Oral Answers to Questions — Industry, Trade and Regional Development – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 19 Mawrth 1964.
Lieut-Colonel Sir Thomas Moore
, Ayr
12:00,
19 Mawrth 1964
asked the Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development whether, in view of the public interest shown in regard to his decision to abolish resale price maintenance, he will state how many representations have now been made to Her Majesty's Government supporting and opposing this decision, respectively.
Mr Edward Heath
, Bexley
About 2,000 letters have been addressed to the Board of Trade or passed on by other Departments. The great Majority were from traders and trade organisations expressing Opposition to the Government's decision. Those from other members of the public were mainly in favour. The Consumer Council has also expressed its support for the abolition of resale price maintenance. I cannot make any estimate of the number of letters on this subject answered by other Departments, but I would not expect it to make any significant difference to the total I have given.
Lieut-Colonel Sir Thomas Moore
, Ayr
Is my right hon. Friend aware that he has not given me any real figures or total, but that the response which he has got from both trade organisations and the public differs strangely from my correspondence inasmuch as out of the scores of letters I have received on this subject not one has been in support of it?
Mr Edward Heath
, Bexley
I am afraid that my hon. Friend's experience does not meet that of us at the Board of Trade or, I think, perhaps that of other hon. Members. The consumers have not made their views felt in the same way as some organised trade associations have done, and I must confess to my hon. Friend that the groups of letters which have been received at the Board of Trade often reveal a common inspiration.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
The Opposition are the political parties in the House of Commons other than the largest or Government party. They are called the Opposition because they sit on the benches opposite the Government in the House of Commons Chamber. The largest of the Opposition parties is known as Her Majesty's Opposition. The role of the Official Opposition is to question and scrutinise the work of Government. The Opposition often votes against the Government. In a sense the Official Opposition is the "Government in waiting".
The term "majority" is used in two ways in Parliament. Firstly a Government cannot operate effectively unless it can command a majority in the House of Commons - a majority means winning more than 50% of the votes in a division. Should a Government fail to hold the confidence of the House, it has to hold a General Election. Secondly the term can also be used in an election, where it refers to the margin which the candidate with the most votes has over the candidate coming second. To win a seat a candidate need only have a majority of 1.
