Orders of the Day — Fuel and Power

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 29 March 1950.

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Photo of Mr Alfred Robens Mr Alfred Robens , Blyth 12:00, 29 March 1950

The right hon. Member for King's Norton spoke about refinery delays; that was an interesting view coming from him. It is only while there has been a Labour Government in power that we have ever built any refineries in this country. [HON. MEMBERS: "Oh!"] There has not really been undue delay. In a small country like this, when embarking on a very big refinery programme, one simply cannot dump refineries in any old place. There are many considerations to bear in mind. There have to be places with deep water anchorages, and it is important to look at these matters closely.

This point was mentioned by the hon. Member for Kidderminster (Mr. Nabarro). When we dig up part of somebody's constituency for open-cast coal, he complains that agricultural land is being ruined, although it is restored; but presumably, according to his hon. Friends, we can go in and take 500 or 800 acres of agricultural land and dump a refinery there without any question at all. That seems to me a nonsensical way of looking at the matter. We must consider agricultural interests. We must bear in mind strategical considerations, and it takes time to decide exactly where a refinery should be placed. There is also the question of the availability of labour for the construction of the refinery and its operation. If it is to be built away from a populated area, there is the question of housing and services, schools and things of that character. These are big installations, and a good deal of thought and consideration must be given to them.

That we have done, and we are going ahead with a big refinery programme. It is much bigger than anything the Tories thought about for this country. As far as Fawley is concerned, the work started on the site in June, 1949. It was originally planned for completion in December, 1952. It is 12 months ahead of schedule and will be finished in December, 1951. That will have an output of 5,500,000 tons. Stanlow was started in April, 1948, and it will be finished in 1951. Shell Haven was started in 1948, and it will be finished in 1951. Llandarcy was started in 1948 and will be completed in the autumn of 1953. Grangemouth was started in January, 1949, and will be completed in mid-1953. There will be a total of refinery capacity of 14.7 million tons in these refineries which I have just enumerated.

I do not propose to say much about Haifa, except that—[Laughter.] I do not know that that is very funny; I see nothing funny about it. The countries concerned are both sovereign countries, and they have the right to please themselves in these matters. His Majesty's Government would like Haifa re-opened, and representations have been made from time to time, as the Foreign Secretary has said in this House. Beyond that, there is nothing more to say about Haifa. [Interruption.] Indeed, there is not. We regret very much that it is not re-opened, and we hope that, as the months go by and things reach a more placid state, we shall get Haifa re-opened, but certainly we can do not more than request the Governments concerned to agree to the re-opening of Haifa by allowing the oil to come through the pipeline or by tanker through the Suez Canal.

I apologise to the House for spending so much time on oil, but it really is important that the facts should be given. There is little time left to deal with a good many of the matters in relation to coal which were raised in the Debate. I listened to this Debate with great attention, as I have done to all the other Debates, and I listened once more to the same old story from hon. and right hon. Gentlemen opposite. The right hon. Gentleman the Member for Southport (Mr. R. S. Hudson) got very confused about the E.C.A. figures for 1947. May I tell him briefly that they were merely the estimates of the importing countries, which grossly over-estimated their requirements, as I should be able to prove to him if I had more time. Therefore, there is no question at all of having to export more in those years. It is not necessary, but it may be of interest to the right hon. Gentleman to know that the Americans, who were due to import 14 million tons this year into Europe, will only import one million tons, so completely and grossly exaggerated were the original estimates.

Great play has been made on the subject of dirty coal, and my right hon. Friend did not deny that dirty coal did exist. At no time have we denied it, nor have the Coal Board denied it, but the fact is that the Coal Board have taken every step that they can, with the physical limitations of material and labour and everything else, to improve this position. It may be that we have got dirt in the coal, but there is one other thing, and that is that we have washed the blood off the coal which, during the time when hon Gentlemen opposite and their friends were running the coal industry, was the usual feature in regard to this industry. What has been done in the building up of welfare and safety has been truly re-