Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Vince Cable and William Bain

Thursday 26th March 2015 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

Of course we condemn threats to the rule of law. I simply point out that the level of strikes in this country is the lowest it has been for a generation.

[Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

T2. Has the Secretary of State seen this week’s report by Open Europe, which indicates that unless rights at work in this country were to be completely destroyed, leaving the European Union would cause permanent damage to the British economy? Is not the real risk to businesses and workers at the next election the United Kingdom Independence party-Tory alliance that would destroy our place in the European Union?

[Vince Cable]

I am beginning to recognise a theme, albeit a very welcome one. I do not wish to spoil the harmony on the Government Front Bench, having worked very well with my Conservative colleagues on restoring the economy, but we happen to disagree fundamentally on the future of Europe.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Vince Cable and William Bain

Thursday 8th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

T2. Five hundred of the City Link redundancies are in Scotland. Does the Secretary of State share the outrage of the Scottish people at the way the workers have been treated and the fact that the taxpayer is expected to pay for part of the multimillion pound redundancy bill? What is he doing to help the workers and their families, in Scotland and across the UK, who have been devastated by this news?

[Vince Cable]

The taxpayer is, of course, always responsible for statutory redundancy and this case is no different. I have talked to the head of the union and the secretary-general of the Trades Union Congress on how to deal with the implications for the labour market. The labour force is very widely distributed across the UK with no major concentrations, but where there are, and if there are people who really need help with finding employment and reskilling, we are certainly willing to do the maximum we possibly can to help.

AstraZeneca (Pfizer Bid)

Debate between Vince Cable and William Bain

Tuesday 6th May 2014 Commons Chamber

[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.

[Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

Since Pfizer took over rival company Wyeth in 2009, investment in research and development has halved. Without credible assurances from the Secretary of State, what will prevent the same from happening here, weakening our science base and putting at risk the long-term future of the British economy?

[Vince Cable]

As I have said many times before, we are primarily concerned about the need to protect jobs, investment and the life sciences sector, and we will do everything we can to make sure that happens, within the constraints under which I operate. We are well aware of the history of that company, but not only of that company.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Vince Cable and William Bain

Thursday 23rd January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

T7. Will the Secretary of State confirm that business investment has flatlined over the last year and that this is one of the major causes of Britain’s worsening productivity problem? What are he and the Government going to do about it?

[Vince Cable]

As everybody acknowledges, business investment has been badly hit since the financial crisis, but with the economy rapidly recovering, I think we all expect—and the surveys suggest—that there will be a movement forward in terms of business investment, once capacity has been fully utilised.

National Minimum Wage

Debate between Vince Cable and William Bain

Wednesday 15th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

I welcome the hon. Gentleman’s support and I know that it is shared among his colleagues. This is a historical issue: it has now been laid to rest. I will talk a little more about the mandate of the Low Pay Commission and the fact that successive Secretaries of State, including me, have respected its judgment, which is non-political, non-partisan and represents both the union and employer standpoint.

Let me talk about the wider economic consequences. The shadow Secretary of State talked with a real sense of righteous indignation about things that are, frankly, blindingly obvious. We have had a massive financial crisis, the biggest in our history—certainly in modern times. As a result, the country is poorer. That is a matter of fact. It is not a polemical point: the country is poorer, and that has been translated into lower earnings. That is simple economic reality and nobody is disputing that.

In the wake of the economic crisis in 2008-09, we now know that British GDP fell by 7.5%. That was more than after the great crash in 1929 and worse than in any other western country. I am not going into the business of who did what when; I am just recording a matter of fact. Recession inevitably followed the financial disaster and real earnings have been affected. The shadow Secretary of State is right on simple matters of fact: real earnings fell by 7% and the minimum wage fell by 5%. That is a matter of fact. What I find so very difficult to understand is that the Opposition Front Benchers—it is not just her; her colleagues are the same—have seen the greatest economic disaster in modern economic history and apparently not noticed it, and they have not taken any account of the inevitable economic consequences. What matters is that the Government of the day seek to mitigate those effects.

[Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

Does the Secretary of State accept that while he has been in office, the real-terms value of the adult national minimum wage has declined by 50p an hour since May 2010? It is his responsibility to review the remit of the Low Pay Commission. Why is he acting so slowly on this, given that 28% of part-time workers in his constituency are earning less than the living wage? Does that not show the failure he is presiding over on poverty pay across the whole country?

[Vince Cable]

I do not know about the numbers, but certainly the minimum wage, in real terms, has declined by 5%, as a result of my predecessor on two occasions and me on three occasions following the advice of the Low Pay Commission.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Vince Cable and William Bain

Thursday 7th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

Does the Secretary of State agree that, if the United Kingdom stayed in the European Union and completed the single European market, our growth could increase by 7% within a decade, but that if we left the EU and had a relationship with it such as that of Norway or Switzerland, our exports could be as much as 14 times lower over the same period?

[Vince Cable]

I certainly agree that it is desirable, for reasons of economic growth, that we remain part of the European Union and single market. The hon. Gentleman may not be aware, however, that both Norway and Switzerland observe the rules of the single market as well.

Industrial Strategy

Debate between Vince Cable and William Bain

Monday 10th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

The hon. Gentleman is right. As I said in my brief introduction, there is a serious and declining trend in business lending to SMEs. He is also right that certain kinds of businesses find borrowing extremely difficult. Creative industries are a good example, because they do not have physical security and the banks are extremely risk-averse, which of course is difficult for companies engaged in international trade. That is all the more reason why the Government have to intervene to support lending in such instances.

[Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

The Business Secretary mentioned innovation, but does he not recognise that the share of national income spent on research and development has declined over the past three decades? Why did he not advocate in his statement measures to increase Labour’s research and development tax credit to ensure that we do not continue to lag behind Germany, France, America and Japan?

[Vince Cable]

One of the things the Chancellor has done is improve and focus the R and D tax credit, taking it to below-line research expenditure, which was hitherto a major inhibitor. One of the things I very much want to see arising from this work is a much bigger commitment to R and D, particularly the role of the Technology Strategy Board, which I think is one of our best institutions.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Vince Cable and William Bain

Thursday 6th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

T3. This morning the OECD predicted that the British economy will shrink by 0.7% this year. When will the Secretary of State get on and set up a proper British investment bank, and follow the example of institutions in Germany and Brazil that between them invested nearly £100 billion last year?

[Vince Cable]

The hon. Gentleman is being a little churlish in not even acknowledging that on Sunday, the Chancellor made it clear that we wished to proceed with a business bank. We are discussing the range of its activities and the resources that will be available. The hon. Gentleman knows well that growth prospects in all European countries are extremely depressed at the moment, not only in the UK.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Vince Cable and William Bain

Thursday 2nd February 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

T6. The Government have been sending out mixed messages recently about the extent of their financial commitment to the proposed green investment bank. Will the Secretary of State confirm that the proposed public contribution will be £3 billion as promised and not up to £3 billion, and that the bank will assume its borrowing powers in 2015?

[Vince Cable]

I can confirm the first part of the hon. Gentleman’s question: the £3 billion is fully committed to and there are no mixed messages. On borrowing, it is not merely a question of the date, but of the fiscal position of the country.

Executive Pay

Debate between Vince Cable and William Bain

Monday 23rd January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

In mentioning diversity, I think I included lawyers, improbable as that may seem. There is probably a dissenting view on the Opposition Front Bench.

[Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

Does the Secretary of State accept the finding of the High Pay Commission that in the year to last autumn—on his watch—the pay of FTSE 100 directors increased by 49%, whereas average incomes rose by only 2.7%? Does that not make the case for a permanent body on high pay to ensure that companies reflect the social obligations that they owe to all of us?

[Vince Cable]

As I understand it, the commission is in the process of encouraging the establishment of a monitoring body of that kind. That is not governmental or Government financed, but it would be a very useful institution in helping us to understand the trends.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Vince Cable and William Bain

Thursday 27th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

The Bank of England’s own data released last week indicate that lending by banks to small businesses fell by £2.5 billion in the three months to August. Was not the Secretary of State right to admit at last that the economy is in a far weaker state under this Government than it ever was in the last year under Labour?

[Vince Cable]

That certainly is not the case, but the hon. Gentleman has a perfectly valid point in relation to bank lending. That is absolutely the case, and, as a result of the agreement that we have reached with the banks, they have—certainly in the first two quarters—achieved the gross lending objectives that we set them, but there is a lot more to do. Surveys show that a shortage of credit is a serious problem, and we have to continue to work with the banks and, where necessary, to require them to make credit available to the economy.

Green Investment Bank

Debate between Vince Cable and William Bain

Tuesday 24th May 2011 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

I did not say that they were not eligible; I referred to the fact that the initial round was likely to involve large-scale projects. However, I thank the hon. Gentleman for his very positive comments. As for the third sector, I did not respond to the point made by the right hon. Member for Southampton, Itchen (Mr Denham) about participation in the advisory board, which we will certainly reflect on. It was a helpful contribution.

[Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

Since 2004, the US Treasury has had the facility to issue up to $2 billion in green bonds to enhance the green economy in the United States, and since 2007 the European Investment Bank has issued more than €1 billion in climate awareness bonds. Is not it a real lost opportunity that the Secretary of State has been unable to persuade the Chancellor to keep to his pre-election commitment to introduce green bonds in the United Kingdom?

[Vince Cable]

As I said, there is a variety of possible ways of raising funding, one of which is obviously the capital markets. If and when the institution goes to the capital markets, the investment could well take the form of bonds marketed in the way the hon. Gentleman describes. I am sure that we should draw on those experiences.

Trade and Investment for Growth White Paper

Debate between Vince Cable and William Bain

Wednesday 9th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

My diary would be seriously oversubscribed if I offered to visit all the companies that have been mentioned this afternoon, but I am happy to talk to my hon. Friend about the specifics. Indeed, a key element of the growth strategy that the Government are working through relates specifically to the development of advanced manufacturing, and key support for that will be provided by the technology centres, for which we have obtained additional funding, and which will be rolled out over this year.

[Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

On a day when the Office for National Statistics has revealed that the UK’s trade deficit widened in December to its highest level since August 2005, and the chief economist of the British Chambers of Commerce has said that

“Britain’s trading position is not improving”,

will the Secretary of State concede that it was a big mistake to slash investment in capital allowances, which help manufacturing exporters?

[Vince Cable]

I do not think that the hon. Gentleman has studied the figures carefully. If he does, he will see that the trade deficit narrowed slightly in the last quarter of last year, as against that quarter in previous years. The figures are not good, and they have not been good for many years. We have had very poor trade performance; that is what I said at the start of my statement. We have a massive legacy of underperformance in exports, and particularly in manufactures, that we have to overcome, and the White Paper represents a clear step in the direction of remedying that problem.