§ Q3. Mr. Hileyasked the Prime Minister if he will pay an official visit to the West Riding of Yorkshire.
§ The Prime MinisterI was in Bradford at the end of October and in Sheffield last March. I have at present no plans for further official visits to the West Riding.
§ Mr. HileyDoes my right hon. Friend remember the warning he gave about a year ago that excessive and disproportionate aid to industry in development areas would merely transfer unemployment from one area to another? I wanted him to come to West Yorkshire to show him many of the mills that have closed down during the past three or four years because those who enjoy the privilege of being situated in development areas are receiving very unfair advantages, with the result that textile mills in the non-development areas are tending to go out of business.
§ The Prime MinisterThis was a question which I discussed when I was in Bradford before Christmas with both employers and the trade unions. My hon. Friend will realise the particularly deep-seated problems of areas such as Tyneside and Clydeside, which have these special arrangements. A considerable part of the West Riding is an intermediate area, not because of the woollen industry but because of the problems of the coal industry.
§ Mr. FordThe Prime Minister's reply will cause great disappointment in the West Riding. I am glad that the right hon. Gentleman recalls the representations made to him in Bradford. Is he aware that his right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry will be receiving representations from the Bradford and Shipley authorities to make the Bradford and Shipley travel-to-work area an intermediate area? Will he ask his right hon. Friend to give serious consideration to the representations, for all the reasons given by his hon. Friend?
§ The Prime MinisterI will certainly see that my right hon. Friend gives the fullest consideration to the representations. The particular point raised with 1195 me was the question of the old origin marking orders. I hope that the problems that were foreseen then will be dealt with by the Private Member's Bill for which a Second Reading will be sought on 25th February.