Mr Maurice Macmillan: If my hon. Friend pays attention to the rest of my speech he may find that it contains an answer to some of those points. It is a considerable time since the proposals for Scottish and Welsh devolution were brought forward, but I am sure that the House—or those hon. Members of it who are still interested in constitutional questions—will remember the arguments. There was the genuine fear...
Mr Maurice Macmillan: Will my right hon. Friend accept that whatever negotiations may be necessary about sovereignty now or in future they should start from the basis that, legally, sovereignty is in British hands and that it cannot, for mere convenience, be put into abeyance, as it were, under the United Nations or any other organisation?
Mr Maurice Macmillan: This is a difficult and serious situation. I congratulate the right hon. Member for Dudley, East (Dr. Gilbert) on extracting from it the maximum amount of righteous gloom. With one or two exceptions, all hon. Members agree that the Falkland Islands must be liberated and that this act of wanton aggression against Britain must be successfully resisted by every means. We all agree that if it...
Mr Maurice Macmillan: I listened enthralled and amazed to the speech of the right hon. Member for Bristol, South-East (Mr. Benn). We have been asked to be brief so I shall not deal with the arguments that he put forward, largely because they seem to be almost totally irrelevant to any of the problems that we are now facing. While listening to the right hon. Gentleman I was taken back in memory and imagination to...
Mr Maurice Macmillan: It may be unfilial to ignore a book by one's parent, but it can hardly be a breach of privilege. My right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer is getting much practical advice—not from Opposition Members—but most of it is contradictory. Most hon. Members are worried about his Budget judgment. Some think that he will go too far and reflate too quickly. Others think that...
Mr Maurice Macmillan: I wish to talk about only one point—investment. I shall confine my remarks entirely to one form of investment which I believe to be important to the economy and to the confidence of industry, and almost essential to our future capacity to invest in Europe and to compete in Europe. I find myself, somewhat surprisingly, in agreement with my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor at...
Mr Maurice Macmillan: rose—
Mr Maurice Macmillan: Does my right hon. and learned Friend accept that he has not done very much to help private industry? In that context, what proportion of the programmes that have been reduced or reprieved represent capital expenditure? When does my right hon. and learned Friend expect interest rates to fall?
Mr Maurice Macmillan: I hope that the hon. Member for Ogmore (Mr. Powell) will forgive me if I do not follow his arguments. I want to be as brief and constructive as possible. I should like to refer to one suggestion of the right hon. Member for Battersea, North (Mr. Jay). He greatly overrates any possible good effect of returning to exchange controls. First, they have no effect at all on the movement of money by...
Mr Maurice Macmillan: I shall be brief but, I hope, constructive. I have a number of suggestions to make. Like the right hon. Member for Heywood and Royton (Mr. Barnett), I do not pretend that anyone can expect to put forward with any degree of realism policies that will have a significant effect on employment over the next few years. The process will, I fear, take longer. This must be admitted if the measures...
Mr Maurice Macmillan: I have no doubt that the budget and the common agricultural policy should be considerably reformed, as my hon. Friend the Member for Kensington (Sir B. Rhys Williams) explained so well. In the reforms that it proposes the Opposition amendment seeks to throw out the baby with the bath water. Indeed, the official Opposition and some Opposition Members want to kill the baby. They made a fine...
Mr Maurice Macmillan: I must confess that I listened to the right hon. Member for Stepney and Poplar (Mr. Shore) with a certain feeling of having heard his argument not once but several times before. In his not very constructive speech there was one suggestion which I should like to recommend to my right hon. and learned Friend, namely, that he should try to continue to bring down the minimum lending rate. I am...
Mr Maurice Macmillan: The debate so far has been mostly about the internal affairs of the Community. The problems are real and important. We have gone over them before. Some of my more expert hon. Friends have dealt thoroughly with the details of those problems today. My right hon. Friend the Lord Privy Seal touched on political co-operation, as did the hon. Member for Inverness (Mr. Johnston). I agreed with much...
Mr Maurice Macmillan: In the discussions on the European economies, was mention made of the possibility of the United Kingdom joining the European monetary system, or will it be discussed later, among Finance Ministers?
Mr Maurice Macmillan: As many people have stated, the outlook is very gloomy, but I do not think that it is the Budget which has made it gloomy. The Budget at least tried to deal with the situation as it is. However, I must admit that the Chancellor of the Exchequer and his policies have not exactly shed a kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom". We all know how strait the jacket is that binds him, however that...
Mr Maurice Macmillan: May I draw my right hon. Friend's attention to early-day motion 169, which has been signed by over 130 hon. Members? [That this House urges Her Majesty's Government to facilitate the passage of the Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries (Amendment) Bill which is designed to remedy the injustice done to the former owners of the assets nationalised by the Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act...
Mr Maurice Macmillan: Quite rightly, we have heard a good deal about the valuable work undertaken by the levy board. I join those who have paid tribute to the work done, in particular, by the chairman, Sir Desmond Plummer. All those interested in racing owe him a considerable debt of gratitude. It was a great pleasure to be able to agree—for once—in general terms with the hon. Member for Halifax (Dr....
Mr Maurice Macmillan: As the right hon. Member for Battersea, North (Mr. Jay) quoted a specific ex-Prime Minister, perhaps I should remind the House that I spent much of my early career on the Back Benches attacking the economic policies of the Government of which that Prime Minister was the head. However, I shall not pursue that course this evening. I am bound to say that, even if the Government have not been...
Mr Maurice Macmillan: Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Mr Maurice Macmillan: Can my right hon. Friend tell the House a little more about her longer-term discussions with her colleagues on energy questions? Did they discuss the benefits of nuclear energy to the North-South problem and to developing countries? Can she reassure the House that we are soon to make a decision to start on a commercial prototype of the fast breeder reactor, in view of the long lead time and...