T. W. Kempton (Hansard, 7 November 1989)

§ Mr. Keith Vaz (Leicester, East)

I beg to ask leave to move the Adjournment of the House, under Standing Order No. 20, for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration, namely, the announcement late yesterday evening that T. W. Kempton has gone into receivership. T. W. Kempton was one of the largest textile firms in the city of Leicester and one of the most prominent in the country. It had a turnover of £25 million a year. The news that the firm has gone into receivership is a bitter blow to its 840 employees, many of whom live in my constituency, and a shock to the textile industry. Here is a firm which only six years ago received a Queen's award for export achievement.

There is widespread agreement, and the chairman, Mr. Russell Kempton, confirmed to me today, that the main reasons for the horrifying closure are increasing levels of imports and high interest rates. In the first half of this year, our trade deficit for textiles and clothing was £1,840 million, £140 million higher than the previous year. Job losses have been at an all-time high since last summer. The industry has lost 10,000 jobs. Since January 1988, 22 textile firms in Leicestershire have either closed completely or announced partial redundancies, amounting to a total loss of 2,800 jobs, or 5 per cent. of the entire county's work force.

Gentex, Ladies Pride, Corah, Harold Ingram, Chilprufe and Leslie Wise are just some of the names on the tombstones in the ever-filling graveyard of the textiles industry. I and other hon. Members who represent constituencies with textile interests have frequently urged the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry to act to prevent this haemorrhaging. He states repeatedly that, in order to act against the surge of imports from the far east, he must have proof that damage has been done to our industry. The closure of T. W. Kempton is the proof that he needs. It is the latest in a long line of firms that have bitten the dust, destroyed by unfair competition and prohibitive tariffs imposed on exports from the United Kingdom. Only by acting decisively in the interests of our textile industry can the decline be prevented.

I ask the Department of Trade and Industry to assist the company in whatever way it can to preserve employment in Leicester. I ask the Secretary of State to meet the leaders of both sides of the industry to discuss the matter with urgency. I ask you, Mr. Speaker, to give me leave to move the Adjournment of the House so that we can discuss fully recent serious developments in the textile industry.

§ Mr. Speaker

The hon. Member for Leicester, East (Mr. Vaz) asks leave to move the Adjournment of the House, under Standing Order No. 20, for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that he believes should have urgent consideration, namely, the announcement late yesterday evening that T. W. Kempton has gone into receivership. As the House knows, under Standing Order No. 20 I have to announce my decision without giving reasons to the House. I listened with care to what the hon. Member said. As he knows, I have to decide whether his application comes within the Standing Order and, if so, whether a 861 debate on the matter should be given priority over the business already arranged for this evening or tomorrow. In this case, the matter that he has raised does not meet the requirements of the Standing Order. I regret that I therefore cannot submit his application to the House.