HC Deb 17 April 1958 vol 586 cc332-3
16. Mr. Holt

asked the President of the Board of Trade what steps he is taking to facilitate an increase in our export trade with East Germany.

19. Mr. Lewis

asked the President of the Board of Trade what recent assistance he has given to the Federation of British Industries to conclude a trade agreement with Eastern Germany; and whether he will make a statement.

Mr. Vaughan-Morgan

I have nothing to add to the Answers which I gave to the hon. Member for Reading (Mr. Mikardo) on 21st January and to the hon. Member for West Ham, North (Mr. Lewis) on 1st April. Negotiations between the Federation of British Industries and the East German Chamber of Foreign Trade are still proceeding and I hope that these negotiations will prove successful.

Mr. Holt

Is not the Minister aware that an excellent traditional trade for the cotton industry was cut off when East Germany went behind the Iron Curtain? If he wants to help the cotton trade, this is one avenue in which he can help it in a most valuable way. Is there nothing more he can do to assist these negotiations to a successful conclusion?

Mr. Vaughan-Morgan

Negotiations, for reasons which the hon. Member knows, do not take place between this Government and the East German authorities. We are certainly aware of the interests to which he has referred, and I believe that they have made representations to the Federation of British Industries.

Mr. S. Silverman

Can the hon. Member say how far the negotiations are embarrassed or delayed by the inability to conduct them in the normal fashion arising out of these political considerations to which he has referred? Does not he think that the time has come when we must place our own economic interests first rather than some ideological prejudice dictated by other people?

Mr. Vaughan-Morgan

The wider issue of the recognition of the East German authorities is not a question for me. As I have said, I hope that the negotiations will prove successful.