– in the House of Commons am ar 4 Gorffennaf 1939.
asked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been drawn to the apprehension of the Scottish Atlantic passenger shipping lines that subsidies granted to their English competitors upon the Atlantic route may be refused to them; and whether he will take steps to ensure that State subsidies to shipping firms are not granted by such discriminatory methods as will advantage some British firms to the prejudice of their British competitors?
asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he has considered the claims of Scottish shipping companies operating the North Atlantic route for inclusion in the provisions of the Shipping Defence Bill, soon to be laid before Parliament; and whether he can give an assurance that these companies will receive equal treatment with others in the State assistance proposed to be offered under the new Bill?
An application for financial assistance has been made to me by two British companies operating shipping lines across the North Atlantic, and this is receiving my consideration. As regards the forthcoming legislation to carry into effect the proposal which I announced some time ago regarding financial assistance for liner companies whose services are endangered by foreign subsidised competition, I can assure the right hon. Gentleman that there will be no discrimination between Scottish and English companies who can make a case for assistance under the Act. I fully appreciate the importance of ensuring that when an application for assistance under the Act is being considered the interests of British shipping concerns other than the applicant should be taken into account.
Will the right hon. Gentleman see to it in his negotiations that any dominant shipping concern, such as the Cunard, is not allowed to get subsidies which will prejudice its British competitors?
I think that is fully covered by the last sentence of my answer.