HC Deb 30 June 1936 vol 314 cc205-7
25. Miss WILKINSON

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he has any statement to make in regard to the situation regarding steel works at Jarrow-on-Tyne?

Mr. RUNCIMAN

I have recently been informed by the syndicate which holds the option on the site at Jarrow that it is considered very unlikely that a scheme for an iron and steel works will be proceeded with. I should much regret if it should not prove possible for an agreement to be reached upon a plan for an iron and steel works at Jarrow which would offer the prospect of commercial success. If such agreement should not be reached, however, I am glad to think that the improved conditions on the Tyne give grounds for hoping that other industrial uses may soon be found for the site and thus afford the much needed relief for the employment situation at Jarrow.

Miss WILKINSON

In view of the seriousness of the answer which the right hon. Gentleman has given, will he advise the Cabinet to use the powers that are likely to be conferred by Clause 6 of the Finance Bill to induce the Iron and Steel Federation to pursue a less selfish policy than it is pursuing at present behind the tariff walls that the present Government have raised for them?

Mr. LEWIS JONES

Is it not a fact that the British Iron and Steel Federation have nothing whatever to do with the failure to proceed with this scheme?

Miss WILKINSON

They have everything to do with it.

Mr. LAWSON

Is it not a fact that the Government have no policy to deal with these gentlemen who are directly dooming masses of people to unemployment?

Miss WILKINSON

Might I have an answer to my original question?

Mr. RUNCIMAN

I have every desire to answer the hon. Lady. I do not think the provisions of Clause 6 or the Iron and Steel Federation are really concerned with the situation at Jarrow. I am afraid we must now, as a result of the negotiations that have taken place and the stage they have reached, bend our energies to finding some other industries, and not only iron and steel, for Jarrow.

Miss WILKINSON

Surely the right hon. Gentleman is aware that the crux of the whole situation at Jarrow is the conditions imposed on the syndicate by the Iron and Steel Trades Federation, which is in total control of the situation?

Mr. RUNCIMAN

I think the hon. Lady is mistaken there. I have no hesitation in saying, on such information as I have, that that is not the case.

Miss WILKINSON

Does the right hon. Gentleman get the whole of his information from Iron and Steel Federation sources, in which case will he read the publication issued on behalf of the iron and steel trade, which makes a directly contrary statement?

Mr. RUNCIMAN

The hon. Lady is quite mistaken. I have been in touch with all the parties concerned in this matter.

Sir JOHN JARVIS

Is my right hon. Friend aware that the present owners of the steel works, owing to their inability to come to terms with the Iron and Steel Federation, are now negotiating with a foreign firm using a highly mechanised process which is only likely to employ 50 men on the site at Jarrow, and does he think that is the best way of dealing with the worst distressed area?

Mr. RUNCIMAN

I certainly was not aware that any foreign firm is concerned in this site at all.