§ Dr. Jeremy Bray (Motherwell, South)I beg to ask leave to move the Adjournment of the House, under Standing Order No. 20, for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration, namely,
the closure of Ravenscraig.I have to do so following the totally inadequate and insubstantial statement of the Secretary of State.The matter is specific, in that it relates to the closure of one of the five major integrated steel works and to the strategy that the House has often called upon British Steel to explain. It is important not only to the steel workers and the people of Motherwell but to Scotland and to the future industrial development of the United Kingdom. It is also important to the House in that, at many times and in many ways, through Select Committees, at Question Time, in debate and in the motion passed by the House on 21 May 1990, the House has called upon British Steel to explain and defend its decision and the House has been ignored. British Steel has made no statement on the latest closure announcement; it has answered no questions beyond the bald announcement last Wednesday.
Finally, the matter is urgent because, in statements by Ministers in the House in 1987, British Steel undertook to offer the works for sale to another operator if it wished to close them. There is little time between a possible general election as late as July and the closure date in September for the complex and difficult investigations and negotiations required. Conditions do not yet exist in which those investigations can take place.
§ Mr. SpeakerThe hon. Member for Motherwell, South (Dr. Bray) asked leave to move the Adjournment of the House, to discuss a specific and important matter namely,
the closure of Ravenscraig, and the consequences for the economy of Lanarkshire and of Scotland.Again, of course, I have listened with concern to what he said about the matter, as I listened to the answers and questions during the private notice question. I regret that I cannot submit his application to the House today and therefore cannot allow the debate.