HC Deb 16 July 1986 vol 101 cc999-1000
16. Mr. Lofthouse

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he next intends to meet the National Economic Development Council to discuss levels of investment in manufacturing industry; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Channon

I propose to attend the next meeting of the National Economic Development Council on 23 September. At this and subsequent meetings I expect matters relevant to improving the United Kingdom's industrial performance to he discussed.

Mr. Lofthouse

Is the Minister aware that job prospects in mining communities such as my own, which have been devastated by the savage pit closure programme, are now reaching crisis point? Is he further aware that there is an urgent need for further investment to supplement the investment of British Coal (Enterprise) Ltd. in those areas? What will he do about that, or is it simply the case that where there are few Conservative votes there will be no investment?

Mr. Channon

No, I do not accept that. I shall certainly draw the attention of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy to his point about British Coal (Enterprise) Ltd., which has done a good job. However, the hon. Gentleman asked me about the levels of investment in manufacturing industry, I am sure he will be pleased to know that manufacturing investment is up 6 per cent. and that non-oil industrial investment has risen to a record level.

Mr. Loyden

Does the Minister agree that the policies being pursued by the Government have been nothing short of a disaster for industry and jobs? Is he aware that the planning officer of Liverpool has recently reported that by the end of the century, at the present rate of deindustrialisation and loss of jobs, not one person will be employed in that city? How will that fit on his agenda, and what remedies will he support at the NEDC meeting?

Mr. Channon

I do not accept what the hon. Gentleman says about the prospects for the future, nor do I accept what he says about the past few years. Britain now has stable growth, low inflation, high manufacturing output, high productivity, high manufacturing investment and high manufacturing exports. [HON. MEMBERS: "High employment."]

Mr. Hickmet

Does my right hon. Friend agree that numerous countries have sent advisers to the United Kingdom to seek advice about how we have harnessed private investment through the privatisation programme? Will he remind the NEDC that the policy of renationalisation, threatened by the Labour party if it should get into power, whether it is called social ownership or not, will reduce the amount of private investment in industry, particularly in those industries that have been privatised?

Mr. Channon

I entirely agree with my hon. Friend. The Labour party's policy of state theft, which it calls by some other name, will indeed have that effect. I shall take what opportunities I can in the NEDC, and possibly elsewhere, to make that point.

Mr. Williams

When the Secretary of State boasts about his minute 6 per cent. increase in manufacturing investment, will he confirm that, even with that 6 per cent. increase, manufacturing investment is still virtually 20 per cent. below what it was when he came to office, still lower than at the time of the three-day week and only at the level of 1960? Is he aware that, as a result of the collapse of manufacturing investment under the Government and their failure to sustain the level of investment at the level that they inherited in 1979, we have lost £10.6 billion in manufacturing investment?

Mr. Channon

The right hon. Gentleman persistently refuses to recognise that, since the worst trough of the slump in 1981, output has risen by 11 per cent., investment has risen by 19 per cent. and productivity has increased 23 per cent. As my hon. Friend the Member for Glanford and Scunthorpe (Mr. Hickmet) said, the economic policies that are.being followed are being watched all round the world and many people are trying to emulate them.