HC Deb 16 December 1958 vol 597 cc919-20
Mr. Blackburn

Mr. Speaker, with your permission and that of the House, I beg to present a Petition, signed by 6,245 of my constituents in the Borough of Stalybridge in the County of Cheshire. The Petition calls attention to the serious plight of the cotton industry, the closing down of factories, the unemployment and the under-employment. This is a matter of very great concern to my constituents in Stalybridge, which had such a tragic history of unemployment between the wars.

The Petition is of the opinion that depression has returned to the industry because no effective action has been taken to prevent or limit the import of cheap textiles produced under unfair competitive conditions.

The Petition ends with the prayer: Wherefore, your Petitioners pray that your Honourable House will take effective action to secure the stabilisation of the textile industry. so that the textile workers may be assured of reasonable security of employment. And your Petitioners. as in duty bound, will ever pray.

To lie upon the Table.

Mr. Blackburn

I beg to present another Petition, signed by 3,600 of my constituents in the Borough of Dukinfield in the County of Chester, which is

also still very dependent on the cotton industry. Like the previous Petition, this one also deals with the present serious plight of the cotton industry and calls attention to the fact that the depression materially affects not only those employed in the industry but the town as a whole.

The prayer is as follows: Your Petitioners, therefore, humbly pray that your Honourable House will take effective action to secure the stabilisation of the textile industry so that it will be prosperous in times of peace and capable of meeting the country's need in any time of emergency, and so that the textile workers may be assured of reasonable security of employment. And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.

To lie upon the Table.

Mr. Philip Bell

It is my duty, Mr. Speaker, as Member of Parliament for Bolton, East, on behalf of 33,883 inhabitants of the County of Bolton, to seek leave to present to this Honourable House a Petition which, after calling attention to the present condition of unemployment in Bolton and the apprehension of further unemployment in the future, petitions this Honourable House to take action to assist the cotton industry and encourage industrial firms to establish new factories in the County Borough of Bolton. And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.

To lie upon the Table.

Mr. Kenyon

I beg to present a Petition on behalf of 4,200 persons resident in the Borough of Chorley.

The purpose of the Petition, which closely follows the lines of the petitions from Lancashire towns which have been previously presented, is to instance the manner in which the cotton industry is declining in the Chorley area. The Petition expresses the fear that unless immediate steps are taken in the way of Government action to arrest the decline, many more people will suffer.

The Petition continues: Your Petitioners, therefore, humbly pray that your Honourable House will take action without delay to limit the import of cheap textiles produced under unfair competitive conditions and will devote itself to saving the cotton towns of Lancashire from becoming derelict by taking prompt action to stimulate and revive the cotton industry. And your Petitioners, as in duty bound. will ever pray.

To lie upon the Table.