HC Deb 08 May 1952 vol 500 cc526-8
6. Mrs. Barbara Castle

asked the President of the Board of Trade what is the total value of the additional textile orders already placed by his Department; and what proportion of them have been placed in Lancashire and Yorkshire, respectively.

Mr. P. Thorneycroft

The total value of the additional textile orders placed to date by the purchasing departments amounts to about £4.2 million. The value of tenders out and under consideration at the present time amounts to a further £6 million.

As regards the second part of the Question, I would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Accrington (Mr. H. Hynd) and the hon. Member for Leek (Mr. Harold Davies) on 1st May.

Mrs. Castle

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that, if my memory serves me right, the reply he gave recently related to the future placing of contracts and that he could not say in advance what the proportions would be? Surely it is possible for him to tell the House what proportions of the £4 million and £6 million contracts are going to go to Lancashire and Yorkshire respectively'?

Mr. Thorneycroft

I will consider the hon. Lady's suggestion, but I am most anxious to avoid any attempt in the House of Commons to try to divide these contracts either between Lancashire or Yorkshire or between different constituencies in other areas.

Mr. Anthony Greenwood

A week ago the right hon. Gentleman told my right hon. Friend the Member for Vauxhall (Mr. G. R. Strauss) and myself that these contracts were placed by the Ministry of Supply and my hon. Friend's Question today refers to the contracts placed by his Department. Are we to assume that at last the right hon. Gentleman himself has accepted responsibility for placing these contracts?

Mr. Thorneycroft

I accepted responsibility for answering Questions upon this subject, as I thought it might be for the convenience of the House that I should do so, but the hon. Gentleman is perfectly right; the contracts are placed by the Ministry of Supply.

Mr. Anthony Greenwood

In the past Questions on this subject have been answered by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Minister of Supply and the President of the Board of Trade. Are Questions now to be directed to the President of the Board of Trade?

Mr. Ralph Assheton

Would the right hon. Gentleman consider whether it is possible to inform Members whether or not orders are being placed in their own constituencies?

Mr. Thorneycroft

I will consider that suggestion. I would prefer not to have—and I think the House would agree with me—a public debate or Question and answer in the House on individual contracts.

Mrs. Castle

While agreeing with the right hon. Gentleman on the last point, may I ask if he does not think that Lancashire is entitled to know to what extent these additional orders, on which the Government have placed such importance for the relief of unemployment, will absorb the surplus manpower in Lancashire, so that the people will know whether there will be work for them?

Mr. Thorneycroft

The same argument can be advanced for every area.

7. Mr. Hale

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is prepared to reconsider the lack of capital investment in the textile industry; and what proposal he is proposing to make with reference to a subsidy.

Mr. P. Thorneycroft

While I would certainly agree with the hon. Member on the importance of maintaining a satisfactory rate of capital investment in the textile industries, two of the main difficulties at the present time are, of course, the shortage of steel and the necessity to restrict capital investment in order to avoid inflation. In these circumstances I do not think that a further subsidy would be appropriate at present.

Mr. Hale

Will the right hon. Gentleman bear in mind that Textile Machine Makers, Limited, who have made such great contributions to our exports of textile machinery, have over the years been genuinely disappointed at the amount of investment taking place in the cotton industry, a fact not without relation to the present situation? Will he also bear in mind—and I say this without wishing to use the parish pump technique—that Textile Machine Makers, Limited, is principally centred in Oldham, where there are already 26,000 unemployed?

Mr. Thorneycroft

I am fully conscious of the needs of re-equipment, and I am happy to inform the hon. Member that the amount of automatic looms put on to the home market increased from 61 per cent. in 1950 to 64 per cent. in 1951-52.

8. Mr. Hale

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is now in a position to state Her Majesty's Government's proposals with reference to the provision of the necessary controls and to the allocation of the necessary order to maintain full employment in the textile industry.

Mr. P. Thorneycroft

Her Majesty's Government are not of the opinion that the imposition of additional controls and allocation schemes is the right remedy for the present difficulties of the textile industry.

Mr. Hale

Will the right hon. Gentleman bear in mind that when there was a system of control there was no unemployment? [HON. MEMBERS: "Oh."] Well, was there? Will he also bear in mind the extreme importance of early negotiations with the Colonial territories for the release of sterling balances to increase their purchasing power for consumer goods?

Mr. Thorneycroft

That raises an entirely different question but I believe that with Lancashire fighting for markets the imposition of controls at the present time would hamper rather than help them.