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National Insurance Contributions Bill

The Prime Minister says all the right, warm words. Indeed, I very much agree with what he and the Chancellor have said in the past two years. I wish that the Conservative party had made more of China, India and the importance of global competitiveness in our election campaign only in May. However, all this is, as ever, about implementation. Any of those in business in China’s large cities will say that Germany is the main European player in that market. The Germans have made significant headway in investing in joint ventures there. We need to put the money where our mouth is. In particular, I make a plea to the Foreign Office. A number of Foreign Office trade missions have been closed not just in Asia, but in Africa. I hope that there will be some reversal of that to ensure that such ideals are put in place.