I suggest that the time has come when the Government should not wait until we get into a real Crisis in the Coal Industry, either from the point of view of the number of unemployed or as to whether there is going to be a 523 dispute in the industry, but that they ought to face all the difficulties now and make suggestions to the House.
To my mind it would be deceiving the miners of the country to pretend that the development of these plants or schemes is going to solve the Crisis in the Coal Industry at the present moment.
This was not agreed to by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, but it is a fact that very shortly after the completion of this policy we had the Crisis in the Coal Industry.
Let us now consider what is the origin of all this newspaper talk about a Crisis in the Coal Industry.
It is not an excess of malice or suspicion which leads me and many others in the country to the conclusion that the whole of this "Crisis in the Coal Industry" stunt is devised for no other end than to get rid of the present Government and above all of the present Prime Minister.
There may be a serious Crisis in the Coal Industry.
It goes on:Everybody knows there is going to be a serious Crisis in the Coal Industry - except the Minister of Fuel, said Mr. Shinwell yesterday.
That did not prevent him from saying on 24th October:Every one knows that there is going to be a serious Crisis in the Coal Industry, except the Minister of Fuel and Power.
There has been a Crisis in the Coal Industry ever since I can remember.
I cannot help thinking what would have been the situation if the industry had been in private hands during this Crisis in the Coal Industry between 1958 and 1960.
The answers given then showed that the Ministry had a total lack of understanding of what was happening, because what the Parliamentary Secretary and the Minister were arguing was, "We know that there was a great Crisis in the Coal Industry in 1957, 1958, 1959 and 1960, but now it has come to an end.
I am glad to have the opportunity this afternoon of drawing attention to the serious Crisis in the Coal Industry affecting output and manpower.
I can think of few things more likely to cause a Crisis in the Coal Industry than that sort of remark - [Interruption.
Their arrogance in the light of the developing Crisis in the Coal Industry has been incredible - matched only by their incompetence.
I urge him to consider rearranging the business so that we may have a full day's debate, in Government time, on the Coal Industry Crisis.
Even so, it may be asked, why debate Linwood, why debate this closure when closures are occurring throughout the country every day, when yesterday the textile workers lobbied Members of Parliament, and when there is a Crisis in the Coal Industry?
The other Crisis in the Coal Industry is that of pit closures.
It cannot be doubted that there is a Crisis in the Coal Industry.
In my short contribution I shall seek to respond to the right hon. Gentleman's claim that the need to review the Crisis in the Coal Industry is a reason for not adjourning in accordance with the Government's proposals.
It is equally important that we should be debating oil at a time when our minds have been totally concentrated on the Crisis in the Coal Industry.
The miners' strike of 1984 is potentially the miners' strike of 1985, as the Government's indifference to the Crisis in the Coal Industry in now apparent to everyone in the country- ordinary people as well as politicians.
It will deepen the Crisis in the Coal Industry and weaken Britain's ability to be self-sufficient in energy.
However, I believe that if the Government agree with the report by their consultants, to which my hon. Friends and other hon. Members have referred, there will be a severe manifest Crisis in the Coal Industry.
The Crisis in the Coal Industry relates to the botched privatisation of electricity, the architects of which - Lords Parkinson and Wakeham - are in the other place.
That is why we have a Crisis in Our Coal Industry.
The House must now face up to the gravity of the Crisis in the Coal Industry.
I think that my hon. Friends are concerned not about the length of the right hon. Gentleman's speech but about the fact that, in the 35 minutes that he has been speaking, he has not once addressed the Crisis in the Coal Industry.
It seems absolutely crazy to introduce a mines administration package today when we will debate tomorrow the Crisis in the Coal Industry - the further pit closures that we face as a result of the increased use of gas-fired generation.
We will also oppose the privatisation Bill because it is utterly and abjectly irrelevant to the real Crisis in the Coal Industry.
Can the right hon. Lady clarify for the benefit of the House which Department has responsibility for the current Crisis in the Coal Industry?
That means that, by the time we enter the third quarter, the burn will be down, the stock position will be up - all things being equal - and the Crisis in the Coal Industry will be that much bigger.
I know that the Prime Minister is aware of the Crisis in the Coal Industry, including the threat to Betws colliery in my constituency.