• International Trade Secretary
and President of the Board of Trade, the Rt Hon MP, will lay out his vision for
the UK’s role in shaping global trade in a keynote speech near
Bristol today.
• Dr Fox is expected to say that
the UK will “play a pivotal role” in fighting protectionism with
international partners.
• He will encourage MPs to look
beyond current divisions, and get on with delivering Brexit so
the UK’s independent trading future can begin.
The UK will play a pivotal role in shaping
21st century trade, will tell an audience at Portbury
Royal Docks near Bristol today.
Calling for MPs to look beyond current divisions and deliver
Brexit, he is expected to say:
“Now is the time to raise our sights, and acknowledge
that there is a world beyond Europe, and a time
Beyond Brexit.
“The Government has made clear that we want to take a
balanced approach to the question of our future trading
prospects. We need to maximise our access to the EU market but
without damaging our potential to benefit from emerging trade
opportunities in other parts of the world.
“Even before we get to new trade opportunities afforded by
new trade agreements there are still considerable export
opportunities for British businesses to exploit in existing
markets. We still have ground to make up on our international
competitors in many of these countries abroad.
“If we want Britain to become a global exporting superpower,
we have to unlock our considerable potential.”
On Britain’s role in shaping the future of trade, he is
expected to say:
“A wholesale revolution in the patterns of trade has already
arrived. The tectonic plates of global commerce are shifting
under our feet. Our future FTAs are hugely important - not least
because they are strategic as well as economic tools - but in the
long run, it is not what we do unilaterally, or even bilaterally,
that will make the biggest difference.
“Instead, it is working to update and improve the rules-based
international system that governs global trade.
“How the multilateral trading environment develops will
almost certainly be the most crucial determinant of the degree of
trade liberalisation that will occur and consequently the scale
of future opportunities.
“This is an area in which the UK will play a pivotal role.
The world’s fifth-largest economy taking its seat at the WTO, as
a powerful and unabashed defender of free trade, will be a key
moment for the United Kingdom. It is one of the most important,
if seldom mentioned, aspects of Brexit.”
In a call to fellow MPs, he is expected to say:
“The withdrawal agreement and the political declaration will
not please everyone, and we have had some tough choices to make.
Choices which many in Parliament, on both sides of the House, are
yet to face up to. But the deal we’ve reached will give us a firm
and stable base on which to leave the EU and build this country’s
global future, a future that still encompasses Europe, of course,
but also the wide fast-growing markets beyond, with all the
opportunity that entails.
“The divisions of the referendum need to be consigned to the
past. Now is the time to set aside our differences, and lead our
country to a future of freedom, success, and prosperity.
“In politics we cannot always have the luxury of doing what
we want for ourselves, but we have an abiding duty to do what is
right for our country.”
On UK exports, he is expected to say:
“At the time of the referendum, we were told that just voting
to leave the EU would cause such an economic shock that we’d lose
half a million jobs, our investors would desert us, and we would
require an emergency budget to deal with the ensuing fiscal
imbalance.
“What’s happened since? We’ve added over 700,000 jobs to the
economy, with more people finding work than at any time in the
past 40 years.
“This upward trajectory shows no signs of slowing. Indeed,
the OBR has calculated that we can add another 800,000 jobs
without creating inflationary pressure, because there’s still
slack in the economy.
“In 2017 we saw total UK exports rise by 10.9% compared with
2016.
“And what did we sell? We sold almost £50 billion worth of
mechanical machinery, £41 billion worth of motor vehicles, £16
billion worth of aircraft and £14 billion worth of medical
equipment.
“And, as I have to mention on St. Andrews Day, some £4.3
billion of Scotch Whisky.
“So much for Britain not making anything anymore.”
