HL Deb 19 February 1979 vol 398 cc1684-5WA
Lord BROCKWAY

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they intend to prevent the nationalised industries from accepting boycott requirements in their contracts or complying in other ways with the Arab boycott.

Lord GORONWY-ROBERTS

The Select Committee on the Foreign Boycotts Bill concluded that enterprises in the public sector should be free to choose for themselves whether or not to comply with the boycott in the same way as those in the private sector. The Government accept this view and the statement of the Government's position which is to be included in the new note for the guidance of firms, to which I referred in the debate (Hansard 1st February 1979 col. 429), will apply equally to companies in the public and private sectors.