§ 17. Mr. AdleyTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what factors he considers to be essential in enabling commerce and industry to function efficiently.
§ Mr. ForthCommerce and industry will function most efficiently in an economy where inflation is under control, markets are open, and individual enterprise is encouraged and rewarded. The overriding aim of the Department's policy is to create such a climate.
§ Mr. AdleyIs my hon. Friend aware that there will be marginal disappointment that he did not mention transport? Does he agree that first-class transport links with the regions are of the highest priority if commerce and industry is to succeed? Does he further agree that the opening of the Channel tunnel presents a tremendous opportunity to industrialists, particularly in the distant regions, and that the provision of first-class rail facilities to the west and north-west, and to Scotland, are also of the highest priority? The proposals in a recent booklet, "Tunnel Vision", published by the Conservative Political Centre can be commended to his Department. Will he please read it, and then discuss its proposals with his right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport?
§ Mr. ForthI seem to recall that my hon. Friend kindly gave me a copy of the booklet to which he refers, which I read with interest and enthusiasm. It was probably one of the most excellent booklets that I can recall emanating from the Conservative Political Centre.
While I acknowledge my hon. Friend's involvement and his enthusiasm for the infrastructure. I hope that he will accept that investment in railways has been running at a high level and continues to do so. My colleagues in the Department of Transport have turned down no railway investment projects since 1979. I believe that the plans for the connections with the Channel tunnel are in excellent hands with British Rail, and—supported by my hon. Friend, as I know that they are—I am sure that they will be turned out correctly, in the right form and at the right time.
§ Mr. SkinnerThe Minister said earlier that there should be no interference with the free flow of market forces if industries are to function effectively. One of his colleagues has said the opposite: he believes in grants being allowed to various firms.
May I make a suggestion? Will the Minister tell hon. Members who do not want the grants in their constituencies to hand them over to the areas—especially Labour areas—where people can be encouraged to take intermediate grants, such as Bradford, Bolsover and Bassetlaw? If Conservative Members do not want the grants, we will have them.
§ Mr. ForthThe essential difference between the hon. Gentleman's approach and ours is that under his party's Government, money was thrown indiscriminately at areas and companies that often did not need it. The present Government, however, have targeted available resources accurately and have achieved a much better result for it. Successive elections have shown that the people of this country well understand that the approach taken by the hon. Gentleman's party was a failure, and that the approach taken by my party is a success.