Mr Timothy Eggar: I have not yet received a job application form from British Gas, and, if I did, I would not fill it in.
Mr Timothy Eggar: My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We can look forward to significant further reductions. In the south-west trial area, some consumers are being offered reductions of as much as 25.2 per cent., and average reductions of between 15 and 20 per cent. In future, I would expect to see similar reductions available in other parts of the United Kingdom. Action taken by the regulator in the price...
Mr Timothy Eggar: Before the hon. Gentleman stood up, I should have thought that he was one of the last Opposition Members whom I would have to accuse of scaremongering. Why does he have to talk down a successful British company in that way? Only today I was told that the proposals being put forward would ensure British Gas was able to compete in the 21st century.
Mr Timothy Eggar: My opposite number intervenes from a sedentary position, but he does not know that I was quoting from Mr. MacGregor of the GMB union. The view I gave was not mine, but that of Mr. MacGregor, the union leader on the side of the gas workers in the GMB.
Mr Timothy Eggar: Mr. Brown is widely respected by the work force of British Gas for his years of experience and commitment to the company. That is not my view, but the view of the GMB union spokesman. With the greatest respect to the hon. Gentleman, it is a pity that he should ask such a question on the day when Mr. Cedric Brown has announced his retirement—a man who has made a major contribution to the...
Mr Timothy Eggar: British Gas itself is confident that it will be able to improve service to customers and lower prices to customers. That is not my view; it is the view of Dick Giordano, the chairman of British Gas. The issue of take-or-pay contracts is, of course, a matter for commercial negotiation between the producers and British Gas. I have no doubt that those negotiations will start shortly, and I am...
Mr Timothy Eggar: The best currently available estimate of the proportion of the UK's total manufactured exports accounted for by the aerospace industry in 1994 is about 7 per cent.
Mr Timothy Eggar: I could not have said it better myself.
Mr Timothy Eggar: I think it is fair to say that in the civil aerospace industry, including the sector that is covered by Shorts, demand is generally more buoyant now than it has been for a couple of years, and expectations are rising. British companies, Rolls-Royce and BAe in particular, have had some spectacular orders over the past few months. It is an internationally competitive market. We have to continue...
Mr Timothy Eggar: I certainly join my hon. Friend in congratulating Avro International, which won a particularly important order in August from Sabena. I pay tribute to everybody in British Aerospace who has transformed that company. There is no doubt that in manufacturing it is a world leader and it is accepted as such by aerospace companies throughout the world. My Department is working extremely closely...
Mr Timothy Eggar: My Department is working with the industry on a number of initiatives aimed at improving further the competitiveness of an industry, the performance of which since privatisation has been among the world's best.
Mr Timothy Eggar: The lesson of the past 20 years in the steel industry is that when the state owns it and intervenes it is a blinking disaster, but that when it goes into the private sector after privatisation it is extremely successful. Let me spell it out for the hon. Gentleman. Between 1975 and 1985, every individual in this country subsidised British Steel to the tune of £135. Since privatisation in...
Mr Timothy Eggar: I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. The changes that have been made to the previously state-owned sector have turned around what was a serious position for the providers of our infrastructure, electricity and gas. From lagging behind the rest of the world in efficiency, they have become world leaders. That has benefited the British steel industry and British industry as a whole because it...
Mr Timothy Eggar: The hon. Gentleman is rewriting history with his view of the investment pattern of British Steel. I find it surprising that the hon. Gentleman, who knows a great deal about the industry, has not welcomed British Steel's investment announcement of another £65 million for the Llanwern mill. He has also not welcomed the fact that British Steel used to take 13 man hours to produce a tonne of...
Mr Timothy Eggar: I have no present plans to meet the chairmen of the privatised utilities.
Mr Timothy Eggar: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for the tribute that he has paid to the privatised utilities for the way in which they have reduced significantly the number of cut-offs of domestic consumers. A number of the English regional electricity companies have not cut off any individual consumer now for some months. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman would also be the first to pay tribute to the...
Mr Timothy Eggar: Gas prices have fallen by about 23 per cent. in real terms since privatisation. Customers can look forward to further significant reductions as a result of the introduction of competition in gas. The latest offer being made to consumers in the south-west gas trial area is a further reduction of 25.2 per cent., as against the British Gas standard tariff, if they sign up and buy gas from one...
Mr Timothy Eggar: I congratulate the hon. Member for Leeds, West (Mr. Battle) on his first change to Labour party policy. When the amendment was first introduced, I think I am right in saying that the Opposition spokesman was as sceptical as I was. I must say that the hon. Member for Clackmannan (Mr. O'Neill) also listened to the arguments. In any event, I do not want to spoil the atmosphere of what has been a...
Mr Timothy Eggar: I beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said amendment.
Mr Timothy Eggar: As this is the last group of amendments, I should like to extend my thanks to the Opposition, my officials and the Clerks of the House for the way we have managed to get through a complex and technical Bill in a good spirit and with maximum co-operation, always mindful of the many benefits that will flow to consumers from the Bill.
