§ Q1. Mr. Moonmanasked the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on Government policy in relation to the newspaper industry.
§ The Prime Minister (Mr. Harold Wilson)I would refer my hon. Friend to the speeches made by my right hon. Friends the Minister without Portfolio and the President of the Board of Trade in the debate on the Press on 8th February.—[Vol. 740, c. 1663 and c. 1776.]
§ Mr. MoonmanWhile I recognise the time allocated to the subject recently, has my right hon. Friend any formula for dealing with possible closures of national newspapers, and, if not, would he consider the matter with appropriate unions and managements?
§ The Prime MinisterIt was explained by my right hon. Friends—and I took the same line in a speech at a Press luncheon earlier—that we feel that this is a matter for the responsible bodies in the newspaper industry themselves. If they have anything to report to us, any ideas they want us to consider, we shall consider them and discuss them with both sides.
§ Mr. RoebuckIs my right hon. Friend aware that his hope that the newspaper proprietors will solve the present crisis is rather like hoping that the proprietors of the Maypole will help other people to open more shops? Will he consult the President of the Board of Trade with a view to setting up newspaper development areas and giving special tax allowances to would-be proprietors in one-newspaper towns to help break the increasing monopoly of the Press?
§ The Prime MinisterWhile not wanting to follow my hon. Friend round the Maypole, I think that his analogy is not exact because the problem we all face is 792 not creating new newspapers; it is, as my hon. Friend the Member for Billericay (Mr. Moonman) said, the problem and danger of existing newspapers closing down.