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Mr. Frank Cook : I am so interested in the information that my hon. Friend is imparting to the House that I

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should like him to clarify whether the investments took place when Mr. Tholen was acting as chief executive or after he departed.

Mr. Bell : All the investments that I have before me were made in 1986. Hercules Security Fabrication was a £30 investment in 1986-87. All the investments were probably made at about the time when Mr. Tholen was chief executive, but Mr. John Hackney, the present chief executive, became a member of the board of all the companies to which I referred.

Storefreight, in which £100,000 was invested, is now a profitable company because it is now 100 per cent. owned by the Tees and Hartlepool port authority. It is the only company to be found in the public accounts. When we ask questions about other investments, we are told to wait until the new accounts are published next month. Perhaps as a result of the intervention tonight on the Floor of the House there will be a modification in the accounts.

I wish to put some questions to the sponsor of the Bill and his ally, the hon. Member for Stockton, South. How can the House allow the privatisation of a company which, when it had the power to do so, invested so badly and unwisely? We do not know how much it has cost the Tees and Hartlepool port authority, but it runs into hundreds of thousands of pounds. We cannot obtain an answer to that question.

Mr. Meale : The information that my hon. Friend imparts to the House is rather alarming. He has read out details of companies involved in marinas, development agencies and fabrication plants. Is he sure that they are the only companies involved? Perhaps we should not proceed any further until we get more details of all the companies in which investments have been made.

Mr. Bell : My hon. Friend anticipates my remarks. I have kept to the very end of my observations on financing another company of which no one has ever heard. I have spoken to three directors of the company who have never heard of it. It is Mountjoy Finance. Perhaps my hon. Friend the Member for Stockton, North, with his great City contacts, has heard of Mountjoy Finance. What are we to make of that company? According to a report submitted to me on 24 January this year, the company was incorporated on 14 February 1986. Its principal activity was the making of long-term loans.

Again, the hon. Member for Stockton, South may be able to tell me whether the making of long-term loans is a port-related activity. The company's assets are fixed at £350,000. Its current assets are set at £50,013. Its current liabilities are £500,000 and its net worth is £13.

Mr. Frank Cook : I am staggered to hear that information, especially bearing in mind my hon. Friend's statement that he has spoken to three nominated directors of the company who did not know that they were directors. Did I hear aright, or have I got my wires crossed?

Mr. Bell : No. I specifically asked three directors of the company, one of whom is no longer a director, whether they had ever heard of Mountjoy Finance, and they all answered that they had not.

Mr. Frank Cook : Can that be legal?

Mr. Bell : It may be prudent for me to ignore my hon. Friend's sedentary intervention.

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Let us talk about the net worth of Mountjoy Finance--£13. That is the net worth of a company that can give long- term loans. That £13 represents 13 ordinary shares of £1 each, allotted and fully paid. The company's authorised capital is 100 ordinary shares of £1 each. For the benefit of the House, let me give the names of the shareholders. Northern Investors Company Ltd, Centro house, 3 Cloth market, Newcastle upon Tyne, has three £1 shares. Ferguson Industrial Holdings, Appleby Castle, Cumbria has four ordinary shares. Melville Street Investments (Edinburgh) Ltd., 4 Melville street, Edinburgh, has four ordinary shares. Then, lo and behold, at the bottom comes Tees and Hartlepool port authority, Queen's square, Middlesbrough, which has two £1 shares in the company.

Mr. Frank Cook : Do I understand from that list that the only Cleveland interest in the shares was that of the Tees and Hartlepool port authority?

Mr. Bell : My hon. Friend is right. According to the information on record at Companies house, the Tees and Hartlepool port authority, with its two shares, is the only Cleveland company involved. I can go further. The investment is not listed in the Tees and Hartlepool port authority's annual report to which I referred earlier, and one of the four directors of the finance house--if I may call it that--is Mr. John Proctor Hackney, of 50 The Holme, Great Broughton, Middlesbrough, who is listed as finance director but who is now the chief executive of Tees and Hartlepool port authority. Mr. Hackney was appointed a director of the company on 30 May 1989.

Mr. Ronnie Campbell : Does my hon Friend think that the Daily Mirror should campaign for a public inquiry into this matter?

Mr. Bell : I will simply say, modestly and prudently, that Mr. Arthur Scargill is a much-maligned man when one studies the details of the Tees and Hartlepool port authority's financial statements. The financial status report to which I refer--lest there be any doubt about this, I have the official documents with me--prepared on 24 January 1990 stated that the directors have relied upon the exemptions for individual accounts under sections 247 to 249 of the Companies Act 1985. That allows the company to file only a modified balance sheet and a limited number of notes instead of full accounts. The company qualified for this exemption, as it is classed as a small company within the meaning of the Companies Act.

The comments on the financial status report are revealing and show that the company is run at a break-even point, receiving and paying £48,073-- worth of interest a year. It is interesting to note that they receive and pay the same amount of interest.

The principal lenders--now we get to the heart of the matter, the reason why the Tees and Hartlepool port authority is investing in a company for £2--are the shareholders. They have extended £350,000 of long- term finance to the company. As the company is in the hands of its shareholders, and only has a small £13 paid-up share capital, this is what the financial status report says :

"we would advise you to seek a parental guarantee if you are considering extending this company a line of credit."

That is with £13 cash in bank on the balance sheet as of 30 September 1987. Here we have it : a £2 investment ; a

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£350,000 loan ; one is warned to seek a parental guarantee before extending the company a line of credit ; and again £13 in share capital in the bank.

According to the financial statement of 30 September 1988, "The company's activity is the making of long term loans. The directors consider that the result for the year is satisfactory." The hon. Member for Langbaurgh looks somewhat disconsolate. He has not listed a single investment by the Tees and Hartlepool port authority during the past-- [Interruption.]

Mr. Meale : On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Many Opposition Members and some Conservative Members--to be fair--have waited patiently here all night listening to the debate. Many more Opposition Members wish to participate in the debate but we cannot hear a word because of the rabble standing over there. Can they be brought to order?

Mr. Deputy Speaker : Perhaps those hon. Members who are not listening to the debate will talk quietly.

Mr. Bell : I am grateful to you, Mr. Deputy Speaker

Mr. Holt rose in his place and claimed to move, That the Question be now put.

Question put, That the Question be now put :--

The House proceeded to a Division--

Mr. Harry Barnes (seated and covered) : On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker.

Mr. Deputy Speaker : I shall take the hon. Gentleman's point of order after the Division.

Mr. Barnes : On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker.

Mr. Deputy Speaker : Order. I have already said that I shall take it after the Division.

The House having divided : Ayes 126, Noes 29.

Division No. 132] [10.37 pm

AYES

Alexander, Richard

Alison, Rt Hon Michael

Amess, David

Arbuthnot, James

Arnold, Jacques (Gravesham)

Baker, Nicholas (Dorset N)

Baldry, Tony

Bellingham, Henry

Bennett, Nicholas (Pembroke)

Blaker, Rt Hon Sir Peter

Boscawen, Hon Robert

Boswell, Tim

Bowden, Gerald (Dulwich)

Bowis, John

Brandon-Bravo, Martin

Brazier, Julian

Bright, Graham

Brooke, Rt Hon Peter

Brown, Michael (Brigg & Cl't's)

Buck, Sir Antony

Burns, Simon

Burt, Alistair

Butterfill, John

Carlisle, Kenneth (Lincoln)

Carrington, Matthew

Carttiss, Michael

Cash, William

Channon, Rt Hon Paul

Chapman, Sydney

Churchill, Mr

Clark, Dr Michael (Rochford)

Clark, Sir W. (Croydon S)

Clarke, Rt Hon K. (Rushcliffe)

Conway, Derek

Coombs, Anthony (Wyre F'rest)

Cran, James

Currie, Mrs Edwina

Davis, David (Boothferry)

Dorrell, Stephen

Emery, Sir Peter

Fallon, Michael

Fenner, Dame Peggy

Field, Barry (Isle of Wight)

Fookes, Dame Janet

Forman, Nigel

Gale, Roger

Gill, Christopher

Glyn, Dr Sir Alan

Goodhart, Sir Philip

Goodson-Wickes, Dr Charles

Gorman, Mrs Teresa

Greenway, Harry (Ealing N)

Greenway, John (Ryedale)

Griffiths, Peter (Portsmouth N)

Hargreaves, A. (B'ham H'll Gr')

Hargreaves, Ken (Hyndburn)

Harris, David

Hayes, Jerry

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Column 771

Hayhoe, Rt Hon Sir Barney

Heathcoat-Amory, David

Holt, Richard

Hordern, Sir Peter

Irvine, Michael

Jack, Michael

Janman, Tim

Johnson Smith, Sir Geoffrey

King, Roger (B'ham N'thfield)

Kirkhope, Timothy

Knapman, Roger

Knowles, Michael

Lang, Ian

Lawrence, Ivan

Lester, Jim (Broxtowe)

Lightbown, David

Lilley, Peter

Lord, Michael

Lyell, Rt Hon Sir Nicholas

Maclean, David

McLoughlin, Patrick

Mans, Keith

Marshall, Michael (Arundel)

Martin, David (Portsmouth S)

Maxwell-Hyslop, Robin

Mayhew, Rt Hon Sir Patrick

Mellor, David

Mills, Iain

Mitchell, Andrew (Gedling)

Monro, Sir Hector

Neale, Gerrard

Neubert, Michael

Nicholson, Emma (Devon West)

Norris, Steve

Onslow, Rt Hon Cranley

Page, Richard

Patnick, Irvine

Porter, David (Waveney)

Portillo, Michael

Raison, Rt Hon Timothy

Renton, Rt Hon Tim

Riddick, Graham

Rowe, Andrew

Ryder, Richard

Sackville, Hon Tom

Shaw, David (Dover)

Shaw, Sir Giles (Pudsey)

Shaw, Sir Michael (Scarb')

Shelton, Sir William

Smith, Tim (Beaconsfield)

Stanley, Rt Hon Sir John

Stevens, Lewis

Stewart, Allan (Eastwood)

Stradling Thomas, Sir John

Summerson, Hugo

Taylor, John M (Solihull)

Thompson, D. (Calder Valley)

Thompson, Patrick (Norwich N)

Thorne, Neil

Thurnham, Peter

Tracey, Richard

Trotter, Neville

Walden, George

Walker, Bill (T'side North)

Waller, Gary

Widdecombe, Ann

Wilshire, David

Young, Sir George (Acton)

Tellers for the Ayes :

Mr. Tim Devlin and

Mr. William Hague.

NOES

Barnes, Harry (Derbyshire NE)

Barron, Kevin

Beith, A. J.

Campbell, Menzies (Fife NE)

Campbell, Ron (Blyth Valley)

Carlile, Alex (Mont'g)

Cook, Frank (Stockton N)

Cummings, John

Davis, Terry (B'ham Hodge H'l)

Dixon, Don

Doran, Frank

Fisher, Mark

George, Bruce

Gordon, Mildred

Haynes, Frank

Home Robertson, John

Hood, Jimmy

Hughes, Simon (Southwark)

Lamond, James

Leadbitter, Ted

McKay, Allen (Barnsley West)

Meale, Alan

Nellist, Dave

Pike, Peter L.

Powell, Ray (Ogmore)

Ruddock, Joan

Skeet, Sir Trevor

Steel, Rt Hon Sir David

Thompson, Jack (Wansbeck)

Tellers for the Noes :

Mr. Tony Banks and

Mr. Stuart Bell.

Question accordingly agreed to.

10.50 pm

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