Brexit: EU Free Trade Agreements

Debate between Baroness Fairhead and Baroness Altmann

Thursday 24th January 2019 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Fairhead]

I thank my noble friend for that question. He is absolutely right. An example referred to in another place was Turkey. As your Lordships will know, Turkey does not have a normal free trade agreement; it is part of a customs union. Therefore, it is particularly difficult to agree continuity with Turkey until we know the exact terms of the relationship with the EU.

[Baroness Altmann (Con)]

My Lords, I have every sympathy with the position my noble friend finds herself in, which none of us would wish to be in, but can she confirm that if we were to leave with no deal, that would be a choice that the Government could have avoided by revocation of Article 50, which is in their gift? Will she also confirm that the former Brexit Secretary claimed in an article the weekend before last that leaving with no deal would be the way to make Britain a global free-trading nation? Leaving with no deal actually has the impact of losing all the free trade deals we currently have with our nearest neighbours and, it would appear, losing the trade deals we have with non-EU countries as well. Indeed, it would be a monumental act of protectionism for this country to leave with no deal.

[Baroness Fairhead]

I thank my noble friend. My right honourable friend the Prime Minister has been very clear about her attitude towards Article 50, so I do not want to take that one on. As for leaving without a deal, I question that there would be no free trade agreements. As I have said, the Switzerland one has already been initialled and is expected to be signed, and we are making good progress on a number of trade agreements. Let me be clear that most of our trade with the US, which is approximately one-fifth of our trade, is on WTO rules.