§ Mr. Neil Thorneasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement about the tax implications of the proposed reconstructions of British Aerospace, British Airways and the National Freight Corporation.
§ Mr. LawsonI think it right that the tax arrangements should be such as to leave the successor companies in effectively the same position as if they had in the first instance been normal companies rather than statutory corporations. I therefore propose to introduce legislation to correct certain disadvantages which would otherwise arise merely because the nationalised industries do not already have the legal form of Companies Act companies.