British Leyland

HC Deb 16 July 1986 vol 101 cc994-6

12. Mr. Park

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what current talks are being held regarding the future of BL.

Mr. Peter Morrison

The chairman of the Rover group has stated publicly that he is exploring the possibilities for collaborative and other arrangements with other manufacturers.

Mr. Park

Are the Government involved in these talks, or likely to be so? If they are involved, what is the likely agenda?

Mr. Morrison

In general terms, the answer is that the Government are not involved in the talks except. as I indicated in reply to an earlier question, in relation to the sale of Leyland Bus, which will be coming up shortly, when obviously the Government will be involved with the Rover group and its recommendations.

Mr. Warren

Is it not a fact that we now have in the Rover range a super car of world class and that all hon. Members on both sides of the House should back it, as I am sure we will do? Will my hon. Friend take into account the fact that the Select Committee on Trade and Industry has recommended many times that BL, or Rover, or whatever its name is, is an entity of British enterprise that we must all support?

Mr. Morrison

I agree entirely with what my hon. Friend has said about the new Rover 800. It is a maginificent car and certainly a very nice car to travel in as a passenger. As to his remarks on the Select Committee's recommendation about the Rover group, the members of the Select Committee and I discussed the matter at length three weeks ago when I appeared before the Committee. We have varying points of view but I thought that it was an interesting and important discussion.

Mr. Campbell-Savours

Does the Minister reject the proposition that Department of Trade and Industry officials are manoeuvring the bids for Leyland Bus in favour of Lairds? May I have an assurance that Department officials are not being pressed unduly by the chief executive of the Laird group?

Mr. Morrison

In answer to the second question, the hon. Gentleman can have that assurance. As to his first question, I hope that he has sufficient respect for my right hon. Friend and me to know that we make up our own minds.

Mr. Marlow

With regard to talks with the motor industry, can my hon. Friend say when he or a member of his Department last had talks with General Motors, and what those talks were about?

Mr. Morrison

As I have stated to the House, I met Mr. Stempel of General Motors some months ago. Since then, neither my right hon. Friend nor I have met General Motors.

Mr. Hoyle

In regard to Leyland Bus, can the Minister tell us whether the Leyland board has reached a decision and whether he or the Secretary of State will make a statement to the House before the recess?

Mr. Morrison

I do not know whether the hon. Gentleman was in the House earlier when I was responding to similar questions. It may be helpful to the hon. Gentleman to tell him that I said that we had received no recommendation from the Rover group about the sale of Leyland Bus. I and my right hon. Friend have always said that we will keep the House informed about relevant developments.

Mr. Wareing

As the Government often allege that they believe in trade union rights and workers being able to make an input into their industry, and as there was a meeting recently of the work force at which it was overwhelmingly against any idea of privatisation and in particular the sale of Leyland Bus, what credence can be given to the Government's oft-spoken words in favour of allowing workers to have their rights? What rights are the workers in British Leyland to have?

Mr. Morrison

The hon. Gentleman may or may not be aware that I have met delegations from Leyland Bus and that I have visited factories in Lancashire and in Cumbria. The very points that the hon. Gentleman made have been put to me fairly and distinctly. Of course we listened to those points but we are in the business of selling the company if the right bid at the right price arises.

Mr. Roy Hughes

May I remind the Minister yet again of the wise words of Lord Stockton about selling off the family silver? Has the Minister made any assessment of the financial implications for the whole of the BL organisation because of the uncertainty about its future? Would it not be wise for the Government at this stage to decide to fight the next general election on their own record rather than attempting to buy the result by the sale of public assets and massive tax cuts stemming from those sales?

Mr. Morrison

I have no doubt at all that the next general election, so far as the Government are concerned, will be fought and won on the Government's record, part of which is a very successful privatisation policy.

Mr. John Mark Taylor

In the course of such talks as there may be, will my hon. Friend bear in mind that the best interests and the best future for the individual subsidiaries of the Rover group may be very different and may also lie over distinct time scales?

Mr. Morrison

Yes, of course I shall bear that in mind, and it is something that we shall always have at the front as opposed to at the back of our mind when we come to take the relevant decisions after recommendations have been received from the board.

Mr. John Smith

Does the Minister appreciate the deep worry and concern of the workers in Leyland Bus who have seen the orders decimated by the Government's transport policy and who now face the prospect, if the Laird group takes over, of a very small bus producer taking over Britain's largest bus producer? Does it make any sense to encourage the Laird group simply to acquire a market share? Is not the sensible thing to do to keep Leyland bus in the public sector and support it strongly, in readiness for the upturn in bus sales that will come in Britain and throughout the world?

Mr. Morrison

The right hon. and learned Gentleman is making, very forcefully, the very points that the shop stewards made to me when I visited Leyland. I am aware, as the right hon. and learned Gentleman is aware, that there is over-capacity in the bus market. I am also aware—and I think that the shop stewards agreed with me when we discussed it—that the potential in two, three or four years' time is there, because of the changing nature of the bus fleets.