Mr. DUNCANasked the Prime Minister whether his attention has been called to the suggestion that a national conference, representative of employers and trade unions and Government Departments, should be called for the purpose of discussing the possibility of establishing machinery by which dislocation in industry due to industrial disputes may be reduced to a minimum; whether the Government will favourably consider the calling of such a conference in view of the national necessity for industrial peace, especially during the reconstruction period; and whether, in the event of the conference being convened by the employers and trade unions, the various Government Departments concerned will send representatives with a view to the State co-operating, if possible, in any scheme there decided upon?
§ Mr. G. ROBERTSThe Government is giving very serious attention to the question of industrial peace during the reconstruction period, and my hon. Friend's suggestion will certainly receive every consideration; but I am not in a position to make a further statement at present.