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Political Donations
11. Mr. Winnick: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will make it her policy that prior to companies making political donations a ballot of shareholders must be held. [665]
Mr. Nigel Griffiths: There is great public concern about the source of certain party-political funds. I know that my hon. Friend will warmly welcome the Government's commitment in the Queen's Speech to reforming the regulation and funding of political parties.
Is it not the case that, since 1913, no trade union has been able to donate money for political purposes unless it has first held and won a political ballot? As that is the case, and has been for many years, what justification can there be for companies not holding a similar ballot among shareholders? All we want is a level playing field, equality and fairness. I hope that that will soon come about.
Mr. Griffiths:
As my hon. Friend has rightly pointed out, there is an inconsistency. The Government will make an announcement shortly about how they propose to take forward reform of the funding of political parties.
Mr. Rowe:
How many companies that contributed to the Labour party's funds in the run-up to the general election would be affected by the proposal?
Mr. Griffiths:
I suspect that, if more companies are involved now than were under the Conservatives, it is a reflection of the terrible service that the Conservative Government gave businesses large and small. Perhaps that is why the hon. Gentleman finds himself in his present sad seat.
12. Dr. Kumar:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what proposals she has to increase total manufacturing investment in the United Kingdom. [666]
Mrs. Beckett:
Increased investment will come only with economic stability and the right framework for business competitiveness. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor has laid the foundations for the first. Yesterday, I announced an agenda for the second, which includes working with business to promote long-term investment.
Dr. Kumar:
I am grateful for that answer, and I congratulate my right hon. Friend on her appointment. I am sure that she will make a grand success of the job compared with the Tories. May I draw her attention to the fact that, in 1978 under the previous Labour Government, the manufacturing sector in Teesside employed 94,000 people, but by 1995 that figure had fallen to 47,000, which is a decrease of 50 per cent. May I urge her and the Government to set new standards? Our manufacturing economic base should be our first priority, and I urge her to lead from the front on that issue.
Mrs. Beckett:
I thank my hon. Friend for his kind remarks. We are pleased to see him back in the House in
Mr. Nicholas Winterton:
In the past year, the right hon. Lady and I have spoken on the same platform about the importance of our manufacturing industry, and she knows my commitment to it. I believe that it is vital to a sound and progressive economy. Does she think that the Chancellor of the Exchequer will consider sympathetically the reintroduction of properly targeted and properly directed capital allowances? I believe that they are an effective way of encouraging positive investment in manufacturing industry.
Mrs. Beckett:
I do not want to harm the hon. Gentleman's political career, but not only have we spoken about manufacturing on the same platform: sometimes we have said the same things about the importance of manufacturing and how it could be promoted. I share his view that it is very important. Like him, we have explored the importance of techniques such as he identified, especially at certain stages in the business cycle. I hope that the advisory group on competitiveness that I shall establish will, at an early stage, report on the most effective way to stimulate and promote investment, particularly in manufacturing, in the present climate.
Mr. MacShane:
I welcome my right hon. Friend and her team to their jobs, because for the first time in 20 years we have Ministers who are from the manufacturing centres. May I invite her to consider the problem of the current strength of sterling, which is in the red zone? It is now less attractive to invest in the United Kingdom, and very attractive to buy overseas. Will she perhaps have a quiet word with the Chancellor of the Exchequer and ask him to consider what could be done to put sterling trade at a more competitive level for our exports of manufactured goods?
Mrs. Beckett:
My hon. Friend also has a long record of concern for and advocacy of manufacturing industry. It is extremely important to have stability in the handling of economic affairs. In the long term, it contributes to lower inflation, higher investment and an improvement in general economic indicators, so that British industry becomes more competitive. The efforts of the Government and this team will be directed towards the competitiveness of British industry in the long term.
Mr. Ian Taylor:
The right hon. Lady has the most stimulating job in government, and I am sure that she will find it exciting. She should obviously bear it in mind that she has inherited from the previous Government a strong record on manufacturing investment. It was up 9 per cent. in the last quarter over the previous quarter, and manufacturing productivity was up 80 per cent. in the period 1979 to 1997. Will she commit herself to ensuring that science, technology and research play a big role in trying to stimulate manufacturing investment? As the
Mrs. Beckett:
I shall begin by answering the second part of the hon. Gentleman's question. As the windfall tax is by definition a tax that is to be levied on the excess profits of the privatised utilities, there will be no reason whatever for it to influence investment. Secondly, the hon. Gentleman asks about the role of science. I share his view about the importance of science and science policy, which is why I have asked my hon. Friend the Minister of State, the Member for Leeds, West (Mr. Battle), to take responsibility for it, and why I have taken specific responsibility for oversight of it.
I cannot agree with the hon. Gentleman when he speaks about the "wonderful record" that we have inherited from the previous Government. As he says, in the first quarter of 1997 there was a sharp increase in manufacturing investment, but that is a sign of the peculiar, very patchy record of the Conservative Government and shows how difficult it is to justify the hon. Gentleman's claims because, despite that sharp rise in one quarter, the level of investment was no higher than it was at the end of 1995. Under the previous Government, there was no sustained improvement, only occasional blips in a generally poor record.
These issues are important. The British people have a right to know the truth about any Government's record on this matter and about the benchmark that the Government have inherited. For that reason, we are preparing, and I intend to publish, an audit of the true competitiveness of Britain that we inherited from the Conservative Government, warts and all. We shall publish anything that we find good in that record, but we shall also publish all the problems and criticisms that we have inherited. We shall be content to be judged on a true record and not on party propaganda.
13. Dr. Godman:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will make a statement on her proposals to create a low pay commission. [667]
Mr. Ian McCartney:
We have appointed Professor George Bain as chairman of the independent low pay commission. The other commission members, who will include representatives of employers, including small business, and employees, will be appointed as soon as practicable. The commission will undertake wide-ranging consultation and take account of the economic circumstances prevailing at the time before making its recommendation to Government on the level at which the national minimum wage might be introduced.
Dr. Godman:
I offer my compliments to my hon. Friend on his appointment. I had a wee bet with his sister Irene that he would become a Minister in a Labour Government. Unfortunately she has not yet paid up. Perhaps he could speak to her.
Many hundreds of families in my constituency who receive family credit will welcome the announcement about the low pay commission. Does my hon. Friend
agree that family credit is a massive state subsidy to employers, many of whom are too mean to pay their employees a decent wage?
Mr. McCartney:
I thank my hon. Friend for his kind remarks about my sister. Perhaps her tardiness makes her a candidate for a seat on the low pay commission.
My hon. Friend raises a critical issue. Businesses in Britain have come to accept that low pay is deeply anti-competitive and anti-business. Employers who follow good employment practices are undermined by employers who use the tax system to subsidise their labour costs at the expense of those good employers. We need a balance between in-work benefits and the minimum wage. That is what the low pay commission is about and it is why so many employers want to serve on it. If we are not careful, we shall have to book Wembley stadium for the commission's first meeting.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke:
Does the Minister agree with Professor George Bain, the new chairman of the low pay commission, who is reported to have said two days ago of the minimum wage:
"I would be surprised if there were not some job losses."
Mr. McCartney:
The right hon. and learned Gentleman has entirely misquoted Professor George Bain. Professor Bain said that, if the minimum wage were set at an inappropriate level and did not take economic circumstances into account, there could be job losses. There is no evidence whatever that a minimum wage set at a sensible level in terms of economic circumstances would cause job losses. It will assist in the creation of jobs. Under the previous Administration, more than 200,000 jobs a month lay vacant on Employment Service records because people could not afford to take them. We need a minimum wage that is set in such a way that it makes jobs affordable, as part of welfare to work, to move people off benefit into work, giving them an opportunity to earn.
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