Orders of the Day — British Leyland

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 9:36 pm on 29 October 1981.

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The right hon. Member for Salford, West has made a direct plea to me to intervene. In the Government's view that would not be helpful, and it would be quite inconsistent with the responsibilities and duties imposed upon the board of BL by the Government of which he was a member. This point was put clearly by the right hon. Member for Cardiff, South-East (Mr. Callaghan), who as Prime Minister said: A new leader for the company has been appointed. He must be supported. When he chooses to follow any path, we cannot tell him that he should do something else. If we put him there, we must back him."—[Official Report, 31 January 1978; Vol.943, c. 240.] That is precisely the position that I am in today, and it is the position of the Government. Of course, we must all hope that those who at present earn their living, whether as managers or members of the BL work force, will be able to settle their differences in time to avert the disaster that will otherwise assuredly befall them.