Clause 3. — (Charge of Temporary Customs Duty.)

Part of Orders of the Day — Finance Bill – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 1 December 1964.

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Photo of Mr Edward Redhead Mr Edward Redhead , Walthamstow West 12:00, 1 December 1964

The hon. Gentleman has only repeated what he said before, and I in my turn want to repeat that to suggest that the measure of concern which may well exist about this import surcharge can be correctly assessed as meaning that confidence in this country has been completely shattered is indeed a gross exaggeration.

It has been my privilege and opportunity in these last few weeks to meet not only Ministers of some overseas Governments who have been here to talk about this matter but the representatives of many industrialists, manufacturers and exporters from those countries, and while I do not pretend for a moment that they have not perfectly natural anxieties about the matter—anxieties which we fully appreciate—I have found that, on the whole, they are exceedingly understanding about the situation, that they are still well-disposed towards this country, and quite a number of them have been ready to admit, when the situation and the purpose of this has been explained to them, that they might well have found themselves in a comparable situation if they had faced the same facts. Indeed, the most impressive thing in the minds of most of us is something which I think we must all bear in mind, that whatever may be the transient hurt or the irksomeness of this measure, either to our own people or to our overseas friends, in the long run it would be a greater hurt if the situation which gave rise to this measure were not remedied and healed as quickly as may be.

I submit that the real source of harm and damage to our economy, and whatever harm or doubts there may be overseas, lies in the situation which was inherited by this Government, and not in the admittedly unpalatable medicine which has had to be applied, for when an ailment is ignored and neglected, and neglected for a long time, there is always the tendency for the development of an acute disease, and, in consequence, the application of the requisite medicine and surgery is often very unpleasant and very unpalatable.

The right hon. Gentleman clearly stated the effect of the Amendment. I am bound to say, however, that I was not persuaded by his solicitous desire to help the Government. I wish that I could believe that, but he does no service to the Government or, indeed, to the country by placing, as he and some of his hon. Friends did, such unwarranted emphasis on the protectionist character of this import surcharge. This can only be calculated to excite suspicion, where suspicion is now being allayed, that fundamentally this does lie at the root of this measure. It has been said time and again, and I repeat it now, that such is not the purpose of this measure, and that all the actions of the Government in the future in this regard will be directed to making it abundantly clear that that is not its purpose.

As I understand it, the Amendment seeks to put a term to the import charge—I hope that the right hon. Gentleman will accept this—to give a closer definition than he found in the Bill to the expression "temporary" which has so far been used in this connection. There is one very surprising thing about the whole of this debate. Not one hon. Member who has spoken has taken note of the fact that subsections (11) and (12) do not in themselves determine the duration of the charge. They merely determine the duration of the powers to impose the charge, and it is necessary, therefore, not merely to take account of the dates mentioned in those two subsections but to take account of subsection (9), too.

The right hon. Gentleman asked for some indication of the Government's intentions. I can only repeat—and this is a genuine expression of intention—that the Government will not keep this surcharge on for one moment longer than is necessary, for one moment beyond the period when the balance of payments position has so improved as to make it possible to remove or to abate the charge.

It is for that reason, therefore, that while the Bill provides the power to impose that charge—and that power will lapse in November, 1965, unless renewed by an Order in a year's time, subject to the approval of the House of Commons in draft—under subsection (9) there is a power to reduce the coverage of the scheme and/or the rate of the charge so that the incidence of the scheme can be lightened or the charge abolished by Order at any time.