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Part of Schedule 5 – in the House of Commons at 9:06 pm on 15 December 1983.

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Photo of Mr Gerrard Neale Mr Gerrard Neale , North Cornwall 9:06, 15 December 1983

Firstly I should declare an interest in the subject. It was a pleasure to hear a fifth replay of the number four speech of the hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Mr. Golding) as I have been on two of the three Standing Committees that have brought the Bill to its present stage.

The Under-Secretary of State and the Minister of State deserve the congratulations of the House, particularly the Government Benches, for bringing the Bill and, indeed, all the legislation on British. Telecommunications to a conclusion.

There is no doubt about the perception of hon. Members as to the difficulties of privatising a large organisation like British Telecommunications, but perception is very wide of the truth when it comes to judging the difficulties involved. I know well that, once an annoucement is made, an organisation such as British Telecommunications for its own interests immediately distances itself from the sponsoring Department. This makes it even more difficult for the officials advising the Ministers to obtain the information they need to prosecute the Bill properly through the House. From my own involvement in the subject, I think the officials deserve tribute for the way in which they have handled the matter. It is true that Ministers have suffered from unpreparedness in the industry to see the possibilities and difficulties involved in the legislation.

There was criticism from the hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme about the way in which my hon. Friend the Minister of State introduced various changes during the debates in Standing Committee on three occasions. In his defence, I should point out that the Minister has been willing to acknowledge that the situation in the telecommunications market place has been changing. It has been necessary to meet the various criticisms by creating more competiton. It is a great tribute to the Minister that he has been willing to do just that and to make certain that, as far as possible, the Bill meets, as much as possible, the criticism expressed.

I was greatly reassured by the Secretary of State's comment on competition that, in his view, the door had been left ajar. He gave the clear impression that, once the door was ajar, it would be much easier to push it futher open.

I am sure that my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary, who has put in many hours on this subject, is aware that apprehension still exists over two matters. One is the competition-free holiday during the period up to 1990. The second is the similar period that has been talked about in terms of the complete resale of network lines. I urge him and his colleagues at the Department not to commit themselves any more than they must to ensure that companies such as Mercury establish themselves quickly. They should not commit themselves too strongly to preventing competition in respect of network provision and network use in terms of resale, bearing in mind that technical development is fast and all-embracing and that there is every reason to expect that in the period to 1990 it will progress even faster. It is important that we allow for as much evolution in the development of telecommunications in its widest sense as we can.

The hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme frequently reminded me that I represented a rural constituency. One of the planks of the Opposition policy was that rural areas would suffer most from the Bill. In the early stages of my representing Cornwall, North in the last Parliament I was constantly being bothered by people who were dissatisfied with the provision of service or who complained that they had no service from BT. In recent months I have received little or no comment about that service. It is obvious that as a result of the first liberalisation measures and the further threat of competition BT is much better placed and more willing to take the interest of the consumer into account and realises that the welfare of its employees, and of itself as a company, depends utterly on providing consumers with the products that they want.

I hope that the Under-Secretary will accept our congratulations on bringing the Bill to this stage and will assure us that he will keep a watchful eye on the way in which telecommunications evolves in the coming period, and certainly over the years of this Parliament.