§ Q2. Mr. Douglasasked the Prime Minister if at the next meeting of the National Economic Development Council at which he takes the chair he will seek to raise the topic of the operation of multinational companies in the United Kingdom economy.
§ The Prime MinisterMy right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, as Chairman of the Council, is considering the inclusion of this subject in the agenda for a future meeting.
§ Mr. DouglasI thank the Prime Minister for that reply. Would he not concede that the operations of these companies, particularly in Scotland, might be having deleterious effects on the Scottish economy in that they are capable of manipulating their operations to ensure maximising return overall without having regard to the effect of the operations of the branch organisation in an area like Scotland? Will he press his right hon. Friend to make a detailed survey of the operations of these companies within the United Kingdom economy?
§ The Prime MinisterIf the Joint Committee which fixes the agenda for the N.E.D.C. were to ask for papers of this kind, I am sure that the point would be very carefully studied. In general, since 1945 Governments of both parties have encouraged international companies to come to this country, and, as the hon. Gentleman knows, Scotland has greatly benefited as a result. I have no grounds of complaint on the general policies of these companies as being, as far as they can make them, in our national interest and not governed by the interests of other countries. My predecessors probably would generally agree with that.