§ Mr. Geoffrey Robinson (Coventry, North-West)I beg to ask leave to move the Adjournment of the House, under Standing Order No. 9, for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration, namely,
the announcement in the press today that Nissan has abandoned the car manufacturing project in Britain.Ever since the project was announced amid a great fanfare of publicity about 18 months ago, there have been continuing reports in the press and continuing evasions by Ministers about its true status. It is a specific matter because when the project was announced on 29 January 1981 it was said specifically that 200,000 cars a year would be produced in this country, that production would begin in 1982—this very year—that the investment would take place in a development or special development area, that the project would include an engine manufacturing facility, that a high level of the output would be for export and, as we learnt subsequently, that up to 5,000 jobs would be created. It would appear to any hon. Member that nothing could be more specific than that.This is an important matter because of the nature of the specific elements that were announced with the project. It is important for the sake of 5,000 jobs. It is also important because if the project is not now to proceed—that is the urgency of the matter and why I seek to move the Adjournment of the House—we must know quickly what steps the Government propose to take to replace those 5,000 jobs and to take up the capacity of no fewer than 200,000 cars per annum, a large proportion of them for export. All the more reason for considering the matter today is the presence of the Minister at the Department of Industry who is responsible for the project. Is it the Government's intention, in view of the urgency and specific nature of the project and the problems surrounding it, now to enter into discussion with British Leyland and to undertake with it as big and as promising a project as the one that is to all intents and purposes no longer to take place, despite weak denials from the company today?
§ Mr. SpeakerThe hon. Member for Coventry, North-West (Mr. Robinson) gave me notice before 12 noon that he would ask leave to move the Adjournment of the House for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that he thinks should have urgent consideration, namely,
the announcement in the press today that Nissan has abandoned the car manufacturing project in Britain.As the House knows, under Standing Order No. 9, I am directed to take into account the several factors set out in the order but to give no reasons for my decision.I have given careful consideration to the hon. Gentleman's representations, but I have to rule that his submission does not fall within the provisions of the Standing Order and, therefore, I cannot submit his application to the House.