29. Amendment of the Law

Part of Orders of the Day — Budget Statement – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 3 April 1963.

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Photo of Mr Albert Cooper Mr Albert Cooper , Ilford South 12:00, 3 April 1963

Take the National Health Service. I can remember people in the Labour Party telling the electors, "Of course, we brought in the National Health Service. We thought this up. We started the thing going and our estimates were first-class. We told the country when we introduced the scheme it would cost £150 million." To show how accurate were their estimates, today it costs £1,000 million. So we are told that is because of the way the wicked Tories have destroyed the National Health Scheme. This is the sort of nonsense which we get from the right hon. Gentleman and his hon. Friends day after day and month after month and that is the way in which they hope they will govern the affairs of this country—if they are given the opportunity.

The right hon. Gentleman this afternoon twitted my right hon. Friend the Chancellor with this "sudden" concession to under-developed countries and said, "Two years ago we in the Labour Party enjoined this sort of thing upon the Chancellor." One or two hon. Gentlemen, I notice, are nodding their heads sagely. I made the first speech on this subject three years ago in a Whitsun Adjournment debate, which was replied to by the then Economic Secretary to the Treasury. I am very glad to see that there are hon. Gentlemen opposite who have suddenly become converted to the idea that we ought to do something for the under-developed territories.

I compliment my right hon. Friend on his Budget which, without wishing to use exaggerated language, I think was the most imaginative Budget that we have had for many years, especially in its particularisation of areas for special tax concessions. I do not recall this being done before except with regard to individual industries such as the shipping industry, but here we have whole areas which are to be considered for special reliefs. This is a remarkable transformation in our approach to taxation, and I think that my right hon. Friend ought to be congratulated on it.

Very much of what is happening today would not have been possible had it not been for the firm approach to our economic problems which was adopted by my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Wirral (Mr. Selwyn Lloyd). There is no doubt that forcing on the country the fact that an incomes policy was essential, that some sort of development programme was vital and that we could only have increased incomes out of what we earned, brought a great deal of unpopularity to the Government. But this was, nevertheless, the right policy to pursue, and it is because we now have the situation in which the trade unions and members of the community recognise these basic facts that my right hon. Friend is able to do what he has done. We have set up N.E.D.C. and N.I.C. and I am convinced that one day the Labour Party, who criticise and laugh at this Development Council, will be forced to accept that it, or some refinement of it, is vital if we are to get together and work together to bring our country through the difficulties which face us.

I thank my right hon. Friend for his promise with regard to light oils, and here I must declare an interest. This is something for which I have been working for many years. This tax has been a great burden to the chemical industry ever since it was introduced. I assure the hon. Member for Romford (Mr. Ledger) that there are technical problems which make it difficult to deal with this in one fell swoop. These technical difficulties are concerned with the specific gravity of the material and its flashpoint.

These difficulties arose because of the way in which the tax was originally introduced, but it should be possible very quickly for the Customs and the Treasury to bring in some relief, because we have reached the farcical position that British industry, because of this tax, cannot compete in this country with imported goods. I repeat that this is a farcical situation, and my only criticism of my right hon. Friend and his predecessors is that this position has not been appreciated before now, and that action has not been taken to deal with it.

Although I understand the reasons for it, I am sorry that it has not been possible to make any concession with regard to fuel oil. I should have thought that it would have been possible to make a reduction in the tax on oil used for transport. My right hon. Friend this afternoon used the argument that he did not wish to interfere with the development of the coal industry—and, of course, everybody subscribes to that as a policy—but however much one develops the coal industry, one cannot drive buses on coal, and surely it would have been possible to have a differential tax which would have given public transport the benefit of fuel oil at a lower cost? This would have helped to lower the cost of transporting goods by road and to stabilise bus fares, without being in any way inflationary.

I come next to the question of exports, and I suppose we must recognise that in the long term the Budget will be judged by its effect on our efforts in the export trade, because only by increasing our exports can we provide the wherewithal to buy raw materials and thus increase domestic consumption. My right hon. Friend has made some useful concessions, but it is not only to tax concessions that we should look for assistance in our export trade. I am severely critical of the Board of Trade and its assistance, or, as I like to think, lack of assistance, to exporters.

There does not seem to be sufficient dynamism in the Board of Trade. I have asked many Questions on this subject, and I have never been satisfied about the general standard of ability of commercial councillors or trade commissioners who are under the control of the Foreign Office. That is not to say that the gentlemen who undertake these duties are men of below average ability. They are not, but, whether we like it or not, the fact is that the average commercial councillor or trade commissioner regards this job as the first or second step in the ladder to a diplomatic career, and I have always believed that the men for these jobs should be chosen from the higher levels of industry and paid a substantial salary to do them. They should be responsible for looking after the interests of British industry in the countries to which they are posted. They should be responsible to the ambassador or whoever is our representative there only from the point of view of discipline. Let us not be under any illusion. It is only by the development of our export trade that we shall live and prosper, and it is only by getting an adequate service from our officials overseas that British industry can be properly served.

Secondly, I am not happy about the statistics which we receive either from the Treasury or from the Board of Trade. Generally speaking, they are behind time to the extent of several months, and often industry is given information which has been so overtaken by events that wrong policies are pursued. Although I agreed with the Budget presented by my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Wirral last year, it could be said that had he had really up-to-date statistical information some of the policies which he carried through would not have been carried through, that other policies would have been produced and that we might have found ourselves in a different position towards the middle of last year. I should therefore like my right hon. Friend to consider the whole question of Government statistics, particularly in so far as they relate to industry.

I have three substantial companies in my constituency—the Plessey Company Ltd., Ilford Ltd. and Howards of Ilford Ltd. They all have great achievements to their credit in the export field. They have achieved great things in the face of the most energetic competition from companies all over the world. One of these companies is exceedingly prosperous and is doing more and more trade each year. This expansion can be carried out if management and unions work together in an effort to achieve the results which we all know can be obtained.

The future for this country is great. The indecision of the last eighteen months, arising from the Common Market discussions, is now behind us. We have to stand on our own two feet to earn our living in a hard world, and I believe that the brains and skill in this country will enable us to do that. I think that my right hon. Friend has introduced a Budget which will go down as one of the great turning points in the economic and social history of this country, and the interesting thing is that the speeches which we have heard from the other side of the Committee have been favourable to my right hon. Friend.