§ 8. Mr. HainTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will give figures for the percentage change of manufacturing as a proportion of gross domestic product since 1978-79.
§ Mr. HeseltineThe share of manufacturing gross domestic product has fallen by around six percentage points since 1979. All the main industrialised countries are seeing a decline in the share of GDP accounted for by manufacturing.
§ Mr. HainAt this rate, Britain is in danger of becoming a manufacturing-free zone with more people on the dole doing nothing than in factories producing British goods. Instead of blaming everybody else, why will the President of the Board of Trade not start to invest in skills, infrastructure and industry and provide industry with the long-term, low-cost finance which it needs. That is the way to recovery. Why does the right hon. Gentleman not have an industrial strategy to build that recovery?
§ Mr. HeseltineThe hon. Member will be pleased to know that manufacturing output rose by 1.6 per cent. during the past 12 months. Manufacturing productivity rose by 5 per cent. during the same period, while manufacturing exports to non-EC countries were 16 per cent. higher. I am sure that the hon. Member and his right hon. and hon. Friends will welcome that good news.
§ Mr. Anthony CoombsWill my right hon. Friend remind the Opposition that recent figures issued by the university of Cambridge show that manufacturing output in this country has risen by 30 per cent. since 1979, while under the previous Labour Government it fell? Is not it perverse in the extreme to wish small firms well and at the same time to support the social chapter, to support compulsory recognition of trade unions, and to support increased taxation? Is not that exactly what the Opposition have tried to do?
§ Mr. HeseltineMy hon. Friend is anticipating the speech that I hope to make to the House later this afternoon.
§ Mr. Barry JonesMay I tell the right hon. Gentleman about a manufacturing success in my constituency—the construction of the executive jet which can fly the Atlantic and which can carry 12 people? Will the right hon. Gentleman tell the House why he permitted the sale of that magnificent aeroplane by British Aerospace to the American firm, Raytheon? Will he guarantee that production of the aeroplane will remain in Britain after three years?
The right hon. Gentleman should know that my constituents who build the plane are concerned about the future of their jobs in the long term. The right hon. Gentleman boasts about manufacturing. Why did he allow that great machine to be sold to an American company?
§ Mr. HeseltineIs the hon. Member suggesting that we should have controls in every constituency and in every industry over whether British companies should be sold to American companies? The hon. Gentleman should realise that the effect of that would be to choke off the inward investment from which this country has had such success.
§ Mr. BurnsDoes my right hon. Friend accept that one way to help enhance manufacturing capability in areas that have suffered from defence-related redundancies is through the support of the Konver fund which his Department backs? Given that results on bids for Konver are being made available next week, may I, as a last-minute 441 request, put in a plug for the bid by Essex and Chelmsford to help those areas that have been badly affected by defence-related redundancies?
§ Mr. HeseltineMy hon. Friend is right to take every possible opportunity to put in bids that will help his constituency. I only hope that all of my hon. Friends will not take immediate advantage of that precedent.
§ Mr. FatchettIn his responses, the President of the Board of Trade seems to have failed to understand the problems that affect British industry or to accept the Government's record during the past 14 years. Will the right hon. Gentleman acknowledge that 2.6 million jobs have been lost in British manufacturing industry? Will the right hon. Gentleman also acknowledge that this country comes near the bottom—if not at the bottom—of league tables on research, development, and training by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development?
The Prime Minister talks about returning to basics. Will the Government, as part of that policy, go for an investment policy in manufacturing industry, and also for an industrial strategy so that manufacturing industry in the United Kingdom can be restored to the strength and capacity that it enjoyed when the Labour party left office in 1979? If that is not done, will not there be more years of decline and job losses under this Government?
§ Mr. HeseltineThe basic fact that Opposition Members are quite incapable of understanding is that, throughout the advanced economic world, there has been a shift away from manufacturing. If one looks at this country's record, it can be seen broadly that we have marched in line with other similar economies. [Interruption.] It is no use Opposition Members shouting down the facts. Those facts may not suit their arguments, but Opposition Members will not silence me. They will have to get used to that.
There has been a reduction of 6 per cent. in our GDP percentage since 1979. The House will want to know that until 1987, the equivalent figure for America and for Germany was 4 per cent., for France it was 5 per cent., and for Italy it was 7 per cent. Our output is now rising while the output of other nations is falling.
§ Mr. OppenheimWill my right hon. Friend cast his mind back to those heady days of manufacturing might in the 1970s when the Labour Government were implementing their industrial strategy? At that time, British Steel was the world's largest loss-maker, British Leyland was the butt of international jokes, multinational car firms were falling over themselves to transfer production overseas, manufacturing output fell—
§ Madam SpeakerOrder. If the hon. Gentleman wishes to make a speech, he should try to catch my eye in the debate that will follow, and I shall try to call him to speak in it, but I ask him to put a question now.
§ Mr. OppenheimIs my right hon. Friend also aware that, in the 1980s, we were top of the manufacturing, productivity and growth leagues and second only to Japan in manufacturing output—
§ Madam SpeakerOrder. I have given the hon. Gentleman a warning. I might call him if he tries to catch my eye in the debate afterwards, but I need a question now.
§ Mr. OppenheimWhat is my right hon. Friend going to do about it?
§ Mr. HeseltineI hope, Madam Speaker, that if you do call my hon. Friend, it will be after me because otherwise I shall have nothing left to say. What I shall do about it is to listen carefully to what he has to say in the debate.