§ 48. Mr. Croninasked the Prime Minister if he will relieve the Paymaster-General, temporarily, of all other Departmental responsibilities so that he can concentrate exclusively on the European Free Trade Area negotiations.
§ The Prime MinisterMy right hon. Friend assures me that in view of the appointment of an Economic Secretary to the Treasury, which relieved him of his executive function in the Treasury, he is in a position to devote all the necessary time to these problems.
§ Mr. CroninDoes the Prime Minister fully appreciate that the Government have just sustained a major and apparently quite unforeseen diplomatic defeat—[HON. MEMBERS: "Oh."]—with possibly grave consequences to industry? Is he prepared to give the Paymaster-General every possible co-operation in order to retrieve the situation?
§ The Prime MinisterI was not lucky enough to be in the House yesterday, but I have read carefully the discussion which followed the statement made by my right hon. Friend, and I am bound to say that the first part of the supplementary question seems to be quite different from the tune of the House yesterday.