North Sea Oil

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 6 July 1979.

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Photo of Mr Allen McKay Mr Allen McKay , Penistone 12:00, 6 July 1979

I share the concern of the hon. Member for Plymouth, Sutton (Mr. Clark) about many of the points that he raised, and I should perhaps call him my hon. Friend. I also congratulate the hon. Member for Gosport (Mr. Viggers) on coming first in the ballot. I came second to him, but that is the luck of the draw. It is regrettable that we do not have time today to discuss my motion, but I may be able to raise it on the Adjournment. The hon. Member for Gosport said that the previous Government had failed to deliver a co-ordinated fuel policy, perhaps through lack of will. I suggest that it was through lack of numbers. It would have been difficult to put forward such a policy in a minority Government.

I have worked for about 20 years underground in the mining industry as an electrical engineer. Prior to coming to the House I was an industrial relations officer with the Coal Board. I share a life in the mining industry with my hon. Friend the Member for Don Valley (Mr. Welsh) and we are together in this debate.

Throughout history, market forces have not only helped in development. They have also destroyed. They tend to exploit the short-term situation and maximise profits rather than have a long-term effect. We must consider the long-term situation today.

My hon. Friend the Member for Don Valley mentioned Dr. Schumacher. I attended one of his talk-ins at the time when we were closing collieries. Due to the shortsighted policy of the Government and the powerful oil lobbies which sought to exploit cheap oil, we did not look to coal as a basic industry in the long term. Those collieries were closed, but today they would have been beneficial to our economy. When collieries are closed, whole communities are closed also and the supply of workmen dries up. The people who traditionally go into the mining industry drift away as more collieries close. Not only do we have no collieries, we have no work force either.

At the time Schumacher put forward his "A, B, C" theory of collieries, he looked at the Profitability of them, which was wrong in such a basic industry. He decided that the "A" collieries should continue. The "Bs", which were on the borderline, should continue, provided that the "Cs" were closed. The theory was that the men who worked in the "C" collieries would move into the "Bs". What made Schumacher think that that would occur? Why should men from the "Cs" go to the "Bs"? When one lot of collieries can be closed just like that, there is nothing to stop the same thing from happening to another lot. Today we have a situation in which the amount of coal we mine no longer supplies the needs and energy requirements of this country.

Hon. Members have said today that we should not look back into history but instead we should look forward. If we do not look back at the mistakes that were made and take due notice of them, we shall make the same mistakes again. The market policies that Conservative Members have put forward will lead us back into history and the same mistakes. Are not the market forces encouraging cheap, heavily subsidised coke and coal to come into this country? In fact British Steel is encouraging such a policy. Will not this undermine the future of the coal-mining industry just as the powerful oil lobby almost destroyed it?

I suggest that we should not let the market forces run the energy industry because it is vital that we preserve North Sea oil as far as possible. Money from North Sea oil should be invested in creating an industrial base, and the coal industry is part of that industrial base. It is necessary to provide investment money for the experimental stages of the gasification of coal and production of petroleum products from coal. We have the fluidised base experiment which will provide cheap fuel for the power stations, and two experimental schemes are going ahead on which £32 million has already been spent to produce petrol from coal, and for the gasification of coal.

Policies that the Conservatives have put forward in relation to the market economy will make that a nil product, because they will undermine both schemes. There is a need for Government intervention because of the energy crisis. North Sea oil is estimated to last until the year 2000. One oil company has estimated that by that time the present exploitation will cease, unless action is taken to spread it out. That company is now investing heavily in Australian coal and coal products. Obviously that company sees an end to the present situation. Unless we are prepared to grasp the nettle and allow the Government to intervene, we shall have to go to the open market. That will be very much to the detriment of this country and our oil products.

We are informed that gas supplies will run out just before the year 2000. Therefore, at that time we shall depend entirely on what happens to world supplies. We have known coal reserves of 300 years-plus—reserves which can be got at. There are other reserves which will be more difficult to reach, but no doubt as technology improves we shall be able to reach them. Therefore, we should also examine that area of activity.

I read with regret in one newspaper that the Government intend to examine the "perks" in various industries, and among them is miners' concessionary coal. I sincerely ask the Government to leave that topic alone; they do not know what they are doing. This is a "perk" which has arisen for historical reasons. It assists miners' widows, pensioners and other unfortunate people. There is no more emotive issue in the coal industry than the home coal scheme. Not even wages or closures take a more important place. If the Government wish to set the world on fire, they will certainly do so if they interfere with the subject of concessionary coal.

I speak from experience since I was an industrial relations officer in the industry. This is an arena in which one should tread very carefully. I warn the Government to leave matters well alone.

This debate has given us the chance to grasp the nettle in considering future energy policy, but we will not do so if we consider merely market forces and market intervention. This could create serious problems for future generations. It is about time we gave up some of our sacred cows and reached sensible conclusions and policy decisions.

The benefit of debates on a Friday is that we are able to consider these subjects in a wider sense. We must look at these matters objectively, otherwise future generations will condemn us for not having had the courage to accept the need for Government intervention in seeking to forge a good energy policy for the nation.