Textile Council (Dissolution)

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 14 December 1971.

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Photo of Mr Tom Normanton Mr Tom Normanton , Cheadle 12:00, 14 December 1971

It would be churlish were anything that came from this debate to be construed as a graveside homily or an epitaph, but it is essential that certain things should be said, on this last occasion when views can be recorded, of the past experience of the Textile Council and its predecessor the Cotton Board.

I regard it as a great privilege to be able to express views on this subject in my capacity as the President of the British Textile Employers' Association, a body which, like its predecessor and its counterpart on the trade union side, has at quinquennial reviews been consulted by Governments on every occasion as to the usefulness of the Textile Council or the Cotton Board and as to the desirability of the organisation's further extension for another five years.

Clearly, the Textile Council has run its natural course and it is therefore logical that the Government of the day should, on hearing from all parties consulted, accede to the view of the industry —trade unions, employers and independents alike—that the Textile Council should be brought to an end. In doing so, the services of certain individuals should be placed on record. I am sure the House would include on that list the names of Sir Raymond Streat, Lord Rochdale, Sir Frank Rostron and the present Chairman of the Textile Council, Sir James Steel, all of whom. under conditions which varied considerably over the 24 years of the life of the Textile Council, have fulfilled a great rôle for which the industry is deeply indebted to them.

As spokesman for the employers' side, I also wish to pay my tribute to the part played throughout this long period by the trade union members. They have acted in a statesmanlike manner and they are to be strongly commended and honoured for their rôle.

The industry has gone through years of great trials and tribulations. Perhaps in these conditions it would not be surprising for the ranks to be closed but, even though we have our arguments and discussions, at the end of the day the contributions by the trade union members of the Textile Council and its predecessor the Cotton Board have always been mature and statesmanlike. I only wish this sort of attitude towards industrial collaboration had been reflected on a wider national plane, because industry would be the richer for it and certainly the country's economy would be more prosperous.

My hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State said he hoped that there would not be a void when the Textile Council was wound up. I assure him there will not be a void because of the collaboration between the two sides which has characterised the activities of the Textile Council and which is to be perpetuated in the two new organisations. One organisation will be restricted solely and exclusively to the industrial sector for which the Textile Council has for so long been responsible. I refer to the Cotton and Allied Textile Industry Joint Committee. This is made up equally by trade union leaders and employers under the chairmanship of Mr. Henniker Heaton, who for many years has played an active part in this industry.

Secondly—and far more importantly—the experience of our industry on the western side of the Pennine chain has at last rubbed off in the willingness of the woollen industry and the man-made fibre producers' section of the textile industry to recognise the importance of collaboration at a national level. It will be welcome news that within some five or six weeks a British Textile Confederation will be formally constituted. Perhaps there will then be an opportunity to discuss, or to make known to industry as a whole, the basic thinking which has underlain the establishment of the body which will cover the whole of this great industry. It must be remembered that the textile industry is the third, if not the fourth, largest single major industry in the country.

It should be noted that the Textile Council has made available considerable sums of money to the British Textile Confederation and those institutions which will continue after the demise of the Textile Council, including the Shirley Institute, the reputation of which has spread far beyond our own shores. The statistical services, which have been invaluable in the past to both industry and Government, will be continued but strictly on a voluntary basis. The productivity centre, which has played a valuable role, is to be expanded and will have the full collaboration of our trade union colleagues.

I am certain that the example set in the past by the Textile Council and by the Cotton Board will in the new climate of textiles nationally be a great encouragement and a first-class foundation on which the new voluntary formation of the British Textile Council will be based.