§ Q1. Mr. Hector Hughesasked the Prime Minister if he is aware that the divided interests and duties of the President of the Board of Trade have acted to the detriment of Scottish trade, and if he will now appoint to that Department a Scottish Minister whose sole interests and duties will be to develop trade, industry and commerce in Scotland with their relevant imports and exports.
§ The Prime Minister (Sir Alec Douglas-Home)No, Sir. I do not think this suggestion would be in Scotland's interests or in the wider interests of the country as a whole.
§ Mr. HughesDoes the Prime Minister ignore these two facts, that during the last 12 years of Tory rule 218,000 more people have left Scotland than went there and that Scotland is geographically favourably placed in proximity to Europe to develop industry? No President of the Board of Trade and no Minister of the Government has taken any adequate steps to develop the trade in north-east Scotland. Is there not, therefore, a very good case for making the appointment I have suggested in my Question—for a Scottish Minister to deal with this specific question—especially in view of the appointment of Lord Hailsham for the north-east of England?
§ The Prime MinisterNo, we put forward proposals for dealing with the questions of unemployment in Scotland and attracting industry to Scotland. I looked with some care at the last words of the hon. and learned Member's Question. It seemed to me that, on the whole, he was trying to give a benefit by separating the trade and commerce of Scotland from that of England. It seems to me that this is the very worst thing we could do for Scottish interests, and that the interest of Scotland's commerce and trade is that Scotland should 800 be integrated fully into the national system, not separated.
§ Mr. RossHowever misguided, as we think, the policies are which have been pursued by the President of the Board of Trade, we wish him well in what he may do for Scotland, but if it is not a preoccupation of the President of the Board of Trade, can the right hon. Gentleman explain why it was that although this House voted £41 million for the purposes of the Local Employment Act only £26 million were spent?
§ The Prime MinisterThat is another question—[Hon. Members: "Oh."]—and I would ask the hon. Member, if he wants to have a detailed answer, to put down a Question to my right hon. Friend. What I do know is that the money allocated to Scotland under the Local Employment Act is between £45 million and £50 million, which is over half that allocated to the United Kingdom as a whole.