§ 49. Mr. Wiggasked the Prime Minister what recent personal examination he has given to the state of the British aircraft industry; and whether he will make a statement.
§ The Prime MinisterThere are a number of important problems concerning the aircraft industry to which my colleagues and I have given and are giving a great deal of thought. I do not think that any statement at this stage would be appropriate.
§ Mr. WiggHas the Prime Minister's attention been drawn to the statement of the Minister of Supply in the House yesterday, that the state of the aircraft industry gave rise to satisfaction in nobody's breast? Is that view shared by the right hon. Gentleman and, if so, what is he going to do about it?
§ The Prime MinisterWe all know that the greatest problem which lies before this industry is the possibility and method of widening its markets, both civil and military, since most of the difficulties of the industry can be traced to insufficient orders for these immensely expensive machines to justify and make 1115 profitable their undertaking. Therefore, I think that the most useful part of our help might be to see whether these orders can in some way be increased.
§ Mr. SpeakerMr. Wigg.
§ Mr. Shinwell rose—
§ Mr. SpeakerMr. Shinwell.
§ Mr. WiggOn a point of order, Mr. Speaker. While I am always willing to defer to my right hon. Friend, on this occasion did you not call me before him?
§ Mr. SpeakerI called the hon. Gentleman, but then I observed the right lion. Gentleman rise and so I called him. Mr. Shinwell.
§ Mr. ShinwellMay I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether, in view of allegations about delay in introducing certain types of aircraft, and in view of some confusion in the industry and the possibility of certain types of aircraft, for both military and civilian purposes, becoming obsolete, and even obsolescent, because of delay in production, he is satisfied with the present position? Will he not in the circumstances institute some form of inquiry, perhaps Departmental or perhaps of an independent character, in order to give assurances to the country and the House that the position in the industry is satisfactory?
§ The Prime MinisterAs the right hon. Gentleman knows, this is a very 1116 complicated question, and I could not really deal with it by question and answer. I will bear in mind what the right hon. Gentleman says. For the moment I am trying, with my colleagues, to give very special attention to ascertaining what progress can be made.
§ Mr. WiggIs it a fact that the Prime Minister is so much concerned with markets that he personally intervened recently and persuaded Mr. Nehru to take the Avro 748 and also undertook to supply India with the Bloodhound missile?
§ The Prime MinisterI should like notice of that supplementary question in greater detail, but in this case there are two aircraft which are generally regarded and popularly described as Dakota replacements, and the Government are giving support to both.