§ 2. Mr. Skinnerasked the Secretary of State for Energy what reply he has received from the Chairman of the NCB to the letter he sent regarding Langwith Colliery; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. BennAs hon. Members will know, the Chairman readily agreed to give those concerned another opportunity of making their case. It has not yet been possible to reach agreement on this issue, and I very much hope that the two sides will be able to do so in the further talks which, I gather, the NUM is to have with the National Coal Board. I do not think it would help in reaching agreement to make further statements at this stage.
§ Mr. SkinnerDoes my right hon. Friend appreciate that the only reason why the National Coal Board and the miners' leaders are meeting is the threatened national overtime ban to save the jobs of 900 miners who are working in a very profitable pit, where the production of coal at any time in the last 10 years has been 20 per cent. above the national average, and where at least between 3 million and 4 million tons are left to be mined?
4 Will my right hon. Friend lend his considerable political weight, not in the form of letters but in the form of activity within the Government, to ensure that these miners, who have always voted Labour, get the same kind of treatment as the American Chrysler firm did in getting £162 million, for an organisation whose only concern is saving energy and jobs at the same time?
§ Mr. BennMy hon. Friend has taken a direct, keen, continuing and active interest in this matter. What he has said in the House is what he has said and made clear to me over a number of months. Clearly, as a Minister, I am not qualified to assume responsibilities which properly fall to the National Coal Board—nor would I wish to have them. But I am anxious that the Coal Board should discuss this matter fully with the National Union of Mineworkers. With that in mind, I had a meeting to enable the case to be presented to me by the NUM executive, at which the people from the Langwith Colliery and another colliery were represented. I am aware of the sensitivity to the matter of closures My hon. Friend will know that a £600 million expansion programme was authorised, as it were, in the coal industry examination of last year, but it really would be for the Coal Board, in conjunction with the National Union of Mineworkers, to determine how that programme should be developed.