Contributions
1,122 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDTrade Bill (Sixth sitting)Will the Minister give way?23 Jun 2020HANSARDTrade Bill (Fourth sitting)I was moving on to say where there might be concerns about an investment treaty that warranted the type of scrutiny that the Bill allows, and the Bill could allow even more of…18 Jun 2020HANSARDTrade Bill (Fourth sitting)It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Brady. I cannot do as much justice to these four amendments as my hon. Friend the Member for Sefton Central did from the…18 Jun 2020HANSARDTrade Bill (Fourth sitting)My hon. Friend is quite rightly setting out some of the reasons why the ILO standards are so important. In the context of how ILO standards benefit British workers, is there not a…18 Jun 2020HANSARDTrade Bill (Fourth sitting)One cross-party concern in recent years has rightly been how to tackle the horrendous problem of modern slavery. Using public procurement to lock in the best possible defence…18 Jun 2020HANSARDTrade Bill (Fourth sitting)The House of Commons Library brief is very helpful in this regard, because it makes clear that “the GPA will limit the ability of UK public sector buyers to choose to buy only…18 Jun 2020HANSARDTrade Bill (Fourth sitting)The Minister will understand that there have been concerns about acceding to the GPA and doing so at a time when we have exited the European Union. One concern relates to how low…18 Jun 2020HANSARDTrade Bill (Fourth sitting)That may be one of the issues on which the Minister needs to write to the Committee. He will know that there have been long-standing concerns about British companies’ ability to…18 Jun 2020HANSARDCovid-19: Import of Essential Medical ProductsAt the last International Trade questions in May, my hon. Friend the Member for Easington (Grahame Morris) asked about reducing global tariffs on soap, which average at 17% among…18 Jun 2020HANSARDTrade Bill (Third sitting)Q I just want to ask about Canada. Tom West: So, as David was talking about, there is this point about the two big regulatory spheres of influence. Canada is very much close to…18 Jun 2020HANSARDTrade Bill (Fourth sitting)I am sure we would be happy to reconsider if the Minister committed at this point to being sympathetic to some of the amendments we have tabled—for example, on extending scrutiny…18 Jun 2020HANSARDTrade Bill (Fourth sitting)Perhaps I can be a little clearer. My concern is that, under successive Governments the opportunity, the opportunity for local organisations to take advantage of public…18 Jun 2020HANSARDTrade Bill (Fourth sitting)Might one of the other potential benefits of the amendment be that it helps to create a voluntary pressure on the implementing authority to support businesses to take advantage of…18 Jun 2020HANSARDTrade Bill (Third sitting)Q Mr Lowe, thanks very much for coming this morning. Could you talk a little bit about the difficulties there have been in getting continuity agreements with Japan and Canada…18 Jun 2020HANSARDTrade Bill (Third sitting)Q One of the areas of contention is whether the Bill should be wider in scope to include all free trade agreements. Obviously, the most high-profile free trade agreement in…18 Jun 2020HANSARDTrade Bill (Fourth sitting)One of the more encouraging stories of northern procurement in recent times comes from Preston, where the council has sought to use its limited procurement tools to try to…18 Jun 2020HANSARDTrade Bill (Fourth sitting)My hon. Friend the Member for Warrington North gave a great example, sadly, of bias by the Government against northern firms.18 Jun 2020HANSARDTrade Bill (Fourth sitting)Another reason to endorse my hon. Friend’s suggestion is the productivity challenge our country faces. As I understand it, we are the worst country in the G7 for productivity…18 Jun 2020HANSARDTrade Bill (Fourth sitting)The Soil Association gives another example that perhaps supports my hon. Friend’s point. It notes the considerable amount of processed food that we eat in the UK, and how that has…18 Jun 2020HANSARDTrade Bill (Fourth sitting)On the climate crisis, I wonder whether I can pray in aid the example of Baywind Energy, which is a comparatively famous wind energy co-operative in Cumbria. For a long period of…18 Jun 2020