Business of the House

Philip Hollobone Excerpts

Thursday 4th December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

I join in congratulating my hon. Friend’s constituent on his award, which I am sure was very well deserved. Although we will not be able to accommodate a separate debate on every aspect of the economy, a debate on this subject would be extremely welcome and would help to highlight the positive effects the 1.9 million apprenticeships starts in the past four and a half years have had on our economy since the election. Of course, many of us hope it will be possible to go on in the next Parliament to have 3 million apprenticeships and to abolish youth unemployment entirely, and that is what the Chancellor is setting out to do.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

We now pay more than £10 billion a year as our annual membership fee to the European Union, and we have recently received a demand for £1.7 billion more; yet the UK’s trade deficit with the EU is increasing at an alarming rate. The Government’s own figures, released this week, show that our trade deficit with the EU was £28.5 billion in 2010, as much as £56.2 billion in 2013, and already £25.5 billion in the first half of 2014. May we have a debate on the Floor of the House, opened by the Business Secretary and closed by the Foreign Secretary, in which we demolish the myth that 3 million jobs in this country are dependent on our membership of the European Union? The figures prove that they are not.

[Mr Hague]

Our trade with all parts of the world, including Europe, is an extremely important issue. Given the poor performance of the eurozone and the flatness of our export markets in Europe, which is driving some of the figures that my hon. Friend cites, the proportion of Britain’s exports going outside the European Union has increased in recent times. There have been particularly sharp increases in our exports to countries in the far east and to some countries in Latin America. It is vital to continue that, and to improve our export performance overall. That is why the Chancellor yesterday announced further resources for the Foreign Office and UK Trade & Investment to do that. This is one of the important issues to discuss in all our debates on yesterday’s autumn statement.