Common Rules for Exports (EU Exit) Regulations 2020

Lord Blencathra Excerpts

Tuesday 10th November 2020 Grand Committee

[Lord Blencathra (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I support these regulations in their entirety. They are eminently sensible at any time, whether or not there is Chinese coronavirus on the go. However, I have two queries for my noble friend the Minister.

First, why are the SIs under Article 5 negative but those under Article 6 affirmative? Secondly, and of more substance to me, can my noble friend update the Committee on Project Defend? We have discussed previously the Henry Jackson Society’s report on the vital and strategic infrastructure goods and services for which we are far too heavily reliant on China. Now that China has emerged as a major threat to world peace and security, how is Project Defend getting on?

I see that the International Trade Committee, in a report published in July, cites evidence given by the Trade Secretary, Liz Truss, suggesting that onshoring supply chains “is not being proposed” as part of the scheme. Why ever not? I accept that it is vital to have diverse supply chains and the height of folly, as we have just seen with PPE, to have everything coming from one country, whether a ruthless regime such as communist China or a democracy such as Germany or Taiwan, but surely making more things at home has a part to play. I am not suggesting that we try to manufacture everything vital that we get from China at the moment, nor even half of it in the short term, but if my right honourable friend the Trade Secretary says that some onshoring is not being proposed, then she is utterly wrong and naive. It is contrary to what the British people want. We will lose millions of jobs because of this Chinese disease and our people will not forgive us if we continue to export more jobs to China.

We must not accept the greedy demands of big business that so long as we can get vital supplies from, say, three or four different countries in the world, then we should not worry our pretty little heads about reshoring things back to the UK where it is possible to do so. I hope that my noble friend the Minister can give me some reassurance on Project Defend.