HC Deb 13 October 1975 vol 897 cc846-8
13. Mr. Teddy Taylor

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will make a further statement on the position of the motor car industry.

Mr. Kaufman

I have as yet nothing to add to previous statements.

Mr. Taylor

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that when the trade deficit is serious and the car industry faces a major crisis it is ludicrous and unpatriotic for public authorities, financed by rates and taxes, to spend a great deal of money buying foreign cars? If so, what will he do about it? Will he tell my constituents working in the motor industry whether the Government are free, if they wish, to put import controls on foreign cars, or whether it will first be necessary to get the permission of the Common Market?

Mr. Kaufman

I hope that all public authorities will ensure that they buy British cars. The hon. Gentleman will know from his own experience that the Government cannot compel them to do so, but their good sense should compel them to buy British. There has been discussion of import controls, and the Secretary of State for Trade has discussed these matters in Japan. We shall clear whatever we have to with the EEC, the vote having gone the way it did last June, but we shall act independently as and when we need to and as and when we can.

Mr. Ward

As strategic decisions on the future of the automotive industry depend in part on discussions that my hon. Friend has been having with that industry on future energy-saving proposals, will he say whether the discussions that he has been having since the beginning of the year, and which he last said—on 13th June—were continuing, have yet been concluded?

Mr. Kaufman

I have nothing to add at present, but I shall keep my hon. Friend informed.

Mr. Hall-Davis

Since the future of Leyland is so important to the well-being of the motor industry as a whole, now that the new chairman has been appointed, will the Minister confirm that the board, which has the legal responsibility for the conduct of the company's affairs, will be free to pursue policies which it considers in the company's long-term interests, and will not be restricted to implementing the recommendations of the Ryder Report if it wishes to depart from them?

Mr. Kaufman

The hon. Gentleman should study the statement by Sir Ronald Edwards when he was appointed. It was made clear that the board of Leyland has freedom of action, but he made it clear that he would take fully into account what the Prime Minister said when he made his statement about Leyland earlier this year, namely, that the Ryder Report should form the basis of the re-organisation.

Mr. Carter

On the subject of the Secretary of State for Trade's discussions in Japan this summer on the import of Japanese cars and the voluntary agreement he obtained to restrict those imports, will my hon. Friend confirm that if that voluntary agreement fails his Department will lend support to the view that there should be some form of compulsory restriction?

Mr. Kaufman

The question of import restrictions is a matter for the Secretary of State for Trade, in consultation with his colleagues. We shall make whatever recommendations we regard as appropriate in the light of the situation, but the very best thing is that the British motor industry—Leyland and the other companies—should be competitive and should sell goods that people wish to buy at prices they can afford. In that way we shall have a fully competitive industry, which can beat world competition.