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Mr. Ian Bruce (South Dorset): Has my hon. Friend seen, as I have, announcements from electricity companies which, in response to the Utilities Bill, are sacking people as we sit here? Does my hon. Friend know that I tabled a question about how many people have been sacked, and was told that the Minister would let me know shortly? The Government are clearly not in touch with what is happening in this important industry.
Mrs. Browning: It would be charitable, given how much has been said about the climate change tax, to say that DTI Ministers are in a state of blissful ignorance. However, we know that they are not; they are only too aware of how damaging the tax will be to British industry and manufacturing. Yet despite being the sponsoring Department for business and industry, Ministers make no attempt to speak up for business in Government. They certainly do not speak up for business as far as the Treasury is concerned.
Between May 1997 and December 1999, 82,000 jobs were lost in the textiles industry. In 1999, the National Union of Knitwear, Footwear and Apparel Trades estimated that the equivalent of one textile factory closed every day. In its national strategy report, the clothing and
textiles strategy group highlighted regulation and its implementation as a major burden on business. Yet the Government do not want to listen.
Mr. Geraint Davies (Croydon, Central): If things are so gloomy, how did manufacturing output in the last quarter of 1999 reach its highest level ever? Manufacturing, of course, is growing less fast than the rest of the economy, where we have an extra 800,000 jobs. If things are so awful, why do all the statistics look so good?
Mrs. Browning: As the Engineering Employers Federation has pointed out, that increase has been at the expense of margins. That is all right over a short period, but, as a business man, the hon. Gentleman will know that unless manufacturing can see some light at the end of the tunnel, it will not be able to sustain cutting into its margins to keep up productivity for long. That is the worrying long-term future that manufacturing faces.
The present Government wring their hands. They offer sums of money to some areas and sectors and not to others. Perhaps the Secretary of State could explain the strategy. Is it based purely on the map in "The Times Guide to the House of Commons", or is there some higher body that he has applied to in order to identify who does and who does not receive Government handouts? I am sure that many of his hon. Friends on the Back Benches will want to know, as clearly they will need to indicate to their constituents, when the Minister says that this is a Government that will not intervene, whether there is a policy behind that or just political opportunism.
The Secretary of State could intervene much more positively. He could promise British business today that he will halt regulatory costs. The Chancellor could look again at the £30 billion of extra taxes on business, particularly those in the pipeline. If they fail to take action, and quickly, they can be sure that the sign that says "DTI" in Victoria street will be replaced very shortly in the eyes of business with one that says "RIP".
British industry deserves and was promised better than this. Perhaps the right hon. Gentleman will now tell us how he will deliver.
4.51 pm
The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Mr. Stephen Byers): I beg to move, To leave out from "House" to the end of the Question, and to add instead thereof:
- 'recognises that industry does not want a return of the boom and bust policies of the previous Government, with interest rates of 15 per cent, inflation above 10 per cent and soaring budget deficits; welcomes the Government's decisive action in taking politics out of interest rate decisions; notes that employment is currently 880,000 higher than it was when the Government came into office, and that long-term interest rates over the past year have been at their lowest for 35 years; welcomes the measures that the Government has taken to encourage enterprise, investment and innovation which particularly help manufacturing businesses; welcomes the Government's view that where firms are in difficulty the Government has a role in helping people through change as opposed to the previous Government's laissez-faire approach; and condemns the Opposition for its record in government, when manufacturing employment declined by 2¾ million.'.
Mr. Byers: I have not started yet. Let me get through my introduction and then I shall be more than happy to give way, even to the hon. Member for Buckingham (Mr. Bercow).
In the contribution of the hon. Member for Tiverton and Honiton (Mrs. Browning), there was no recognition of the situation of manufacturing under the Conservatives. There are figures that demonstrate very clearly that while there may be difficulties in some sectors of manufacturing, as there clearly are, we still have a buoyant and vibrant manufacturing industry here in the United Kingdom. Hon. Members opposite should not talk manufacturing down, because there are real strengths.
Manufacturing productivity is rising by around 5 per cent. a year. Most economic forecasters say that it will continue to rise in the period ahead. Manufacturing export volumes are 9.5 per cent. higher than they were a year ago.
Let us look at those employed in manufacturing. Regrettably, jobs have been lost in manufacturing since May 1997; manufacturing employment has fallen by around 160,000 in the three years since the present Government came to office. But, in comparison, during the Conservative years from 1979 to 1997 an average of 140,000 manufacturing jobs were lost every single year. Every year for those 19 years 140,000 manufacturing jobs were lost, so we shall not take any lessons from the hon. Lady, who was a Minister in the Governments responsible for that record on manufacturing employment.
Between 1979 and 1997, manufacturing employment fell by more than 2.5 million people. That is the Conservative record on manufacturing, a record that we shall remind hon. Members opposite about, and remind the country about as well.
Mr. Ian Bruce: I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for giving way. He will know, if he looks at any table of statistics, that manufacturing employment throughout the world was going down during that period. Will he reflect on what was happening to manufacturing jobs in the Conservatives' last few years in power, on the present Government's statement when they came in that they would do so much better for manufacturing, and then on exactly what has happened over the last three years?
Mr. Byers: Government is not like pick and mix at Woolworths. The hon. Gentleman must stand on the
record of Conservative Governments--that was their record. When I talk about people losing their jobs, he--with a majority of only 76--gets slightly worried.
Mr. Byers: I apologise--another rather foolish person voted for the hon. Gentleman. However, I can understand his concern.
Mr. Edward Garnier (Harborough) rose--
Mr. Byers: I give way to the hon. and learned Gentleman, who has a slightly larger majority.
Mr. Garnier: I am most grateful to the Secretary of State. Even assuming--although I do not--that his figures for the years of Conservative government are correct, what will the Labour Government do to put the matter right?
Mr. Byers: I shall outline our approach. I am pleased that the hon. and learned Gentleman's intervention has allowed me to address the point so early. What we are not going to do is take risks with the economy. That is why we are creating economic stability, with inflation under control. We have sound public finance and we are reducing the national debt. That is all in stark contrast to the situation that we inherited when we took office in May 1997. We are creating the economic climate in which business can plan ahead with confidence, knowing that we shall not return to the days of boom and bust that we experienced under successive Conservative Governments.
Mr. Garnier: Will the Secretary of State give me some examples of where that is working?
Mr. Byers: I draw the hon. and learned Gentleman's attention to the announcement made yesterday by Marconi. The company is creating 2,200 high-tech, well-paid jobs in the west midlands. A global company that could have gone anywhere in the world chose to come to the west midlands of the United Kingdom because of the skills of the people in that area and its strengths, and because of the economic environment that we have created. That is why inward investment reached record levels last year. We have created a climate in which people want to invest. We can take pride in that. It is not a legacy from the Conservatives. It has occurred because of the steps that we have taken; the environment that we have created means that businesses want to invest in the UK.
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