§ Mr. Tom KingMr. Speaker, I should like to preface my remarks by apologising for not giving you normal notice of my request.
I beg to ask leave to move the Adjournment of the House, under Standing Order No. 9, for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration; namely,
the proposal of the Government to assist the Meriden Co-operative with a total contribution of £6.05 million without parliamentary approval contrary to the requirements of the Industry Act 1972".I raise this matter because, as you will have heard from previous exchanges with the Leader of the House, it was clear that he was not conceding that if this project in total involved these sums of money a statement should be made to the House. I should like to remind you, Mr. Speaker, that in your period—
§ The Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons (Mr. Edward Short)On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I said in terms that if it exceeded £5 million we would come to the House for approval.
§ Mr. King rose—
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. I must interrupt the hon. Gentleman. I think that this is an abuse of the Standing Order No. 9 procedure. [Interruption.] I listened carefully to what happened. The Leader of the House promised to look into the matter and, if necessary, to make a statement.
§ Mr. Tom KingI accept that the right hon. Gentleman said that, but his words were carefully chosen. We are particularly concerned about the way that the money is to be spent. The right hon. Gentleman's statement exactly parallels the way in which the Secretary of State for Industry is proceeding with the matter. If I might briefly elaborate the matter I 496 think that it will become clear.
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. I have listened to the hon. Member. I am not allowed to give my reasons. His submission appears to be based on something which was printed in a newspaper, and I cannot accept a Standing Order No. 9 application on that basis without notice.
§ Mr. KingIn that case, Mr. Speaker, may we secure through you a firm undertaking that a statement will be made on this question by the Secretary of State for Industry before the House rises? It must be clear to the Leader of the House that there is real concern over this matter which could be cleared up if the Secretary of State was prepared to make a statement. We have had only one written answer on this whole matter. If the Leader of the House is hiding behind the technical protection of the Industry Act he should recall that on a previous occasion my right hon. Friend the Member for Chichester (Mr. Chataway), when the Government made a contribution of £4.8 million to Norton Villiers Triumph, made a statement to the House although he was not specifically required to so. He did so so that it should not be thought that he was in any way trying to avoid bringing the issue before the House.
I should be very much happier if this could be simply resolved by a statement tomorrow by the Secretary of State for Industry so that before the House adjourns we know exactly what the situation is.
§ Mr. Edward ShortI repeat the firm undertaking I gave as clearly as I can. The Government will comply with the law and if the money we offer to this firm exceeds £5 million we shall come to the House for parliamentary approval. I cannot make it any clearer than that.