Trade and Investment for Growth White Paper

Brian Binley Excerpts

Wednesday 9th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

First, may I respond to the right hon. Gentleman’s positive comments? He is right that, compared with, say, the United States or France, there is a significant degree of consensus about trade policy. Probably one of the best statements on the relationship between trade and globalisation was set out by Clare Short, a few years ago when she was Secretary of State. There is a lot of common ground.

The right hon. Gentleman asked about Pfizer. As it happens, I chaired the task force this morning, which—with the leader of Kent county council and the Minister for Universities and Science—is seeking actively to try to save as many jobs as we can on that site and to mobilise other pharmaceutical companies. Its work is coming along well, but these are early days.

The right hon. Gentleman asked specifically what I have been doing in relation to international trade initiatives. In each of the major BRIC—Brazil, Russia, India and China—countries that I have visited, I have engaged with the Trade Ministers, especially the key ones in India and China, which are critical to the success of the Doha round, and tried to persuade them of the importance of making good offers. We have had useful discussions about that. I have had several meetings with Mr Barnier about how we can progress the single market, and only a week ago I was in extensive discussions with my opposite number from India about the European Union free trade agreement. These are works in progress, but progress is undoubtedly being made.

The right hon. Gentleman asked about some of the concrete measures on trade promotion and resources. He appreciates that export credit guarantees are underwriting bank lending—they are not a cash contribution and there is no resource implication. He asked about timetables, and these schemes will be introduced in the next two to three months on a pilot basis. They are, in fact, imminent.

The right hon. Gentleman rightly mentioned the fact that there is some reduction in the UKTI budget, but he should recall that, under the RDA system that he extols, there was a ludicrous duplication of resources. We had British trade ambassadors from each of the RDAs posted in overseas countries, competing with each other and wasting resources. We will get more from less when it comes to trade promotion.

On the wider issue of the state of the economy, we earlier had an extraordinary display of amnesia from the shadow Chancellor, who forgot his role in the last Government. The shadow Secretary of State now tells us about the decline in manufacturing. He may have forgotten the debate last week when we had to point out to him that the decline in the manufacturing sector in the UK economy from 20% to 12% of GDP was far in excess of any other developed country, and that is the rebalancing problem that we are now trying to address. Of course, trade by itself will not solve the problem—it is 30% of GDP—but it is important, especially for some areas such as the north-east of England. Rebalancing is about manufacturing, exports and private sector investment.

[Mr Brian Binley (Northampton South) (Con)]

Now that the Secretary of State has been in situ for some time, does he recognise—as we on the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee recognise—that UKTI is a bureaucrat’s vision, not a business man’s vision, evaluates itself on process and not on outcomes, and has a variable performance dependent on the quality of personnel in post? Does he also recognise that not one trade ambassador comes from the entertainment or music industry, which are among the major earners for Britain in the world at large? Will he have a root and branch review of UKTI, using business input, to ensure those outcomes?

[Vince Cable]

The business people whom I meet—and I meet a great many—frequently make a positive assessment of the support that UKTI gives them. There are some criticisms, but not many. To answer the hon. Gentleman’s final point, he will know that Lord Green is now the Trade Minister. He has a business background and is applying precisely the disciplines that the hon. Gentleman feels—and I agree with him—are necessary.