§ Lord KINGS NORTONMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, when called upon to approve the purchase either of some article manufactured abroad or of a competitive article manufactured in the United Kingdom, they take into account when comparing costs the fact that in the case of the home article, and not in the case of the other, those concerned in its manufacture pay United Kingdom income tax.
§ The PARLIAMENTARY UNDERSECRETARY of STATE, DEPARTMENT of the ENVIRONMENT (Baroness Birk)No, my Lords.
§ Lord KINGS NORTONMy Lords, may I ask the Minister whether or not she agrees that if, to take an example, British Airways were faced with the choice of buying an aeroplane either from France or from this country and the purchase prices were the same, the cost to the taxpayer if the United Kingdom aircraft were bought would be less than the other by the amount which those concerned paid to the Inland Revenue?
§ Baroness BIRKMy Lords, that may be so, I doubt not. Even if, however, the principle that the noble Lord has put forward were acceptable, which it is not, it would involve an unbelievable amount of calculation and volume of assumptions by contract officers in the purchasing department, and it would be quite contrary to our international obligations.
Lord HAWKEMy Lords, is it not time that Her Majesty's Government did more to protect British industry from foreign imports?—something which is in the tradition of the Conservative Party and, I believe, the Labour Party, too.
§ Baroness BIRKMy Lords, the way to try to improve our economy in competition with other countries is to try to increase our competitiveness, which is what the Government are doing.
§ Lord DRUMALBYNMy Lords, however much we increase our competitiveness, would it not still be very hard to sell our cars in Japan? What will the noble Baroness do about that?
§ Baroness BIRKMy Lords, I shall not do anything about it by taking into account United Kingdom income tax, which is the subject of the Question.