THE ECONOMY (Hansard, 26 November 1968)

§ Q2. Mr. Marten
asked the Prime Minister what steps he is taking to coordinate Government action to avert attempts to disrupt the economy during the forthcoming winter.

§ The Prime Minister
My right hon. Friends already work closely together on these matters.

§ Mr. Marten
I welcome the recent and slight downward trend in the number of wholly unemployed. However, can the Prime Minister confirm that it is his belief that the Chancellor's recent measures will not in fact increase unemployment? If they do, will he not be courting a winter of discontent in some quarters?

§ The Prime Minister
I have nothing to add to the very full statement made by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the debate yesterday when he dealt with the reversal of 295 the unemployment trend which the hon. Gentleman has mentioned, and also with the very marked rise over the last few months, especially the last month, of the number of unfilled vacancies, vacant jobs. I thought that my right hon. Friend put the whole matter completely right in its perspective yesterday.

§ Mr. Philip Noel-Baker
Will the Prime Minister suggest to the hon. Gentleman that he restrain the Leader of the Opposition from undermining confidence by seeking to exploit a grave international crisis for Tory Party ends?

§ The Prime Minister
No, Sir. I would not suggest asking the hon. Gentleman to use his influence with the Leader of the Opposition. I thought that the right hon. Gentleman the Leader of the Opposition yesterday greatly increased confidence on this side of the House as a result of the extremely well chosen words he saw fit to adopt. However, from a national point of view, he would do well to study the words of the right hon. Member for Barnet (Mr. Maudling) and his very restrained and patriotic remarks on radio on Sunday.

§ Mr. Peyton rose
—[Interruption].

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. I want to hear the hon. Member. Mr. Peyton.

§ Mr. Peyton
Is not the Prime Minister aware that the attempts of some to subvert the national economy are as nothing to the errors which his Government have committed? Is he not aware that he and his right hon. Friends are alone in thinking that this Government at this moment are free of blame?

§ The Prime Minister
The Leader of the Opposition must be hard up if he has to turn to his hon. Friend the Member for Yeovil (Mr. Peyton) to bail him out.

§ Mr. Brooks
Would not my right hon. Friend agree that, in view of the stop-go anarchy affecting certain key components firms in the motoring industry, including the Girling Brake Works in my constituency, it is important that this House should have an early opportunity to discuss labour relations in that field and perhaps to have the opportunity to discuss the Donovan Commission Report?

§ The Prime Minister
I thought that the hon. Member for Banbury (Mr. Marten) put down this Question because he has been concerned about the disruption arising from strikes and so on and that was in his mind. Certainly so far as this winter is concerned, the estimate must be on the basis of recent experience. It is not the kind of problem we faced in the past. It is wildcat strikes and unofficial strikes. As one who used to live in a village in my hon. Friend's constituency where the factory is situated, I associate myself with what he has said. As for a debate, that Is a matter for the Leader of the House. It is the wildcat and unofficial strikes which cause the trouble.

§ Mr. Heath
When is a White Paper on the Donovan Report to be published by the Government? Will it contain provisions for freely negotiated contracts?

§ The Prime Minister
As to the date, I hope it will be available in the next couple of months or so. I do not want to pin myself to an exact date, but this is the next step in dealing with the problem mentioned by my hon. Friend. The Leader of the Opposition should not expect me to anticipate the terms of that White Paper.

§ Mr. Heffer
Would not my right hon. Friend agree that the financial speculators have done far more harm to the economy of this country than any strike, official or unofficial? Would my right hon. Friend give a pledge to this House that the Government will take the strongest possible measures against such speculators, prosecute them and arrest them if necessary?

§ The Prime Minister
Where there is evidence of illegality, as the Chief Secretary said last night, they are proceeded against. It is very important that my hon. Friend should realise the distinction between the damage that can be done by world speculators, including those in this country who are free to operate within limits, and the underlying factors which sometimes give them encouragement.
Therefore, it is quite wrong to say that it is all speculators and industrial strikes do not matter. Industrial strikes can create an atmosphere in which a 297 vicious force of speculation, some of it just as much politically motivated as some strikes, can take effect. But here the right hon. Member for Barnet, speaking for himself, supported in almost the same words the words I used a year ago for which I have been criticised—[An Hon. Member: "He must be wrong."]— I think the right hon. Gentleman knows more about these matters than does the hon. Member for Yeovil—saying that we—I associate myself with this—have all under-estimated the force of world speculation over these last few years.

§ Mr. Maudling
Since the Prime Minister has been kind enough to refer to me, is it not a fact that the majority of so-called speculators are mainly those who take action presuming the Prime Minister is right in saying that the value of the£ is going to fall?

§ The Prime Minister
I am getting a little used to the Leader of the Opposition taking my words and putting them in quotes on lines of his own. Having done that now three times in the last month—[Interruption.] Yes I am referring to that. If he will now take the words which I used in the broadcast—[Hon. Members: "Read them out."] I have read them many times in this House —[Interruption.]

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. Noise does not help at all. The Prime Minister.

§ The Prime Minister
Hon. Members are capable of reading for themselves, but they have not taken the trouble to do so. The right hon. Gentleman can read, because I know he reads the speeches which are written for him so well. If he will read my words and his words or that and in the speech he made on 2nd November, he will see whether he was accurate or not and I will be ready to accept his apology.

§ Mr. Maudling
I was referring to what the Prime Minister said yesterday. In effect he warned people that prices would rise, which means that the value of the£ would fall.

§ The Prime Minister
Yes, I am very glad to have from the right hon. Gentleman, with his reputation in these matters, the first acknowledgment from the Opposition Front Bench that in that broadcast I did warn the country that 298 prices would rise. This has always been denied by the Leader of the Opposition. I said that inevitably prices would rise because of increased import costs. In fact they have risen less—[Interruption.]

§ Mr. Speaker
Order.

§ The Prime Minister
I would refer the right hon. Member for Barnet to what I said, not the falsification of it by the Leader of the Opposition. So far as the right hon. Member for Barnet is concerned, this has nothing to do with the power of speculation, as he knows, whether against the franc in relation to the mark or against sterling. I agree with what he had the honesty to say on Sunday.