Export Control
10:30 am
Mr Robert Key (Salisbury, Conservative)
Further to that point of order, Mr. Benton. First, may I say what an unexpected pleasure it is to serve once again under your chairmanship. I very much look forward to it, and to my new role as Opposition spokesman. You will not be surprised to hear that I have had to do quite a lot of homework. I also thank the Minister for his courteous welcome. I am sure that we shall find our deliberations constructive. I am delighted to have received copies of the dummy orders, and I thank the Minister for writing to me at the end of last week.
Industry has missed a trick. Companies seem to think that the negative and affirmative procedures under which the secondary legislation will be considered in detail will be a grand opportunity for debate in the House. Of course it will not be, which is why I warmly welcome the consultation period announced by the Minister. Industry will need to engage in that consultation, because although it accepts the provisions, some parts, such as the machine tool industry, regard them as merely a tidying-up operation. However, there are still fundamental issues to be debated and they are covered in some of the important and, indeed, long and complex statutory instruments before us.
I got a surprise when, during my homework, I went through the Quadripartite Committee report of 1 May on the draft Export Control and Non-Proliferation Bill. On 25 April, the Chairman of the Committee queried why the Government had chosen the negative procedure, as opposed to the affirmative one that is used in so much of the present Bill. The then Secretary of State for Trade and Industry said:
``My own view is that provided there is the opportunity for Parliament to deal with these matters then there will be an opportunity if the House feels strongly about a matter then certainly in my experience, whether it is negative or affirmative, then the way can be found for the matter to be dealt with. That is the way in practice that these things happen.''
Oh, I wish that were true. Parliamentarians know—I fear that British industry does not—that debates on affirmative and negative procedures are very short and not substantive. The consultation period will therefore be vital for all those involved in export industries to make clear their position on the complex matters involved.
That said, I am grateful to the Minister for his courtesy and I look forward to proceeding constructively on the Bill.