§ Sir R. Glynasked the Minister of Fuel and Power whether he has considered the details of a case heard at the Central Criminal Court on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd February last, when certain charges were made against three commercial firms engaged in the manufacture and sale of fuel economisers; and whether, in view of certain facts that were disclosed in evidence, he will now order a full public inquiry into all the circumstances connected with this matter.
Major Lloyd GeorģeThe answer to the first part of the Question is, "Yes," and to the second, "No." The device which was the subject of the cases in question received most careful and prolonged consideration by my Fuel Efficiency Committee, which consists of highly qualified experts. This Committee unanimously advised me that they were quite unable to accept the claims made for it by its sponsors. In view of the publicity accorded in certain newspapers to the charges made by Mr. Shelley, K.C., in the course of his evidence for the defence, against Dr. Macfarlane, Director of Fuel Efficiency in my Department, and against members of my Fuel Efficiency Committee, I feel it my duty to point out that those charges were investigated under my direction and I am satisfied that they are completely untrue. One of the three defendant companies had never associated themselves with Mr. Shelley's accusations, and the other two dissociated themselves entirely from the accusations before their pleas of guilty were accepted. Mr. Shelley could not therefore be cross-examined on the accusations, and my right hon. Friend, the Attorney-General, stated in court that if it had been relevant to go into the charges he was satisfied that he could have offered evidence which would have completely disposed of them.