Crispin Blunt

Conservative Party | Reigate

Department of Trade and Industry Question Time

Mr. Crispin Blunt (Reigate): The House should find the Secretary of State's complacency on trade in her answers to my hon. Friend the Member for South Suffolk (Mr. Yeo) alarming. The United Kingdom trade deficit is widening. The overall value of trade is falling. In the fourth quarter of 2002, the deficit in goods reached £10.7 billion. Given that desperate situation—[Hon. Members: "The question is on fair trade."] How can it possibly be right, given that desperate situation for British exporters and British businesses that want to take up fair trade products, for the Government to increase employers' national insurance?

Ms Hewitt: The hon. Gentleman seems to jump from one subject to another.

On the trade gap, the current account deficit in the United Kingdom in 2001 was 1.7 per cent. of gross domestic product. In 1989, under the hon. Gentleman's Government, it was more than 5 per cent. We will take no lectures on trade from the Conservatives, who did very little to promote fair trade.

On national insurance contributions, there is widespread support among the business community and the public for the sustained increase in national health service spending that we propose and the Conservative party would cut. The issue for the hon. Gentleman is which hospitals he would shut, and how many doctors and nurses he would sack, with his refusal to match our investment in the NHS.

To read the full debate follow this link