(CB):...This relates to a wider concern about
uncertainty. The Minister spoke about the need for certainty; he
is absolutely right. Current uncertainties are holding up
investment and precluding sensible business planning. Dr Fox
is keeping very quiet. Presumably, he sticks to his Heritage
Foundation/Adam Smith Institute/Henry Jackson Society principles.
Presumably, it is with a light heart that he decides to axe 72
import tariffs because he is a devoted free marketeer, but he is
not saying that now. He is keeping quiet about which sections of
the economy he would prefer to open up to greater competition. He
is not stopping Mr Gove assuring the farmers or the environmental interests
that they are going to be protected. Yet, if Dr Fox starts
negotiating—as I suppose he will one day—with Canadians,
Americans, Australians or New Zealanders, he will find that what
they want most of all is access to UK markets for their farm
products. This conflicts slightly with the assurances Mr Gove has
given, although it might be absolutely in line with what Dr Fox,
the free marketeer, and the Adam Smith Institute would like.
I do not know whom to believe. I think the Government are trying
to speak out of both sides of their mouth. They are trying to
please everybody at present by keeping us all in doubt as to what
their import policy would be. Of course, Dr Pangloss of
the Sunday Telegraph assures us that the
consumers are going to win and prices are going to fall.
Meanwhile, the agricultural producers are being assured by Mr
Gove that they are going to be all right. Everybody is a winner.
This is certainly the view of Pangloss in
the Telegraph. It would be good if the
Government took a view and told us—perhaps next week, when we
will be talking about the Trade Bill—what their import policy is.
Is the current balance of producer and consumer interest to
change, as Dr Fox would presumably like? On agriculture, is it
the farmers and food processors who are going
to succeed, or is it the foreigners and consumers? Are any
tariffs that matter to farmers and food producers among those
which Dr Fox has decided should be axed—the 72 that are
condemned? At present, everybody is being assured that all will
be okay. It is Pangloss time, but to govern is to choose. In the
context of this Bill and of the Trade Bill, the Minister should
tell us where on the spectrum—from liberal, open markets to
protectionism—the Government are going to stand.
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