HC Deb 19 July 1982 vol 28 cc14-5
13. Mr. Canavan

asked the Minister for Trade whether he will make a statement about British trading prospects arising from the Siberian gas pipeline project.

Mr. Peter Rees

British companies have won contracts for the Siberian gas pipeline project totalling more than £200 million.

Mr. Canavan

Will the Government now take further action to help workers employed by firms such as the Scottish company, John Brown Engineering, which won more than £100 million worth of turbine contracts for the pipeline? As those orders are now jeopardised by the Reagan embargo, is it not time that the Prime Minister brought appropriate pressure to bear on President Reagan, who seems to be so obsessed with his hatred of the Soviet Union that he is willing to sacrifice the jobs of workers in Scotland and elsewhere?

Mr. Rees

I do not know what the hon. Gentleman regards as appropriate pressure, but we are, of course, concerned not only about John Brown but about all the companies that are likely to be affected by the two regulations that the President has promulgated. As I said in answers to earlier questions, we have activated part I of the Protection of Trading Interests Act, and we shall not be slow to activate subsequent parts if the situation develops in such a way that we feel that that will assist the companies concerned. As I told the right hon. Member for Rutherglen (Mr. MacKenzie), we are acutely concerned about the employment consequences in his constituency and in the constituency of his hon. Friend the Member for Dunbartonshire, Central (Mr. McCartney).

Viscount Cranborne

Do the Government have a view about the desirability of the pipeline project, particularly in view of the great aid and comfort that it will give to the military capability of the Soviet Union?

Mr. Rees

I am not certain how much aid and comfort it will give to the military capability of the Soviet Union, but it will certainly assist various European countries to diversify their supplies of gas. That is a matter of concern for them. Within our international obligations, we are glad that British companies have tendered successfully. That will, I believe, assist their profits and the job opportunities that they can create.