Barry Gardiner (Brent North) (Lab):...He is right, and that is why
we stopped UK Export Finance funding for coal back in 2002 and why
we stopped official development assistance finance for coal back in
2012. What I want to hear from the Minister is an update, the
logical corollary of what the Prime Minister said, which is that
there is no point in the UK reducing the amount of fossil fuels we
burn if we then trundle over to Brazil or Africa or India or
anywhere and line our pockets by...Request free trial
(Brent North) (Lab):...He is
right, and that is why we stopped UK Export Finance funding for
coal back in 2002 and why we stopped official development
assistance finance for coal back in 2012. What I want to hear from
the Minister is an update, the logical corollary of what the Prime
Minister said, which is that there is no point in the UK reducing
the amount of fossil fuels we burn if we then trundle over to
Brazil or Africa or India or anywhere and line our pockets by
encouraging those countries to use more oil and gas...
(Streatham)
(Lab):...While we spent years debating Brexit and, as my hon.
Friend the Member for Putney () said, engaging in
monumental self-harm, India surpassed the UK to become the
fifth-richest economy in the world: India a former British colony,
where this country presided over a bloody partition, the Amritsar
massacre and the Bengal famine. Countries in Africa, such as Ghana,
Kenya and Uganda, are among the fastest-growing economies in the
world; countries that Britain deliberately underdeveloped, stole
resources from and brutally enslaved their people. Madam Deputy
Speaker, were you aware that in the mid to late 1700s, over 50
Members of this House represented slave plantations? Members of
Parliament just like me enslaved people that looked just like
me...
(St Austell and Newquay)
(Con):...Another way in which Cornwall’s history links to our
future is in telecommunications, which in recent days has been
mentioned a lot in the news, and indeed in this House. Many Members
might not realise that Cornwall was once the most well connected
place on the planet, for in June 1870 the final section of the
submarine cable between Great Britain and India came ashore at
Porthcurno, a small cove in the far south-west of the county. Just
a few days later the first ever telegraph message from Bombay was
sent to Britain via that cable. That station went on to become the
world’s largest submarine telegraph station, and it remained a
training centre right up until the late 1990s. Even back in the
19th century Cornwall was right at the heart of connecting the UK
to the rest of the world. Cornwall is once again ready to play that
part...
(Beckenham) (Con):...Critics
quite rightly say, “Things have moved on. You’re looking at
something that was relevant in 1945 and things have a hugely
changed since then.” They are right. In a way, the United Nations
is stuck in the past. The way it is set up is. Many people say—and
my hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wight () just implied this—that states
such as Japan, Germany, India and Brazil, and perhaps the
European Union in the round, should be permanent members. Others
say that France and the United Kingdom should not. Actually, they
have a point—we must accept that—but may I just examine it and
tease it out a bit? In terms of GDP contribution to the world, the
United States is at 24%, China is at about 16%, Japan is at 5%, and
then Germany and India at 4%. The UK and France are
next, at 3%, followed by Italy, Brazil and Canada, at 2%.
Interestingly, Russia is at less than 2%. Thus we hear the odd
phrase that Russia’s economy is smaller than Italy’s—that is where
it comes from. Using such measures, and assuming that the Security
Council continues to have only five permanent members, they will be
the United States, China, Japan, Germany and India. The UK and
France would be out, and so too would Russia...
(Ipswich) (Con):...By way of
contrast, other countries have reaped the benefits of embracing
global free trade as independent nations. Among the most successful
of these is Chile. Although not a large nation, it has struck free
trade deals that cover 86% of global GDP, including with the EU,
China, the USA, Japan and Canada, and a partial deal with India. I
believe that if Chile can do it, the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland can most certainly do it as
well.
Outside the European Union, we can pursue a bold free trade
agenda with the interests of East Anglia and its powerhouse ports
at the forefront. We can be nimble and we can do trade agreements
quickly, and I am glad to see that the Government have not lost
any time in this endeavour, with deals with South Korea,
Switzerland and Israel set to take effect once we leave the
European Union. I am pleased that dialogues are also under way
with many other nations, including the United States and our
Commonwealth partners in Australia and India. I welcome the fact
that one of the Government’s principal aims in these discussions
is to ensure that our trade policy reflects the needs and the
potential of the whole of the United Kingdom, because the
potential of Ipswich and East Anglia is enormous when it comes to
trade. The ports of Ipswich and Felixstowe have already had
investment in preparation for Brexit, and both ports have the
potential to expand. An estimated 98% of non-EU crates pass
through the port of Felixstowe as quickly and as easily as goods
arriving from the EU thanks to cargo tracking systems, which
allow many goods to clear customs before they even reach the
UK...
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