Comments By The Rt Hon Member For Worcester And Location Of The Main Toyota Plant

EDM number 69 in 1991-92, proposed by Paul Flynn on 05/11/1991.

That this House notes that the Right honourable Member for Worcester in his book Staying Power says that he believed that there was 'no doubt' that the main Toyota plant would come to Wales, and when the main plant went to Derby, he discovered later from Toyota that the switch had been made because the Prime Minister had called in the Toyota boss and said she personally wanted the factories to go to there and she had told the Toyota boss that the Government would provide financial arrangements as good as those being offered in Wales', the Right honourable Member writes that 'The Prime Minister was almost certainly also concerned that the important East Midlands area, with its high number of marginal constituencies, was complaining about its small share of investment, despite high unemployment. That is the only explanation I can think of for David Young and the Prime Minister putting pressure on Toyota to go to Derby;' notes that the present Prime Minister in a letter to the honourable Member for Newport West has said that 'The Government had no role in encouraging or discouraging the company in its choice'; and urges the Right honourable Member for Finchley to answer the letter from the honourable Member from Newport West, 20th October 1991, and explain in full the circumstances of the decision to locate the main Toyota plant in Derby.

This motion has been signed by a total of 20 MPs.