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Isle of Wight Companies
10. Mr. Barry Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assistance the Defence Export Services Organisation has provided to Isle of Wight companies in each of the past three years. [4318]
Mr. Arbuthnot: The Defence Export Services Organisation daily provides assistance to British defence equipment companies to help them promote their products and services overseas. The assistance is available to, and used by, companies resident on the Isle of Wight.
Mr. Field: Will my hon. Friend point out that more than 360,000 jobs in the United Kingdom--which still includes the Isle of Wight--are dependent on sales exports and orders? I thank him and the staff of the Defence Export Services Organisation for the help that they have given and are giving to Isle of Wight companies. Does he agree that, if the Opposition's policies were ever implemented, those jobs would be at serious risk and that the Opposition's defence policies are about as reassuring as a cross-eyed marksman?
Mr. Arbuthnot: I agree with my hon. Friend. I should also like to acknowledge the support that he has given to Pilatus Britten Norman Ltd. and to Turbine Support Ltd.--both of which are based on the Isle of Wight--in bids for overseas business. The Defence Export Services Organisation is and has been astonishingly successful. It is a magnificent blend of Government help to industry with the support of the armed services and embassies. It has also enabled us to achieve the second highest performance on British defence exports, second only to the United States. It is a great success.
Armed Forces (Asia)
11. Mr. Legg: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what will be the role of United Kingdom armed services in Asia after the United Kingdom's withdrawal from Hong Kong. [4319]
Mr. Portillo: After withdrawal from Hong Kong, British armed forces will continue to contribute to security and stability in the region, in support of this country's wider interests.
Mr. Legg: In view of our strong trading and investment links and the presence of 5 million United Kingdom nationals, will my right hon. Friend tell the House what role the UK will play in the peaceful resolution of disputes in the region?
Mr. Portillo: It is important that we reaffirm our support of the five-power defence arrangements, which include Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand. At about the time that we leave Hong Kong, we shall dispatch to the Asia-Pacific area a large carrier battle group, including a carrier, three destroyers, a submarine and about 15 Tornado aircraft. That will demonstrate our continued commitment to the area. We shall, of course, also maintain the Gurkha battalion at Brunei.
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Mr. Menzies Campbell: The Secretary of State told the House a moment ago that there was to be a review of the conditions of engagement for Gurkha troops. Will he assure us that two particular factors will be taken into account? We must remember, first, the unparalleled loyalty and service that those troops have demonstrated to the British Crown and, secondly, the fact that they are increasingly used to remedy deficiencies in numbers in other British Army units. In those circumstances, are there not compelling reasons for permitting Gurkha troops redeployed from Hong Kong to the United Kingdom to bring their families with them?
Mr. Portillo: Those are important points. However, in my earlier reply I did not say that I would be considering those issues; I said that I was considering them. The review is well under way and I hope to be able to complete it shortly. My regard for the Gurkhas is not second to that of the hon. and learned Gentleman.
PRIME MINISTER
Engagements
Q1. Mr. Wray: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 26 November. [4339]
The Prime Minister (Mr. John Major): This morning, I presided at a meeting of the Cabinet and had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall be having further meetings later today.
Mr. Wray: Is the Prime Minister aware that the Government took £7.2 billion in tobacco duties last year? Is he also aware that the Health Education Authority says that tobacco costs the health service £680 million and 110,000 deaths annually? I know that the Government are against litigation by the Department of Health, but does the Prime Minister agree that a further ban on tobacco advertising is needed?
The Prime Minister: As the hon. Gentleman knows, we have shown the dangers of tobacco in many advertising campaigns and also, of course, on every packet of cigarettes. That is an appropriate way to indicate the dangers--together, of course, with the disincentive of the taxation on tobacco.
Sir Michael Grylls: Will my right hon. Friend find time today to consider the cash flow crisis that is affecting so many lorry drivers, many of whom come from small firms or are self-employed? Their problems are due entirely to the failure of the French Government to keep their highways clear. As a practical measure, will he consider asking the banks to be patient with those firms? Will he also do everything that he can to the French Government to ensure that they act responsibly?
The Prime Minister: I am concerned about the consequences for British drivers and companies of the dispute, which is, of course, in France and has nothing to do with them or their customers. We have indicated to the French Government that we expect compensation claims for loss of earnings or for damage to perishable stock to
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be met. I hope that they respond to that plea. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport has already written to his French opposite number calling for an end to the dispute and making the point about necessary compensation. I shall not hesitate to raise the matter elsewhere if necessary.
Mr. Blair: Given that the Prime Minister fought the last general election on the specific pledge that he would cut taxes every year, will he now at least apologise for the fact that, whatever the Chancellor does today, after 22 Conservative tax rises, the average British family will pay more in tax at the time of the next election than it did at the last, and that his promise was broken?
The Prime Minister: I think that the right hon. Gentleman is confused. As he will know, we now have the lowest basic rate of income tax for 50 years. Even before today's Budget, the average family will be £700 better off this year, after tax and inflation, than it was at the general election. If the right hon. Gentleman is concerned about transparency in tax matters and tax promises, perhaps he will publish his own tax plans, which his deputy leader said it would be stupid to do.
Mr. Blair: Perhaps, then, the Prime Minister would answer an even simpler question, as he could not answer that one: does he recall promising before the election that he would not raise national insurance contributions, and then raising them after the election? Does he recall that--yes or no?
The Prime Minister: The right hon. Gentleman knows the reductions that we have made in tax. Whatever he may seek to do, he cannot deny that taxes are lower today than they have been in the past, that they are lower than they would be under any Labour Government, and that, if he were to begin to meet the spending pledges that he made at his party conference and then sought to deny, taxation in the United Kingdom would rise and rise again were he ever to have any responsibility for the Exchequer.
Mr. Blair: If the right hon. Gentleman cannot answer the first two questions, perhaps he will answer this one: does he recall going into the last election saying that he would not put VAT on fuel and power and then doing just that? Will he answer--yes or no?
The Prime Minister: If the right hon. Gentleman wants to discuss value added tax, perhaps he will tell us why he can make promises on VAT, but he cannot tell us about the windfall tax, the tartan tax, the London tax, the teenage tax, his spending promises, his taxation promises or anything that is relevant to the management of the economy.
Mr. Cash: Does my right hon. Friend recollect that, in the most welcome statement yesterday, my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer said in respect of one of the regulations that he would be most reluctant to contemplate using the veto? Bearing in mind that the Dublin summit will be a European Council meeting and not a meeting of the Council of Ministers and that the scrutiny reserved will be applied to the Economic and Finance Council meeting, does my right
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hon. Friend agree with my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor in his reluctance to veto one of those regulations?
The Prime Minister: Presumably my hon. Friend is referring to recital 13. If he would care to look at what was said yesterday, he will see that my right hon. and learned Friend made it clear that he would reiterate to the meeting of Finance Ministers that there was no legal basis on which countries not participating in the single currency could have sanctions imposed on them. In reply to my right hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham (Mr. Redwood), my right hon. and learned Friend made it clear that he would seek the best possible language to ensure that that understanding was copper-bottomed.
Q2. Mr. Pearson: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 26 November. [4340]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave some moments ago.
Mr. Pearson: Will the Prime Minister confirm that cutting VAT on domestic fuel and power will help every household in Dudley and nationally, while scrapping inheritance tax and capital gains tax will benefit, at most, 3 per cent. of the population? Why does the Prime Minister persist in supporting policies that favour the few instead of the many?
The Prime Minister: The policies that we have followed have produced the best economic circumstances for generations, and that will help the many and encourage domestic investment, inward investment, job creation and growth--all of which are happening in Britain in a way that the hon. Gentleman cannot demonstrate as happening in any other European country.
Q3. Mr. Colvin: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 26 November. [4341]
The Prime Minister: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave some moments ago.
Mr. Colvin: Has my right hon. Friend seen the report by the International Labour Organisation that was published today? It shows that, in every other country, unemployment is rising, while in Britain, exceptionally, it is falling? Is that not further evidence of the merits of the Government's economic policy that has made Britain such a success? Was not Baroness Thatcher quite right last week when she said in a speech, "Don't let Labour ruin it"?
The Prime Minister: When the news is improving, unemployment is falling and the economy is growing, as it is at the moment, there is very little for the Opposition to say: they hate good news, because they know that it is extremely bad news for them. They did not help to bring about the strongest economy of any western European country, which is what we have; they did not help to get more people in work, which is what we have done through the labour reforms that we have
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produced; they did not help to make this the No. 1 country for inward investment anywhere in western Europe; and they did not help to create the lowest basic rate of tax for 50 years. My hon. Friend is right, as was my right hon. and noble Friend last week--Labour is still not fit to govern and I doubt that it will be in a position to do so.Q4. Mr. Heppell: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 26 November. [4342]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
Mr. Heppell: In view of the Prime Minister's completely unsatisfactory response to my right hon. Friend the Leader of the Opposition, may I ask him again why he promised tax cuts before the last election and subsequently broke that promise?
The Prime Minister: The hon. Gentleman may recall the urgings of his Front Benchers and our determination to protect people during the recession. I make no apology for the fact that we sought to protect people during the recession; I make no apology for the fact that, by doing so, we have delivered the best economic circumstances that he can ever remember. If he wants transparency in tax matters, I challenge him to publish his own party's tax plans, about which the right hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull, East (Mr. Prescott) said it would be stupid to let the public hear.
Mr. Couchman: Further to the question of my hon. Friend the Member for North-West Surrey (Sir M. Grylls) about the lorry drivers' strike in France, has my right hon. Friend contacted the European Traffic Commissioner? If so, did he find him conscious of the plight of British drivers, or was the European Commissioner too busy studying leaked documents from the Treasury?
The Prime Minister: I have not contacted the European Commissioner, but I understand that he has made representations to the French expressing concern about the drivers' welfare.
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