on dealing with industry. investment is at an all-time record. profitability is higher than for 20 years, and, of course, you need high profitability. where else will you get investment from?

income for the social services? what is more, mr. speaker, people want a stake in success. people are owning shares, and more people are running their own business. this year, an extra and new business has been started up every seven minutes. the ownership -- wait a minute. i will give it away in a moment. the ownership is no longer the privilege of the few. we have extended this to the overwhelming majority of the nation, giving them the self- confidence and pride that comes from property and choice. the old class-based labour order is being replaced by one on merit. that is the new britain, the britain of the 1990's. i give way. >> the prime minister. why can she explain the cbi yesterday? losses on the exchange rate. when the exchange rate goes down, the profits are wiped out.

>> that is nonsense. the honorable member will know that cbi, should some industries, they have a high exchange rate. the raw materials they imports are less in price here. ratehave a lower exchange because they think it helps them export. the only real security is if it is really efficient by virtue of the design. >> mr. speaker -- education and training. whitening opportunity even further.

i understand the right leader gentleman, the leader of the opposition, tells this conference education and training -- please let me get on with a few more sentences before i give way again. i understand that the right honorable gentleman believes the education and training are now the commanding heights of the economy. under this government, they always have been. let's look at the facts on education. it is vitally important for our future. the national curriculum is making sure that every child has a really good basic education. there is an outstanding success, bringing better exam results, and in spite of what the honorable gentleman said, there are 210,000 more students in higher education than there were in 1979. for every four people taking degrees when labour left office, there are now more than five, and the last labour government did not leave us much of a legacy in training. is this government that sets of the youth trading scheme and set up employment trading, the largest adult training program

this country has ever known. the labor party and the trade union. they did their best to frustrate both trading schemes, and they denied people these opportunities, but despite those efforts, more than half a million people have joined employment training. 2 million people have benefited from the youth training scheme. i give way to the honorable gentleman from liverpool. >> the right honorable lady earlier talked about how much better off people were under this government. would she like to explain to my constituent who came to see me on saturday, who was a member of the armed forces, actually finished in the armed forces and went to work, his son met with a serious accident, finally had to give up work in order to look after that child, it is now being evicted from his home because he cannot pay the mortgage payments, how does she

explain to my constituent and to thousands like him how much better off it is under this government? >> mr. speaker, the honorable gentleman is correct. there will always be people who cannot cope because they have particular circumstances which are in first at the time, but that does not take away the enormous increase in own occupation. two out of every three families now own their own homes. that would never have happened. two out of every three families, and the exceptional case, which is hard, it does not take away that enormous achievement nor the fact that 9 million people now own shares. now, i was talking about training. the opportunities. please, i would like to get on and make a little more of my own speech, and then i will give way

later. i was talking about training and how the trade unions have trainingfrustrate the schemes, but despite that, they have not succeeded. employers are investing heavily in training the british work force to the tune of 18 billion pounds per year, and that is on top of the 31 billion pounds they invested last year in plants and machines. yes, of course, we must do better still in order to compete with germany and japan, and that is why we are developing a network of training and enterprise councils the country with business in the lead, because it is business that knows how to run business and business that can work with the university training, not the politicians that think they can run speaker, i and, mr.

will not give the detailed government hasis donated extra funds to research, thanks to the growth of our national income. our government is able to spend nearly 3 billion pounds on civil science and technology next year, and the science budget will be 25% higher in real terms than under the last labour government, and that is why there is great strength in our economy. we have excellent investment, good profits, a high rate of new businesses, and a good rate of investment and a good rate of investment on research. to which one do you want come first? >> i am very grateful to the prime minister giving way in such a gracious way.

taking a back to the point she was making about education as a source of strength in the economy, and she painted a picture that all is well with the education system. can she explain to parents why their children are being sent home from school because there are no teachers available to them? >> mr. speaker, what a pity they are not in my constituency. i am sure they would do better. we have the very best education. we have a very good local authority. we have an authority that runs our education system superbly, and we have the best results. but, in fact, as i was pointing out and will point out again to the honorable gentleman, there are more teachers in proportion to people's than at any previous time in history, and there is more being spent per individual people than ever before, and i would have thought that more teachers and more

resources that they could manage these sources better and give a better education. please go on. mr. speaker, i do have to lay out the government, i do have to lay out the government policies. i will give way, but i just want to get a little bit of my own speech out. we have extensive growth and have created extra wealth. we have shared the success. economic success has brought unprecedented prosperity to this country. as soon as this government came to power, a family with two children where the husband is on average earnings now gets an average 55 pounds per week in take-home pay after allowing for the increase in prices. after allowing for the increase in prices. let me repeat. after allowing for the increase in prices, a family with two

children where the husband is on average earnings after inflation now get an extra 55 pounds per week over and above what you would have got during the time of labour. of course, more work is good, but people have shared in that success. in terms of what the money will buy, for every 3 pounds that family had under labour, they now have four pounds, and that is sharing that success. in a moment. the honorable member i have earmarked to be next. also as a nation, we can afford better public services than we now have. since this government has been in office, there have been more doctors over the year, more nurses over year, and more

patients treated every year at the national health service. they do not want to reveal the facts because they are against labour. you do not want them to know the facts. yes, there is more good news. people who are sick and disabled. the spending has nearly doubled under this government. this october, we gave extra help to the 2.5 million pensioners who need it most, and we also dealt with earnings. i give way to the honorable gentleman.

>> the prime minister has talked a great deal about unique prosperity. she has talked about generosity and so on. whatg the moral case for the government has done to 16- year-olds and 17-year-olds without jobs. >> mr. speaker -- >> order. >> will the prime minister tell us the moral case of leaving tens of thousands of 16-year- olds and 17-year-olds without a penny. >> that is not correct, and he knows it. he knows it. there are more places in every region then there are young people to fill them.

there is no shortage. we think it very much better that young people should go on trading if they have not been offered a job rather than they should be left idle. some of the 16 to 17-year-olds will have a particular hardship problem, to the homes where they cannot go home, they have special announces, -- allowances, as the gentleman knows, and allowing them to go to training is the right way. mr. speaker, there is an excellent record on social services. it has only been possible because conservative policies have led to more wealth being created than ever before and wealth being spread more widely than ever before. better than any claim of government can make. but, mr. speaker, we must build on these hard-current economic achievements. over the last two years, the economy has been growing at a faster rate than we can sustain. the threat of inflation has reemerged. the trade deficit has opened up. steps have to be taken to deal with both. not until i come to the end of this, and then i promise the honorable gentleman i will. many businesses are concerned by higher interest rates. they are necessary to cut borrowing and to increase saving. the savers will never forget that in the 1970's, labour governments robbed them by a large part of their savings by letting inflation run rampant.

inflation today is lower than the lowest labour ever achieved between 1974 and 1979. >> order. them,elebration for because it was low by their standards. it was a concern for us because it is far too high by our standards. the priority is to get inflation down. i give way to the honorable gentleman. >> i rise for the prime minister. is not the fact of the matter that what the government is now introducing on economic growth this year simply the result of 30% of our manufacturing industry being destroyed at a time when the things are available for investment in manufacturing industry, and that is reflected now in a balance of payment deficits. when will the prime minister

explain to the house and the british people when they will be in the black again? >> mr. speaker, when they have growth going too fast, inflation do higher manufacturing investment. that not only government will determine the prospects. it depends on how well

businesses keep their costs down. the more the trade unions press for higher wage claims, regardless, regardless of think it is, i about time the opposition faced up to that instead of being on and complaining it will not become -- it will become non- competitive. ons is shown by their policy credit control. in today's open market, credit controls do not and could not work. see a lotus -- we all of advertising credit. recently was very interesting. i happen to have it with me. it says this. it says this. >> order. visa cards work just like

every other visa credit cards. you can choose your own credibility. simply pick the relevant box. 1,000 pounds. two out -- 2,000 pounds, or other. please specify. of it to spread the cost christmas or burst their rigid or birthdays or summer holidays. -- or birthdays, or summer holidays. every time you use the cart, a bank makes a donation to labor. britishvember, 1988, prime minister margaret thatcher made a statement to the united states to meet with president ronald reagan during the last

of his presidency. ♪

[applause] >> of the united kingdom of great britain and northern ireland and the united states of america. ♪

♪ >> i'm so pleased to see him and have the charms of thanking him. of course i'm sad that i'm not in this position with him. because we knew before that i -- before i waser the prime minster. we have the same political dreams and the same ways of achieving them. meernor reagan came to see in my room. there are lots of times to record. -- recall.

but i think the nicest thing of all it's a different world now and a much better one and a much more hopeful one. >> the thing she said about the state of the world, she would play a major role in bringing things about and these employments -- improvements. when you stop to think today the unity we have with the allies and nato. i don't think very much of the world can remember more than four decades a piece. >> that was strong and consistent leadership. the president stakes out the ground on wish he wish to fight.

he stood on that ground and he fought and he won. >> we will have coverage from the bbc, include in commentary and the sights and sounds of the procession. will elizabeth the second attend the funeral. is the first time the queen has attended the funeral of a prime minister since winston churchill. the live coverage begins at 4:15 a.m. eastern time on c-span two. >> she lives with her favorite uncle. james buchanan years later becomes president. she serves as the white house hostess. she is the first to be called first lady on a regular basis. she is so popular she sets trends in clothing and children and ships are named after her. we will look at her life and that of her predecessor, as