§ 20. Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he next plans to meet representatives of the Association of British Chambers of Commerce to discuss industrial policy.
§ Mr. LilleyI next plan to meet representatives of the northern region CBI later this month to discuss a range of business matters.
§ Mr. RedmondDoes the Secretary of State—[Interruption.]
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. We are progressing speedily but the Minister has answered Question 21. We are on Question 20.
§ Mr. LilleyI meet representatives of the Association of British Chambers of Commerce from time to time to discuss a range of policies.
§ Mr. RedmondDoes the Secretary of State accept that people living in the real world question the Government's industrial policy? In fact, the Government have had no industrial policy since being elected in 1979. The people are sick and tired of seeing on the television, hearing on the radio and seeing in the press the fairy stories that the Secretary of State keeps preaching from the Dispatch Box. Does the Secretary of State accept that we should have an industrial policy that is beneficial to Britain so that we can meet the challenge of the 21st century?
§ Mr. LilleyI read earlier the CBI's rejection of any policy in which the Government tried to pick winners, determine strategic investments and interfere in the decisions of business. That is the sort of industrial policy that industry does not want. Industry wants low inflation, a consequent reduction in interest rates, competition, open markets, a successful GATT round and completion of the European single market at the end of this year. We will provide that.