Mr William Taylor: We shall be glad at any time to take on additional work for the Atomic Energy Authority which is within our technical competence and to adjust our capacity accordingly. As the Authority is not, however, a tenant of ours, the question of allowing it room for expansion does not arise under this Question.
Mr William Taylor: The right hon. Member for West Bromwich (Mr. Dugdale) has raised an issue of great importance, because the basis of his case is that the Minister of Supply has discriminated unfairly against Hampson Industries in allocating contracts. This is a most serious allegation—
Mr William Taylor: Whatever the right hon. Gentleman meant he certainly conveyed the impression that there had been unfair discrimination against this firm in the allocation of contracts. I repeat that that is a most serious allegation to make against a Government Department, and one that can be answered only after a most thorough-going investigation. I have made such a thorough investigation into all the facts...
Mr William Taylor: I hope so, too. Nothing I have said could give any offence to the Paymaster-General. It is merely a question of personal judgment. The Paymaster-General judged it in one way, and my right hon. Friend judged it in another. I meant nothing which could give offence to my right hon. Friend.
Mr William Taylor: I am very grateful to the hon. Member for Cardiff, West (Mr. G. Thomas) for the very reasonable way in which he made his case tonight, and for the complimentary things which he said about my right hon. Friend and myself. I very much sympathise with him and other hon. Members who represent Cardiff in this matter. The closing of a factory or, as in this case, the major part of a factory is a...
Mr William Taylor: I shall be very surprised if a good private employer declines to take that time into account. The position of the unestablished employees is that they will have the improved gratuities which became applicable from May last year. Work can be provided elsewhere for all the established workpeople, but the Government have also decided to give further help to those who, although they freely...
Mr William Taylor: The hon. Member for Dunbartonshire, East (Mr. Bence), as is his custom, has made the best possible case he can for his constituents, but it is not a very strong one, principally because the information upon which he has based his arguments is almost entirely contrary to the real facts. My first official visit after I was appointed to my present post at the Ministry of Supply was to the Royal...
Mr William Taylor: This, I am sure all hon. Members will agree, has been a most interesting and constructive debate. My right hon. Friend and I are glad to have had an opportunity of taking part in it because we believe that the future of this great industry is of the greatest importance, both to those actively engaged in it and to the nation as a whole. It is, therefore, right to take stock of the present...
Mr William Taylor: That is a matter where only experience can tell us how best to apply the policy. It has been repeatedly said today that no specific figures have been given which distinguish military research from civil research. It is impossible to give those figures at the present time, let alone to make accurate forecasts for the future.
Mr William Taylor: When it is economically feasible for the industry to absorb the expenditure incurred in fundamental research, that will be the time to assume responsibility. The time is not now. My right hon. Friend has said that it would be impossible now to place upon the industry a burden which it cannot in fact bear, but when the time comes it will be expected to take over that business.
Mr William Taylor: We shall have to see what methods are applied. The principle has now been stated and, we hope, clearly established. Reference has been made to matters which affect individual constituencies. My hon. Friends from Northern Ireland have made a very strong and powerful case for the firm of Short Brothers and Harland, the position of whose order book has deteriorated considerably over the last...
Mr William Taylor: The hard fact of the overall contraction of military orders cannot, however, be avoided and the future of this firm, as of all others, must depend to a large extent on the success of its own efforts to find and develop new and worthwhile projects. With regard to the list of civil items which the firm produces, and produces very well, there is nothing whatever to prevent the firm going out and...
Mr William Taylor: Yes, indeed, it has representatives on the board. Those representatives are, I am sure, conscious of the responsibility which lies upon them. The day-to-day management, however, devolves on the board. I hope the board will agree that if anything can be done to alleviate the position at Short Brothers by extending its sales organisation, hotting up its processes, or whatever it might be, to...
Mr William Taylor: In reply to the latter point, there is nothing to prevent Short Brothers and Harland going out and doing such a thing. In fact, we would commend it very much if they did so. In reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Antrim, South (Mr. Knox Cunningham), there are two responsibilities. There is the narrower responsibility of my right hon. Friend and the wider responsibility of the Government...
Mr William Taylor: I could go on dealing with the questions in this difficult area until the end of the debate, but I should like to reply to the points made by the hon. Member for Gloucester (Mr. Diamond). Here, again, a difficult situation is arising with regard to employment. The situation arises in the main through the decline in the requirement for military aircraft. I regret very much to say that I cannot...
Mr William Taylor: We give the maximum notice, where possible, where we are bringing a contract to an end. In doing so we emphasise not only by letter but also by personal contact through our officers the strong views which we hold about giving maximum notice to people who are likely to be affected by the decisions which have been taken.
Mr William Taylor: If the hon. Member had listened to what I said earlier lie would realise that there are not many more contracts to be placed, but I will bear in mind what he said and I will consider what might be done to carry out what he has suggested. In the few minutes which I have left I want to try to clarify my right hon. Friend's policy in the matters which we have been discussing today. I have...
Mr William Taylor: Yes, Sir. My right hon. Friend and I are aware of the arrangements to which the hon. Gentleman refers. They are not unlike the arrangements for technical co-operation which have been in existence between the Ministry of Supply and the aircraft industry; within groups of aircraft undertakings; and between aircraft companies generally, under the auspices of the Society of British Aircraft...
Mr William Taylor: I do not think that the system adopted by the nuclear energy people goes any further than the system now operating in the aircraft industry. For many years there has been a free flow of information between the research and development establishments of the Ministry of Supply and the industry by the circulation of reports and discussions. As the hon. Member will know, it is not within the...
Mr William Taylor: The need to protect secret information is well understood by all who are engaged on defence work. Air correspondents and others, however, who are closely in touch with technical developments, inevitably acquire some idea of major projects under development over a period of years and deduce some information about them. Through the co-operation of the Press, which I take this opportunity of...
