Clause 2

Part of Industry Bill – in the House of Commons at 10:15 pm on 6 February 1980.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Mr Ioan Evans Mr Ioan Evans , Aberdare 10:15, 6 February 1980

We are discussing a bad Bill and a bad clause. The amendment does not go far to improve the clause, but at least it gives us some parliamentary accountability. The Secretary of State talked about the great divide between the parties. The Government have an obsession that all our problems are the result of public ownership. The shipbuilding industry had 38 per cent. of the world's trade in 1950. It had declined to 4 per cent. in 1975. The Conservative Government were in power for 19 of those years. That decline was a failure for private enterprise.

One of British Leyland's biggest competitors is the Renault company, which is publicly owned. When there is a world recession, pushing back the frontiers of public ownership is irrelevant. The previous Government set up the National Enterprise Board and the Scottish and Welsh Development Agencies.