Orders of the Day — Motion of Censure

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 2 August 1965.

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Photo of Mr James Callaghan Mr James Callaghan The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Member, Labour Party National Executive Committee 12:00, 2 August 1965

I should like to cut this expenditure faster than we are doing. I believe that it would be possible to do it without undue—well, it would do damage and one must weigh the damage which it would do against the benefits which would be incurred.

But I can give my hon. Friend an affirmative answer. The programme on which I am working both in relation to the balance of payments and to internal expenditure—and I present it as honestly as I can—will enable us to get into balance of payments equilibrium by the end of 1966—not over the whole year, but by the end of 1966—and will, I believe, enable us to finance the other aspects of Government policy which are necessary and which I have outlined from now until 1970.

Clearly, if it were possible to go faster in this direction, my hon. Friend may take it that the Government would be ready immediately so to do, down to the level at which proper safety can be maintained. I can assure my hon. Friend of this: we are all pressing in this direction as hard and as fast as we can to ensure the maximum saving in the minimum amount of time.

I said earlier that I did not believe that just pulling the financial levers in Whitehall would make our position come absolutely right. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister will deal tonight with some of the long-term measures which are necessary. I fear that I have detained the House rather long, but I say, in passing, that I am quite certain that the production of the proposed national plan, with the opportunities which it will give for scrutiny, for criticism and for various industries to match their potential against what the plan forecasts, will give this country a sketch map for the future. I believe that this is important.

I agree with the Leader of the Opposition at this point. It is not good enough for the people to go through these eternal, recurring crises in which growth and expansion are slowed down and we are unable to sustain the rate of growth which I believe this country is entitled to and should get. That is why I place so much importance on the plan and on the basic reconstruction—the clearing away of restrictive practices, the changing balance of some of our industries, the human effects involved. These things are of the greatest importance.

So I may say, in conclusion, is the prices and incomes policy which I believe is essential, which the Tory Party election manifesto said was essential and which, I hope, the Leader of the Opposition believes is still essential. I regret very much that he used terms this afternoon to characterise it which can only be described as slighting. They were not calculated to encourage the efforts which everybody must make if we are to get a prices and incomes policy which will avoid deflation and unemployment.

I hope that it will be agreed that I have avoided much reference to the last 13 years, but they have been very present in my mind, as they always are. We can at least say that the Government—[Interruption.] It is all very well to be bold in opposition. It should be much easier for a party with a majority of 100 to be bold when it is in power. We have a majority of three. [HON. MEMBERS: "Is it three?".] I hope that it is theoretically three, anyway.

I remember how the Opposition dodged the problem of the liner trains, pushed it away under the rug, failed to tell the country what was happening—[HON. MEMBERS: "No."] Yes; hon. Members opposite know it. They failed to tell the country what the position was about the B.B.C. licence fees, failed to deal with the postal charges, failed to achieve a fuel policy. These are things which can be dealt with much more easily by a Government with a majority of 100 than by a Government with a majority of three. I am glad that we are having the courage to do these things.

I believe that the Opposition, through their failures when they were the Government, were culpable in landing the nation in the situation with which we were confronted when we came to power. The Leader of the Opposition was less than candid with the people when he was President of the Board of Trade. I have read all his speeches on this subject, particularly the speech which he made at Greenwich on 3rd September, 1964, when he dealt with what he called the 10 major election issues—five at home and five away—up-to-date factories, regional development, N.A.T.O., East-West relations, and the rest. He outlined the 10 major problems which we had to face—and he did not even mention the balance of payments, not once. We were then facing the biggest deficit which this country has had. [Interruption.] Does the right hon. Gentleman wish to contradict that?