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3.2 pm
Mr. James Gray (North Wiltshire): It is an honour to take part in what is an important debate and to follow my near neighbour, the hon. Member for Stroud (Mr. Drew), although, having heard his thoughtful speech, I am not entirely clear about whether he agrees with Ministers' decision to allow the commercial growth of GM crops. Nor am I clear about whether he is in favour of the continuing import of hormone-improved beef. If he is, I wonder whether he has consulted the Gloucestershire National Farmers Union on the subject, and considered the damaging effect that it would have on beef farmers in his rural constituency.
Incidentally, the Labour party makes great play of the fact that it represents more rural constituencies than the Conservative party. That is statistical nonsense, but I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Stroud, who does indeed have a rural constituency and should always be listened to on rural matters. I am certain that the Gloucestershire National Farmers Union will get in touch with him about his opinion on hormone-modified beef.
I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch (Mr. Chope), who accurately summed up Conservative Members' significant concerns about the imminent trade war, and made some good points about Liberal Democrat Members' general woolliness and lack of clarity. This is the most important day in the Liberal Democrats' parliamentary month, but, for most of the debate, far more Conservative than Liberal Democrat Members have been present. At one stage, only two Liberal Democrats were present, although, admittedly, there are a limited number of Liberal Democrat Members. The Liberal Democrats have raised a subject that has attracted few of their Members and I suggest that, the next time they secure an Opposition day debate, they think up a subject that actually attracts the attention of their Members and voters, rather than something that is of peripheral interest to them.
I am glad that one or two more Liberal Democrats have drifted into the Chamber. No doubt, seeing the name of a Conservative Member on the screens, they have come to find out a thing or two about the subject that they themselves proposed to discuss. We will no doubt hear more about that in the next debate, which, in the view of all Conservative Members, is a particular waste of time.
The lack of interest among the Liberal Democrats in the subject of the debate has been mirrored throughout England by their appalling results in last week's local elections.
Mr. Paul Tyler (North Cornwall):
Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Mr. Gray:
I will in a moment, if I may just finish my train of thought.
I think, in particular, of constituents of mine in the town of Wootton Bassett. Until last week, they had a Liberal Democrat town councillor, district councillor and county councillor. They now have a Conservative-controlled town council, Conservative district councillors, Conservative county councillors, a Conservative Member of Parliament and a Conservative Member of the European Parliament. That shows what the country thinks of the Liberal Democrats and today's debate shows why they think it.
Mr. Tyler:
In the almost complete absence of all his Conservative colleagues, I wonder how the hon. Gentleman has the nerve to get up at all, but why does he think that his views on the local government elections have anything to do with genetic modification, unless he himself has been genetically modified, which may be possible?
I wonder whether the hon. Gentleman has noticed that, in 1995, his party lost more than 2,000 seats. Therefore, to regain their 1995 position and to have had any hope of forming the Government again, his party should have won 2,000 seats last week, which it patently did not.
Mr. Deputy Speaker:
Order. Before the hon. Gentleman addresses the House again, perhaps we can return to the subject of the debate.
Mr. Gray:
You are, of course, right, Mr. Deputy Speaker. The hon. Member for North Cornwall(Mr. Tyler) has highlighted two things. First, he has not been here throughout the debate; he walked into the Chamber and thought to make a cheeky intervention. Secondly, he has not even read his motion, which has nothing to do with GM crops. The fact that he thinks that I should be talking about GM crops shows how little he knows about the debate.
Mr. Tyler:
Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Mr. Gray:
I am sorry. The hon. Gentleman has just walked into the Chamber. He has already made one particularly inane intervention; I am not prepared to take any further interventions from him.
Mr. Tyler:
On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I attended the opening speech in the debate and I listened
Mr. Deputy Speaker:
That is not a matter for the Chair.
Mr. Gray:
We are glad to see the hon. Gentleman back in his place.
We are not talking about GM crops. That is a peripheral issue. We are talking about the real possibility that the world and our nation face a very damaging trade war. It is a trade war that damages not the European Union, our Government or us in this place, but businesses throughout Britain. That is what we are talking about. Today, there has been much peripheral talk about all kinds of things, but we must concentrate on the possibility of a full-scale trade war, which represents a threat to global prosperity--and, my goodness, global prosperity already has enough to worry about with the cold wind coming from the far east and Russia. One thing that we do not need is a trade war across the Atlantic between, as the Minister correctly pointed out, two of the oldest trading friends in the book: the United States and United Kingdom. We have been trading partners for centuries. That has nearly always been the case: there have been a few little local difficulties such as the Boston tea party, which the Minister mentioned. Apart from that, we have always been the best of trading partners.
If there is an outcome to today's debate, it must be the reiteration of our determination to maintain those trade links across the Atlantic, and not to allow some of the current disputes to interfere with that. We must reiterate our determination that, where we see trade disputes on the horizon--for example, a dispute over air freight is definitely coming our way--rather than allowing them to develop into a gigantic trade war, we will find ways in which to smooth them over, to come to some agreement with our American partners as well as involving our European partners.
In that context, I find the history of the recent banana dispute worrying. The Labour Government go to great lengths to tell us of their strong links in Europe and with President Clinton. The Government had the presidency of the European Union when the banana dispute was breaking. As far as I am aware, the Government never even mentioned the dispute in any of their public announcements during their presidency. They certainly took no steps to do anything about it.
The Government wasted an opportunity during their presidency by not addressing the dispute. The net result is the $191 million worth of sanctions that the WTO has now allowed the United States to apply against the European Union. Of course, those sanctions have not been imposed on EU banana businesses but EU businesses in entirely unrelated trades and industries.
The suggestion that that came as a surprise to the Labour Government during their presidency is nonsense. We know that, for six years, the battle has rumbled backwards and forwards and that the EU has consistently failed to comply with GATT and WTO regulations. The EU has said, "No, no, no--the United States action was
unauthorised". Although the EU is probably technically right that the US took action before the WTO had authorised it, the facts remain that the dispute has continued for six years, that we saw it coming, and that the United Kingdom, in leading the EU, took absolutely no action to see it off. The Labour Government have to answer for that omission.
If the Government are so close to the European Union; have such good links with the WTO; and are leading in European matters, in WTO matters relating to the United States and in international affairs--although their recent lead in international affairs does not fill me with great confidence--they will have to tell us why they allowed bananas, of all things, to wreak the consequences described by my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch. Although the banana dispute has been partly resolved, as current contracts have not yet expired, the dispute's effects will continue to be felt for at least another nine months.
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