HC Deb 03 February 1959 vol 599 cc36-7W
71. Mr. Hale

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will arrange for a selection of hon. Members of all parties to visit the Republic of Western Germany to study the means by which the production of cotton and rayon yarn in Western Germany has increased to a figure exceeding the pre-war production of East and West Germany combined during a period in which United Kingdom production has diminished by more than a half.

Mr. Vaughan-Morgan

No, and I do not think that the hon. Member is being fair to Lancashire. The decline in United Kingdom production has not been as great as stated by him, and it has been mainly due to the loss of export trade for reasons outside our control. Germany's export trade was much smaller than ours before the war.