HC Deb 06 May 1948 vol 450 cc1426-7
16. Mr. Boyd-Carpenter

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power what quantity of coal was lost as the result of industrial disputes in the mining industry in 1947; with similar figures for 1946.

Mr. Gaitskell

The estimated quantity of saleable coal lost as the result of industrial disputes in the mining industry in the year 1947 was 1,643,500 tons. The corresponding figure for 1946 was 769,800 tons.

Mr. Boyd-Carpenter

Would the right hon. Gentleman agree that those figures fully bear out the authoritative criticism of the Coal Board which was given last week in the speech of the Secretary of State for War?

Mr. Gaitskell

I know of no such criticism, but I would point out that the figures for last year were just one-seventeenth of the amount of coal lost in the corresponding period after the last war.

Mr. Blyton

Can the Minister give comparative figures of the quantity of coal lost for 1921 and 1936?

Mr. Baker White

Would the Minister agree that the number of disputes and the quantity of coal lost in the first quarter of this year are greater than in the first quarter of last year?

Mr. Gaitskell

That is another question.