Orders of the Day — British Leyland Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 21 May 1975.

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Photo of Mr Raymond Carter Mr Raymond Carter , Birmingham, Northfield 12:00, 21 May 1975

It will be a business that is independently run. I believe that with the co-operation of everybody in the company success could be achieved. They will have the resources to do the job—resouces which they have not had in the past. Let me quote from page 29 of the Ryder Report: In the automotive industry, most machinery is replaced after 8–12 years. In British Leyland more than half the machines and equipment are over 15 years old. That is the state of British Leyland, a company which is Great Britain's principal export earner. That is a desperate state of affairs and we must do something about the situation. There may be controversy over how we should set about the problem, but the Ryder Report and the Government's intention to implement it offer a method by which we can get to grips with it.

The important consideration of investment is not the only weak factor in the situation. I know the company well and the people in it, and I also have a good deal of knowledge of its industrial relations. Certainly management leaves a lot to be desired. The Ryder Report was critical of industrial relations in every sector of the car industry, not only in the United Kingdom but throughout the world. Its industrial relations are not a mess but, compared with other industries, those relations are extremely bad. I repre-an area of the industry where the industrial relations are good. But in other areas of British Leyland, such as Cowley, the industrial relations are bad. Clearly we must do something about the situation. The overriding factor in the British Leyland story is the inability of the company to command sufficient resources to build modern plant and to create good conditions of employment to allow the employees to go about their job of producing motor cars—which is not a pleasant job—in the best of all possible ways.

In regard to past management of British Leyland, I have always had the greatest co-operation from its members when I have tried to represent industrial fears. Although John Barber has left the company, I must point out that my personal relations with him have always been of the best and I have found him an extremely kind and courteous man. He has always given me the information that I wanted. Although he fell foul of the report, I sincerely hope that he manages to find employment in other directions. Certainly Mr. Barber should not carry the entire blame for what went wrong with British Leyland.

The Ryder report offers a complete break with the past. The amounts to be invested will be greater than those invested in the past. A reorganisation will undoubtedly have to take place on a massive scale. Undoubtedly there must be an improvement in industrial relations. Everybody knows that. Nobody is more aware of it than the trade unions, who will do all they can, within the new structure offered to working people in British Leyland by Ryder, to ensure that industrial relations are better than they were in the past.