The One Hundred Days; 1965 Executive Actions; and the 1965—75 Timeframe

Extract

I took the unusual course of suggesting this lecture because I have something to say. I should have done this ten years ago. Better late than never. The position is that after £20 000 million spent on defence in the past 12 years, of which the air industry has had more than its full share, there is a culmination of industrial mismanagement, a crisis of confidence, a prevailing sense of bewilderment, an air of frustration and, therefore, a craving for new leadership in industry to make a true and worthy partnership of heart and mind with the active new leadership in Government. I sense moreover that behind the shadow boxing lies at this moment a more bi-partisan approach to meeting the future than immediately meets the eye. So this is not an exhortation but a demand to adopt new habits of thought that will lead to evolution of equipment calculated to sell well as a general rule instead of it being more the exception. And this is not a plea, but a demand, for a new resolve and leadership in industry coupled with a determination to make a better export showing in the 1970s on a smaller Government investment. The present Government's actions to promote research mergers and industrial co-operation with other countries seem a logical turning point for a re-start. So why not let us make resurgence date from now ?