§ 33. Mr. Shinwellasked the Secretary for Mines whether he is aware that a large number of pits in the Durham coalfield are working short time; that irregular employment is having a serious effect on the whole community; and what steps he is taking to deal with the situation?
§ Mr. LloydAs the hon. Member is aware, the short-time working in the Durham coalfield is due to transportation difficulties. With a view to alleviating the position, arrangements have been made for railing considerable quantities of coal from the North-Eastern District to the South of England, but unfortunately these arrangements have been seriously hampered by the exceptionally hard weather experienced recently.
§ Mr. ShinwellDoes the hon. Gentleman attribute the dislocation of the Durham coalfield entirely to the weather? Is he aware that there was considerable difficulty before this spell of bad weather occurred?
§ Mr. LloydIf the hon. Member will read my reply, he will see that when I refer to "transportation difficulties," it does not apply entirely to the railways, but as I told him, in order to help the position we have made arrangements to rail very considerable quantities to the South, and the weather has, of course, interfered a great deal.
§ Mr. ShinwellMay we have an assurance that no attempt is being made to divert trade from the East Coast to the West Coast?
§ Mr. T. SmithWill the hon. Gentleman also give an assurance that short-time work in other coalfields will be reduced to a minimum?