ELECTRICITY CUT

Greymouth Evening Star, 8 February 1947, Page 5

ELECTRICITY CUT

Industrial Crisis In England OPPOSITION ALLEGES BUNGLING (Recd. 11.15 a.m.) . . LONDON, January 7. . Big complete electricity cuts for a period beginning next week, were announced in the House of Commons to-day by the Minister of Fuel (Mr. Shinwell). He said the Government had decided that from February 10 no electricity would be supplied to any industrial consumer in London and the southeastern area and the Midlands and north-western districts. Deliveries to domestic consumers would be cut off from 9 a.m. to mid-day and from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. It was hoped that this step would not last longer than three to. four days, and certainly not longer than a week. Earlier, Mr. Eden, during a debate on the fuel position, said Britain was faced with the greatest industrial crisis in the past 20 years. Claiming that he was not speaking m a party spirit, Mr. Eden charged the Fuel Minister and the Government with misjudging the situation by taking too optimistic a view of the gap to'be bridged between the national industrial demand and the available supplies of coal.

Mr. Eden said the Fuel Minister had received many warnings as long ago as July, but had not acted on them. The crisis was now upon them. Was the Minister again going to be too late? Labour members joined the Opposition in criticism of the Government. The Labour member, Mi'. Blackburn, demanded a commission of inquiry to investigate the circumstances leading to the closing down of the Austin motor factory. Minister’s Reply. Mr., Shinwell, replying to the speeches of Mr. Eden and others, said the House had hfeard the most grotesque and exaggerated allegations against the Government. His predecessors had left him with a legacy oi difficulties. His first plan had been to promote the right atmosphere in the mining industry, and in that he had succeeded. The other part of his plan was to promote the right kind of organisation in the mining industry. There was no industrial dislocation due to the coal shortage from the time he took office until recently. He assumed that with the rising coal output we should escape dislocation, but we had faced unprecedented consumption. The severe weather of the last 10 days had completely disturbed the coal organisation. That was bad enough but, unfortunately, it dislocated production. There was boiind to be a short haul in the next week or two.

London electricity undertakings last week used the unprecedented total of 150,000 tons of coal with the result that some iof them would have only one week’s supply left. Electricity power stations were now in a grave position and would be unable to carry on over the next week or 10 days. Mr. Shinwell here announced the cuts given above. He added that some smaller power stations in the areas mentioned might have to close down and take supplies from the grid in order to avoid the possibility of a complete breakdown, which would be disastrous. Yorkshire and Sheffield would not be affected. It might be possible to avoid a cut in the Lancashire area after the first day or so.,

Claiming that everything had been done to prevent industrial dislocation Mr. Shinwell stated that to February 1 only 188 firms out of the 45,000 concerns taking over 100 tons of coal yearly lost a number of hours of work as a result of the fuel shortages. The Ministry of Fuel told Reuter that essential services dependent on electricity would be kept gbing when the fuel cut began on February 2. Supplies to newspapers would be maintained as far as possible. The Ministry of Fuel also stated that the prohibition on coal exports would remain, but it had been decided that the supply of bunkers to ships sailing from United Kingdom ports, an embargo on which was announced yesterday, would be permitted. The Austin Motor Company, which has been closed since February 3 because of the fuel shortage, has given its 14,000 production employees 44 hours notice.

25,000 Will be Workless. The Nuffield organisation announced that its 25,000 employees would be workless next week as a result of the electricity cut announced to-day. Ministry of Fuel and Power has banned all shipments of coal for overseas ports and forbidden the bunkering of ships leaving for foreign ports,” says the Daily Telegraph. “The Government is watching the position day to day and may introduce even more drastic measures to deal with the critical situation. “The railways are already refusing ordinary goods traffic and concentrating on,coal deliveries. It is estimated that the weather has cost the country 400,000 tons of coal in the last four days. The weather in South Wales cut production by 40 per cent., and absenteeism in South Yorkshire because of illness has been 40 per cent. The Daily - Express says, that the bunker coal ban means that 200 of 400 British and foreign ships at.present in British ports will be held up. The others are oil fired. The Daily Mail says that Cunard liners on the Liverpool-Canada run are immobilised in the Mersey. Scores of tramp steamers will be kept in the port until the ban is lifted.