(Gainsborough)
(Con):...Our predecessors were desperate to try to
conclude a free trade agreement with our European friends and if
they had been offered that free trade agreement in Messina, they
would have signed up to it. That is precisely what we are trying to
achieve. We are trying to be internationalist and to further free
trade. This country is not, and never must be, protectionist or
small-minded. Indeed, de Gaulle had an understanding of our point
of view, when he talked about a “Europe of nations”. He asked how
Great Britain, a maritime power with large and prosperous daughters
all over the world, could fit into the Europe that was being
created. An amusing cartoon from 1962 by the Dutch cartoonist,
Opland, shows European Economic Community leaders faced with the
prospective arrival of big mother Britannia with her diverse
progeny of Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The caption reads, “If I join, can my offspring too?” Of course,
the answer was no. We were already part of a worldwide community of
nations, which we called, and still call, the
Commonwealth....
Mr (Chichester)
(Con):...Unlike the customs union, access to the single
market is certainly not a binary choice: a wide variety of
options is possible. We do not need to look into the crystal
ball; we can read the book. Switzerland has better access than
Saudi Arabia; Canada has better access than Columbia.
Reverting to WTO rules would be a huge risk for the UK—one that
we should do a great deal to avoid...
(Brighton, Pavilion)
(Green):...Let us challenge this idea that these
other trade agreements are somehow going to make up for the
difference if we leave the single market. Research has shown
quite clearly that even if we manage to do deals with the US, the
EU, China, Russia, Canada and New Zealand, they would
not anywhere near compensate for the loss to the economy of
withdrawing from the single market. For voters who support
leaving the EU only if they are not personally worse off, that, I
think, is crucial information...
(Tonbridge and Malling)
(Con):...The Franks casket symbolises exactly what we
are. It symbolises the fact that we are a union of peoples and
that we are a combination of our past and our future, because it
is inscribed in runic and in Latin. It has stories of Romans, of
Jews and even of pagan Germans, Madam Deputy Speaker. I was
particularly struck because, of course, this debate is part of a
long, long series of discussions that our country has been having
not only with itself but with our community in Europe and the
wider world. That conversation is democracy. That conversation is
humanity. There is an idea that there is a final part or an end
state that we are about to hit—the departure from the European
Union or the vote to invoke article 50—but they are not end
states in any real sense. We are still going to be part of a
European community, because we are 20 miles from the coast of
France. We are still going to be part of a global community,
because our cousins live in America, India, Canada and even
Zimbabwe. We are part of this international world, so this is not
an end state—it is merely a stage. It is our duty to make sure
that the next stage, the only one we have any ability to control,
is successful...
(Arfon) (PC):...We
already know that uncertainty means businesses are pulling out of
investing in Wales and that confidence is low. We cannot afford
the luxury of time. Canada’s deal took 10 years and TTIP is
in trouble. We cannot afford the luxury of time waiting for a WTO
deal to be struck, because that will be far from unproblematic.
Some 200,000 jobs in Wales are supported by our trade with the
single market, with 90% of our food and drink exports going to
our EU partners...
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