HC Deb 06 July 1981 vol 8 cc17-20
Mr. Marlow

asked the Paymaster General what steps he is taking to publicise Government policy upon the benefits of European Economic Community membership.

Mr. Pym

Government Departments are each responsible for different areas of policy affecting our European Community membership and take steps to publicise them as necessary. Ministers also make speeches from time to time on the benefits of membership, and I myself made such a speech to the Conservative Commonwealth and Overseas Council on 6 May.

Mr. Marlow

Would my right hon. Friend be kind enough to take the House into his confidence with regard to his exciting new programme to put the facts of the Community before the British public? Many of us would like to help to put the facts of the Community before the public. What truth is there in the report in The Guardian of Ministers having to put in returns to him on a weekly basis of what speeches they are making on the Community? How are those returns going?

Mr. Pym

There is nothing to hide. I take every opportunity, as do all Ministers, to make the facts available. It is true that recently I have been looking at the Community from a regional point of view and obtaining material from the Commission, the Foreign Office and other sources about the regional impact of the Community. There is nothing new about that.

As regards the second point, my predecessor and I have kept a broad check on the occasions that Ministers have for making speeches. Some of them use some of those occasions for presenting the facts about the Community. No doubt my hon. Friend will do the same.

Mr. John Silkin

Will the Paymaster General give the greatest possible publicity to the recent report of the directorate of research and documentation of the European Assembly, which says, first, that the United Kingdom would be better off financially if it left the Community and, secondly, that there would be no great difficulty in its doing so legally or in any other way?

Mr. Pym

I do not accept those arguments. As the right hon. Gentleman knows, the Government believe that our membership is overwhelmingly in the national interest. We take such opportunities as we think appropriate to explain why we take that view, and the importance of it. Therefore, I do not believe that it is likely that I shall do much about the document to which the right hon. Gentleman referred.

Mr. Sainsbury

Will my right hon. Friend confirm that one of the facts that is not in dispute is that the European Community is by far our largest export market? Is any information available on the regional balance of those exports and therefore how many jobs in each region are dependent upon our continuing membership of the Community?

Mr. Pym

I am in the process of obtaining figures which I hope will answer that question. It seems to me that a presentation on a regional basis, in some cases, would be of more interest to the people in the regions than a national presentation.

Mr. Ioan Evans

Does the Paymaster General recall that a great inducement in the referendum campaign for people to vote to stay in the EEC was that it would help employment? How does he explain that when unemployment has doubled in the past few years and is increasing by more than 1 million a year, and countries outside the EEC, such as Austria and Norway, have a much lower unemployment?

Mr. Pym

One should be careful about the conclusion that one draws from that. Unfortunately, unemployment is increasing in a great many countries. However, our exports to European and Community countries have increased more than those to other countries, and the number of jobs that that provides is considerable and has been increasing. That is another reason why our membership is an important part of our national policy.

Mr. Viggers

Did my right hon. Friend have a chance this morning to read a remarkable article in The Times, which pointed out that the Labour Party's foreign and defence policy is almost entirely consistent with Russian military and foreign policy? Is he aware that the article states that one of the most important planks of both Labour and Russian policy is that Britain should withdraw from the EEC?

Mr. Pym

I have no doubt that that matter will be debated a great deal further, but we have the responsibility to explain why it is in our interests to remain in the Community, and that we try to do. Equally, it is vital for the defence of the country that we remain in NATO, and that depends on an agreement with our Allies, which is critical. I read the article, and I have a certain sympathy with it.