§ Q4. Mr. Ian Lloydasked the Prime Minister why he has refused to receive the delegation of hon. Members who sought to make representations to him about the obstructions which have prevented the British container fleet from using its specialised berth at Tilbury.
§ The Prime MinisterAs the hon. Gentleman will be aware, I asked my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity to receive the delegation and he did so on 5th May.
§ Mr. LloydWhy has the Prime Minister's approach to the question shown all the restrained enthusiasm of an amorous porcupine?—[Interruption.] Does he share the view expressed by his right hon. Friend that the comparative performance of British and Continental ports is a matter of life and death for this country? Will he, therefore, adopt a 234 more positive approach than the sustained and vigorous ineptitude that the Government have so far shown?
§ The Prime MinisterMy enthusiasm for seeing this problem settled is at least as great as that of the hon. Gentleman, even if it is not expressed in such fine flights of oratory. But my enthusiasm for dealing with it is not to be measured by my inability at a particular moment to meet the hon. Gentleman and others of his hon. Friends. We all share the desire to settle this. I therefore asked my hon. Friend to meet them. This does not rule out—I hope some time after the recess—a meeting with the senior Ministers concerned. Inevitably, more than one Department is involved, but I hope that it will be possible to arrange a meeting.
§ Dame Irene WardIs the Prime Minister aware that the junior Minister who met the deputation really was rather restrained because he thought there might be a settlement with the ports concerned, which did not prove to be true? What is the good of a junior Minister? We really want the Prime Minister, so that we can tell him how very inept they have been in dealing with this important question—[Interruption.] That is what we will tell him—[Interruption.]
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. Questions should be reasonably brief. Mr. Prime Minister.
§ Dame Irene WardMay I just—[Interruption.]
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. The hon. Lady must round off her question.
§ Dame Irene WardI will round off my question if hon. Gentlemen opposite will stop shouting at me. Will the Prime Minister now give us an assurance that he will meet the deputation after the Whitsun Recess?
§ The Prime MinisterIf the hon. Lady can carry her mind right back to the beginning of that question, she will remember her reference to my hon. Friend's view that at an extremely delicate stage of the negotiations it would not be wise for him to say too much. I am sure that, with her long experience of these matters, she will agree with that. Obviously this matter can only be settled by negotiation. I hope that it will be 235 settled. My right hon. Friends and I are doing what we can to ensure that it happens. At the right time, as I have said, after the recess—not this week, not next week—I hope that my right hon. Friends the Minister of Transport and the First Secretary might have a chance of meeting any hon. Members concerned with this problem. If there is any purpose to be served in my seeing them, I should be happy to do so at a convenient time.
§ Mr. McNamaraIs my right hon. Friend aware that we on this side think that the Government have tried to deal with this problem very sensibly? This is a very delicate situation and there are real fears among the workers concerned. Rather than going at the problem like a bull in a china shop, the Prime Minister and my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity have adopted the right attitude.
§ The Prime MinisterI certainly agree that there are anxieties on the part of the men concerned, and this matter must be handled with very great care. At the same time, I think we all recognise that it would be nothing short of a tragedy if, because of an inability to reach agreement on these matters, we lost this vitally important trade to the Continent, recalling that containerisation is probably the biggest revolution that has hit the shipping industry almost since it went from wood to iron and from sail to steam.
§ Mr. Wingfield DigbyIs the Prime Minister aware that the position seems to have deteriorated since the delegation was received, and that, meanwhile, our foreign competitors are free to use the container terminal at Tilbury?
§ The Prime MinisterIt is for that kind of reason that I said that failure to settle the problem will be a tragedy, which I know is recognised by the hon. Member for Tynemoulth (Dame Irene Ward) and by the hon. Gentleman who saw my hon. Friend not long ago. We shall continue to press on with this question. I do not want to raise any hopes that it will be easy to settle. I believe that it must be settled and that it is in the national interest that it should be settled.