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AMENDMENT OF THE LAW

I cannot let the hon. Gentleman’s remarks go without some comment, not least because my mother is German and I visited Germany many times in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. One of the issues for that country was the sheer cost of reunification. Much more important in the UK, as German politicians and business men would confirm, were the microeconomic changes of the 1980s under the Thatcher Government, which made a fundamental difference for our future competitiveness. I hope the hon. Gentleman will give credit where it is due for the work that has been done not just in the past 10 years but in the past 25.