Mr Ernest Fernyhough: Does not the right hon. and learned Gentleman agree that, whichever Labour Member succeeds my right hon. Friend as Chancellor, the new Labour Chancellor will not inherit from my right hon. Friend a balance of payments problem such as that which he inherited from Lord Barber?
Mr Ernest Fernyhough: Is it not true that when the negotiations for us to enter the EEC were undertaken the large carrot held out to us was that the regional fund would be £1,500 million? Is it not also true that, once the EEC made us its captive, the £1,500 million came down to £250 million? Will my right hon. Friend press the EEC to give us the carrot that was promised, but not given, before we make any...
Mr Ernest Fernyhough: Concerning the discussions on Europe's energy supplies, is my right hon. Friend optimistic that it will be possible to get the European countries to substitute British coal for foreign oil? Does he accept that if that were done it would mean a boost to our exports, it would give security to our mining industry, and it would be a fair quid pro quo for our taking Europe's dairy and horticulture...
Mr Ernest Fernyhough: No. The Russians get them.
Mr Ernest Fernyhough: The hon. Member for Cirencester and Tewkesbury (Mr. Ridley) is very experienced in these matters, since he was once a junior Minister at the Department of Industry. In 1970 the Vickers company decided to close the most up-to-date ship repair yard in Britain. I lobbied my right hon. Friends in the Labour Government who decided to put £250,000 into the company. They did that as an experiment....
Mr Ernest Fernyhough: The hon. Member for Knutsford (Mr. Bruce-Gardyne) should be quiet and listen. He has not been here long enough to treat me like that. According to the Tory doctrine we should close down the Navy, because that does not make a profit, and we should get rid of the Air Force and the National Health Service, because they do not make a profit. We should also get rid of our education services,...
Mr Ernest Fernyhough: The hon. Member must wait a minute. I did not interrupt anybody. I was taught that patience is a virtue. The hon. Member for Chingford (Mr. Tebbit) was not taught the good manners that I was taught. He believes that he has a right to interrupt. He might be able to get away with that in the company in which he moves, but he cannot get away with it here.
Mr Ernest Fernyhough: The hon. Member is mixed up about his geography. Barrow is on the West coast and Jarrow is on the East coast. About 150 miles divide them. I have enough problems in my own constituency without worrying about what happens in Barrow. But presumably the hon. Member for Cirencester and Tewkesbury has no problems in his constituency. Apparently all his constituents are happy and satisfied so he...
Mr Ernest Fernyhough: Everybody knows that the Conservatives would not cut off all subsidies. I shall not be here in the next Parliament.
Mr Ernest Fernyhough: There is much more chance of my successor being elected at the next election than there is of the hon. Member for Chingford being elected. We can have a bet on that.
Mr Ernest Fernyhough: It is not. These are the facts of life which are borne out by history. I do not know what Opposition Members say to the deputations of shop stewards who must occasionally come to them because, even in their constituencies, there must be factory closures. I do not know whether they say to the boys"I cannot talk to you. There is nothing that I can do. I am not prepared to lead a deputation." I...
Mr Ernest Fernyhough: I am glad to exonerate the hon. Member. It is delightful to meet an hon. Member who is so out of touch with everyone else. I too was also a junior Minister. I listened to the speeches in the House and read the letters which hon. Members sent to me privately. What they said in the House had nothing to do with the contents of the letters which they sent to me. I believe that what we say...
Mr Ernest Fernyhough: As one who represents a local authority which has done a magnificent job in this respect, may I ask whether it would be possible for my right hon. Friend to publish in Hansard a list of the authorities that have done well, and a list of those that have done nothing? In such an event, those that have done nothing will be stirred into doing something.
Mr Ernest Fernyhough: Before he considers the suggestion that has just been made may I ask my right hon. Friend whether he realises that, if we exclude the past three months, the vast majority of strikes occurred in the private, not the public sector? Therefore, we may be storing up more trouble for ourselves if we transfer this public work to the private sector.
Mr Ernest Fernyhough: Since China is still a Communist country, and since from 1949 the whole Tory Party would have bombed it to hell—and two-thirds of Labour Members would have done likewise—can my hon. Friend explain what has been the fundamental change that enables us to embrace those so-called wicked enemies of yesterday and to make friends with them today? Can he give a guarantee that, though today we are...
Mr Ernest Fernyhough: They probably never knew about it.
Mr Ernest Fernyhough: What about the secondary banks? They were bailed out by the Bank of England.
Mr Ernest Fernyhough: Has my right hon. Friend seen the report in European News that discrimination in this respect would be overcome by increasing the expenses of European Members—rent allowances and every other expense? Will he ensure that this does not happen with regard to our representatives?
Mr Ernest Fernyhough: When my right hon. Friend replied to my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne, East (Mr. Thomas), he said that this morning he met representatives of the microelectronics industry. Will he please tell me whether at that meeting there was any discussion about Inmos, and where the factories that will arise from this industry are to be situated? Secondly, will my right hon. Friend...
Mr Ernest Fernyhough: Will the hon. Member give way?
