Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Vince Cable and Peter Bone

Thursday 23rd January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

Anybody who looks at yesterday’s employment figures will realise that we are in a very positive trend on employment—far in excess of what was predicted. Specifically in relation to the north-east, the hon. Gentleman will know that the main mechanism the Government use to support jobs and companies is the regional growth fund, and I think that the north-east has received more regional growth fund support than almost any other part of the country.

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

Does the Secretary of State agree that as businesses expand and get more sales, they generate more cash, so we would not necessarily expect net lending to go up?

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

On the Secretary of State’s undoubtedly enjoyable trip to meet my hon. Friend the Member for Redditch (Karen Lumley), will he break his journey in Wellingborough so that I can show him the success of local businesses? More importantly, this would not cost the taxpayer a penny because both Wellingborough council and East Northamptonshire council have free car parking, which encourages local business. If possible, I look forward to seeing him soon.

[Vince Cable]

I should be delighted to go to Wellingborough. Indeed, I should like to make the visit a political one as well, and, on behalf of my Department, to express my appreciation of someone who has given so much support to the coalition. [Laughter.]

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Vince Cable and Peter Bone

Thursday 24th October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

Nissan has been very clear on the subject—on its behalf, the Japanese Government have made exactly the same point that they do not want the re-imposition of tariffs. However, there is no evidence so far that our policy is discouraging Nissan. Its investment in the UK continues at a high level. I continue to welcome that.

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

Is the House seriously going to believe that the Secretary of State believes that, if this country were not in the EU, we would not have a free trade agreement with it? Does he expect the House to believe him?

[Vince Cable]

I know the hon. Gentleman’s position, but that is the not the issue. The issue is certainty. There is a lot of risk in the business world. Reopening the matter creates massive uncertainty for employers and makes it even more difficult for them to invest.

Industrial Strategy

Debate between Vince Cable and Peter Bone

Monday 10th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

The starting point of the hon. Gentleman’s question is right: there has to be cross-party support, because if we are thinking 10, 15 or 20 years ahead, we do not know what form of Government will emerge over that time. There is undoubtedly cross-party support among Government Members. I think that I heard support from the Opposition, but I was not totally clear about that.

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

I hate to say this to the Secretary of State, but there is not cross-party support from this particular quarter. His statement sounded to me like one that any Labour Minister in the previous Administration could have made; it talked about state intervention and picking winners and said nothing about cutting red tape and regulation. It was a Labour statement, not a coalition statement.

[Vince Cable]

The hon. Gentleman has his own very distinctive and unique style which we all admire. What I said goes in tandem with the announcements that my colleagues and I made this morning about scrapping a substantial amount of red tape. Of course, for large parts of the small-scale business sector that is rather more crucial. The two things coexist.

Directors’ Pay

Debate between Vince Cable and Peter Bone

Wednesday 20th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

I know that the shadow Secretary of State is indeed very pleasant. I will concede that point. I did not think his questions were terribly good, but he is certainly very pleasant.

As for my performance when I used to sit in the seat where the hon. Member for Bolsover (Mr Skinner) is now, I did indeed warmly welcome Patricia Hewitt’s changes seven years before the end of the Labour Government. They were a big step forward, and they were helpful even though taken as a whole they were quite a weak package. What is happening today builds substantially on those proposals.

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

The Secretary of State’s proposals are unnecessary and will just be an additional burden on industry. Should he not concentrate instead on his day job? Gallay Ltd, in my constituency, has been waiting since February for an export licence and will lose an order to the Americans. Should we not have more action and fewer stunts?

[Vince Cable]

If there is a genuine problem with export licensing, I will be happy to address it, but only a very small proportion of exports are covered by the licensing regime. As the hon. Gentleman will know, they cover defence and national security, and it is important that we are careful in how—

Office for Fair Access

Debate between Vince Cable and Peter Bone

Monday 20th February 2012 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

As far as I am aware, Professor Ebdon has never advocated the use of quotas. He is certainly not on record to that effect.

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

This is a case of Parliament v. the Executive. On only two occasions have Select Committees not endorsed a senior appointment, one of which was under Labour. When we were in opposition, we created merry hell about it and said that the Executive were ignoring Parliament. What is different this time?

[Vince Cable]

What is different is that the Executive are not ignoring Parliament. We are aware of the criticisms that were made of Professor Ebdon’s interview and we have asked him to appear on a regular basis before the Select Committee to demonstrate that he has its full confidence. That is what is different.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Vince Cable and Peter Bone

Thursday 2nd February 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

T3. Last Sunday I attended Indian republic day at the Wellingborough Hindu Association, yet the same week we learn that a £20 billion fighter contract has been lost to, of all people, the French. We now know that the lead bidder was not the British Prime Minister or the British Government, but the Germans. What on earth do they know about cricket and curries? Why was the British Government not leading on that? How did the Secretary of State allow such a cock-up?

[Vince Cable]

As was explained earlier, the Prime Minister, the Trade and Investment Minister, I and others have made strong representations to the Indian Government on the merits of BAE Systems for this contract. The hon. Gentleman will know that the contract was narrowed down to two companies on the basis of quality. The Indian Government appear to have made a narrow decision based on price, but this is by no means the end of the process. BAE Systems will have plenty of opportunities to restate its case on quality and life-time costs and we shall reinforce it.

Executive Pay

Debate between Vince Cable and Peter Bone

Monday 23rd January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

The hon. Lady is quite right: there is a different pay structure in investment banks, because of the problems that she describes. The Chancellor has already initiated action, in the form of a proposed regulation through the Financial Services Authority which will require financial institutions to declare the highest pay of employees who are not on the boards of those companies.

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

The Secretary of State must be extremely happy. The liberal, left-wing clap-trap that he has announced today—which even Labour did not do, in 13 years—has somehow got through the coalition in the hope of a good headline. It has done nothing to increase growth or employment in this country. Is he a happy man?

[Vince Cable]

I am actually. I realise that when I first raised the issue of responsible capitalism 18 months ago, I was denounced in parts of the press as a Marxist. I thought I had left that behind, but apparently not.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Vince Cable and Peter Bone

Thursday 31st March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

10. What recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change on the effects on businesses of trends in the cost of fuel.

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

I recently discussed the rising cost of energy with my counterpart at the Department of Energy and Climate Change to assess the cumulative burden of climate change policies and see what the Government can do to secure the competitiveness of energy-intensive industries as we decarbonise the economy.

[Mr Bone]

We have an absolutely splendid coalition team in DBIS, led by a fantastic Secretary of State. In the past, energy was always the responsibility of the Business Department. Surely it should come back to that Department so that we can send out the message that we do care about business in relation to energy— and I could not think of a better set of people to look after it.

[Vince Cable]

I am very flattered by the suggestion, if a little surprised, but I am already fully employed with my existing duties. In my recent conversation with my counterpart at DECC, we agreed that considerable progress had been made with Ofgem’s recent report on opening up competition and benefiting consumers, both industrial and personal.

Higher Education Fees

Debate between Vince Cable and Peter Bone

Thursday 9th December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

I intend to press on.

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

Will the Secretary of State give way before moving on?

[Vince Cable]

I will take an intervention later, if my hon. Friend does not mind.

We have eliminated, I think, most of the other alternatives to raising funding for universities. I hope that nobody on the Opposition Benches is seriously arguing that we should drastically reduce the number of students, that we should drastically reduce maintenance or that we should simply withdraw funding from universities. The only practical alternative was to retrieve income for universities from high-earning graduates once they have left. That is the policy that we are pursuing, and today, 50 university vice-chancellors have come forward and endorsed this approach to the strengthening of university funding in the long term.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Vince Cable and Peter Bone

Thursday 18th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his contribution to that valuable report, whose conclusions the Home Secretary has endorsed. Our overall approach to this is reflected in the answer that the Prime Minister gave in Parliament yesterday. He said that he wanted our policy to be

“business-friendly and helpful to the economy.”—[Official Report, 17 November 2010; Vol. 518, c. 885.]

Skilled, entrepreneurial and talented people will be welcome under the immigration policy.

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

I am sure that Government Members entirely welcome the Government’s cap on immigration. Obviously we will be having a debate on immigration later today, which has been put on by the Backbench Business Committee. Will the Secretary of State confirm that the immigration cap does not apply to EU citizens, so they represent a big pool for small businesses to attract?

[Vince Cable]

The hon. Gentleman is right on a matter of fact: this is a cap on non-EU migration, not on migration from the EU.

Higher Education and Student Finance

Debate between Vince Cable and Peter Bone

Tuesday 12th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

That question rather disregards past experience. There was a great deal of pessimism about the consequences of the system that the previous Government introduced. In the first year, there was indeed a fall in applications, but applications subsequently continued to rise. On the basis of our own historical experience and the experiences of other countries, we have no reason to believe that that pattern will not be repeated.

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

I congratulate my right hon. Friend on his courageous statement. Is not one of the great advantages of the coalition Government that Members on the Government Benches can disagree and reach a better policy? Some coalition Members might vote the other way, but the Government will continue.

[Vince Cable]

We can disagree, but I think that we actually agree to a remarkable extent. However, there is a coalition agreement, and under its terms my colleagues who feel that our policy does not meet their expectations can abstain.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Vince Cable and Peter Bone

Thursday 3rd June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

The ministerial team is completely united in its approach to regulation. There are clearly areas where regulation is necessary, not least for consumer protection, to which the hon. Gentleman referred, but it must be proportionate and cost-effective, and it must not obstruct genuine business growth.

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

Just before BIS questions, I received a phone call from the chief executive of a leading company in my constituency who is keen on apprenticeships and welcomes what the new Government are going to do. However, the company is just bigger than a small or medium-sized enterprise, and he does not feel that it gets the help and encouragement that it needs. Are we taking such companies into account as well?