AstraZeneca (Pfizer Bid)

Debate between David Mowat and Vince Cable

Tuesday 6th May 2014 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

Of course, that is the mechanics of a takeover in the market, and I acknowledge that, at the end of the day, shareholders have to make that choice. It is also fair to point out to the hon. Gentleman, as a Birmingham MP, that I think the Kraft-Cadbury story as it has evolved is not as simple as has often been portrayed. Kraft has committed itself to R and D work, although the takeover itself was not very satisfactory from a national interest point of view.

[David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con)]

Two years ago, the incoming management of AstraZeneca announced the closure of the science park in Cheshire with the loss of 2,000 science-based jobs. The majority of those jobs will not transfer to Cambridge, resulting in a reduction in the UK’s capability. Can the Secretary of State confirm that he does not consider the completion of the botched move to Cambridge to be a prerequisite for this deal?

[Vince Cable]

My hon. Friend is right that among the redundancies that had been announced in AstraZeneca a substantial number were from the Cheshire site, with more from the campus in Loughborough. As I understand it, a substantial number of staff are moving to Cambridge as part of the commitment made to the Cambridge development, and everybody concerned sees the success of the Cambridge campus as critical to the future of that company.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Mowat and Vince Cable

Thursday 10th April 2014 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

The Office for Budget Responsibility forecast for 2014 is that business investment will rise by 8%. Given the depth of the crisis to which we have had to respond, this is a slow process, but business investment is now overtaking consumer spending as the driver of the recovery.

[David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con)]

16. What steps he is taking to support energy-intensive industries.

[The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Vince Cable)]

The Government have in place several measures to address energy costs for these industries. The Budget announced a further £7 billion package of support including: extending the existing compensation scheme to 2020, under which we have distributed £30 million to 53 companies; new compensation for costs of the renewables obligation and feed-in tariff; qualified exemptions to the carbon price support mechanism for combined heat and power; and capping the CPS at £18 per tonne of carbon.

[David Mowat]

The Secretary of State will be aware that even after the welcome changes in the Budget, the carbon price floor in the UK is four to five times higher than in the rest of the EU, where the emissions trading scheme is more or less defunct. In addition, the EU has a system of more direct subsidy in countries such as Germany for these industries. Can he assure the House that he will be active in ensuring that our industries are supported in the same way as those in the EU are, and that the 900,000 jobs in energy-intensive industries are protected?

[Vince Cable]

Indeed, it is a major industry. My figures suggest that we have some 600,000 jobs directly or indirectly affected. It is a massive industry. We believe in it, and it is important that it is able to compete on a level playing field. That was the purpose of the changes announced in the Budget and we are now actively pursuing state aid clearance to make sure that these compensation mechanisms go through.

Royal Mail

Debate between David Mowat and Vince Cable

Tuesday 1st April 2014 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

That series of connections does not appear very logical. The only significant hedge fund at the time of the offering was TCI, which has since sold most of its shares.

[David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con)]

In his remarks the shadow Secretary of State referred to profiteering by spivs and gamblers. Will the Secretary of State confirm that the rate at which bankers were paid for this offering was approximately half the rate paid for QinetiQ?

[Vince Cable]

That is a helpful point and the NAO report draws attention to the competitive rates paid on fees.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Mowat and Vince Cable

Thursday 24th October 2013 Commons Chamber

[David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con)]

6. What projects will be eligible for funding from the Green Investment Bank.

[The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Vince Cable)]

The UK Green Investment Bank has a total of £3.8 billion of funding to finance green projects in sectors within its approved remit, and to date it has committed £714 million, including for waste recycling facilities, energy from waste plant, offshore wind farms and energy efficiency projects.

[David Mowat]

I thank the Secretary of State. It is impressive how quickly the bank has got up and running. However, the scope envisaged during the Committee stage of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill, and indeed in the Bill’s green purpose, included low-carbon industries such as the nuclear supply chain. I understand that that did not get EU state aid clearance. Are we going to appeal against that so that we can go back to the original mandate?

[Vince Cable]

The hon. Gentleman is right that European state aid restrictions mean that the sectors involved are narrowly defined, and I understand his concern for the nuclear industry supply chain. However, following the announcement of the new reactor this week, and the commitment by the companies involved to provide more than 50% of procurement to British companies, the nuclear supply chain has a really excellent future anyway.

Royal Mail

Debate between David Mowat and Vince Cable

Wednesday 10th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

We are not making any advance predictions as to what the sale proceeds will be or how they will be utilised. We are giving Royal Mail the commercial freedom to make those decisions itself.

[David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con)]

Will the Secretary of State confirm that having access to private capital and no longer competing with schools and hospitals for capital will protect jobs in the medium term as well as protecting the universal service obligation?

[Vince Cable]

Yes, it will. There is a theological argument, as it were, about the circumstances under which public agencies should borrow, but at the moment the rules are such that Royal Mail would be directly competing with capital investment in schools and hospitals. That is not healthy, and it is much more sensible that the company is put in a position where it can utilise capital from the markets.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Mowat and Vince Cable

Thursday 13th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con)]

15. What types of projects will be eligible for funding from the green investment bank.

[The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Vince Cable)]

The state aid approval obtained in relation to the green investment bank enables it to make investments on commercial terms across the following green sectors: offshore wind; waste processing and recycling and energy from waste; non-domestic energy efficiency; the green deal; biofuels for transport; biomass power; carbon capture and storage; marine energy; and renewable heat.

[David Mowat]

I thank the Secretary of State for that answer, and I congratulate him on getting the bank operational so quickly. However, he will know that under the terms of the EU state aid clearance a number of low-carbon technologies were excluded, including nuclear supply chain and solar, and that carbon capture and storage was regarded as low priority. Does he have any intention of going back to the EU and asking for the clearance to be amended, so that the bank can more closely follow the purpose set out in the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013?

[Vince Cable]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for acknowledging the progress we have made. Our first priority is to ensure that the institution makes good use of the £3 billion of Government capital that is now being deployed alongside private capital. We are making good progress in that respect—something in the order of £700 million has been committed. He raised the matter of a wider scope for the bank. He anticipates the answer; we would have to go back to the European Commission and seek state aid approval. I do not currently have any plans to do that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Mowat and Vince Cable

Thursday 8th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con)]

Earlier the Secretary of State gave us an update on the good progress we are making on the green investment bank. Can he confirm, however, that EU state approval specifically excludes the nuclear supply chain, which is a major low-carbon industry, and that organisations such as Sheffield Forgemasters will be excluded if we do not appeal that?

[Vince Cable]

We have indeed got state-aid approval for the green investment bank. There are no plans for it to invest in the nuclear supply chain, but we have not ruled that sector out. As it happens, a working party is being assembled to develop a strategy for the nuclear supply chain, which my colleague the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the right hon. Member for Sevenoaks (Michael Fallon), will be co-chairing, and we expect to give it substantial support.

Industrial Strategy

Debate between David Mowat and Vince Cable

Monday 10th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

I do not think there is any question of disloyalty; the public service has a set of different obligations in relation to procurement, one of which, of course, is to obtain value for money. Another is to observe the law, which we all have to follow. My colleague the previous Secretary of State for Transport worked closely with me in developing a more strategic approach to the procurement of trains, and we have begun to see that in the framing of the contracts that are now happening.

[David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con)]

The chief executive officer of Alcan UK has recently said that differentially high energy prices are a much bigger issue for his business than the eurozone crisis. Energy prices have not been discussed so far in this urgent question. Does the Secretary of State agree that it is hard to have an industrial strategy based on more manufacturing when our energy prices are potentially higher than those of our neighbours, such as France?

[Vince Cable]

The hon. Gentleman is right that there is a real problem. That is why, in the last Budget, we agreed to proceed with a scheme that will effectively compensate energy-intensive producers, in the metals industry and elsewhere, for the relatively high cost of electricity that they face. We have been through a process of consultation, which has recently finished, on how that complex set of problems should be dealt with. We fully recognise the problem.

Directors’ Pay

Debate between David Mowat and Vince Cable

Wednesday 20th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

I am frequently accused of socialist tendencies by colleagues behind me, but the promotion of shareholders is a rather strange definition of socialism. There is not a shred of evidence to suggest that this will promote the outward movement of companies. Indeed, all the leading business associations and investor groups have welcomed what we are doing.

[David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con)]

In many quoted companies, highly paid employees actually earn more than directors. Will the Secretary of State consider extending at least the transparency aspect of this legislation to employees, as well as directors?

[Vince Cable]

I have identified that problem. It is particularly a problem in banks, where the so-called code staff, including traders, are sometimes paid more than their directors. That will be covered by the regulation on financial services, which is being strengthened in that respect. There are probably very few public listed companies outside the banking sector where the phenomenon the hon. Gentleman describes is real.