§ 31. Mr. H. Hyndasked the President of the Board of Trade if he is yet able to make an announcement about Government policy for the Lancashire textile industry.
§ The President of the Board of Trade (Mr. Peter Thorneycroft)No, Sir. I have nothing to add to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer last Friday.
§ Mr. HyndWhen the Chancellor of the Exchequer made a statement last week in which he said that he hoped to make a statement before the House disperses, does that mean that he is to make a statement, or is the position similar to that when the Prime Minister indicated that he hoped to make a statement and later we were told that he did not make any promise but only expressed a hope? Is it a definite promise that a statement will be made before the House disperses?
§ Mr. ThorneycroftThe answer means exactly what it says.
Mr. H. WilsonCannot the right hon. Gentleman be a little clearer than the Minister of State was as to whether the statement, if and when it is made, will relate only to Indian tariffs on goods exported to India from this country, or will the statement also deal with the much bigger problem of the imports of Indian cloth into Britain?
§ Mr. ThorneycroftThat is a little hypothetical, and we had better wait until the statement is issued.