HC Deb 14 March 1944 vol 398 cc29-31
51. Mr. Granville

asked the Prime Minister, if, in view of the serious development in the coal stoppage, he will make a statement at the earliest moment and give the House of Commons an opportunity to discuss the recent negotiations.

The Prime Minister

Sir, I do not feel that it would be wise for me to make a statement upon the coalmining position at the present moment. I should also deprecate a Debate upon this matter until the negotiations which were opened last Wednesday by my right hon. Friend are completed. I must ask the House to sustain the Government in this view which they have not adopted without careful consideration of what is best in the public interest at so critical a time.

Mr. Granville

May I ask the right hon. Gentleman if he will take into consideration the fact that there is also a great deal of anxiety in the mind of the public, particularly as they have been told that military plans and the opening of the second front depend upon this; and will he also bear in mind that all that the public and the House of Commons have been told has come from the industrial correspondents of the newspapers?

Mr. Quintin Hogg

While respecting what my right hon. Friend has said, in view of the fact that, in the last Debate we had on this subject, the right hon. Gentleman said: I do not feel that, provided everyone does his duty to the utmost, we are in any danger of a collapse in coal production in the coming year."—[OFFICIAL REPORT, 13th October, 1943; col. 928, Vol. 392.] —does he not think that the time is approaching when another discussion of the whole situation is becoming urgent; and will he undertake that the House of Commons will not be asked indefinitely to postpone a discussion on what is clearly a widespread and continuing defiance of the law?

The Prime Minister

I never said anything about a time for discussion not approaching. I said that the time for discussion, in the opinion of His Majesty's Government, had not yet been reached.

Mr. Shinwell

While not condoning what has happened recently so far as the miners are concerned, does my right hon. Friend not appreciate that these attacks on miners disregard quite legitimate grievances which have been persistently ignored, and that what has happened recently is the consummation of a series of tragic mistakes, for which the miners are not entirely responsible?

The Prime Minister

Well, Sir, I understand that some of the miners still out have not followed the guidance of their own accredited leaders and have not abided by the result of a majority vote. In that case, naturally, some disappointment must be felt in respect of their behaviour.

Mr. Shinwell

Surely my right hon. Friend understands that these miners, taken by and large and with very few exceptions, are as patriotic as any other section of the community, and are very anxious to assist my right hon. Friend in the war effort; and surely something substantial must have occurred to have persuaded them to take the action they did?

The Prime Minister

I certainly accept what has been said about the association of the miners of Great Britain with their country's cause, but the very reason why I did not want a Debate is because of the kind of Debate into which we might drift.

Mr. A. Bevan

Does the right hon. Gentleman appreciate that the psychology of the miners has now been exacerbated by the wanton attacks made on them by many sections of the Press, and by hon. Members of this House, and that the time must come very early when those of us who have special knowledge of the situation must have an opportunity of putting the miners' case before the House, if we are to create a sound psychology in the coalfields; and is it not the case that hon. Members should restrain themselves in these circumstances?

The Prime Minister

I am far from saying that there should not be a Debate on the coalmining situation, but not at the present time. That is in accordance with the best advice I have received from those who really have great knowledge of the problem.