§ 12. Mr. A. Robertsasked the Minister of Power if, for the avoidance of doubt, he will introduce clarifying legislation to establish Ministerial responsibility for all the operations of the gas, electricity and mining industries, so as to enable Ministers to be questioned more fully in the House of Commons.
§ Mr. WoodNo, Sir. The hon. Member's suggestion would reduce the National Coal Board and other boards to complete cyphers.
§ Mr. RobertsDoes the right hon. Gentleman not agree that we ought to reduce some of them? Does he not agree that the present position is wholly inadequate, because when some of these points are raised in debate the Minister invariably refuses to reply or does not refer to them?
§ Mr. WoodBut the difficulty is that the hon. Member's suggestion would give me literally total control over three important industries. Although I have reasonable self-confidence, the House might think that that was going a little too far.
§ Mr. LiptonDoes the right hon. Gentleman's reply mean that he and Her Majesty's Government continue to have complete faith in the sound financial judgment of the boards of the three nationalised industries referred to in the Question?