Vince Cable

I think my ministerial team have given an extremely good account of the many things that we are doing in that area, starting with an extraordinary cut in the amount of red tape, which I think is the issue that most concerns my hon. Friend.

There is no question of renegotiation. The Indians have had a pre-selection process, from which the French bid has gone ahead on the basis of price. There is a lot of experience of contracts being reconsidered at the final stage, and at that stage BAE Systems has a very good case to make as part of its consortium. We will support it thoroughly.

As the hon. Gentleman will know, because I have visited his constituency and discussed these issues with him, the steel industry is going through an extremely difficult time not just in the UK, and steel makers have made losses. We are helping them through energy intensive support, and there are other forms of help such as the regional growth fund and enterprise zones. We are doing what we can to help steel areas that are affected by the current contraction.

Of course we have discussed those issues extensively with the Ministry of Defence, and if the hon. Lady actually reads the statement, she will see that it is absolutely clear that in defence, as in other areas, public procurement will operate on a strategic, long-term basis, not as it did under the last Government when narrow contractual arrangements involved purchases off the peg.

I can confirm the first part of the hon. Gentleman's question: the £3 billion is fully committed to and there are no mixed messages. On borrowing, it is not merely a question of the date, but of the fiscal position of the country.

Those were certainly not the allegations Rio Tinto Alcan made to me when I met representatives of the company. They made it clear that this was part of a global downsizing of their operations and that many countries are affected by it. I have visited the site and met the hon. Gentleman to discuss this. We are concerned about the future of the labour force, and we sought to help the company through the support for energy-intensive industries. Now that the company has decided to go ahead with closure, we will see what we can do to help the people in the area.

My colleague, the Minister for Universities and Science, has already given a very full answer on this issue. When I spoke about it earlier, I should have made it clear that Mr Lester had accepted a pay cut, not a tax cut. In addition, there will shortly be an urgent question on the matter, when any further details can be pursued. As for the wider policy questions, we made it very clear last week that we believe that our reforms of executive pay will radically reduce the rewards for failure and mediocrity in business.

As was explained earlier, the Prime Minister, the Trade and Investment Minister, I and others have made strong representations to the Indian Government on the merits of BAE Systems for this contract. The hon. Gentleman will know that the contract was narrowed down to two companies on the basis of quality. The Indian Government appear to have made a narrow decision based on price, but this is by no means the end of the process. BAE Systems will have plenty of opportunities to restate its case on quality and life-time costs and we shall reinforce it.

My Department has a key role in supporting the rebalancing of the economy and business to deliver growth while increasing skills and learning.

That infrastructure fund, which relates specifically to small projects, has proved very valuable and the local enterprise partnerships have an important role in working up those projects. There are set criteria, of which they are well aware, that they must meet.

This Department certainly does wish to promote the renewables sector and the supply chains. However, given the history of this problem, the hon. Gentleman will know that the level of subsidy-which I think his Government fixed-was totally unsustainable, and action had to be taken to cap it.

I am aware of the difficulties associated with that project, which relate to the fact that we are trying to integrate two separate bidders. My hon. Friend knows the practical difficulties, but we will certainly do the best we can to expedite the project.

I am very surprised that the hon. Lady gives apprenticeships as the central example of failure, given that apprenticeship numbers have risen by 50% and apprenticeships are extremely popular with young people and employers. This is a success story, and I am surprised she is denigrating it.

Perhaps I should also point to the most recent indicators, which were published yesterday. In the manufacturing sector, which is absolutely critical for recovery, the purchasing managers index suggests a significant recovery in the short run.

As I noted earlier, the independent Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts that the UK economy will grow at 0.7% this year and 2.1% in 2013. The OBR states that the intensification of the European sovereign debt crisis has

"doubtless helped to reduce confidence".

Of course there is a continuing issue with the scale of bonuses in RBS, but they are vastly reduced from their former level. We are conscious of the issues involved. Many of those people are American traders operating in the United States, but we are conscious that every amount that goes out in bonuses is money that could otherwise have gone to small businesses.

Yes. I have talked extensively to Will Hutton about that. In the proposals that I will bring forward next week, we will introduce the principle of a clawback; that clawback can operate in different ways, and we are certainly looking seriously at one of the ways that Will Hutton has recommended.

Those two individuals are symbolically very important, but what is much more important is that we have a proper system governing executive pay over the long term, and that is what my proposals were designed to achieve. Bonuses in the banking sector as a whole are now running at roughly a third of the level at which they operated at the peak of the boom when Labour was in power. As for the state-owned banks, my right hon. Friend will know that a set of disciplines is being introduced through United Kingdom Financial Investments Ltd.

Last week I announced a comprehensive package of measures to tackle the disconnect between executive pay and company performance. These proposals will increase simplicity and clarity, give shareholders more effective power through binding votes, increase the diversity of boards and remuneration committees, and encourage employees to be more engaged.

My colleague is right to stress the importance of the food sector, including food manufacturing. We often talk about advanced manufacturing, but some of the most sophisticated industries are often in those traditional product areas. He is right about the important of opening barriers. In the European Union context, my team is actively pursuing trade liberalisation with a variety of Asian countries, the Mercusor countries and others. We hope that those agreements will be delivered soon.

On the specifics, as the hon. Gentleman will know, a third of regional growth fund projects have already started. I am surprised that he picks up apprenticeships as a theme, because we have increased their number by 50% in the last year from the rather depressed levels we inherited. In terms of broad policy, I understand that the hon. Gentleman is standing in this morning for my opposite number, the hon. Member for Streatham (Mr Umunna), who wrote to tell me that he has gone to Germany looking for inspiration. I think the first thing the Germans will tell him is that if he wants sustainable growth, there has to be fiscal discipline.