Fuel and Power (Policy)

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 6 February 1959.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Sir Gerald Nabarro Sir Gerald Nabarro , Kidderminster 12:00, 6 February 1959

I beg to move, in line 1, to leave out from "House" to the end of the Question and to add instead thereof: having taken account of the present fall in the demand for coal in this country, the high level of coal stocks, and the decline in coal exports, endorses Her Majesty's Government's policy for the fuel and power industries of this country. I am indebted, as always, to the hon. Member for Houghton-le-Spring (Mr. Blyton), for giving us the opportunity of debating fuel and power policy, which is not only a captivating topic of wide interest in this House and the country but is also one which has substantial financial implications within our national economy. I pause at the outset to respond to one sentence in the hon. Member's speech which I thought was exaggerated and unfair, and far below the standard of the remainder of his speech. He said "that the Government had declared war on coal."

That is manifest nonsense. The degree of support that Her Majesty's Conservative Administrations have given the nationalised coal industry is best illustrated by the figures authorised by successive Conservative Ministers of Fuel and Power—and latterly Ministers of Power—for annual capital investment by the Board. There is no better means of demonstrating the degree of support given by Conservative Governments. In the last year of Socialist Government, 1951, the extent of the investment authorised was £32 million. In 1958, authorised investment was £104 million. That figure is three-and-a-quarter times as large as the 1951 figure, and, even allowing for declined money values, it is still two and a half times as great in real terms.