European Union (Withdrawal) Bill

Debate between Andrew Bridgen and Vince Cable

Tuesday 12th June 2018 Commons Chamber

[Sir Vince Cable (Twickenham) (LD)]

Many Members will today be speaking under pressure or while considering different interests. Some will be observing what the hon. Member for Streatham (Chuka Umunna) called the pure Churchillian principle of accountability and thinking clearly about our consciences and judgments, while others will be concerned about the will of the people as expressed by their own or other people’s constituents, or by parts of the UK such as Scotland that are distinct. Others will be thinking about their party and—dare I say it?—some may even consider the views of their party Whips. People will come to different conclusions and weigh these things differently, and the most vocal people will be those who are not necessarily balancing them with the greatest difficulty. We should respect those on both sides who are struggling to reconcile these different pressures.

We are weighing up a difficult constitutional matter, and two constitutional questions are wrapped up in Lords amendment 19. One is about how we reconcile the rights of a plebiscite with those of Parliament—we have debated that many times, and the hon. Member for Gainsborough (Sir Edward Leigh) was very unambiguous about where he stands—and the other is about how we balance the rights of the Executive with those of the legislature. We have debated that in different contexts. A few weeks ago, we were talking about exactly how to weigh war powers and accountability.

Lords amendment 19 takes us forward in one crucial respect with regard to the so-called meaningful vote. It gives additional clarity. It might be better had we taken the wording proposed by the right hon. and learned Member for Beaconsfield (Mr Grieve), but the amendment does give clarity, and it would not have the exaggerated consequences that some have predicted, as was set out very sensibly by the right hon. and learned Member for Rushcliffe (Mr Clarke).

[Andrew Bridgen]

Does not the right hon. Gentleman concede that when Lord Bilimoria introduced Lords amendment 19, he said that it had the ability to stop Brexit? Will the right hon. Gentleman not concede that this is a wrecking amendment?

[Sir Vince Cable]

The House would have to vote in that way, fully conscious of what it was doing. We just have to wait and see how the House chooses to proceed. The overall effect of the Lords amendment is clearly to—

[Andrew Bridgen]

Stop Brexit.

[Sir Vince Cable]

No, but stopping Brexit is one option we need to consider.

Although Lords amendment 19 takes us forward, it would not, as the right hon. and learned Member for Rushcliffe just explained, have the damaging consequences anticipated by many exaggerated predictions. It would not necessarily undermine our negotiating position. The EU countries have their own legislation to consider and have already made it clear that their objective is a smooth, quick, clear Brexit. Anything that might cause major disruption—if they were unfair to the UK, for example—and therefore lead to Parliament’s rejecting the deal would not necessarily be in their interests, and they would, I am sure, reject that.

The crucial point, which is made in the article by Professor Bogdanor that the Brexit Secretary has quoted at length, is that whereas the amendment is a necessary step, it is not sufficient, and that is because Parliament cannot overthrow the judgment of the people in a referendum. The article is quite clear about that, and so are the Liberal Democrats, although we approach this from the opposite direction to some of the Brexit supporters on the Government Benches. We believe that when Parliament has considered the final deal or the absence of a deal, the public should have the final say on the matter. This is not an extraordinary observation. Countries that rule by plebiscite, such as Switzerland, regard confirmatory referendums as a matter of course. The people vote and then the legislature and Executive review the matter. At the end, there is a confirmatory referendum to determine whether the people accept the proposal. There is no reason why that should present a problem. It is a matter of fundamental—

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andrew Bridgen and Vince Cable

Thursday 26th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

On the latter point, we shall discuss in the forthcoming legislation how enforcement action might be taken in respect of exclusivity contracts. The answer to the first part of the question is yes, indeed: if the minimum wage legislation has been breached, action is taken, initially by retrieving the sums involved and by naming and shaming, and under the forthcoming legislation it will be by very significant penalties.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

Does the Secretary of State agree that the Government’s approach to zero-hours contracts has to tread the difficult line between supporting the vast majority of employees who want to continue with those contracts, and limiting the use of such contracts where they are neither necessary nor appropriate?

[Vince Cable]

My colleague is right that this is a difficult line to tread, which is why we must base our policy on evidence and not on dogma. The evidence very clearly shows that a large number of people do appreciate and see value in the current arrangements but that there is also abuse, which needs to be dealt with.

--- Later in debate ---

[Vince Cable]

I think that the hon. Gentleman is referring specifically to energy costs, which has been the main issue in the inflation of raw material inputs. My colleague the Minister of State, my right hon. Friend the Member for Sevenoaks gave a very full answer in explaining the compensation mechanisms that we are introducing to offset them.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

Will the Minister update the House on the progress made in tackling non-compliance by employers who fail to pay apprentices the rate they should?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andrew Bridgen and Vince Cable

Thursday 6th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

Of course, there is a continuing credit problem for many small companies. That is very clear. There is a very different pattern among the significant banks. Lloyds is greatly expanding its lending, as is Santander. Some of the new banks, such as Shawbrook and Aldermore, are beginning to make an impression. That has been cancelled out by RBS, although its new management have indicated that they wish to expand its net lending considerably. The business bank is beginning to make a significant impact. It is not a rebadging. It is already out in the market, supporting new forms of non-conventional business finance.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

Business intentions rely on confidence, and with business confidence at a 22-year high, figures from the Office for National Statistics show that business investment is up 8.5% on the previous year. Does that not show that business is not only confident about the economy, but about the policies of this Government?

[Vince Cable]

Yes, there is a high level of confidence, and it is reinforced by fact. Indeed, the output and spending figures are reinforcing the trend that the hon. Gentleman describes. There is, however, a continuing problem regarding credit to the small and medium-sized business sector. We are not complacent about that, and the interventions we are making will help.

Job Insecurity

Debate between Andrew Bridgen and Vince Cable

Wednesday 5th February 2014 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

I think I would rather press on. I will take other interventions later.

The next twist in the argument on employment moved gradually away from the prediction of mass unemployment. The argument became that because public sector employment was declining, the growth in private sector employment would never catch up. What has actually happened is a very clear trend. In the period since we came into office, 1.1 million private sector jobs have been created. There have been losses in public sector employment of 440,000 jobs, but the ratio is about three to one. If we go back to the first quarter of last year, before the recovery had become properly embedded, the figures show that in every single region of the country, including in the north-east of England, private sector growth exceeded the decline in public sector employment, and that that trend has been sustained.

[Andrew Bridgen]

We have been talking about the rise in the number of people on zero-hours contracts. Is the Secretary of State aware of a report by ACAS saying that between 2003-04 and 2010-11—under Labour—the number of people on zero-hours contracts actually doubled?

[Vince Cable]

Indeed, and to be fair to the shadow Secretary of State, he did acknowledge that job insecurity—particularly zero-hours contracts—was not particular to our period in office but was a long-term trend.

Royal Mail

Debate between Andrew Bridgen and Vince Cable

Wednesday 10th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

There was a substantial vote on that consultative ballot, but I hope that the hon. Gentleman is not suggesting that it takes precedence over the vote of the House of Commons, which after all brought the process into being. I have already freely acknowledged that the CWU, despite the rhetoric we sometimes hear from it, has played a very constructive role in the modernisation, and we want to help it, as a result of this share offer, to become further aligned in the long term with the interests of the company. If the company makes money and succeeds, the CWU will derive additional benefit.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

Will my right hon. Friend confirm that the six-day-a-week service will continue after privatisation and across the whole country?

[Vince Cable]

Absolutely. That is the fundamental of the universal service obligation, which can be changed only by an affirmative vote of this House.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andrew Bridgen and Vince Cable

Thursday 21st March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

We will certainly make the case for tendering to be conducted in a proper, strategic way. One lesson we have learnt over the years is that the rather opportunistic approach that used to happen in public sector tendering for public transport was not helpful, and we will certainly make the strategic case directly with Government and public agencies.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

Manufacturing is very important to my constituency. Will my right hon. Friend update the House on the outcome of the third annual manufacturing summit, which took place in February 2013?

[Vince Cable]

It was a very productive session at Gaydon and we were able to see successful British car manufacturing—Jaguar Land Rover and Aston Martin were just across the road. It was the largest summit we have had so far, and a celebration, as well as a serious business discussion, of the progress we are making on apprenticeships, innovation and other support for manufacturing.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andrew Bridgen and Vince Cable

Thursday 7th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

Yes, the decline of relationship banking has been a long-standing problem and it underlines the difficulties my hon. Friend describes. The factual position is that last year a third of all applications to the banks for loans were declined, according to SME Finance Monitor. When appeals were made to an independent arbitrator, some 40% were successful, which shows how bad the banks are in sifting good credit from bad.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that the new business bank is not the silver bullet solution for all firms’ financial needs? What is he doing to diversify the sources of finance for business, particularly SMEs?

[Vince Cable]

No, it certainly is not a silver bullet but it will make a significant difference in increasing diversity in the system, in providing wholesale financing for some of the new entrants into the market, and in making Government support more concentrated and easy to access. It will be an important contribution, and the plans are already under way. The expert committee met for the first time a couple of days ago, and we are already looking at products and projects that hopefully will provide some £300 million, geared substantially with private money, over the course of this year.

Executive Pay

Debate between Andrew Bridgen and Vince Cable

Monday 23rd January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

I remind Opposition Members that the semi-publicly owned banks, including RBS, are managed on an arm’s length basis under an arrangement devised by the previous Labour Government. This Government have made it clear that we expect restraint in bonuses in the banking system and in RBS in particular, and we will see what happens.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

Will the Secretary of State confirm that proposals to tackle excessive pay are just part of the Government’s plans to reconnect the principles of risk-taking, success, hard work and rewards in both the private and the public sector?

[Vince Cable]

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right, although we have of course already introduced principles governing remuneration in the public sector, including greater transparency, ratios and things of that kind. We are now extending those into the private sector where it is appropriate to do so, while recognising, as he implied, that in the private sector we need also to give incentives to entrepreneurship and good management.

Green Investment Bank

Debate between Andrew Bridgen and Vince Cable

Tuesday 24th May 2011 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

Historically, whatever services the Government decide to offer, the private sector tends to withdraw from them, so what steps is the Secretary of State taking to ensure that the green investment bank complements private sector investment in green technologies and does not merely replace it?

[Vince Cable]

The bank will not replace such investment. The whole purpose of our extensive market analysis has been to identify the areas where the private sector is not investing and will not invest. The advisory committee is being established, we have appointed the chairman, and it will give us much more specific guidance on how to get the right balance between the commercial and environmental criteria.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andrew Bridgen and Vince Cable

Thursday 13th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

Yes, I know that this is an extremely important part of the British car industry; indeed, it is a highly productive and successful one. I have spoken to Mr Reilly about the issue, and I think that this part of the industry has a very good future.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

T8. Does the Secretary of State agree that although the 50p rate of tax may be necessary in the short term, it will have a detrimental effect on economic growth in the UK in the medium to long term? It scares away foreign investors, acts as a disincentive for home-grown entrepreneurs to start businesses and offers a massive incentive for some of our brightest and best business brains to leave this country and pay less tax elsewhere.

[Vince Cable]

When I was in opposition I spent quite a lot of political energy arguing against a 50p tax rate. However, in the present context we have to understand that the burdens of the very difficult period through which we are passing have to be shared fairly, and that is why the tax remains in place.