HC Deb 13 March 1978 vol 946 c14W
Mr. Kenneth Clarke

asked the Secretary of State for Industry whether the Government accept as a basis for policy the opinion of the European Commission that a medium-term European Community strategy for shipbuilding is preferable to short-term national efforts to prolong the life of inefficient yards or to continue production of unwanted vessels.

Mr. Les Huckfield

The Government support the view that solutions to structural problems such as shipbuilding should be increasingly sought on a Community level—but they consider that national measures will be needed within such an approach, and rejects the view of their consequences contained in the last part of the Question.