HC Deb 22 November 1960 vol 630 cc953-4
13. Mr. Bence

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he is taking to co-ordinate the Scottish Departments in publicising Scotland's assets in order to attract new industries.

Mr. Maclay

Publicity at home and abroad about all matters that are the concern of the Scottish Departments is co-ordinated by the Scottish Information Office.

Mr. Bence

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that his efforts have been very unsuccessful indeed, because his noble Friend, an Englishman, in another place, with a Scottish title, representing Scotland, when speaking in Wales, was reported in the Glasgow Herald and attacked in well-known Scottish newspapers in no uncertain terms because of the speech he made in Cardiff denigrating the workers in Scotland? Will the right hon. Gentleman immediately take steps to make this noble Lord redundant in Scotland for not knowing his business, and for not knowing the workers in Scotland, and have him transferred to a Welsh Department free of transfer fees?

Mr. Maclay

My noble Friend the Minister of State for Scotland has in recent months made extremely effective speeches in his various travels, not only in this country but in other countries. I cannot pay too high a tribute to the value of his work in the interests of Scotland. If the hon. Gentleman studies the report of what my noble Friend said, as reported in the Glasgow Herald, he will find that he did not criticise Scottish labour or its adaptability. He emphasised some of the reasons why industrialists go to Wales, with the very proper moral that the more we do in Scotland to advertise our advantages, including the availability and adaptability of labour, the better it will be for what we want to achieve.

Mr. T. Fraser

Does not the published report of the speech of the Minister of State for Scotland make it clear that he was informing his Welsh audience that one of the impediments in the way of Scotland getting more industry was the trade unions in Scotland? Apparently the trade unions in Scotland are one of our liabilities in attracting new industry. Does this represent the views of Her Majesty's Government?

Mr. Maclay

I recommend that the report be read very carefully. The only extraordinary thing is that these questions should be asked, because they imply criticisms that do not exist. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman should not be so sensitive as to draw such inferences from this speech.