§ Q7. Mr. Milneasked the Prime Minister if he will appoint a Minister with special responsibility for keeping under review the operations of American and other foreign-owned companies in order to benefit the interests of the British economy.
§ The Prime MinisterThe Government already keep these matters under constant review.
§ Mr. MilneIs my right hon. Friend aware that that reply is disappointing in view of the importance of foreign-owned companies, from America and elsewhere, to the British economy, particularly in development districts, through the creation of new jobs?
§ The Prime MinisterI could understand my hon. Friend's disappointment if I had said that the Government were not to keep these matters under constant review. I have previously explained in the House, as has the Chancellor, the criteria which guide us, and which guided previous Governments from the end of the war, when deciding upon applications by overseas manufacturers to set up in this country. A high proportion of them have been in development areas, and they have brought very welcome "know-how" and employment.
§ Sir A. V. HarveyWill the Prime Minister keep a special eye on the progress of the Concorde, bearing in mind that already some Americans are making noises which lead one to believe that it will be kept out of the United States on the pretence of noise because the United States has not got an aircraft equivalent?
§ The Prime MinisterI am sure that the hon. Gentleman's question is very relevant.
§ Mr. DickensWould my right hon. Friend agree that it is thoroughly bad practice for American-owned companies in this country to subscribe to the funds of British political parties?
§ The Prime MinisterI am not aware of that happening. If my hon. Friend can give evidence—
§ Mr. DickensRootes.
§ The Prime Minister—I should be glad to see it. I think that Rootes has a fairly long and consistent record in its contributions to political parties.
§ Mr. LubbockWhat steps is the Prime Minister taking to reassure American and other foreign-owned enterprises in the United Kingdom that he is taking measures to prevent industrial unrest, and thus prevent the jeopardising here of American and other investment which is so essential to our balance of payments?
§ The Prime MinisterThe measures included the White Paper on Industrial Relations, which was recently approved by this House, supplemented by a statement I made in the country last Friday that referred to three major and damaging strikes on Merseyside, and it is a fact that two of the firms concerned were subsidiaries of American firms.
§ Mr. CantI welcome the emergence of a special relationship based on economic rather than political factors. In the light of the fact that American investment is likely to assume the proportion of 25 per cent. of total investment in this country in the 1970s, will my hon. Friend do something to allay the disquiet that is emerging by asking the Americans to make room for British shareholder participation and for more management possibilities in American companies here?
§ The Prime MinisterI think my hon. Friend's anxieties are based on a study of a document on American investment published by P.E.P. in February this year. That estimate is based on some very un-checkable assumptions, and I do not think that many people would necessarily go as far as he would in the figure which he put on it; nor does he take account of British investment in the United States. With increasing specialisation, this is to be welcomed both ways, particularly when valuable "know-how" is 207 brought to this country. My hon. Friend will know that foreign firms in this country account for 14 per cent. of our total exports from Britain, even though they own only about 7 per cent. of the net assets.