§ 2.49 p.m.
§ Lord ELTONMy 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 the construction of the 447,000 tonne capacity steel mill recently completed at Pohang in South Korea by a British consortium was supported by British official aid, and, if so, to what extent.
§ Baroness LLEWELYN-DAVIES of HASTOEMy Lords, no.
§ Lord ELTONMy Lords, while thanking the noble Baroness for that admirably brief reply, and in so doing accepting that none of the £1.1 million of net transfers which have gone from this country to South Korea in the last five years has been devoted to that, may I ask this further question: When an opportunity arises for Her Majesty's Government in their overseas development aid programme to give a grant-in-aid or other support to a project in manufacturing industry in which in this country there is considerable unemployment, what weight do they give to considerations of the effect of the coming into production of that plant upon exports and jobs in this country?
§ Baroness LLEWELYN-DAVIES of HASTOEMy Lords, Her Majesty's Government always consider that, and that matter is always in the forefront. Of course, we have to give aid to developing countries in varying kinds of ways. In this case, if we are dealing with steel, we consider the interests of the steel plant workers against the background of the international steel market and the British steel industry.