HC Deb 03 June 1965 vol 713 c1936
11. Mr. Marten

asked the First Secretary of State and Secretary of State for Economic Affairs what effect he estimates that the increased use by nationalised industries of coal rather than oil will have on the stability of prices.

Mr. George Brown

None, Sir.

Mr. Marten

If that is so, which is a very surprising answer, is it not true that, if the Minister of Power had not made his statement giving preference to coal, the nationalised industries might have reduced their prices? Is this not in direct conflict with the right hon. Gentleman's policy for prices and incomes?

Mr. Brown

That is a different question from the one put down. We have gone into this very carefully and the answer is the one I gave the hon. Gentleman: none.

Mr. Alan Williams

When considering the effect of this decision on the stability of prices, will my hon. Friend also consider what the impact on the balance of payments will be of using domestic fuel instead of imported fuel?

Mr. Brown

There are, of course, a great many factors to be taken into account here. We could not do without a coal industry altogether. If we eat too much into it the cost of what remains will be very high indeed. There are many factors to be balanced and we have tried to balance them. In doing that we took the decision we recently made.