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Mr. Gould
asked the Secretary of State for Industry whether, in the talks he is having with the British motor industry, he has considered the use of spare capacity in that industry, as evidenced by short-time working at Ford's in Southampton for the construction of long wheelbase freight wagons, of which there is currently a shortage of 200,000.
Mr. Meacher
I do not know exactly what sort of vehicle my hon. Friend has in mind when he refers to "long wheelbase freight wagons", but in general it is not possible to use spare production capacity for the manufacture of a vehicle of an entirely different nature from that for which facilities were originally intended. If my hon. Friend cares to provide additional information, I will look into the matter further.