Results 1-20 of 58 for in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates' speaker:Lord Popat

EU: UK Trading Deficit — Question (21 May 2013)

Lord Popat: My Lords, the UK’s current trade balance with the rest of the EU reflects a range of factors. The recent rise in the deficit reflects the shrinking EU market, not a loss of UK market share. The UK is pursuing a range of policies—supporting measures to stabilise and revitalise the EU as well as encouraging firms to internationalise—which will boost UK trade with the EU.

EU: UK Trading Deficit — Question (21 May 2013)

Lord Popat: My Lords, our trade with the European Union, and the deficit of £46 billion, is counterbalanced by our surplus on invisible trade. Our membership of the EU is still in the best interests of the UK. It provides tariff-free access to a market that is worth around £11 trillion and has half a billion customers, and its trade with the UK enables 3.6 million employers in this country.

EU: UK Trading Deficit — Question (21 May 2013)

Lord Popat: My Lords, for the long-term economic health of the UK we need to develop further our economic relations with fast-growing, emerging markets, including India, which the noble Lord mentioned. This is why the Prime Minister has been leading trade missions to these countries. We are doing everything possible to support our trade with emerging markets, including India, but we are also supporting a...

EU: UK Trading Deficit — Question (21 May 2013)

Lord Popat: My Lords, part of the reason for the devaluation of the euro is the crisis the euro is going through. This Government are committed to creating a competitive economy that is fit for purpose in the 21st century.

EU: UK Trading Deficit — Question (21 May 2013)

Lord Popat: My Lords, just under half our exporting is to the European Union. We are working to continue our trade relations with the European Union, and we really need to ensure that we reform it to make it more competitive and accountable. It is crucial that we continue to trade with it and that we increase our trade with it: hence, we have 27 UKTI offices in those countries.

EU: UK Trading Deficit — Question (21 May 2013)

Lord Popat: My Lords, this time last year I asked for an ad-hoc cross-party committee, chaired by my noble friend Lord Cope, to be set up. We had a report in the early part of this year, and received a response from business this week on what we can do to help our SMEs to export more, including how the UK Export Finance scheme can work more effectively for those who export in those countries.

EU: UK Trading Deficit — Question (21 May 2013)

Lord Popat: My Lords, I expected that question from my noble friend. There is no other country in the world with which we have such a huge trade deficit. We have it with the European Union, but we have a large number of benefits as well. The £7 billion contribution that we pay to it gives us the benefit of free trade and a free market to other parts of the world. However, some of the huge deficit...

EU: UK Trading Deficit — Question (21 May 2013)

Lord Popat: My Lords, in fact, we are working with the European Union to negotiate a reformed European Union. We have moved on because in a global race we need to ensure that Europe is more competitive with respect to trade.

Security: Fake Bomb Detectors — Question (14 May 2013)

Lord Popat: My Lords, there was no failure of statutory controls as these objects were not subject to export control because they did not contain controlled materials and/or technology. The previous Government introduced a control on the export of these devices to Iraq and Afghanistan in January 2010 in response to concerns about the risk to the security of UK personnel through the use of these devices...

Security: Fake Bomb Detectors — Question (14 May 2013)

Lord Popat: My Lords, the noble Lord asked a number of questions. I will try to answer as many as I can. Failing that, I would be very happy to write to the noble Lord. The UK defence industry contributes £35 billion to our wider economy, provides more than 300,000 jobs and makes a contribution of about £2 billion to our Exchequer. It is a crucial industry. With regard to the defence industry...

Security: Fake Bomb Detectors — Question (14 May 2013)

Lord Popat: My Lords, the noble Lord raises a very important issue. Yes, this equipment was fraudulent and was sold to Iraq. We have notified not just Iraq but all the respective Governments through our Foreign and Commonwealth Office and embassies that this equipment is not effective and will not serve the purpose for which it was bought.

Security: Fake Bomb Detectors — Question (14 May 2013)

Lord Popat: My Lords, to the best of my knowledge no such approval was given. Most of our export is done through UKTI, which normally does not endorse the sale from this country of items of that nature. However, we have now brought in a policy within BIS to make sure that UKTI gets disclaimers signed by people who sell such equipment.

Security: Fake Bomb Detectors — Question (14 May 2013)

Lord Popat: The noble Lord raises a very important issue but I think he misunderstood my answer. UKTI plays an important role within our department to promote exports world wide. It has exhibitions and trade shows. It does not endorse the sale of such items.

Security: Fake Bomb Detectors — Question (14 May 2013)

Lord Popat: My Lords, in February 2010 when this matter came to our attention, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office informed all diplomatic posts of the UK Government of the concern about the effectiveness of certain hand-held bomb detectors and asked posts to share this concern with host Governments. This happened during the time of the noble Lord’s Government. Therefore, everything was done from...

UK Industry: Competitiveness — Question (22 April 2013)

Lord Popat: My Lords, the UK economy is recovering from the most damaging financial crisis in generations. The Government are putting in place the right policies to deliver balanced and sustainable growth in the UK. That will take time. We are already seeing some progress. Between 2010 and 2012 the UK climbed from 12th to 8th in the World Economic Forum's global competitiveness index.

UK Industry: Competitiveness — Question (22 April 2013)

Lord Popat: My Lords, the external value of sterling fell from 2007 to 2009 and led to modest growth in exports. The impact may have been negated somewhat due to global demand weakness, especially in the European Union, which is our largest export market. Evidence suggests that export growth is driven more by changes in foreign demand than by price competitiveness or other factors.

UK Industry: Competitiveness — Question (22 April 2013)

Lord Popat: My Lords, this issue has been raised by the noble Lord in the past. Education is our fourth largest export earning. I agree with the noble Lord that we need to spend more money both on research at universities and on further investment in training provided by businesses. I will take the noble Lord's point into account and will be happy to ask my colleague in the office to write to him to see...

UK Industry: Competitiveness — Question (22 April 2013)

Lord Popat: My Lords, the value of the pound is determined by the international market. The fall in exports is mainly due to the current economic crisis, not just in the UK but in Europe as a whole. Half our exports are to the European Union and there are real issues in the European Union. The currency changes that take place quite often have a limited impact due to the very high import content in our...

UK Industry: Competitiveness — Question (22 April 2013)

Lord Popat: My Lords, the Chancellor has the right policies in place to reignite our economy, growth and competitiveness. We are supporting SME exports and have allocated a huge amount of money for infrastructure investment, including some for regional growth. We are encouraging the free flow of funds from the Bank and fiscal consolidation. With regard to the International Monetary Fund, we cannot...

UK Industry: Competitiveness — Question (22 April 2013)

Lord Popat: My noble friend raises a very important issue. In both health and education, there is very much a monopoly. We use the private sector in areas where it can deliver real value for money for taxpayers.