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Mr. Spellar: No. I am aware of the time, and the normal blandishments of the Whips, which no one resists in any sense.
We have been around the circuit again on the question of the Western European Union, NATO and the European Union. We have made it clear a number of times that NATO is the cornerstone of our defence policy, that we do not support and will not have a European standing army, and that that is not a role for the European Commission or the European Parliament. Equally, I think that we all recognise--indeed, the former Secretary of State for Defence, Michael Portillo, recognised--that Europe was not seen to be pulling its weight in the defence community. There was a need to ensure a European strategic and defence identity. The problem with the debate that has taken place in the past few weeks is that we have become totally immersed in institutional
names and acronyms instead of saying what we are trying to achieve, which will be important not only in enhancing Europe's role but to its image in the United States.
Hon. Members will be well aware that the question whether Europe is pulling its weight is often asked in the United States, especially in Congress. A diverse and disparate Europe that is thought not to be pulling its weight is grist to the mill for the traditional isolationists, who want to retreat from involvement overseas. If we have as our objective an enhanced role for Europe, and I believe that that would command general support in the House, we can move towards deciding how that can best be achieved institutionally, but we have tended, in the past few weeks, to wrap ourselves in acronyms and in degrees in history.
Dr. Julian Lewis:
How will our setting up structures that conflict with existing successful structures, and our incorporation into our security arrangements of neutrals that are not members of NATO, help in creating the perception among Americans that Europe is pulling its weight? That strategy will undermine, not enhance, security.
Mr. Spellar:
As I said, NATO is the cornerstone of our defence arrangements. I do not think that the hon. Gentleman would argue, in the light of what happened in the Balkans, that Europe has been effective in making its presence felt or in taking appropriate decisions. We must move to a broader consensus on Europe and evolve a policy that will reflect it.
No policy is without difficulty, but we need to work out how to move from the position that we are in, which is broadly agreed to be unsatisfactory. The previous Secretary of State for Defence, Michael Portillo, agreed to the strategy worked out in Berlin and it was subsequently ratified at NATO meetings. The hon. Member for New Forest, East must accept that there is a broad consensus on the nature of the problem, although I agree that there is not yet a consensus on the solution, not only in this country but in Europe as a whole--we must continue to try to find that solution.
The debate has covered a wide range of the Navy's activities since the general election. It has illustrated that the Royal Navy remains a force for good in a troubled world. That is why we all join in paying the warmest possible tribute to the men and women, both service and civilian, who make the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines the world-class fighting forces that they are.
The Government see the brightest possible future for the Royal Navy, which not only continues to be close to the heart of all that is uniquely British, but is modern, adaptable and able to take its place in the fast-changing strategic setting of the 21st century. That is why the SDR puts the Royal Navy at the heart of the Government's strategy of building an effective force that is capable of power projection and of being a force for good in the world.
In the thoughtful parts of his speech, the hon. Member for Stratford-on-Avon reflected on the Navy's historical role. We commemorate this year the bicentenary of Nelson's great victory in the battle of the Nile; in 2001, we will celebrate the battle of Copenhagen and, in 2005, the defining battle of Trafalgar. Of the Royal Navy in those days, Mahan said:
Mr. Graham Allen (Vice-Chamberlain of Her Majesty's Household):
I beg to ask leave to withdraw the motion.
Motion, by leave, withdrawn.
Mr. Kerry Pollard (St. Albans):
I am pleased to present and to give my support to a petition raised by the Bricket Wood residents association and signed by more than 1,400 of my constituents. It declares that the roads leading out of Bricket Wood are extremely dangerous. Driving out of the village at busy times relies on split-second judgment and luck. Slow traffic crossing the slip road leading to and from the M1 southbound is a recipe for disaster, but residents of Bricket Wood have to do that every day, as the alternative exits from the village take them into high-density, fast-flowing traffic.
The petitioner therefore requests:
Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.--[Mr. Allen.]
Mr. Archy Kirkwood (Roxburgh and Berwickshire):
I want to draw attention to the difficulties in the regional economy of south-east Scotland and north Northumberland. I am pleased to be joined by my right hon. Friend the Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Mr. Beith) and my hon. Friend the Member for Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale (Mr. Moore), whose joint interests in the debate have been notified to the Minister, and who I hope will be able to contribute.
I was pleased to welcome the Minister to Hawick earlier this week. He confirmed important details relating to the implementation of the Hawick internal traffic relief scheme. With his assistance, we look forward to the work starting next autumn: that is a welcome development for Hawick.
Because the area is similar to his own constituency, the Minister will know that the people of the borders are not by nature a demonstrative folk. It is worth noting that, in the very recent past, a petition organised by Tweeddale Press Group attracted more than 11,000 signatures in an extremely short space of time, and that a public rally organised on a stormy Sunday afternoon last month in Galashiels was supported by more than 2,500 people--an event the like of which has not been seen locally for many years.
Tweeddale Press Group's petition, entitled "Keep the Borders Working", asked the Prime Minister to mobilise all the resources of central Government to mitigate the recent catastrophic job losses that have occurred or been announced in the region over recent months.
My right hon. Friend the Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed, my hon. Friend the Member for Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale and I have lodged an application with the Prime Minister to see him in the near future and make representations along the lines contained in the petition. The job losses affect not only the borders. Berwick-upon-Tweed shares a travel-to-work area with eastern Berwickshire, so this matter is not only a Scottish Office responsibility.
Earlier this year we were just beginning to come to terms with what were at that time unprecedented job losses in the traditional manufacturing sector in the borders and north Northumberland, in textiles and, equally importantly, in the primary producing agricultural sector, which has recently suffered larger numbers of smaller-scale losses, which are sometimes less dramatically notified, so it is harder to track their exact extent.
Pringle of Scotland, Lyle and Scott and many other small or medium knitwear businesses have reduced their work forces dramatically over a short period. My constituency and that of my right hon. Friend the Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed suffered about 350 job losses apiece just before the summer. We were just beginning to try to come to terms with that when out of the sky fell the dramatic announcement of 1,000 job losses by the Viasystems group in Selkirk and Galashiels. That company is in the constituency of my hon. Friend the
Member for Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale, although many of those who will lose their jobs come from communities in my constituency.
I am sure that the Minister will acknowledge that the scale of the difficulties is such that they cannot be adequately addressed using the area's own resources. We also need some external assistance.
The Minister will have seen for himself, during his short but productive visit to Hawick, that everything that can be done locally is being done. All the relevant bodies in the local economy in the public sector have been mobilised and they are working closely together. Their co-ordination is excellent and their motivation is obvious, but the budgets within which they are struggling to work were cast at a time when no one could foresee what would happen, although we warned Ministers in the previous Administration that the textile industry was in a fragile state. Notwithstanding that, no one could have predicted 12 months ago that things would be as bad as they are.
The Government should address four aspects of the problem. First, we need them to investigate every nook and cranny of any budget that is available through local authorities or the Scottish Enterprise mechanism to see whether any small underspends, additional resources, capital assets or capital consents can be deployed to help the area cope with the short-term problems that we face.
Secondly, and in particular, we need early confirmation that Scottish Office Ministers will honour their pledge to seek actively to determine whether any underspend has occurred in the present EU objective 5b structural funding programme and to divert any such underspend to areas such as the borders and north Northumberland.
Thirdly, we also need help in applying for eligibility for the new objective 2 category of EU structural funds in the next programme of funding. The safety net that the Government secured in the new programme will assist that process and that is welcome, but we need Scottish Office support for our case to have much chance of accessing any EU funds in future. We have taken fruitful advantage of the £20 million-odd that we have had during the current programme.
Fourthly, the petition from Tweeddale Press Group directly adverted to the need for assisted area status, but we also need help from central Government with our application for future access to regional development assistance. The map is being redrawn currently, in co-operation with the Department of Trade and Industry, but if we do not get help we will face depopulation in the next few years. That will damage the local economy and we will suffer the consequences for many years to come.
I have two concerns specific to my constituency. I am worried about the knitwear industry and the agricultural sector, which is spread widely across the region. Hawick, and towns like it, have several viable knitwear businesses. They operate in niche markets and they manufacture world-quality goods, but they need to be nurtured and helped to develop. They need help with training, equipment and new market opportunities and they need assistance to enable them to compete more effectively in future. The Government can help with such activities.
Border towns such as Hawick need much more public investment in the built environment. The traffic relief scheme that the Minister announced when he was in Hawick will help that and it could be used as a focal point around which other built environment improvements
could be structured. Good examples exist of what can be done. If the Minister cares to look at the example of Duns in my constituency, he will see a central town scheme that transformed the centre in a way that gave a boost to the whole local economy. We have been told that we will have a replacement cottage hospital in Hawick, and that is welcome. However, it is a private finance initiative project, so it will take longer than we would have liked. Other welcome initiatives have been taken in the Galalaw factory units to grow new small-scale businesses in the town, but we need more assistance in training and business development in the community.
We also need the Borders college to be expanded. I was disappointed to discover that the rules do not allow mature students over 50 access to student loans. An electrician in my constituency wants to study computer science and has been accepted on a course. Because he is 52, he cannot get a loan, but that is perverse and the Government should reconsider that obstacle to retraining. A change would not cost large sums of money, but it would make a difference to the constituent to whom I spoke on Friday.
The Borders college has been given help recently. My hon. Friend the Member for Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale has received some welcome news about expansion in bursary capacity there. He and I are keen that the problems of a split-site rural college of education should be recognised in the funding formula. I need not overstress that argument to the Minister, who knows well enough those difficulties from the problems in his own back yard.
Tourism can develop, there is potential for forestry processing, and the local enterprise company, Scottish Borders Enterprise, is working hard to expand indigenous businesses. The local authority is working hard to develop business, to improve transport links and to gain additional resources for schools. The Secretary of State has been to the Burnfoot primary school in Hawick and has given extra assistance to the community school development there, and that is very welcome.
The borders could also take advantage of social inclusion schemes that are currently in gestation. I plead with the Minister to consider urgently applications that will come from the region. In passing, I should just mention the Dalkeith bypass. When the Minister visited Hawick earlier this week, he heard from the convenor of Borders council that the bypass is important to the borders economy: it is not just an Edinburgh issue.
There is evidence of market failure in the private sector in south-east Scotland. The public sector must pump-prime provision of factories and other premises in areas in which the private sector simply is not prepared to invest. Towns such as Hawick need that. We must provide premises of the right size and quality, in the right places. That would be a sensible investment, which would pay dividends by unlocking private sector investment that would kick up and underpin the local economy.
We can take advantage of one new opportunity--the welcome new development at the Heriot-Watt university campus. That gives us access to higher education, and it could result in spin-offs such as development of a science park at the Riccarton site. I attended Heriot-Watt university myself, and I know what a magnet and what a generator of economic wealth a science park spun around
a campus can be. There are opportunities for conference facilities and for information technology spin-offs for the whole region if the park is properly developed. We still require Government help with that investment.
The local authority and the local enterprise company are compiling a medium-term economic strategy. I am confident that that will address the questions, and that it will come up with good recommendations. We need help to bridge gaps in the short term, however, to ensure that the system works.
I have two final points, on agriculture. There is concern that the Irish Government have put money into reducing Ireland's ewe flow. The Republic's national heritage Department is, if rumour is correct, putting funds into agriculture, paying £30 a head to take ewes out of the system. That may be good for the south of Ireland, but the ewes may be dumped on the United Kingdom market at £17 a kilo. That would have a catastrophic effect on an already difficult sheep market throughout Scotland, and particularly in the borders.
"Those far distant, storm beaten ships, upon which the Grand Army never looked, stood between it and the domination of the world".
Under our plans, the Royal Navy will maintain its position as a significant force in the world and a service of which we and it can be proud.
9.39 pm
"That the House of Commons urge the Minister to bear our safety uppermost in mind and ensure that the authorities take prompt and effective action to remedy the dangerous situation outlined above and provide safer exits out of Bricket Wood."
To lie upon the Table.
9.40 pm
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