§ 19. Mr. MacShaneTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he has any plans to visit the steel industry in Rotherham to discuss the impact of subsidies to other EC steel industries.
§ Mr. SainsburyMy right hon. Friend has no immediate plans to visit the steel industry in Rotherham.
§ Mr. MacShaneIf the President of the Board of Trade were to visit any of the steel plants in Rotherham, he would find a strong sense of partnership and co-operation between trade unions and managers, contributing to the success of the British steel industry. Does the Minister agree that the 316 demotion of the Chief Secretary to the Treasury—the most anti-partnership and right-wing Minister in the Cabinet —to the Department of Employment shows that the partnership policies needed to make British industry a success have no chance at all until the next election?
§ Mr. SainsburyIf the hon. Gentleman were to visit any section of British industry, he would find now a much greater sense of partnership between management and work force; they are not two sides, but one side of industry. That is, of course, a result of the reforms of industrial relations introduced by this Government, which were consistently opposed by the Labour party, which the hon. Gentleman supports. Those reforms have contributed substantially to the increase in productivity and to the improvement in the performance of British industry of which we should all be proud, rather than constantly denigrating it as the Labour party does.