Exports: Government Support

Lord Sherbourne of Didsbury Excerpts

Thursday 29th January 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Sherbourne of Didsbury (Con)]

My Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow my noble friend Lord Shrewsbury. I want to begin by quoting from a debate in this place in 1961, when the Earl of Bessborough said that,

“we live or die by our international trade”.

He went on to call for,

“a national crusade to excite the spirit, to revivify and stimulate every facet … of the export drive”.—[Official Report, 22/3/61; col. 1155.]

It is quite clear from today’s debate that that crusade goes on. I want therefore to congratulate my noble friend Lady Wheatcroft on having secured this debate.

My noble friend Lord Selsdon referred to the balance of payments deficit. In the 1960s, that was the great, dominating economic factor. Today, the economic debate is dominated much more by the national finances and the deficit, which this Government have to bring down. However, there is a considerable balance of payments deficit, so this debate is very important.

I want first to acknowledge the tremendous effort made by our exporters and the success they achieve. I say this because I am always conscious of how easy it is for people who, like me, are not in the business of exporting to encourage and exhort other people to go out there and sell. I remember Mrs Thatcher when she was Prime Minister reading a speech of one of her Trade Ministers in which he had said that we needed more people to go into business, into manufacturing and into exporting. She said, “Well, if you think it’s so important, why didn’t you?” It was a very fair point.

Exporting is hard work. There are many challenges. Other speakers have referred to the juddering growth in European countries, to the volatility of the exchange rates and in particular to the recent plunging of the euro which makes our exports to eurozone countries less competitive. This is just one of the many reasons why it is important to look to markets outside Europe. I was especially struck by what the Institute of Directors found in a recent survey: that its members export more to Spain than to China and more to Belgium than to India.

I want therefore to say just a few words about the importance of understanding and speaking a foreign language, which my noble friend Lady Hooper mentioned. Although my noble friend Lord Risby was right that it is a tremendous asset for Britain that so many countries speak English, it is important that more of our people have a foreign language.

In October last year, a survey by the British Chambers of Commerce showed that 35% of firms reported a skills shortage in languages. It called for more of a “global mindset”. This is where foreign languages can help. It is not just a matter of speaking another country’s language; it also opens the door to an understanding of their culture. I was shocked when I discovered last year that of all A-level subjects passed in state schools, only 3% were in modern languages. I therefore welcome the steps taken by the Government to ensure that modern languages are taught in our schools. We are beginning to make real progress there.

I was looking the other day at who attended the World Economic Forum in Davos this year and the sectors they represented. The vast majority of attendees came from the various service sectors. By far the biggest cohort, by a mile, came from what Davos defined as the public sector, civic society, arts and academia. Then came media, information and entertainment. Then came banking and professional services, and comparatively few from manufacturing. There are two striking conclusions. One is that those who are in the hard business of exporting probably do not have the time to go to Davos. Secondly, it reminds us that the exporting of services is very important, and there is a great success story here in banking, insurance and financial services. But we also have in Britain some of the most creative talents and companies in the world. The export successes of our television companies have already been referred to. The BBC exports “Planet Earth”, “Top Gear”, “Doctor Who”, “Strictly Come Dancing” and “Sherlock”. ITV sells “Mr Selfridge”, “Agatha Christie’s Marple”, “Agatha Christie’s Poirot” and “Lewis” in more than 150 countries. So there is a great success story there.

Another extraordinary success story, referred to by other speakers and in particular by my noble friend Lord Stoneham, has been that of car exports. Five million cars have been exported during the past five years.

As I said, companies do not need exhortation from government but they do need help. I hope that we will hear from my noble friend the Minister on what the Government are doing. I know that our embassies, which have huge reserves of understanding of local languages and culture, have been reinforced with commercial expertise. How far is that providing the assistance and intelligence that companies need? Are they providing enough information about export opportunities? Is that information getting through to the right people? I know that there is more co-ordination between the FCO and UKTI; is that working well? We know about the many trade missions, often led by the Prime Minister and by my noble friend the Minister. Is he satisfied that there is sufficient and effective follow- through?

On UK Export Finance or ECGD—my first job as a trainee in a merchant bank was in the bank’s export finance department—can the Minister tell us what progress is being made to extend the availability of export credit and to increase awareness and utilisation of ECGD? I look forward to hearing from him.