§ 57. Mr. Haleasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is now in a position to make a statement about Government plans for the Lancashire cotton industry.
§ Sir D. EcclesI fully realise the anxieties of Lancashire, but there is nothing which I can add today to the statement which I made in the debate on the cotton industry on 30th June.
§ Mr. HaleDoes the right hon. Gentleman mean to say, as the Prime Minister said a day or two ago, that the Government do not intend to do anything about it? If so, would he make that clear and let us set about the task of trying to save what was once Britain's greatest export industry?
§ Sir D. EcclesWe do not accept that we are not doing anything. On the contrary, we are doing all we can to bring about these voluntary agreements.