HC Deb 28 June 1966 vol 730 cc1590-1
Q8. Sir J. Eden

asked the Prime Minister if he will publish a White Paper giving the details of the pressures being exerted on the Executive Council of the National Union of Seamen.

Q9. Mr. Maurice Macmillan

asked the Prime Minister what was the nature of the pressure brought by some individuals on some of the Executive Council of the National Union of Seamen; what evidence he has as to the methods by which they in turn have been able to dominate the majority of that union; and what action he proposes to take in the matter.

Q11. Mr. Arthur Lewis

asked the Prime Minister what official discussions he has had concerning pressures on the control of the Seamen's Union with the Trades Union Congress General Council and their Finance and General Purposes Committee; and what was the outcome of these discussions.

The Prime Minister

I would ask hon. Members to await the speech which, if I catch your eye, Mr. Speaker, I hope to make during the course of today's debate.

Sir J. Eden

Is it not possible that the publication of this information might in future help to minimise the evil influence of politically motivated men working against the national interest?

The Prime Minister

If I do catch your eye, Mr. Speaker—I am not trying to put pressure on the Chair in this matter by repetition of this phrase—I hope to give some fairly full information which should be in the possession of the House. A White Paper would not necessarily improve on what I intend to say.

Mr. Macmillan

Yes, but would the Prime Minister be quite certain that all the details he is going to give us and any supporting evidence which he may not choose to mention this afternoon will eventually be available to the House so that its final judgment may be made with accuracy and completeness?

The Prime Minister

I will give the House all that it is in my power and which would be right for me to give and the House must judge after I have made the speech this afternoon whether I have said too little or too much or whether I have got it about. right.

Mr. Lewis

When my right hon. Friend comes to make his statement concerning his interview with the T.U.C. General Council, will he see to it that he gives information as to whether his discussions took place before or after the T.U.C. Council had protested and whether or not he conveyed the information which he will give to the House to the T.U.C. General Council before disclosing it to the House?

The Prime Minister

This particular point of timing is not in the words which I would hope to address to the House. When the General Council met last Wednesday morning, they wanted to know more about it—certain statements were made to the Press then—and asked their General Secretary to see me later that evening. It was on that occasion that I gave the information to which my hon. Friend has referred.

Mr. Emrys Hughes

Could my right hon. Friend tell us whether these sinister conspirators were not only behind the seamen but the motive force behind the demand for increased wages by the bankers and the doctors?

The Prime Minister

I have no evidence at all that pressures of that kind were either generated or necessary. In the case of the doctors, for example, and equally in the case of the seamen, there was no need for any outside pressures from anyone to make the case for their pressing for higher payment. My references were not to pressures for higher wages, which are inevitable and understandable; my references were to certain interventions keeping a strike going when significant concessions had been made, and in other ways to attempt to extend the strike. That is a very different thing to what we are talking about.