24. Miss Wardasked the President of the Board of Trade the percentage of new factories which will provide peace-time employment which have been established on the North-East coast since the outbreak of war.
§ Mr. DaltonI hope that the answer will turn out to be a hundred per cent.
Miss WardMay I remind my right hon. Friend that "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush"? What is the position up to date, because indications are not very good.
§ Mr. DaltonThe position to-day is that all these new factories are being fully used, mostly of course, for war production. My hope is that after the war they will all continue to be fully used for various purposes of peace production. These new factories are very much better than the old factories and there should be no difficulty in their being fully used.
Miss WardThen may I have an answer to my Question—what percentage of the factories have been put up on the North-East coast compared with the rest of the country?
§ Mr. DaltonThat was not the Question put by my hon. Friend. She asked what was the percentage of new factories established on the North-East coast which would provide peace-time employment. I said I hoped the answer was that 100 per cent. would be used for peace-time employment.