§ 4. Mr. Gwilyn Robertsasked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will make a further statement on further aid for Inmos.
§ Mr. RobertsWill the hon. Gentleman agree that, although in last week's debates there were differing views on the feasibility of Inmos and the conditions which will be associated with any further money, there was almost complete consensus that the Government now have no choice but to give a second £25 million, and that the delay is merely damaging Inmos and costing additional money?
§ Mr. MarshallThe hon. Gentleman, who played a valuable part in the debate, called for a bipartisan approach, but his summary of the debate is a little inaccurate.
§ Mr. ButcherWill my hon. Friend agree that the granting of the second tranche of £25 million could be conditional on all future investment being made from private funds? Might not that course of events make the company more attractive to private funds in the future?
§ Mr. MarshallThat is a consideration to be taken into account, but the first step must now be to await the review.
§ Mr. FlanneryWill the hon. Gentleman accept that the answer to the debate last week was most unsatisfactory? Major countries throughout the world are investing hundreds of millions of pounds in the silicon chip. This is a potentially lucrative area, as my motion on the Order Paper shows. Will the hon. Gentleman reconsider his decision lest we fall behind every other major country in developing this very lucrative area?
§ Mr. MarshallThe hon. Gentleman is venturing down a dangerous path in suggesting that we should have some kind of investment support war on these lines. If he considers these matters more carefully, he will see that, on the matter of inward investment and on the matter of standard chips, under the Government two further projects have come 7 forward from National Semiconductors and from General Instruments, both for investment in Scotland, which are to be welcomed.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonWill my hon. Friend accept that one of the problems of introducing private capital into Inmos is the great difficulty that private companies have in getting any information from either the National Enterprise Board or Inmos?
§ Mr. MarshallIf my hon. Friend has any information on those lines I shall be happy to pass it on, but it is not a view that has been put directly to me.