HC Deb 10 June 1992 vol 209 cc291-2
3. Mr. Mackinlay

To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he will next meet representatives of the TUC and of the south-east region of the CBI to discuss prospects for regeneration.

Mr. Heseltine

rose—[interruption] The answer is worth waiting for. I have no such plans at present.

Mr. Mackinlay

If the President were to meet representatives of employers and workers in south-east England, what excuses would he advance for the record number of liquidations in the first quarter of the year and for the fact that 800 jobs are being lost in the region every day? What excuse would he offer to Essex man and Essex woman, who are enduring unemployment of 66,000 in their county this year?

Mr. Heseltine

I would offer no excuse. I would merely say that the country has to fight its way out of one of the worst recessions that we have seen since the war, and that it must do that against a background of all similar capitalist nations facing similar problems. The only way in which we shall succeed in fighting our way out is to excel in the increasingly competitive world that we face.

Mr. Rowe

Is my right hon. Friend aware that in the part of the south-east that I represent the Government arc already showing clear signs that they recognise the certainty that Kent will lead the regeneration of the region? They are already spending millions of pounds on the necessary infrastructure. Will my right hon. Friend confirm that all the forecasts suggest that the volume of trade passing through and settling in Kent will be such that Kent will need to receive continued Government support?

Mr. Heseltine

My hon. Friend is right to ask that question. The level of Government support is substantial in terms of the infrastructure plans that are already under way and those that will unfold as the decade proceeds. It is a fact that the part of south-east England that my hon. Friend represents is bound to benefit enormously from the completion of the single European market. The scale of the benefit will depend very much on the entrepreneurial ability of British companies to react to it.