§ Q1. Mr. Martenasked the Prime Minister if he will set up an interdepartmental committee to investigate which sectors of the nationalised industries are suitable for denationalisation.
§ Q6. Mr. Molloyasked the Prime Minister if he will set up an interdepartmental committee to examine both public and private sectors of industry which are suitable for merging in complete social ownership.
§ The Prime Minister (Mr. Harold Wilson)No, Sir.
§ Mr. MartenDoes that mean that nationalisation is the sacred cow of the 627 Labour Party? Will the Government not consider the proposition that Government capital should be taken from, for example, the two nationalised commercial air corporations and put to a better use in building, for example, schools and hospitals?
§ The Prime MinisterThe hon. Gentleman, most unusually, has drawn the wrong conclusions from the answer. Each case for nationalisation and denationalisation must be considered on its merits. Coal, gas and electricity are all before the House. As I understand the policy of hon. Gentlemen opposite it is to denationalise the most profitable areas for the benefit of particular interests and to leave the essential services which, by their nature, must be loss-making, to the taxpayer.
§ Mr. MoonmanThe Prime Minister has rightly rejected the absurd suggestion made in the Question. Would he consider establishing a Departmental committee to consider how the Government might give further support to industrial innovation, particularly with regard to Europe, so that we can make the most positive contribution when we go into the E.E.C.?
§ The Prime MinisterMy hon. Friend will know that the Fulton Committee reported in favour of the hiving-off of certain public services directly under Government control to independent corporations. This has been done in one or two cases, and we are examining others. As to the question of a wider European grouping, I would refer my hon. Friend to the Answer I gave him earlier in the week.
§ Sir Harmar NichollsWhy does the Prime Minister evade the point of the Question in which he is asked to investigate possible weaknesses in the nationalised sector? Is he not remiss in not doing that? Is he aware that everyone outside No. 10 Downing Street realises that the nationalised industries are far from perfect? Is it not his job to see that this is put right?
§ The Prime MinisterThe hon. Gentleman, characteristically, is incapable of understanding even his hon. Friend's Question. The supplementary question referred to weaknesses in nationalised industries. We have long had a Select Committee of this House inquiring into all the 628 nationalised industries and these are subjects of frequent debate. We have not got a Select Committee for dealing with weaknesses in private industry.
§ Mr. Roy HughesDoes my right hon. Friend appreciate that the publicly-owned steel industry is now making rapid progress, particularly in South Wales, and that any attempt to hand this industry back to private enterprise would be much resented by the people who work in the industry?
§ The Prime MinisterI can see no circumstances in which any proposal would be made to this House for denationalisation of the steel industry.