§ 3.20 p.m.
§ LORD SHACKLETONMy Lords, with permission, I should like to acquaint the House with the present position in relation to the talks with the Prime Minister of Malta about the Malta Dockyard which were concluded last Sunday. These talks were essentially concerned with the financial help which the Malta Government sought in respect of certain proposals which Dr. Borg Olivier will be making to the Malta Parliament in the next few days. These proposals will have the effect of ensuring the continued operation of the Dockyard and will enable it to be developed for the benefit of the Maltese people and for fill who work in the Dockyard. This is of the utmost importance for Malta and, I believe, for relations between our two countries.
The House will understand that until the proposals of the Malta Government have been made public in Malta it is not possible for me to make any detailed statement on this subject. I thought it right, however, to inform Parliament that the talks last week about the contribution which the British Government could make to a settlement of this problem were entirely successful. I hope to be able to give the House the details in a further Statement before the Easter Recess.
EARL JELLICOEMy Lords, I should like to thank the noble Lord for making this Statement and making it in your Lordships' House, and to congratulate him on this agreement. At least I am virtually certain that I should be congratulating him, although until we know the details of the settlement it is of course difficult to comment on it. In any event, 1239 I am sure that your Lordships admire the strenuous efforts which the noble Lord the Leader of the House, not for the first time, has deployed in extremely difficult international negotiations, and this time I think the diplomatic talents of the noble Lord have been employed to an end which commands wider assent in this country than last time. We all gladly acknowledge our great debt to Malta and its people, and many of us feel that hitherto that debt has not been adequately discharged. Knowing the importance, as I do, of the Malta Dockyard to Malta, and subject to more knowledge of the facts of the settlement, I am sure that I am speaking for my noble friends when I say that we are very glad that it has been possible to reach this settlement.
§ LORD BYERSMy Lords, I should like to add my thanks to the noble Lord for making this Statement in the first instance in this House, and to congratulate him very sincerely indeed on what we believe he has achieved in these negotiations. I hope that it may give a stability to the Dockyard which will inspire the confidence of the potential users of the Dockyard and help the economy of Malta in a very big way. The noble Lord will then be able to take great credit for what he has achieved.
§ LORD BROCKWAYMy Lords, joining in the congratulations to my noble friend, may I ask him whether, in these negotiations, any estimate has been made about the degree of unemployment which there will be in the docks, and of any alternative development in Malta which will provide for those who become unemployed?
§ LORD SHACKLETONMy Lords, I am most grateful to all three noble Lords—to the noble Earl, Lord Jellicoe, and the noble Lord, Lord Byers, especially—for their kind remarks. I would echo what the noble Earl said in regard to the feelings that we in this country have for Malta. This is a feeling which I strongly share, and despite the somewhat arduous nature of the negotiations my affection and admiration is certainly in no way diminished. I very much regret not being able to give the House much information at this stage. Your Lordships will appreciate that this is very much the responsibility of the Malta Government. There 1240 is always the possibility of legislation in Malta, and it would therefore be wrong to go into details. Any picture I could give at this moment of our contribution would be incomplete without the whole details.
I may tell the noble Lord, Lord Byers, who I realise has recently established a degree of residential status in Malta, that his prospects will also be excellent in the future. All noble Lords are of course concerned about the possibility of the solution of this problem. Let us not minimise the fact that difficulties do lie ahead, and not least in the Dockyard itself, but on the wider question of employment it is not for me now, or indeed for the British Government, to comment on the prospects actually within the Dockyard beyond saying that we hope that, with efficient management—it is a very fine dockyard indeed—it will become more prosperous. But of course the British Government have taken a number of steps—for example, the appointment of the Robens Mission—to assist the Malta Government in regard to diversification and other activities. This is part of a wider problem, one that is also associated with the run-down. So I fear that, without going into it at greater length, I can give no answer to my noble friend Lord Brockway beyond saying that while in the wider context of run-down his remarks are very relevant, we are hopeful that there, too, good progress will be made.