§ 14. Mr. Wadeasked the President of the Board of Trade what steps he proposes to take to give effect to the recommendations of the Monopolies Commission contained in the Report on the supply of certain industrial and medical gases.
§ 16. Mr. Jayasked the President of the Board of Trade what action the Government proposed to take arising out of the Report by the Monopolies Commission on the supply of certain industrial and medical gases.
§ Sir D. EcclesI must consider the Report further before deciding what action to take.
§ Mr. WadeIn considering the Report, will the right hon. Gentleman pay particular attention to the statement in page 91 that existing legislation does not seem to provide any effective means of dealing with this situation? Does he agree that this statement appears to add weight to the view that there are a number of loopholes which were not covered by the Restrictive Trade Practices Act?
§ Sir D. EcclesYes, Sir; that is one of the parts of the Report which I have in mind.
§ Mr. JayIs the President aware that his predecessor received this Report last June, and will he give us an assurance that he will deal with these matters in a much less dilatory fashion than his predecessor did?
§ Sir D. EcclesThe operative date is the publication of the Report, which was 2nd January. I wish to give the interests concerned a chance to comment on the Report before deciding what action to take.
§ Mr. JayBut is the President aware that the Report is dated 21st June, 1956, and is he really denying that his predecessor at the Board of Trade must have had it in his hands at least by the end of June last year?
§ Sir D. EcclesI am not denying that, but my predecessor always had very good reasons for what he did.