Orders of the Day — Highlands and Islands Industry Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 5 April 1968.

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Photo of Mr Russell Johnston Mr Russell Johnston , Inverness 12:00, 5 April 1968

It would appear that any company asking for a grant or a loan might be faced with a request from the Board for an equity shareholding.

When the hon. Member for Caithness and Sutherland introduced his Bill under the Ten Minutes Rule, he said that Parliament must consider whether the tools given to the Board to do its job were adequate. The intention of the Bill, which he said is a limited, modest intention but an important one, is to sharpen the tools and to make the Board better able to do its job. I do not think that the limitations on the Board are legal; they are financial. It is rather like an army with a great many guns but very few shells. The reason why the Board is not able to do more is not that it has not plenty of power—it has loads of power—but that, rightly or wrongly, the amount of money given to it has been limited. Service industries are referred to as if they were in some way wicked. I think this is foolish. It is particularly ironical that this should be said at the same time that it appeared that one of the reasons which provided the idea for this Bill was that a particular service industry could not be as promptly and as effectively assisted as was intended. That seemed ironical and paradoxical.

I do not oppose the Bill. I am worried and concerned about certain aspects of it. I am far from sure that it will make a big difference which the hon. Member for Caithness and Sutherland claims. I imagine that we shall have plenty of opportunity to pursue this matter in detail in Committee. Certainly it was very worth while to have a discussion of this sort of thing, although I still hold that the main problems facing the Highlands are related to the other policies the Government are pursuing, which are operating against the intention of the Board. Reference has been made to Selective Employment Tax, the Transport Bill and so on. Mr. Speaker would not allow me to continue on that line.