TNAG-0303-FCO40-339-Effects-of-tariffs-on-imports-of-cotton-textiles-to-UK-from--1971 — Page 55

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Cotton Textile Industry 29 NOVEMBER 1971

COTTON TEXTILE INDUSTRY

11.43 p.m.

Mr. James Lamond (Oldham, East): I welcome this opportunity to draw attention to the disastrous condition of the textile industry. I must make clear that I am speaking of the cotton textile industry and not of wool textiles which are more properly the concern of my colleagues in Yorkshire, although I am sure that many of them will agree with the points that I shall make.

Seventy years ago the Lancashire people believed that three things were imperishable-religion, the Liberal Party and the cotton industry. Religion cer- tainly is still quite strong; the Liberal Party has felt the wind of change. The one in which I am interested, the cotton industry, is certainly going through a very difficult period-so much so that there has been borne a Textile Industry Sup- port Campaign, Oldham led, which has been campaigning vigorously both within the Palace of Westminster and in the country at large, to draw attention to the situation in textiles. I think that every Member of this House has received from the Campaign a booklet entitled "The Death of Textiles" which in a sentence sums up their feelings.

The organisers and supporters of the Campaign feel that, unless something is done urgently by the Government, our textile industry, which was the pride of Lancashire at one time, will die, and die before it has had the opportunity, which may come with entry into the Common Market, to revitalise itself. There is the possibility of revival of the industry if we enter the Common Mar- ket, but, unless action is taken now on one or two simple and straightforward points, the industry will be dead before that opportunity arises.

There have been several articles on this matter in the Oldham Chronicle, a newspaper which takes a particular in- terest in the affairs of the industry, and recently an article by its labour corres- pondent, Mr. Fred Bottomley, told us about the position in the United States. It was a most informative article which described the actions being taken by the United States Government in negotiating new agreements with the Japanese to limit the growth of their exports to the

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United States. These agreements, together with earlier agreements with China, Korea and Hong Kong, have brought to the American textile industry a measure of protection which our industry would like to see here.

Foreign penetration into this country's textile consumption is running at well over 55 per cent. now. There has been a phenomenal increase in the last few years. It cannot go on if we are to have an industry of our own. I want the Gov- ernment seriously to consider retaining the quota system along with the tariff system which is to be introduced in the new year. The tariff which is proposed is, in the opinion of industrialists, far too low to sustain the industry.

The industry has enjoyed good labour relations. The trade union movement has not been difficult in negotiations about reorganising and modernising the industry and the consequential redundan- cies. Many mills have closed. There has been a rapid acceleration in the num- ber of closures in the last few months. In the last 10 years, between 500 and 600 mills closed, but in the last nine months about 80 mills closed, resulting in about 15,000 redundancies in Lan- cashire. Such a level of redundancies, when compared with the position on the Upper Clyde, for example, can only be regarded as very serious. I do not for a moment suggest that we should be any the less inclined to support the workers in Upper Clyde shipbuilding, but I feel that we should remember that there are other industries just as severely hit. The feeling is that, unless the Gov- ernment take action along the lines I have suggested and retain some quota, the industry will die.

There is also the important question of the marking of country of origin on im- ported textiles. Because of the protec- tive measures taken by the United States Government, there will be diverted to this country ever-increasing quantities of textiles from Japan and the other coun- tries I have mentioned.

We are allowing these imports to a far greater extent than any other indus- trialised country in Europe where in most countries penetration is between 5 and 20 per cent., or less than that in the United States when it decided to take action. This has to be compared with