The Wytch Farm Project (Hansard, 16 July 1981)

§ Lord Beswick
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

The Minister of State, Department of Employment (The Earl of Gowrie)
; My Lords, the Government's decision to require the corporation to dispose of their interest in the Wytch Farm licence after very careful consideration of their representations, is entirely consistent with their general policy objectives. These are to reduce the size of the public sector wherever possible 1375 by transferring to the private sector activities which could equally well be performed there, and to reduce the size of the public sector borrowing requirement.

§ Lord Beswick
My Lords, may I thank the noble Earl for that Answer, which he will not expect me to find very convincing. May I ask the noble Earl two further questions? Would he not agree that the Wytch Farm development was an outstanding example of precisely those qualities of initiative and enterprise for which the Prime Minister has called? Does he not also understand that the decision to sell off that project, so far as British Gas is concerned, is an affront or an insult to the dedicated public servants in British Gas who are responsible for it?

The Earl of Gowrie
My Lords, I have very high regard for the British Gas Corporation. But my view is that its main responsibility should be to supply gas, which it does very effectively. I see no reason why such a public utility should be a major holder of capital in our economy.

§ The Earl of Lauderdale
My Lords, would my noble friend not agree that this has the enormous advantage of relieving State capital overburden and replacing it by private capital and also spreading the glories of private capitalism?

The Earl of Gowrie
My Lords, I agree with my noble friend that British private capital is no less British than a British public asset.

§ Lord Mackie of Benshie
My Lords, is this not a case where private money put into this established project will not be available for new enterprises which we so badly need?

The Earl of Gowrie
My Lords, I find that an extraordinary comment. Up to about £50 billion every year is invested out of the capital markets of the United Kingdom and there is plenty of United Kingdom capital for such assets of which this is one.

Viscount St. Davids
My Lords, would the noble Earl not agree that Lord Beswick's remarks about an insult to the people who have developed this very valuable capital asset would only be an insult if this property was not sold off for a proper commercial price? I am sure that the noble Earl will tell the House that it will be sold off for a proper commercial price. Will he do so?

The Earl of Gowrie
My Lords, it is obviously for the British Gas Corporation itself to conduct the sale; but, in every other respect, I agree with the noble Viscount.

§ Lord Jacques
My Lords, have we reached the stage when a public body, if not successful, is damned; but if it is successful, it has to sell out?

The Earl of Gowrie
My Lords, I do not accept the argument of the noble Lord at all. This is a very successful and very well managed public utility corporation to which I am delighted to pay tribute. 1376 But there is no reason in logic or in any theory that I can see that it should simultaneously be a major holder of a capital asset of this kind.

§ Baroness Burton of Coventry
My Lords, may I ask the Minister why, if he has such a high regard for the British Gas Corporation's activities, he has chosen to ignore their advice in the selling of the gas showrooms to private enterprise?

The Earl of Gowrie
That is another issue. It is a contiguous issue. There is no reason why the fact that a company or corporation is successful at something that it should enjoy a continuous monopoly in that field.

§ The Earl of Lauderdale
My Lords, would my noble friend not agree that the term "selling out" is quite inappropriate? We should be talking about public participation in national wealth.

The Earl of Gowrie
My Lords, I am very grateful to my noble friend who has put the point that I was seeking to make rather more graphically.

§ Lord Beswick
My Lords, may I ask the noble Earl to consider a further point? Do the Government not realise that instead of creating an atmosphere in which we can consider how to make the role of the public sector more effective, this kind of vendetta is going to make it absolutely inevitable that we shall get an equal and opposite reaction? We shall get an alternative Government sooner rather than later which will nationalise for the sake of nationalising.

The Earl of Gowrie
My Lords, I would think that that would have been considerably later, and by then it will be too late.

The Earl of Selkirk
My Lords, could the noble Earl ensure that the same high standard is maintained regarding the environment of Wytch Farm which is an extremely beautiful part of the country?

The Earl of Gowrie
My Lords, I enjoy the good fortune to have friends with whom I stay at the weekend from time to time overlooking Wytch Farm so I have a personal interest of that kind. It is one of the most beautiful parts of Dorset. It has been well guarded so far and I shall see that that continues.

§ Lord Briginshaw
My Lords, would the noble Earl the Minister, on further consideration and in the light of all the efficiencies of the corporation in developing the project, consider that it is against the short-term, long-term and national interests to carry through this sale?

The Earl of Gowrie
My Lords, for the reason I gave earlier, I do not think that is so. As the noble Lord, Lord Lever, reminded us in his maiden speech in this House from the Benches opposite, there is no shortage of national capital in this economy. There is something of a shortage of profitable ventures into which that should go, which is one of the reasons why we have very large-scale overseas investment. This is a profitable investment and British capital will flow into it.