HC Deb 07 July 1983 vol 45 cc394-6
5. Mr. Teddy Taylor

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the total net contribution made by the United Kingdom to the Common Market since 1973.

Mr. Lawson

Our total net contribution to the Community budget from 1 January 1973 to 31 March 1983 was £3,819 million.

Mr. Taylor

In view of the appalling loss and drain on the British economy over the last 10 years, is it not ridiculous that a Government who are prudent should be going through agonies in deciding how to reduce public expenditure on essential services by a reported £500 million when this year alone we shall pay net to the Common Market at least £670 million, possibly £1,000 million, when it is spending money like water and wants to spend more, more than half of it on dumping surplus foodstuffs on other countries, including Russia? Will he give a clear assurance that we shall not make a substantial contribution in 1984?

Mr. Speaker

Order. This is a good point at which to ask for much shorter supplementary questions.

Mr. Lawson

In deference to your request, Mr. Speaker, I would simply tell my hon. Friend that since coming to office we have secured refunds totalling between £2.5 billion and £3 billion, compared with absolutely nothing secured by the Labour Government.

Mr. Hardy

I suppose that half a loaf is better than no bread, but is the Chancellor aware that experience over the last year and the demands now being made in Europe suggest that the cost of the CAP will be enormously greater over the next two or three years? Will not the burden on Britain therefore increase rather than diminish?

Mr. Lawson

I share the hon. Gentleman's view that the CAP is in need of reform. That is something for which the Government are pressing, particularly through price restraint and curbs on surplus production.

Sir Anthony Meyer

Was not Britain's membership of the European Community finally settled at the general election? Should not the total contribution be seen in the light of the total value of British trade during the whole of this period?

Mr. Lawson

I hope that my hon. Friend is right, but "finally" is a word that it is advisable to use sparingly in politics.

Mr. Straw

For all his bluster, is not the Chancellor aware that, in real terms, under this Government our total annual contribution to the European Community is £60 million a year higher than under the Labour Government, even after taking account of the much-heralded rebate? Is that not a record of defeat and disaster? If public spending is to be subject to cuts this afternoon, should not those cuts be made in our contribution to the European Community rather than in vitally needed services such as the NHS?

Mr. Lawson

The hon. Gentleman has got his figures wrong. The massive contribution, getting on for £1 billion, that we paid in 1979, with no refund, was inherited from the Labour Government. It was after that that we were able to negotiate the refunds.

I am somewhat confused about the wider question, because from reading the newspapers I was under the impression that nowadays all candidates for the leadership of the Labour party were in favour of remaining within the Community. Perhaps we can be enlightened.

Mr. Skinner

Some of us will never change our principles.

6. Mr. Hoyle

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he is taking to keep down inflation.

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Mr. Peter Rees)

The financial policies pursued by the Government over the past four years have reduced inflation to the lowest level for 15 years. We will continue to pursue those policies during the present Parliament—[Interruption.]

Mr. Speaker

Order. I remind the hon. Member for Bolsover (Mr. Skinner) that it is I who call hon. Members to speak. Mr. Peter Rees.

Mr. Rees

I had, Mr. Speaker, concluded my answer, if, indeed, it was heard.

Mr. Hoyle

I doubt whether it made much difference, because what I was able to hear was highly complacent. Will the Chief Secretary now admit that the bubble about keeping inflation down has burst and all the signs are that inflation is rising? What will he now tell the British public?

Mr. Rees

The hon. Gentleman is quite mistaken. The underlining trend is downward, even if there are temporary fluctations. However, I ask the hon. Gentlemam to note that the April figures for United Kingdom inflation were better than for any other country in western Europe other than West Germany.

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