Extracts from Parliamentary proceedings - Dec 6
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Extract from Lords debate on the EU Withdrawal Agreement Lord
Haselhurst (Con):...After the war, we had to relaunch our economy
and found we needed a bigger domestic market, not because we wished
to exclude the rest of the world—we needed that base as we could
not have our companies competing against each other within a small
island. A larger market meant you had the strength to sell goods
and services across the world. I find it quite difficult to think
that we should cast aside the...Request free trial
Extract from Lords debate
on the EU Withdrawal Agreement
Lord Haselhurst (Con):...After the war, we had to relaunch our economy and found we needed a bigger domestic market, not because we wished to exclude the rest of the world—we needed that base as we could not have our companies competing against each other within a small island. A larger market meant you had the strength to sell goods and services across the world. I find it quite difficult to think that we should cast aside the market to which we export 40% of our goods on the promise that we might then be able to do better deals with the rest of the world. Bulldog spirit appeals to sentiment will not achieve trade deals—you have to get down to detail. If we contracted deals with China, India or the United States, would it be interpreted as our becoming a vassal state to them? That sort of the language is absurd. We need the economies of scale, and we should not forget that... Lord Robathan (Con):...If our so-called friends will not deal sensibly, we should leave on WTO terms. That is not necessarily ideal, but we trade around the world. I had blueberries from Peru for breakfast and, as far as I am aware, we do not have a trade deal with Peru. We trade with India, Japan, China and the US. We have some trade deals with them through the EU, but nevertheless we can trade around the world... Lord Soley (Lab):...My noble friend Lord Parekh made a perceptive and fascinating comment, as someone who comes from an Indian subcontinent background, about the nature of the relationship between Britain and Europe. It has long been my view that one of the reasons why the British were so uncomfortable with Europe is that they thought they had joined a supermarket and increasingly came to the conclusion that they had joined a superstate. I have no problem with Europe becoming a superstate. I think that it needs to, and I will say a little more about why that should be in a moment, if I have time. But the problem is that, going right back to the referendum of Harold Wilson’s, we were talking about this as a supermarket. The supermarket is obviously appealing, but the superstate bit is not appealing to the British...
Lord Horam (Con): ...I
voted remain in the referendum, but I am strongly aware that the
Brexit vote was a wake-up call. Over the past 20 or 25 years, we
have had globalisation on a massive scale, and it has been a
great success. Millions of people in China, India, et cetera,
have become much more affluent than they were and relieved from
poverty, but the truth is that there has also been a huge
downside. We have seen that in the western world in lost
manufacturing jobs, towns without purpose, squeezed living
standards, poorer social services, and the fear of immigration
that has been greater than people have been used to, causing
problems of social cohesion. It is many of those people who voted
for Brexit as a protest... Extract from Exiting the European Union Questions: UK-EU Trade Policy Options Richard Graham (Gloucester) (Con): What recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for International Trade on potential policy options in the event that a trade agreement between the UK and the EU is not finalised by the end of June 2020. The Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union (Stephen Barclay): DExEU Ministers and officials hold regular discussions with the Department for International Trade on EU exit and trade matters. We are working at pace to ensure that the necessary arrangements for our future partnership are in place for December 2020. Richard Graham: Being in the customs union with the European Union means that we cannot negotiate our own independent free trade agreements. If negotiating our future trade relationship with the EU required us to extend the transition period by a year, that could be seen as negative, but the reality is that negotiations with most major countries, such as China and the US, will take time to conclude. Does my right hon. Friend therefore agree that extending the transition period by a year would be better for securing independent free trade agreements than being stuck in an indefinite backstop? Stephen Barclay: I know that my hon. Friend has considerable experience, particularly on issues such as China, in which I know he takes a deep interest. The key point is that it will be a sovereign choice for the UK whether it extends the implementation period. He alludes to the fact that significant work is already going on. For example, the economic and financial dialogues the Treasury has with countries such as China, India and Brazil lay the groundwork for much of the trade discussions that colleagues in the Department for International Trade are concluding. Extracts from Commons debate on the EU Withdrawal Agreement Stewart Hosie (Dundee East) (SNP):...It was argued in the UK Government’s “Global Britain” strategy that we would offset a decline in trade with the EU from being outside the single market by exporting to more countries. However, fully replacing the value of EU trade will be challenging, as illustrated by the trade flows from the emerging BRICS economies—Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. I will use the Scottish figures to demonstrate that briefly. Those nations account for £2.1 billion, or 7%, of Scotland’s exports. In comparison, the EU accounts for £12.3 billion, or 43%, so even a small proportionate loss in trade, or lost growth in trade with the EU would require a dramatic increase in trade—over 30%—with those countries. We would all love to see that happen across the whole of the UK, but I suggest that that is highly unlikely. If the UK signed agreements with the 10 biggest non-EEA countries, including the USA, China, and Canada—a process that could take many years—that would cover only 37% of Scotland’s current exports, compared with the 43% that goes to the EU. Some of the trade simply could not be substituted. If one is selling low-margin or perishable goods to the EU that are refrigerated in a wagon overnight, it simply cannot be substituted by shipping the same stuff to Australia, Japan or China. It simply does not work like that.
Finally on trade, it is also worth pointing out that despite the
Government’s optimistic assumptions, even signing a substantial
number of trade deals would result in an increase in trade of
less than one quarter of 1% of GDP compared with the situation
today—that was confirmed yesterday—if we successfully negotiate
trade deals with the US, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia,
Brunei, China, India, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and
Uruguay, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain. That is
an awful lot of risk for very little potential gain... Written statement on Foreign Affairs Council The Minister for Europe and the Americas (Sir Alan Duncan): The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), will attend the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) on 10 December. It will be chaired by the High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HRVP), Federica Mogherini, and will take place in Brussels. Venezuela Ministers will discuss the European External Action Service (EEAS) proposal for an international contact group (ICG) on Venezuela. The ICG would aim to act as a catalyst for an international process towards a solution to the ongoing Venezuelan crisis. The Council will also seek to agree a joint EU response to President Maduro’s re-inauguration on 10 January; the EU strongly criticised the conduct of the presidential elections that were held in May 2018. Western Balkans Ministers will discuss the political situation in the western Balkans, focusing on progress towards implementation of the Prespa agreement on Macedonia’s name deal, the EU-facilitated dialogue on Serbia-Kosovo and post-election Government formation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. EU-African Union co-operation Ministers will discuss EU-African Union co-operation ahead of an EU-AU ministerial meeting that will take place in January; the recently announced EU-Africa alliance will be the main focus of this meeting. The alliance has ambitious goals, including on investment and job creation. The UK will support the EU’s ambition to develop the partnership with Africa as this is in line with UK’s strategic approach to the continent. Ukraine The Ukrainian Foreign Minister will join EU Ministers to discuss the recent Russian aggression in the Black sea and the support he might expect from the EU. The UK will reiterate the need for collective messaging to Russia and for the urgent release of the detained crew and vessels. Russian action is a further example of its ongoing violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The UK will reaffirm its support to Ukraine, for the right of free passage in the Kerch strait, and will welcome assurances from President Poroshenko that the martial law imposed across 10 regions will not be used to restrict individual rights. Iran We are expecting a wide-ranging, strategic discussion, covering the joint comprehensive plan of action (JCPoA), regional issues, ballistic missiles, and hostile Iranian activity in Europe. We will continue to emphasise that we remain committed to the JCPoA, including continued sanctions relief through the special purpose vehicle, for as long as Iran remains in compliance with its nuclear commitments under the deal. We will also underline that this commitment will not prevent us from taking action on other areas of concern such as Iran’s destabilising regional and ballistic missile activity. The discussion may also focus on the need to tackle the shared challenge of recent threats to European security. Council conclusions The Council is expected to adopt conclusions on the EU strategy on India, Burma, women peace and security and Libya.
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