HC Deb 11 January 1995 vol 252 cc141-3
9. Mr. David Evans

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the total value of exports (a) in 1993 and (b) in 1979.

Mr. Ian Taylor

Our visible exports were worth £121 billion in 1993 as compared with £40 billion in 1979.

Mr. Evans

Does the Minister agree that, when the lot opposite were last in government, they had record exports? It was called the brain drain. Why? We had a 98 per cent. rate of tax, 27 per cent. inflation, and rats as big as cats running round Leicester square. Is not it a fact that the current Government have put the "Great" back into Britain through record exports?

Mr. Taylor

My hon. Friend shows admirable precision and clarity about the dangers of a possible Labour Government. Indeed, in expressing things so clearly, he is becoming the Newt Gingrich of British politics.

Mr. Hardy

The Minister might not agree, but were the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Mr. Evans) to emigrate, it would be no great loss. Would the Minister care to amplify his answer and tell the House the rate of imports in 1979 and last year, and the trade deficit in 1979 compared to that of last year?

Mr. Taylor

The hon. Gentleman would risk losing an item of national heritage in his wish to export my hon. Friend the Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Mr. Evans)—I certainly would not recommend that to the House. To answer the hon. Gentleman's question, imports rose in volume by 78 per cent. during the period that we are discussing. What is most interesting now is that the effects of the improvement in manufacturing productivity are now showing in manufacturing exports. Exports—which drive the economic recovery—were, in the third quarter of 1994, up 14 per cent. to the world and 19 per cent. to the EC. Rather than looking backwards, the hon. Gentleman should look forwards and welcome that tremendous economic performance.

Mr. Butcher

Almost unheralded and unnoted there has been an astonishing improvement in exports from the manufacturing sector, particularly the engineering sector, in the west midlands. Will my hon. Friend the Minister come and witness some of the improvements in Coventry, in companies such as GPT, Jaguar and Massey Ferguson? The most significant worldwide investment programme—investment in the new digital super-highways—is being led by GPT, which is currently exporting into 30 telecommunications networks around the world. Something dramatic is going on out there and we should recognise that.

Mr. Taylor

I strongly welcome my hon. Friend's comments. As he knows, I was in Coventry just before Christmas and know from first hand, being a Coventrian, the importance of industry to that city. Unlike Opposition Members, even The Guardian has caught up with the fact that high-tech industries lead our economic recovery, particularly in export markets. As the Minister with responsibility for technology, I am delighted about that—and not surprised because as I go around the companies I see how successful they are. Those companies all cite the fact that the stable economic background and low inflation in this country enable them to continue to be competitive in world markets.

Mr. Harvey

Do not the Government's claims on exports sit uncomfortably with the statistics of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development which show that Britain has the slowest rate of growth in exports of any G7 country since 1979? Is not one of the main reasons for that the fact that manufacturing investment as a proportion of GDP fell to an all-time low in the first half of 1994 and has continued falling in recent quarters?.

Mr. Taylor

The reality is that the volume of UK-manufactured exports grew faster than those of France, Germany and Japan for the bulk of the 1980s. We should be pleased to accept that figure. The export volume of manufacturers in the third quarter of 1994 was up by 12 per cent. Opposition parties should welcome those figures as they create jobs in their constituencies. Occasionally, Opposition Members should not only welcome the figures, but give credit where credit is due—to the Government's economic performance.