Coal Stocks (Hansard, 29 October 1984)

§ Mr. Yeo
asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement about the present level of coal stocks.

§ 7. Mr. Leigh
asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement on the level of coal stocks.

§ 11. Mr. Hirst
asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement on current stocks of coal.

§ 15. Mr. Dalyell
asked the Secretary of State for Energy what is the latest assessment of coal stocks.

§ 18. Mr. Rost
asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement on coal stocks.

§ Mr. Peter Walker
The latest official published figures are for stocks of coal on 26 August. These show total stocks of 39.18 million tonnes, of which 15.5 million tonnes were at power stations.

§ Mr. Yeo
In view of that satisfactory position, will my right hon. Friend join me in paying tribute to those miners who continue to work in the face of grave intimidation and violence? Does he agree that it is in no small measure due to their efforts that the country can face the winter months with a fair degree of equanimity?

§ Mr. Walker
I pay tribute to those miners who, having voted to work, have worked in spite of appalling intimidation from mobs at their colliery gates. I also pay tribute to all those involved in the electricity industry and in the distribution of coal and fuel for the way in which they have ensured that the stocks at our power stations are as strong as they are.

§ Mr. Leigh
If my right hon. Friend can confirm the rumour today that since figures were last published in 995 August the position regarding coal stocks has improved and not worsened, will he also confirm that that may have resulted in Mr. Scargill's increasingly desperate forays for support from any cause, however vile? Will he confirm that there will be no further concessions to Mr. Scargill, which would enable him to claim a victory and deal a potentially fatal blow against the Government's historic mission to get more realistic actions among trade unionists?

§ Mr. Walker
Regarding my hon. Friend's last point, from the beginning of the dispute there has never been any justification for industrial action. There has been a good wage offer, a guarantee that no person will be made compulsorily unemployed, major investment and a community programme which has never previously been put forward. There has never been industrial justification for the strike. That is why those miners who decided to ballot voted against the strike. As to the negotiations, it is the view of the Government and the National Coal Board that the agreement made with NACODS is fair and reasonable and is the one upon which a settlement will be reached, if it is reached at all.

Several Hon. Members
rose——

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. I remind the House that this question is about the level of coal stocks.

§ Mr. Hirst
I thank my right hon. Friend for his encouraging reply. In the event of the NUM leadership seeking to protract the dispute further by its appalling tactics of intimidation, will my right hon. Friend assure the House that all steps will be taken to move stocks of coal to where they are needed before there is any question of power cuts, which would in any event harm the more vulnerable members of society?

§ Mr. Walker
I categorically give that assurance; and my hon. Friend will know, from the decisive vote of the electricians at the power stations, how passionately they are opposed to any damage being done to jobs or to the economy by power cuts.

§ Mr. Dalyell
Is there a contingency plan to use troops for the movement of coal?

§ Mr. Walker
No, Sir. I am delighted to say that the movement of coal is so splendid and good, and coal stocks are going so well, that no such move has been contemplated.

§ Mr. Rost
Does my right hon. Friend agree that coal stocks would be even higher and prices lower if we had a more robust private sector able to compete with the nationalised monopoly? Will he urgently review the role of the opencast mining industry and of the private sector mining industry?

§ Mr. Walker
As my hon. Friend knows, the private sector already plays a considerable part in the opencast mining industry. I confirm, as my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister said, that there are no plans for privatisation. However, there could be vast improvements in productivity in this industry.

§ Mr. Mason
Will the Secretary of State explain how coal stocks have been assisted by increasing coal imports, especially with new contracts that have been established during the past six months?

§ Mr. Walker
As far as I know, no imports have gone to power stations, but there has been a substantial increase 996 in coal imports. Such is the solidarity of the working classes that much of the coal is Polish and has been transported in Russian ships.

§ Mr. Wallace
As the present level of coal stocks is in some way due to the amount of oil that has been used to replace coal during the past six months, at a greater cost, will the Secretary of State give an undertaking to the House that the additional cost will not be passed on to domestic or industrial consumers under what has been called a Scargill surcharge?

§ Mr. Walker
It is impossible to calculate the cost until we know the amount of stocks remaining when the dispute ends. A range of calculations must be made. One could mention the increased cost of oil, but, alas for the coal industry, £700 million capital investment that would have been made this year has not been made. It is a complicated sum that can be considered only when the dispute is over.

§ Mr. Rogers
Will the Secretary of State confirm, or deny, that three working collieries in the Nottinghamshire area—Sherwood, Mansfield and Clipstone—which are contributing so greatly to the coal stocks which he applauds today, will be closed as soon as the strike has ended if the financial formula adopted by Mr. MacGregor is put into action? Will he confirm that the pits of the working scabs will be closed as soon as the strike is over?

§ Mr. Concannon
That is not true.

§ Mr. Walker
I certainly do not confirm that. It is remarkable that someone who abides by the normal NUM tradition of balloting before a strike should be described as a scab.

§ Mr. Orme
May I return to the question of resolving this dispute so that we need not concern ourselves about coal stocks? Will the Secretary of State answer my question as to whether the NACODS agreement was qualified and whether, if that union returned to ACAS with the NUM, an agreement could be negotiated?

§ Mr. Walker
The NACODS agreement rightly and clearly stated that any pit that must be closed in future, including the five, must go through the normal processes. I confirm the view of the Government and of the National Coal Board that what has been agreed with NACODS should be, and is, the basis of a good agreement. When this strike is ended on a sensible and sane agreement, I hope that it will be recognised that Mr. Scargill's activities throughout the dispute have done enormous damage to the coal industry, impoverished the NUM, put miners' families into debt, divided miners' communities and damaged the Labour party and the TUC. That is the reality of this strike.