EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement

Baroness Wheatcroft Excerpts

Friday 8th January 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Wheatcroft (CB) [V]]

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Alderdice, as I agree with everything he said. The Minister said that any deal was a compromise but, while the UK Government laud their success in the negotiations and the Prime Minister declared that we have succeeded in

“having our cake and eating it”,

that is not the case. The EU interpretation of the deal is naturally very different. It points out that

“the Trade and Cooperation Agreement does not cover any decisions relating to equivalences for”,

among other things,

“the UK data protection regime, or the assessment of the UK’s sanitary and phytosanitary regime for the purpose of listing it as a third country allowed to export food products to the EU. Indeed, these are unilateral decisions of the EU and are not subject to negotiation.”

The impacts of that are already being felt. While there has been government triumphalism over the issue of fishing, our shellfish industry faces decimation. Much of its produce was exported to the EU, but now there are huge new obstacles, both bureaucratic and financial. Could the Minister comment on that?

This agreement is better than nothing, but it is dividing the country. There is now a border in the North Sea. The Government consistently try to deny this, but there is now an effective border between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. We have seen how this has affected Sainsbury’s. The Kennel Club, no less, is also deeply concerned about the new obstacles facing those in Northern Ireland who wish to compete in dog shows in Great Britain. The horseracing industry in Ireland is very concerned about how it will face bureaucratic challenges and more expense. These charges can make life prohibitive. This is a tiny example of the deleterious impact of this deal. Far from having our cake and eating it, we will be going increasingly hungry.