HC Deb 31 October 1984 vol 65 cc1289-91
10. Mr. Douglas

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the impact of the coal industry dispute on the Scottish economy.

Mr. Allan Stewart

This tragic and unnecessary dispute has had no general effect on Scottish manufacturing industry, where a recovery in output is well under way. I understand that some difficulties have been caused for firms which are specialist suppliers to the mining industry. However, the greatest damage has been the extreme hardship caused to families of striking miners.

Mr. Douglas

Will the Minister prevail on his right hon. Friend, in developing the forensic skills that he has as a member of the Star Chamber, to give us an assurance that nowhere in the Coal Board is there a document relating to Scotland similar to that circulating in relation to the north-east of England, which decimates the coal industry there? Can we have an assurance that we shall have a continuance of high capacity and a high number of pits in operation in Scotland? Given the hon. Gentleman's economic knowledge, would he not say that the vacillations and incompetence of Mr. MacGregor must have an impact on the morale of Scottish management? No manager worth his salt in Scotland could say that he could do a worse job that this incompetent geriatric, who should be repatriated.

Mr. Stewart

As the hon. Gentleman knows perfectly well in his heart of hearts, there is not a shred of industrial justification for the strike. As he also knows, there is a perfectly reasonable basis for a settlement, and that is the agreement reached with NACODS. The hon. Gentleman should be using his influence in the Labour movement to ensure that the NUM faces reality.

Mr. Andy Stewart

Is my hon. Friend aware that more Scottish miners are working in Nottinghamshire than in the whole of the Scottish coalfields? Is it not the case that they are working as a result of a ballot?

Mr. Stewart

My hon. Friend, and fellow clansman, is absolutely right. If the Scottish miners had held a ballot they, too, would be working. They have been picketed out. Opposition Members know that it is only violence and intimidation that is preventing many more Scottish miners from working.

Mr. Eadie

Surely on this day of all days we are entitled to hear fewer echoes of Government propaganda and more of the language of conciliation rather than confrontation. Is the Minister aware that there has been an impact on Scottish industry, with not one new pit being sunk in Scotland since the Government took office? Is he further aware that 81 per cent. of investment in the coal industry goes to Yorkshire, the Midlands and Nottinghamshire, leaving only 19 per cent. for South Wales, Durham and Cumberland? Can the hon. Gentleman justify that as a fair share of investment for the coal industry in Scotland?

Mr. Stewart

The Government have an outstanding record of investment in the coal industry, standing at more than £2 million a day. The hon. Gentleman is widely respected and he should use his considerable influence to get the NUM to face reality.

Mr. Corrie

Will my hon. Friend join me in congratulating those at the Hunterston nuclear power station on having produced power at record levels to maintain industry in Scotland during the past eight months of dispute?

Mr. Stewart

My hon. Friend makes a sensible point. The Scottish electricity boards have a wide range of fuel sources, such as nuclear, coal, oil, gas and water. I can assure the House that there is no threat to electricity supplies in Scotland.

Mr. Ron Brown

Does not the Minister realise that the NUM will not be smashed, unlike 1926? In recognising that fact, is it not important for the Government to empower Ian MacGregor to negotiate a just settlement of the long-running dispute?

Mr. Stewart

The hon. Gentleman is well acquainted with the regime that has been involved recently in our mining industry. It is astonishing that Opposition Members are still not prepared to say that there should have been a ballot of miners in both Scotland and elsewhere. The hon. Gentleman knows that violence and intimidation are preventing many more Scottish miners from joining those already working, whose number increases every day.

Mr. Henderson

Does my hon. Friend agree that the mining dispute has done grievous damage to the Scottish economy, which is all the more galling because these are self-inflicted wounds? Has not the dispute done damage also to Scotland's reputation in industrial relations, which is so important for inward investment? Has not an unfair view been taken abroad of Scottish industrial relations, which the dispute now underpins? Has he seen the catalogue of violence during the dispute in which more than 250 miners and almost 800 police officers have been injured on picket lines?

Mr. Stewart

Indeed. I think that everyone is familiar with the catalogue of violence, which should be deplored by Members of all political persuasions. It is to their credit that one or two Labour Members have been firm in their attacks on such violence. As for inward investment and industrial relations, I believe that those abroad see the miners' dispute as an isolated matter. The representatives of the American companies with whom I have spoken are high in their praise of their Scottish work forces' productivity and flexibility and the Scottish work ethic.

Mr. McKelvey

Before the Minister announces his resignation, which is long overdue, will he confirm or deny that the Killoch and Barony coalfields in Ayrshire were on the hit list and due to close within five years? It could not be simpler than that.

Mr. Stewart

I shall not comment on matters that are for the management of the National Coal Board. The hon. Gentleman must know of the damage that is being caused by the strike to his constituents. He should be using his influence to try to persuade them to get the National Union of Mineworkers to face reality and accept the reasonable settlement to which NACODS is already a party.

Mr. Dewar

Will the Minister accept that another barrier to the settlement that we all want of the miners' strike is the distrust that has understandably arisen from the National Coal Board's handling of the dispute? May I bring the Minister back to the supplementary question that was asked originally? He will be aware that a document has been made public which shows that the NCB has plans within the next two or three years to close six or seven pits in the nort-east of England, which will reduce the number of pits in that area to a mere handful by the middle of the 1990s. Will he tell us whether there is a similar document in existence that applies to Scotland? If he does not know, will he make immediate inquiries with the NCB to establish exactly what is going on and make the earliest possible statement to the House on the information that he finds?

Mr. Stewart

I have already said that I cannot comment on matters that are the responsibility of the NCB management in Scotland. The hon. Gentleman should be asking for a ballot from the Opposition Dispatch Box. [HON. MEMBERS: "Answer".] He should be using his influence with the NUM to try to get a settlement.