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WTO Conference (Hong Kong)

I add my hon. Friend to the list of people who made a genuine contribution. It is not the kind of conference that one goes to in order to have fun.—[Interruption.] Well, I did get this suit, but never mind that. It is fair to say that the big beasts of the US and the EU needed to make progress on domestic support in relation to market access to the EU. The EU made a good argument to the effect that having agreed to eliminate export subsidies a year ago, although no date was attached, having agreed to duty-free and quota-free access to the EU for least-developed countries, and having put forward a serious offer on 28 October—it was serious, unlike the offer of 10 October—it was now time, in a proper negotiation, for some other countries, particularly larger developing countries, to start moving on industry so that a proper negotiation across the three elements of agriculture, industry and services could proceed. However, I agree that we have to break the logjam. We have to ensure that when people sit down and make conditional offers they turn over their cards at the same time, because the stage of holding cards close to the chest is well past. Heads of Government have already been involved in that, but they may have a greater role to play over the coming months.