JTI Gallaher

Angela Watkinson Excerpts

Monday 27th October 2014 Commons Chamber

[Ian Paisley]

The hon. Gentleman is making my case for me. He is clearly demonstrating, through his knowledge of this subject and what HMRC has told him that the Government’s policy is wrong-headed and will not prevent people from smoking. I say again: I want to see a reduction in smoking, but we have to have a policy that works and is proven to work. The evidence is not there to achieve the Government’s policy.

[Dame Angela Watkinson (Hornchurch and Upminster) (Con)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that when this Government sent their draft regulations to the EU indicating their intention to introduce standardised packaging, that created the uncertainty in the industry that has affected Gallaher so badly—it is now unable to forward-plan—and yet no ministerial decision has been made and no debate has taken place in this Chamber? We have passed enabling legislation, but we did not make a final decision.

[Ian Paisley]

I thank the hon. Lady for bringing me on to a key point—the impact of the European directive and, importantly, the Government’s betrayal of this industry. The Prime Minister answered a parliamentary question earlier last year on minimum pack size, which is what the tobacco directive is all about. He said:

“It does not, on the face of it, sound a very sensible approach. I was not aware of the specific issue, so let me have a look at it and get back to my hon. Friend.”—[Official Report, 9 October 2013; Vol. 568, c. 160.]

The Prime Minister was answering a question from a Government Member, and I believe that he has been let down by a failure of his party and colleagues to negotiate the matter appropriately in Europe.

While the then public health Minister, the hon. Member for Broxtowe (Anna Soubry), had control of tobacco products directive negotiations for the UK Government, she was required to keep Parliament informed of developments via the European Scrutiny Committee. When she was brought to that Committee on 17 July 2013, she had to apologise for poor political practice, saying:

“I do not hesitate to apologise for the fact that this Committee has not been fully informed. I only wish that, as a Minister, I was aware of all the things that happen within my portfolio.”

That is an appalling indictment of a Minister who took her eye off a brief and allowed the policy to be rammed through with the consequences that we are feeling today. We will reap a terrible harvest in Northern Ireland as a result.

The provisions under the TPD on the minimum pack sizes that may be manufactured have the direct impact that 82% of the output of my constituency’s factory will be made illegal. The Government have done that with the sweep of a pen—it is little wonder that 900 people are being told that it is over for them. The Government could have said, “Let’s continue to manufacture, but not sell in the United Kingdom,” or looked at other options, but instead they implemented a policy even though their Minister said that she was not fully aware of what was happening. That is a betrayal. It is a scandal that the Government were not paying proper attention.

The Government cannot say that they were not warned. I have spent three years in the House warning the Government about their actions. I was able to attract 82 signatures to an open letter to the Secretary of State for Health from Members on both sides of the House, including former and current Cabinet Ministers. The letter stated that if the Government continued with the tobacco directive and plain packaging, it would have

“disastrous consequences for independent retailers, consumers and those employed in the legitimate tobacco supply chain.”

It said that the products affected involved

“a very significant level of employment in UK factories.”

It said:

“Should these packs disappear, the machinery needed for them will be made redundant alongside the workforce who are employed to operate them. In the current economic climate, can the Government afford to put so many UK manufacturing jobs at risk?”

My constituents got the answer on 7 October: they were told by this Government that they could be put at risk, that they did not matter, and that their jobs and livelihoods were over.

What frustrates me most is that the Government had warning upon warning upon warning from not just me but colleagues. The Chair of the Home Affairs Committee visited my constituency and the factory to find out about smuggling. The shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland visited the factory, as did the previous Northern Ireland Secretary. The Minister’s predecessor has visited the factory, as have my Northern Ireland colleagues and other MPs, including members of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee. However, when I asked the Government to come and to say, “This fight is on. This is about saving jobs,” I got the terrible message that they did not want to be associated with the industry. I can represent jobs in my constituency without being associated with smoking. It is a pity that there was not just a wee bit of strength—a wee bit of backbone—in the Government when it was needed. They could have stood up to Europe and said, “We’re not implementing that. That’s the end of our jobs.” Instead, they have stubbed those jobs out, just like a fag end, and my constituents are facing the terrible consequences of that tonight.

There are some things that the Government could do, and I want to turn to those briefly in my closing remarks. First, I think that they could look afresh at the issue of plain packaging and recognise that it offers them a negotiating opportunity with the company. Removing the proposals for plain packaging and the threat to the industry for the next five years would provide an opportunity to stretch those jobs out a little longer. I have managed to help negotiate a two-year stretch for those jobs. If we could push that to five, six, seven or even eight years, because the Government are prepared not to roll over on plain packaging, that would help considerably in defending and keeping those jobs.

[Dame Angela Watkinson]

Like my hon. Friend, I am a non-smoker, but I never miss an opportunity to ask smokers whether their tobacco purchasing habits would change if plain packaging were introduced. They find the idea laughable, so the whole thing is based on a false premise.

[Ian Paisley]

I agree with my hon. Friend.

Secondly, I want the Government to help the work force via the European globalisation fund, because many of my constituents currently in employment will need to be retrained. The skilled engineers, for example, could work on oil rigs or do other engineering work, but the certifications needed cost thousands of pounds. The globalisation fund, if accessed by Her Majesty’s Government, would allow for those certificates to be paid for and help those employees under a restructuring deal.

Finally, if the work force come up with an alternative plan to help save some of those jobs, I want the Government to assist them by allowing them access to Invest Northern Ireland and other skilled business planners so that they can put in place an alternative plan that will hold water and can be put to the company’s headquarters in Geneva. That way, they can see for themselves that there may be a viable alternative. If that happens, we might be able to postpone what is happening in Northern Ireland, but I am really concerned that the Government have put out these jobs for ever.