HC Deb 05 June 1997 vol 295 cc531-2
2. Mr. John M. Taylor

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will make a statement on the guiding principles that the Government will follow in superintending monopolies and mergers policy. [656]

The President of the Board of Trade and Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Mrs. Margaret Beckett)

The Government are committed to effective and fair competition. In exercising my statutory responsibilities, I shall consider each case on its merits. My policy will be to make merger references primarily on competition grounds.

On the wider question of reform, the Government will be introducing a new competition Bill this autumn, adopting a tough prohibitive approach to deter anti-competitive practices and abuse of market power.

Mr. Taylor

I congratulate the President of the Board of Trade on her appointment. May I ask her to explain why the Government have already done two U-turns—one on the proposal to merge the Office of Fair Trading with the Monopolies and Mergers Commission, the other on the burden of proof in takeover cases? She has been quoted as saying—she has said it again today—that competition grounds will be at the heart of her policy. Will she confirm that, and remark its fidelity to the proposals first set out by Lord Tebbit?

Mrs. Beckett

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his kind remarks. If I recall correctly, it has been the practice of successive Governments of all political shades for 40 years or so to have competition policy handled in the way that I have described.

As for two U-turns, either the hon. Gentleman's researchers have not been assiduous enough, or he has not read our documents with sufficient care. I can assure him that no U-turn is involved. If he reads the policy document that we issued long before the election, he will discover that while these issues were identified as the subject of people's concern, and while proposals had been made to effect the sort of changes described, there was no commitment to them whatever. I can tell the hon. Gentleman in the utmost confidence that Lord Borrie's view of the proposals chimes absolutely with my own.

Mr. Doran

I welcome my right hon. Friend most warmly to her new position. I know that she would not want to comment on individual cases, but is she aware of the proposed merger between Grampian Television and Scottish Television—a proposal that is opposed by most sections of opinion in the north of Scotland? When considering new legislation, can she assure me that current grounds for referral to the MMC will not be weakened in any way?

Mrs. Beckett

I thank my hon. Friend for his kind remarks. He is right to say that I cannot comment on individual cases. I hope, however, that it will already be apparent—certainly from what we have said about the new legislation that we intend to produce—that, far from weakening the approach to competition issues, we intend substantially to strengthen the position adopted by the previous Government.

Mr. Harvey

I, too, congratulate the right hon. Lady on her appointment, and I welcome the flexibility that she is displaying on this matter. If competition is to remain the central consideration, however, does she intend to offer further guidance on any other factors to which she will attach priority as she considers each and every case on its merits? Does she not see a danger of merger mania taking off again as companies try her on to find out what is guiding her in these deliberations?

Mrs. Beckett

I see no evidence that that will happen, although I understand the hon. Gentleman's concern. I have sought to head off any attempts to discern policy by testing me out by making the simple, clear statement to a business audience yesterday that, on competition policy as on other things, there is no need for people to waste their time on close textual analysis: I say what I mean and I mean what I say.