Mr Robert Clay, former MP, Sunderland North

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Orders of the Day — Shipbuilding 20 Nov 1990

The hon. Gentleman said that I was trying to wheedle my way around the rules, yet six months after the closure one of his predecessors, the right hon. Member for Braintree (Mr. Newton), argued in Brussels for a reopening of shipbuilding in Sunderland and was told by the Commissioner that that was not on and that he should have known that over the previous six months. That is a fact.
Orders of the Day — Shipbuilding 20 Nov 1990

I do not want to be sectarian, but the Government's attitude to what is happening to German shipbuilding is extraordinary. The seventh directive will come into effect on 1 January, but for the past few months no restraint has been imposed on the activities between the former East and West German shipyards. West German shipbuilders have been buying into East Germany and work has been...
Orders of the Day — Shipbuilding 20 Nov 1990

Having been through that complex matter, will the Minister accept that, on the interpretation he has just given the House, it boils down to the fact that the seventh directive will be more draconian on closures than the sixth directive was? If the sixth directive had remained as it was and if the North East Shipbuilders yards were still there, they could have reopened after five years,...