Leaving the EU:
Transition Period
(Broxtowe) (Con)
What steps he is taking to ensure that the transition period ends
on 31 December 2020. [903075]
(Bury South) (Con)
What steps the Government are taking to ensure that the
transition period ends on 31 December 2020. [903087]
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the
Cabinet Office ()
The transition period ends on 31 December 2020. Under no
circumstances will the Government accept an extension. Indeed, we
have a domestic law obligation not to accept. Extending would
simply delay the moment at which we achieve what we want and what
the country voted for: our economic and political independence.
I am keen to ensure that new arrangements following the end of
the transition period work for small businesses in Broxtowe. Will
my right hon. Friend outline what steps he is taking to support
small businesses facing considerable uncertainty over their
future because of the covid-19 pandemic and the end of the Brexit
transition period?
My hon. Friend is right that small and medium-sized enterprises
face particular challenges at this time, and that is one reason
the Government are doing everything they can to ensure that
customs intermediaries and others who can support small
businesses to continue to export—indeed, to enlarge their export
profile—are put in place.
Does the Minister agree that businesses, not just in Bury South
but right across the country, simply want to remove the
uncertainty that comes with prolonging negotiations and feel safe
in the knowledge that a firm mandate for the negotiations will
allow businesses to prepare properly and prosper?
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I know that the businesses
for which he speaks up so effectively in Bury South and elsewhere
want uncertainty removed. That is why we are clear that we will
end the transition period on 31 December, which is a position I
understand the CBI is now in favour of.
(Sheffield Central)
(Lab)
The Minister talks about certainty, and he is right: businesses
need certainty on the outcome of the talks. On Tuesday, the
Paymaster General told the House:
“On… zero tariffs and zero quotas, our policy has not
changed.”—[Official Report, 9 June 2020; Vol. 677, c. 161.]
That was the pledge the Conservative party won the election on.
But last week, the Government’s chief negotiator wrote:
“we would be willing to discuss a relationship that was based on
less than that”.
Who is speaking for the Government—the Paymaster General or their
chief negotiator?
The Paymaster General speaks eloquently and powerfully on behalf
of the Government, and it is right that we seek what the
political declaration also commits the European Union to, which
is a zero-tariff, zero-quota arrangement.
EU Trade
Negotiations
(South East Cornwall)
(Con)
What recent progress the Government have made on trade
negotiations with the EU. [903077]
(Lichfield) (Con)
What recent assessment he has made of the state of trade
negotiations between the UK and the EU; and if he will make a
statement. [903079]
(Cardiff North) (Lab)
What recent assessment he has made of the progress of
negotiations on the UK’s future relationship with the EU.
[903090]
(Wirral South) (Lab)
What recent assessment he has made of the progress of
negotiations on the UK’s future relationship with the EU.
[903091]
(Witney) (Con)
What recent progress the Government have made on trade
negotiations with the EU. [903096]
(Bexleyheath and Crayford)
(Con)
What recent progress the Government have made on trade
negotiations with the EU. [903098]
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the
Cabinet Office ()
UK and EU negotiators held discussions last week via video
conference and covered the full range of issues. Both sides
engaged constructively, but sadly there was no movement on the
most difficult areas where differences of principle are most
acute—notably on fisheries, governance arrangements and the
so-called level playing field.
Mrs Murray
Will my right hon. Friend confirm that he will not sacrifice
access to our waters for any trade deal with the EU and will he
make it clear to Mr Barnier that that is not negotiable?
Our excellent chief negotiator, , has made it clear to
that we will be an
independent coastal state, that we will control who has access to
our waters and on what terms, and that access to our waters will
be subject to annual negotiations.
Mr Speaker
We now go to the shadow of Lichfield Cathedral.
[V]
Is not the real problem that has absolutely no room
for manoeuvre because he has to do what has been agreed with the
other 27 countries? Is not that lack of agility and flexibility
the very reason we have decided to leave the EU and why companies
such as Nissan and Unilever, which has announced this today, are
centring their operations here in the United Kingdom?
My hon. Friend puts it perfectly, and his question is its own
answer. I do not think we have heard any sage of Lichfield since
Dr Johnson who has put things quite so well.
With such slow progress on the talks, the Government somehow
believe they can hold the EU bloc to ransom, but all they are
doing is taking the country perilously close to no deal. Will the
Minister confirm that the Government will do everything in their
power to reach an agreement and translate legally what is written
in the political declaration? On one specific point, will he push
for the ability of the devolved Governments of Wales and Scotland
to participate in the Erasmus programme and other schemes, so
that students do not to miss out, if he will not stand up and do
that for England?
We all want an agreement, and I am grateful for the support and
help that the devolved Administrations have given. I talk
regularly to them, as does my right hon. Friend the Paymaster
General. We know how important Erasmus is to many, and we will
continue to seek membership of those programmes across the United
Kingdom.
The British people were promised an oven-ready deal, but given
the speculation in recent weeks, what they have is half-baked.
Will the Secretary of State therefore commit to no unpicking of
the political declaration or the withdrawal agreement—the work of
the past three years?
Not only was an oven-ready deal secured, but we had that
oven-ready deal delivered and agreed to by this House earlier
this year, which is why we left the European Union on 31 January.
Of course, we will always honour the withdrawal agreement and, as
far as the political declaration goes, it commits the European
Union to use its best endeavours to secure a zero-tariff,
zero-quota arrangement, and we hope that the EU will do that.
As my right hon. Friend knows, article 184 requires both parties,
including the European Union, to use their best endeavours to
reach that agreement. Will he update the House on the progress
that has been made, and cite one significant thing that he thinks
would help things further?
Progress has been made and, on a number of issues—on fisheries
and on state aid—Michel Barnier has indicated that he is inclined
to move. Some EU member states have been a little more reluctant.
It would be in everyone’s interest—EU member states, the
Commission and, of course, the United Kingdom Government—if
were able to use the
flexibility that he has deployed in the past to secure an
arrangement that would work in everyone’s interests.
[V]
I welcome my right hon. Friend’s hard work in this area. He has
been quite clear that we will have full control over our economic
destiny in future. Does he agree that, now more than ever as we
emerge from this pandemic, it is vital that we look to forming
new trade relationships and partnerships around the world?
My right hon. Friend is absolutely right, and that is one of the
reasons why the Secretary of State for International Trade opened
new trade negotiations with Japan this week and why she is in
trade negotiations with the United States. However, it is not
just trade deals that matter; it is also export promotion. The
Department for International Trade is doing a superb job in
making sure that businesses are equipped to take advantage of the
new markets, which I know that he, as a strong voice for
business, is committed to supporting.
(Leeds West) (Lab)
The Government’s approach to trade negotiations with the EU and
with the US will have huge implications for all of us. The
Government’s election manifesto guaranteed that food imports
would have to be produced at the same standards as in UK farming.
The EU also says that a free trade deal depends on the UK
maintaining those high standards. Does this remain Government
policy in our approach to EU and other trade negotiations, and,
if it does, why were such commitments not upheld in the
Agriculture Bill?
It is absolutely our commitment to make sure that we uphold those
very high standards. The Agriculture Bill will ensure not only
that those high standards are upheld, but that public money is
spent on public goods and that environmental enhancement is at
the heart of how we manage our countryside alongside high-quality
food production.
I am afraid that that does not quite answer the question about
why the amendment from the chair of the Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs Committee was not accepted. Let me push the right
hon. Gentleman a bit further. He said on “Countryfile” in October
2018 that
“there is no point in having high animal and high environmental
standards if you then allow them to be undercut from outside.”
When pressed on whether it would be a red line in any trade
discussions, the Minister stated, “absolutely”. Yet on Tuesday in
this House, in an answer to a question about such standards, the
Paymaster General said that
“we should trust the consumer.”—[Official Report, 9 June 2020;
Vol. 677, c. 162.]
Are we, or are we not, able to trust the Government to maintain
such standards? Can the Minister guarantee absolutely that there
will be no dilution of environmental or animal welfare standards,
and that the Government will not risk our ability to secure what
is supposed to be an oven-ready trade deal with the EU for the
sake of getting any deal with the US that would hurt British
farming and water down environmental and animal welfare
standards?
Not only was our deal oven-ready, but anything that goes into UK
ovens will always meet high quality standards. More to the point,
the Paymaster General and I, and the whole of Government, are
like peas in a pod. We are committed to making sure that high
animal welfare and environmental standards continue to
characterise British farming, which is the best in the world.
(Leeds Central) (Lab)
We all know that the right hon. Gentleman is not very keen on
economic forecasts, but given the growing warnings from
business—the latest today has come from the CBI—he must be aware
of the damage that would be inflicted on businesses by red tape,
tariffs and loss of access if there is no agreement reached with
the European Union in the next four months. We all want a deal,
but, with British businesses already reeling from coronavirus,
what does he propose to say to those businesses come January if
the Government’s gamble does not pay off?
The Government are not gambling. The Government are holding the
European Union to account for its commitment to secure a
zero-tariff, zero-quota deal and to use its best endeavours, and
I have confidence that the European Union will do that.
Future
Relationship with the EU
(Huddersfield)
(Lab/Co-op)
What plans he has to change the size and strength of the
negotiating team working on the future relationship between the
UK and the EU. [903107]
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the
Cabinet Office ()
We have no plans to change the size of the negotiating team
working on the future relationship between the United Kingdom and
the European Union. As Eric Morecambe said of Ernie Wise, it is
“small and perfectly formed”.
Mr Speaker
I don’t know that there is a link there—don’t worry.
Mr Sheerman [V]
Some of us on the Committee on the Future Relationship with the
European Union are very worried about the Secretary of State. He
was very lacklustre when he gave evidence to the Committee
recently, and we are very sympathetic. This is a tough job. In
reality, we have only five months to get it right for the
country. Is it not a fact that there is a rift between him and
the Prime Minister? The Prime Minister is not good on detail.
There is a rift between them—does he need more help to overcome
that?
I am always grateful to the hon. Gentleman for offering to step
in as a marriage counsellor. I have to say, notwithstanding my
earlier reference to Morecambe and Wise, that the Prime Minister
and I, when it comes to everything, are like the two Ronnies, so
it’s goodnight from me and it’s goodnight from him.
