HC Deb 14 October 1976 vol 917 cc622-3
Q1. Mr. Michael Latham

asked the Prime Minister if he is satisfied with the co-ordination between the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of State for Industry in relation to the Government's industrial strategy.

The Prime Minister (Mr. James Callaghan)

Yes. There is close coordination between my right hon. Friends on this and all other matters of common concern.

Mr. Latham

In the interests of economic and industrial recovery, will the right hon. Gentleman take this opportunity of saying that he has no intention of adopting the alternative Queen's Speech proposed by Transport House?

The Prime Minister

I should be happy to receive proposals for the Queen's Speech from anyone, including the hon. Gentleman if he cares to put some forward, and in due course, when the Speech appears, we shall invite the House to support it in the terms that it will have been proposed by, I hope, myself.

Mr. Ogden

Will my right hon. Friend ask his colleagues to give urgent consideration to the effectiveness or otherwise of regional economic investment incentives, because they seem to have been less effective than they should have been? Surely it is time for alternative and more effective measures.

The Prime Minister

I think that the regional policy on which we all embarked after the war has had a considerable measure of success in lessening the differences among the various areas but some of the macro weapons employed in the 1960s have become a little outdated, which is one reason why the selective assistance given under the Industry Act and in other ways applies the aid more where it is required. I think that we should continue to pursue that method.

Mr. Mayhew

When will the right hon. Gentleman acknowledge that the considerations that led him and the Chancellor of the Exchequer to turn their backs on the nationalisation of banks and insurance companies should lead them to turn their backs on the nationalisation of the aircraft industry?

The Prime Minister

That is not my view, nor that of the party I represent, of the way in which the aircraft industries of the world are moving. I think that the hon. and learned Gentleman might catch up with the latter part of the twentieth century in due course.