HL Deb 22 February 1984 vol 448 cc777-9

3.41 p.m.

Baroness Young

My Lords, with the leave of the House, I will now repeat the Answer which has just been give in another place to a Private Notice Question on the French lorry drivers' dispute:

"Consular assistance is being provided to those in need. Consular officials have been touring the main areas of disruption contacting groups they know to be stranded. They are providing cash, against the usual undertakings, where this is needed. Local inhabitants and French authorities have also been offering shelter and food. We have made our concern for the safety and welfare of British lorry drivers and other travellers very clear to the French Government both in Paris and to the French Ambassador here."

Lord Underhill

My Lords, the House will be grateful to the noble Baroness for repeating the Answer given in another place. While appreciating the activity now taking place from the British consulate one must ask why there is this delay. The noble Baroness will undoubtedly have heard on the radio appalling reports of some lorry drivers having been stranded for eight days without any contact at all from any United Kingdom representative. I must ask why there is this delay. I wonder whether The noble Baroness can amplify on the question of assistance, because I heard on the radio one lorry driver who complained of shortage of food, of the difficulty in getting diesel oil replacements (because they need to keep the engines going to keep themselves warm); and I must ask: what arrangements will be made for possible relief crews, and for the security of the vehicles if the crews have to leave them and they are stranded for from six to eight days?

While we, naturally, do not wish to be involved in a French industrial dispute, it would appear that one of the basic arguments concerns frontier formalities. Therefore, what immediate action are the Government going to take at international level because of the frontier formalities? Also, what action will be taken in the long run to ensure that frontier formalities are eased out? Furthermore, if the industrial dispute involves a question of hours and periods of duty, does this not confirm the importance of the review being undertaken by your Lordships' EC Committee F into the whole question of driving and social conditions?

Lord Diamond

My Lords, we, too, are grateful to the noble Baroness for repeating the Answer to that Private Notice Question. Our anxieties are the same as those that have been expressed already. The Government should do not only what they have done but more than they have done, and more quickly, to come to the assistance of those in great need. I would not wish to delay the House with any other point.

Baroness Young

My Lords, I appreciate the concern which has been expressed by both the noble Lord, Lord Underhill, and the noble Lord, Lord Diamond, on this matter. I should like to confirm that the British Government have made their concern for the safety and welfare of British lorry drivers and other travellers very clear to the French Government, both in Paris and to the French ambassador here. We had a broadcast on the BBC by our Consul-General in Lyons yesterday and again today, and my honourable friend Mr. Whitney went on the "World at One" programme to explain the situation. We have been assured by the French Government that it is doing everything possible on the political front to resolve the situation.

As to the practical help that has been offered, I should like to make it clear that consular officials have been providing money where that has been required, against undertakings to repay. They have been giving other help when they can; for example, in supplying emergency transport. I understand that there was particular difficulty at Mont Blanc, where there are 500 British lorry drivers in the area of the French-Italian border. We expect that consular officials will get through to Chamonix today but they, too, have been hampered by the blockade. The advice that we are giving to those who are stranded is that they should try to contact consular officials in the area or to telephone to the nearest consulate. I should confirm that we have extra staff standing by in Paris to go to the area if necessary.

Lord Kaldor

My Lords, I realise that the noble Baroness is hardly answerable for the action, or rather inaction, of the French Government. Nevertheless, I should be very interested in her views as to whether a similar situation could arise in this country. I should have thought that if British lorry drivers blocked the Queen's highway the police would come and forcefully remove the drivers, then move the lorries, and that they would not tolerate a situation where the roads are blocked for days by a limited number of lorry drivers.

Baroness Young

My Lords, I do not intend to speculate on the proposition that the noble Lord, Lord Kaldor, has put up. We do not anticipate such a situation in this country.

Lord Gladwyn

My Lords, would it not be necessary for us, if things go on like this much longer near Chamonix, to ask the French Government to supply helicopters to evacuate what seems to me to be almost the equivalent of shipwrecked mariners on the roads which are totally blocked by lorries?

Baroness Young

My Lords, obviously, we are watching the situation most carefully, even if it is not necessary to go to the extent that the noble Lord, Lord Gladwyn, has suggested. If the situation should get worse, we should have to consider whether there was anything further we could do.

Lord Hankey

My Lords, having just come back from that area and having seen the hundreds of lorries stepped two deep all the way along the roads on the other side of the Alps, bearing in mind that the difficulty has originated with the Italian Customs officers who feel that they are overworked, and in view of the enormous interference with European trade that is going on, may I ask the Government whether there are any means of getting the Common Market to do something about it?

Baroness Young

My Lords, I should imagine that all countries in the European Community are equally as affected by this strike as we are in Great Britain and no doubt are making their representations just as forcefully.

Lord Maude of Stratford-upon-Avon

My Lords, since it appears now that in France militant pressure groups are able to bring normal trade and passenger and freight traffic to a standstill, sometimes not without violence, and since this is clearly in restraint of trade, is not this (as the noble Lord has suggested) clearly a matter which should be taken up by the European Community authorities?

Baroness Young

My Lords, I note what my noble friend Lord Maude has to say on this. It may well be that if it persists, this is what will happen.