Dr Jeremy Bray: The treaty of Maastricht and convergence towards economic and monetary union set a steep and challenging path. The Government face a problem. Should they spell out the difficulties and dangers on the path that they have set and the greater difficulties of alternatives, or should they rest thankfully on the majority cross-party consensus that the goal of EMU offers the best path forward?...
Dr Jeremy Bray: Will the Leader of the House say when the Government propose to introduce the order transferring responsibility for science and technology to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster? Will he bear in mind that it was the Opposition who had to find time for six of the previous eight annual debates on science and technology?
Dr Jeremy Bray: I welcome the Minister to the Office of Science and Technology, which was proposed by Labour, rather than by the Conservatives. Is he aware that unless he and the President of the Board of Trade find some way of rapidly increasing our technological competitiveness, this country will find itself facing another deep depression in the latter part of the 1990s? Given that increased basic research...
Dr Jeremy Bray: Will the Secretary of State keep in this country what James Watson, the discoverer of the DNA basis of the genetic code, has described as the jewel in the crown of British science? Will he authorise the Medical Research Council to plan on the basis that the funding needed by Dr. John Sulston of the laboratory of molecular biology of Cambridge will be available to keep in this country work on...
Dr Jeremy Bray: Is the Minister aware that the proposals for the expansion and development of the Dalzell works have been pursued for many years more consistently and vigorously by the Labour party than by any other party? Is he also aware that British Steel cannot go ahead with its plans for building a new plate mill on Teesside because of the depth of the recession into which the Government have plunged...
Dr Jeremy Bray: Is the Secretary of State aware that his reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Motherwell, North (Dr.Reid) shows that he does not understand the proposal for the new technology at Ravenscraig? It is not a proposal for an electric arc furnace, which would lead to scrap and high energy costs, but a proposal to put the new technology on at the end of the BOS—basic oxygen steel—route. Is the...
Dr Jeremy Bray: I suspect that the hon. Gentleman will find that the Ravenscraig site is not even included in the enterprise zone.
Dr Jeremy Bray: For the people of Motherwell, and for Ravenscraig steel workers and their families, this is a sad occasion. They have worked hard and loyally, they have learnt new skills, developed new methods, pioneered new technologies and triumphed over disasters. They have acted intelligently, with foresight, courage and integrity. They have achieved unequalled levels of performance. Steel is the most...
Dr Jeremy Bray: Just prior to the debate, I was at a meeting with the Leader of the Opposition at which I went over the grounds of our case. He gives us his absolute, full and unqualified support. We must explore all possible avenues for steel. Everyone in Motherwell accepts that our future lies in new jobs, new industries and a new image of Lanarkshire. The Government's antics have been pathetic. I shall...
Dr Jeremy Bray: I will not pursue that matter with the right hon. Gentleman at this stage. I will follow it up in writing. Motherwell people hesitate to put to the Secretary of State any of the lively suggestions now being made because he simply strangles them at birth. He has made a total shambles of the redevelopment of Lanarkshire. Now that he has demonstrated the depth of the Government's incompetence,...
Dr Jeremy Bray: I beg to ask leave to move the Adjournment of the House, under Standing Order No. 20, for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration, namely, the closure of Ravenscraig. I have to do so following the totally inadequate and insubstantial statement of the Secretary of State. The matter is specific, in that it relates to the closure of one of...
Dr Jeremy Bray: Is the Secretary of State aware that the announcement has been long expected and long feared in Motherwell? Over the years and over the generations, so much effort has been put in to the building, strengthening and operating of the steel industry that there is incomprehension and a great sense of sadness and loss in Motherwell today. The campaign waged by the steel workers has been recognised...
Dr Jeremy Bray: Is the Chancellor worried that we are not sustaining high employment? Is he worried that it has taken such a deep and prolonged recession to reduce inflation to its current level? Does he think that he is doing a good job in alerting the country to the rapid rate of convergence at which he is aiming in the exchange rate mechanism and the possible move towards European monetary union?
Dr Jeremy Bray: The Minister is right to say that a number of the points that Labour Members have argued on Second Reading and in Committee were subsequently accepted in the Lords, and that some of them have been embodied in the published articles of association. However, I am surprised that he has not continued in that spirit in reply to our amendments to the Lords amendments before us tonight. They were...
Dr Jeremy Bray: Is the Minister saying that the universities, which were the source of the proposals, were not funded by the research councils in any of the research leading to their proposals?
Dr Jeremy Bray: Does the Minister intend to consult the universities on any bids received, given the universities' right to nominate a director to the board?
Dr Jeremy Bray: We welcome the development of science parks, but will the Minister talk to the occupants and potential occupants of the science parks and ask them whether they would like the business expansion scheme to be replaced by a scheme to encourage investment in high-tech manufacturing industry and high technology development to be set in the context of policies, with access given to finance, tax...
Dr Jeremy Bray: Is the Secretary of State aware that British Steel's plate mill strategy was to reject the cheaper option of developing the Dalzell works? Nevertheless, there are a few months during which British Steel will try to find the additional £300 million that is required for a new plate mill on Teesside before any contracts are placed. Will he therefore keep up the maximum pressure on British...
Dr Jeremy Bray: Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Dr Jeremy Bray: In Motherwell, we are very conscious of the support that we have enjoyed in all parts of the House for the problems that the industry faces, as well as a readiness to address the problems that we shall face in the future as we enter a period of major industrial change. May I express the thanks of the steel workers and the people of Lanarkshire to the Trade and Industry Select Committee for...
