House of Commons Hansard Debates for 16 May 1990

Car Exports (Japan)

12. Mr. Neil Hamilton : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will list the levels of United Kingdom exports of cars to Japan in (a) 1988 and (b) 1989.

Mr. Redwood : My hon. Friend will be pleased to know that in 1988 we exported 8,099 cars to Japan, worth £65 million, and in 1989 we exported 15,500 cars worth £126 million, which makes the point that the Opposition do not want to understand--that the position is improving rapidly and the improvement is very welcome.

Mr. Hamilton : Does my hon. Friend agree that the growing strength of the British car industry is entirely due to the tremendous changes that have been brought about in industrial relations in that industry as a result of legislation introduced during the past 12 years, all of which was opposed by Labour Members, and that the jobs of British car workers are protected by the increasing export performance of British car companies to countries such as Japan? Will he confirm that Japan is our ninth best export market?

Mr. Redwood : My hon. Friend is right on both counts. Of course, the improved industrial relations record is a most important feature. It is a shame that even now the Labour party cannot agree on the importance of those reforms and totally opposes some of them in the political advice given to the Government in the Labour party's latest policy review--the fourth or fifth review, I have lost count of how many there have been.

The House may also like to know how well trade in motor cars with Japan went in the 1970s, when the Opposition had a chance to put into practice the policies that they are still preaching. In the worst year, we exported 891 cars compared with 15,500 last year. In the Labour Government's best year, to give them credit, the figure reached 3,393. Those were the years when the British motor industry was dogged by high taxation, high borrowing and bad labour relations--the same recipe as the Labour party's new policy review.

Mr. Roy Hughes : How do the puny levels of British car exports to Japan compare with the levels of British car exports to the Common Market, and how do our actual exports compare with the radiant forecasts made by Lord Stokes when he was chairman of British Leyland way back in 1972? Can the Minister also tell us something about the import of cars into Britain from the Common Market?

Mr. Redwood : The hon. Gentleman's question is outside the terms of the main question. We import more cars than we export to member states of the European Community, and the total trade in cars is much larger than that with Japan. The figures are in the Library if the hon. Gentleman cares to look them up, or he can table an appropriate question. The point that he is trying to make misses the dynamics of the British motor car industry. As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State said, the industry went through a bad time in the 1970s, improved in the 1980s and will have a splendid time in the 1990s

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--the decade of manufacturing revival under a Conservative Government with most welcome inward investment from several overseas countries.

Mr. Roger King : My hon. Friend will probably know that the mini-car produced by Rover Group has long been a good seller in Japan--it sells in ever greater quantities each and every year--but is he also aware that Nissan in Sunderland will be producing a unique five-door version to succeed the Bluebird which will be exported exclusively to Japan? Japanese transplant factories are thus producing goods for their own home market.

Mr. Redwood : Indeed. I am grateful to my hon. Friend for bringing his expertise to bear on the subject. He is an expert on the motor industry and his support and encouragement for it are most welcome. I am even more pleased to note that he does so much to promote exports to Japan without receiving any commission for it.

West Midlands

15. Mr. Bellingham : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent representations he has received from engineering firms in the west midlands.

Mr. Douglas Hogg : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State regularly receives representations on a range of issues from engineering firms operating in the west midlands.

Mr. Bellingham : Is my hon. and learned Friend aware that many companies in King's Lynn and west Norfolk have done well as subcontractors for some of the great firms in the west midlands and, as a result, unemployment has come down sharply? What has happened to the employment picture in the west midlands over the past two years?

Mr. Hogg : Most people would say that that was a planted question, but it is not. However, the answer is extremely cheering. I chanced to have an analysis done of west midlands constituencies and I will share the results with the House. Between March 1989 and March 1990 a sample result showed unemployment in Sutton Coldfield down 29 per cent., in Solihull down 28 per cent., in Halesowen down 26 per cent., in Dudley, West down 21 per cent., in Dudley, East down 19 per cent., in Birmingham, Yardley down 19 per cent., in Birmingham, Hodge Hill down 21 per cent., in Birmingham, Hall Green down 18 per cent. and in Aldridge-Brownhills down 18 per cent.-- dramatic falls in unemployment right across the west midlands.

Mr. Grocott : Can the Minister confirm that substantially fewer engineering firms in the west midlands are now in a position to make representations to him than when the Government came to power in 1979?

Mr. Hogg : That is the sort of dreary question that we have got used to hearing from Labour Members. Let us look at the facts. Productivity in the engineering industry in the west midlands has gone up hugely in the past two years, profitability in the west midlands has gone up hugely, exports have gone up very much and inward investment has been extraordinarily successful. The opportunities for the west midlands are huge, and if the hon. Gentleman asks for figures, I will give him them.

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Mr. Conway : Is my hon. and learned Friend aware that the engineering companies in Shropshire, which is part of the west midlands, are doing well under revitalised mangement? How would they progress if we had an inflation rate of 27 per cent. and the highest corporation tax in the industrialised world--both were legacies of the last Labour Government--if we were ever stupid enough to have another Labour Government?

Mr. Hogg : The plain truth is that the Labour party's policies would be a disaster for the west midlands. Let us examine just two of them. First, by their very nature, Labour's economic policies would cause inflation to escalate fast. Then there is the party's taxation policy. We have not heard much from the hon. Member for The Wrekin (Mr. Grocott) about a payroll tax, but it unquestionably features in Labour party policy. A payroll tax which would cost industry about £3 billion would be disastrous.

Mr. Speaker indicated dissent.

Mr. Hogg : You shake your head, Mr. Speaker, as perhaps you should. [Interruption.] I can take a hint as well as the next man.

Trade Statistics

16. Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he has received any correspondence from the Statistics Users Council on the availability of indicators on import penetration, export performance productivity, market share and home demand since the publication of the Armstrong-Rees report.

Mr. Ridley : Yes, I received a letter from the chairman of the Statistics Users Council on that topic on 4 May 1990, 12 months after the publication of the Armstrong-Rees report.

Mr. Wigley : Will the Secretary of State confirm that the correspondence that he has received is critical of the present availability of indicators? Does he accept that there must be a proper, full background of statistical information if those involved in that sphere are to improve their performance? In view of our present balance of payments it is vital that all those tools should be available.

Mr. Ridley : I agree with the hon. Gentleman that an appropriate amount of information should be available to businesses, especially when they cannot get it from sources within the industry. Against that we must weigh the burden, cost and disadvantage of excessive form-filling on the part of businesses. However, in the light of representations from the chairman of the Statistic Users Council, I am prepared to consider with industry circumstances in which businesses want to fill in the forms so that they can obtain information when there is no other source of supply. In those circumstances, it would be right to go a little further than we have in the past.

Mr. Foreman : My right hon. Friend has spoken about meeting the requirements of industry. Would not we know more about that large balancing item in our external trade statistics, and about the real state of our economy, if we had more information? Is it not time that we improved the

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quality of our official statistics for precisely that purpose, as it would improve the quality of our economic governance?

Mr. Ridley : While the statistics that the hon. Member for Caernarfon (Mr. Wigley) asked about are totally different from what my hon. Friend inquires about, I am all for having good statistics relating to the effects of economic policy. The difficulty with the figures that my hon. Friend mentions--which are really a matter for my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer--is that, while the figures for exports and imports tend to be accurate, what is not so clearly defined is how the captial account is made up--from what elements and in what proportions. How best to rectify that is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Chancellor.

Postal Service

19. Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he next intends to meet the chairman of the Post Office to discuss the future of the postal service.

Mr. Forth : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will meet the chairman of the Post Office, Sir Bryan Nicholson, on 21 May. They will discuss various matters of mutual interest.

Mr. Barnes : Will the Minister give an assurance that the national public monopoly on Royal Mail letters will remain? There is growing speculation that private companies are having discussions with his Department about that. We need to lay to rest once and for all fears that the Royal Mail and letters will go down the plughole, as water did.

Mr. Forth : The hon. Gentleman will be aware--as all Conservative Members are--of the undertaking given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister during the last election campaign that the Royal Mail would not be privatised. We should bear that in mind.

I hope that the hon. Gentleman agrees that it is incumbent on Post Office management and on the Government to work together to ensure that the people of this country have the best mail service that the Post Office is capable of delivering. That is something which is constantly considered by Post Office management, as are its duty and responsibility. We are always prepared to look positively at any suggestions that it may make to ensure that the best possible services are delivered, now and in the future.

Sir Anthony Grant : When my hon. Friend meets the chairman of the Post Office, will he tell him in no uncertain terms that unless the Post Office can guarantee that a first-class letter will reach its recipient the next day, the Government will give it to someone else who can?

Mr. Forth : My hon. Friend is entitled to lay such a hard task upon the Post Office, but it would be unreasonable to ask the Post Office to do that in the near future. Not only is that not achieved in any other country of which I am aware, but it does not give tribute and credit to the Post Office for its stern efforts to improve the delivery performance, a target which the Post Office has set for

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itself. The Government and the Post Office management are looking closely at its performance, and I can assure my hon. Friend that we shall leave no stone unturned in seeking ever-better performance in the Post Office in future.

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