Productivity
Debate between Greg Hands and Tom Blenkinsop(9 years, 5 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Greg Hands
My hon. Friend is right that the previous Labour Government had a dreadful record on manufacturing, and that is one of the key challenges—this reads through to productivity—facing us this Parliament.
Tom Blenkinsop
I am the Member for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland. I welcome the Minister to his new role. Of course, in the past five years, under the coalition Government, manufacturing shrank by 1%. In terms of productivity, the north-east is probably the lead region in the country, mainly because of its chemical and pharmaceutical sectors, but they have seen the largest slump over the past five years, due mainly to the lack of investment. Does he agree that one problem is that the Government imposed the unilateral carbon floor price tax on energy-intensive industries, and did not the Chancellor promise to bring in a compensation mechanism? Will he speak about that, because it would not pre-empt the Chancellor’s emergency Budget in July?
Greg Hands
I thank the hon. Gentleman for that series of questions, but his use of statistics was highly selective. I am sure he will join me in celebrating the fact that the two regions in which employment is rising the fastest are the north-west and the north-east. Of all regions, the north-east leads the way in export growth. I am sure he will also join me in welcoming the fall of 1,518 in unemployment in his constituency under the last Government—again, just shy of a 50% fall.