Contributions
1,320 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Trade BillI beg to move, That this House disagrees with Lords amendment 1.19 Jan 2021HANSARD Trade BillThis Bill marks a significant milestone. Its passage into law will have numerous benefits for the UK economy: giving certainty to business with regard to our continuity trade…19 Jan 2021HANSARD Trade BillI thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. I know that he has taken a long-standing interest, during the passage of this Bill and its predecessor, in these questions, and I…19 Jan 2021HANSARD Trade BillI am going to make a bit more progress. Finally, I remind the House that ultimately if Parliament is not content with a trade deal that we have negotiated, it has statutory…19 Jan 2021HANSARD Trade BillMy hon. Friend makes a very strong point. The whole purpose of providing the relevant Select Committee with the relevant text in advance is so that the Select Committee can…19 Jan 2021HANSARD Trade BillNo, I am going to move on, because I want to come on to what I think might be the areas of greatest interest in this debate, including Lords amendments 2 and 3 on human rights. I…19 Jan 2021HANSARD Trade BillI note what my right hon. Friend says. The Government are open to further discussion on these matters. Nobody denies the importance and seriousness of the situation in Xinjiang,…19 Jan 2021HANSARD Trade BillI can reassure my right hon. Friend that the Government are very ready to have these discussions. I am sure that the amendment in the name of Lord Alton is not an appropriate…19 Jan 2021HANSARD Trade BillI will have to look at my hon. Friend’s amendment. My role is to speak about the amendment from the other place in the name of Lord Alton.19 Jan 2021HANSARD Trade BillI am not going to take any interventions. I have a lot of points to respond to. I apologise to my right hon. Friend, but I have responded to his speech. As I was saying, that…19 Jan 2021HANSARD Trade BillThe hon. Member for Glasgow North (Patrick Grady) says, “Hear, hear.” But that would mean immediately having to sign up to the EU—19 Jan 2021HANSARDFree Trade Agreements: Small and Medium-sized EnterprisesThe Government have included, and will continue to seek to include, specific SME chapters in all our free trade agreements to ensure that SMEs are provided with the information…14 Jan 2021HANSARDFree Trade Agreements: Small and Medium-sized EnterprisesI thank my hon. Friend for that excellent question on behalf of his constituency company, and I can tell him that the US and the UK have a shared ambition to improve trade for our…14 Jan 2021HANSARDFree Trade Agreements: Small and Medium-sized EnterprisesWe are seeking an SME chapter in all our future free trade agreements. SME chapters are an excellent way of assisting companies to navigate a free trade agreement. They distil…14 Jan 2021HANSARDServices: EU RelationshipThe trade co-operation agreement secures continued market access across key service sectors, including both professional and business services. The agreement also includes a…14 Jan 2021HANSARDServices: EU RelationshipThe memorandum of understanding on financial services ensures financial stability and consumer protection, and we look forward to that being negotiated. I was not surprised by…14 Jan 2021HANSARDServices: EU RelationshipI have long experience in this space, having been a Treasury Minister, and there are of course advantages to the UK being able to set its own regulatory regime for financial…14 Jan 2021HANSARDHuman Rights Clauses: Trade AgreementsThe United Kingdom has long promoted its values globally. We are clear that more trade does not have to come at the expense of our values. While our approach to agreements will…14 Jan 2021HANSARDHuman Rights Clauses: Trade AgreementsThe hon. Lady might be misunderstanding the nature of the continuity programme for rolling over existing agreements. I point out that, on Turkey, the underlying agreement dates…14 Jan 2021HANSARDHuman Rights Clauses: Trade AgreementsI am extremely sympathetic to the hon. Lady’s question. The Foreign Secretary delivered an extensive statement on this topic on Tuesday. Of course, the UK is not negotiating a…14 Jan 2021