Amendment of the Law

Graham P Jones Excerpts

Thursday 24th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

The hon. Lady makes a valid point. I have already spoken to representatives of the steel industry about precisely that issue.

The Budget referred to the climate change agreements and to more extensive relief. Energy-intensive industries are an issue, but any Government who are serious about carbon reduction will have to deal with such industries in a balanced way.

[Graham Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that exports are being driven by the decision to stay out of the euro and the low value of the pound?

[Vince Cable]

The low value of the pound has certainly been very helpful, and that is supported by low interest rates. That is indeed a supporting factor for exports. It is not just a question of exchange rates. That is why I introduced the trade White Paper a few weeks ago. We are extending export credit support for small-scale business. The current export boom must be sustained, and it definitely was not sustained under the last Labour Government.

When we consider the catalogue of ways in which the economy became unbalanced under the Labour Government, it becomes clear that there was not just a problem of deficit denial, but there was manufacturing denial, trade denial, debt denial and banking denial. There was denial of many of the fundamental weaknesses that emerged in the economy. We are picking up the pieces and trying to create the conditions for sustainable growth.