(CB):...However, most worrying are the really vacuous
paragraphs about my old profession—the section on foreign policy
co-operation. When you think of Peter Carrington moving the Council
on the Falklands, of John Major moving the
Council on a safe haven for the Kurds in 1991, and of the way that
Hans-Dietrich Genscher, the other heavyweight in the Council, would
defer to Douglas Hurd at the very time that the noble Baroness,
Lady Meyer, was speaking about—I wish that were with us
today—it is very sad to read where we have got to on foreign
policy...
of Kentish Town
(Lab):...It is obvious why: consider the immediate
imposition of tariffs and checks, transport chaos and shortages
of medicine and certain foods. It would be catastrophic for
certain industries. Just today, we heard about a possible loss of
jobs at Ford, because of the challenge to car manufacturing. A
no-deal Brexit is,
“the biggest threat businesses have faced since 1939”,
according to one trade association, with the possibility that,
“one in four food exporters…could go out of business within six
weeks”,
not least because meat exports, faced with over 13% WTO tariffs,
simply become unprofitable. It is not just domestic producers—the
Falkland Islands desperately needs to retain its tariff and
quota-free access to the EU 27 markets, which take 94% of its
fish, as it could not compete with 18% tariffs it would then have
to pay, putting all its economy at risk. Mrs Thatcher would not
have approved of such disregard of the Falklands...
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