§ Q4. Mr. Ridleyasked the Prime Minister if he will list his engagements for Tuesday 15th November 1977.
§ The Prime MinisterIn addition to my duties in this House, I shall be holding meetings with ministerial colleagues and others, including one with the Foreign Minister of Romania.
§ Mr. RidleyWill the Prime Minister be able to take time off this afternoon to ponder the fact that the British Steel Corporation has, since it was nationalised, lost its share of the market? Its share of the United Kingdom market has gone down from 76 per cent. to 53 per cent. while the Corporation has taken £3,000 million of our capital and has lost billions on revenue account, too. Will the Prime Minister consider that it might have been possible to restore the cuts in education, to have enough kidney machines and to look after the social services properly if it had not been for the extraordinary failure of nationalisation in this instance?
§ The Prime MinisterNo, Sir. The hon. Gentleman is pursuing his usual vendetta, but it does not bear much relation to the facts. The steel industry throughout the world, as he knows very well, is suffering a very great deal from the recession. Indeed, I read in the Economist last weekend that the Bethlehem Steel Company alone—just one company in the United States—had lost over $400 million 287 in the third quarter. This is an international problem and cannot be solved by any party claptrap about nationalisation.
§ Mr. KinnockIs my right hon. Friend aware that many people are aware of the policies of the hon. Member for Cirencester and Tewkesbury (Mr. Ridley) on the nationalised industries, and that had it not been for the commitment of the Labour Government to the steel industry, which we hope will continue and grow more generous and more definite, we should have had a decimated steel industry that would have been neither able to produce the materials to make kidney machines nor the money for this country to be able to pay for their production, servicing, maintenance and provision?
§ The Prime MinisterThe steel industry is an efficient industry, but there is room for substantially increased productivity. Certainly nationalisation has nothing to do with this matter—
§ Mr. RidleyOh, yes, it has.
§ The Prime MinisterI cannot remember whether the hon. Member had been dismissed from the Department of Industry before Rolls-Royce was nationalised.