Chrysler United Kingdom Ltd. (Hansard, 24 November 1975)

§ 13. Mr. Adley
asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will make a statement on the Chrysler situation.

§ 18. Mr. Biffen
asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will make a statement on his current negotiations with Chrysler United Kingdom Ltd.

§ 22. Mr. Alan Clark
asked the Secretary of State for Industry when he expects to put forward proposals for dealing with the problems of Chrysler United Kingdom Ltd.

§ The Under-Secretary of State for Industry (Mr. Gerald Kaufman)
I understand the concern of hon. Members for information about the Chrysler situation. It is being considered at the highest level with the utmost urgency and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State hopes to be able to make a statement very soon.

§ Mr. Adley
I thank the Minister for that answer. Now that the Government have enunciated their new industrial strategy as one of backing winners, would he agree that if funds are pumped into Chrysler now, the new policy will be seen to be about as enduring as "In Place of Strife"?

§ Mr. Kaufman
The hon. Gentleman has clearly not read the White Paper. The White Paper does not refer in any way to backing winners.

§ Mr. Biffen
None the less, does not the hon. Gentleman agree that the way in which the Government react to the Chrysler problem will provide an early and decisive test for the policy contained in "An Approach to Industrial Strategy" and enunciated at the Chequer talks? Will he assure the House that there will be the most hard-headed test of potential profitability applied to the Chrysler problem?

§ Mr. Kaufman
I assure the hon. Gentleman that all relevants tests will be made in what is an extremely vexed problem affecting all kinds of issues.

§ Mr. Les Huckfield
Will my hon. Friend bear in mind that the situation is rather more complex than has so far been indicated from the Opposition Benches? Will he accept that there are 70,000 jobs at stake and an Iranian export contract worth £80 million to the balance of payments position, and that about 15 per cent. of our domestic car market would be left vacant if Chrysler pulled out? May I remind my hon. Friend that many of my constituents simply do not know whether they will have a job to go to in Chrysler on 1st January? Will he bear in mind the need to make a statement as soon as possible?

§ Mr. Kaufman
I accept that my hon. Friend's constituents, like all those who work in Chrysler and industries ancillary to Chrysler, are extremely anxious that a statement should be made as soon as possible. I also assure my hon. Friend that all the complexities of the situation, which he has enumerated, are part of the calculations which we are making in considering this extremely difficult problem.

§ Mr. Clark
In so far as the Ryder Report is credible or even intelligible, does it not predicate that British Leyland should increase its share of the market? 474 Is it not a curious paradox that the moment any symptoms of profitability become apparent, there is talk of further public expenditure to redress the balance?

§ Mr. Kaufman
The Ryder Report is the subject of comments by the Trade and Industry Sub-Committee of the House of Commons, which is severely critical of some of its implications. We shall take into account in our considerations of this problem the Ryder Report, the TISC's Report, the Central Policy Review Staff's Report and the very severe problems involved in terms of finance and of employment.

Mr. Mark Hughes
Will my hon. Friend make any comment upon today's advertisement in a national paper calling upon people to buy Simca cars at a time when Chrysler is in such difficulties?

§ Mr. Kaufman
The Daily Mail is welcome to whatever advertisement revenue it can scrape up.

§ Mr. Heseltine
Will the Under-secretary confirm that before the Government announce their decision about Chrysler they will publish the CPRS's Report and their answers to the Trade and Industry Sub-Committee so that the House may have an opportunity to take into account all the factors which he has said are so important in reaching a decision?

§ Mr. Kaufman
My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has made it clear that the CPRS's Report is to be published. I cannot give a commitment about precisely when it is to be published. But the Government recognise that the House will wish to see the CPRS's Report in considering any decision made by the Government about Chrysler. That makes sense. I cannot guarantee absolutely when the Report will be published, but I assure the House that we are seized of the wish of the House to have that Report on the Chrysler situation. In addition, we shall publish our reply to the TISC's Report, as my right hon. Friend the Lord President said recently. My right hon. Friend the Lord President made clear when answering business questions that the Government recognised that in any debate upon the motor car industry, following the Government's decision on Chrysler, the House would also need to have before it the CPRS's Report and the White Paper.