Economic Partnership Agreement: Kenya

Lord McDonald of Salford Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd March 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord McDonald of Salford (CB) (Maiden Speech)]

I rise to address your Lordships’ House for the first time. I feel I should introduce myself. Noble Lords know my name and can guess that Salford is important to me. I was born and brought up there. Family is the centre of my life. Every day, I remember family members who are no longer here—today, my dad and my brother, Dominic, in particular.

After completing school in Salford, I studied history at Cambridge. After graduation, I joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, where I worked for 38 years. For five years, I was the Permanent Under-Secretary, which explains why international relations will be one of my main interests in your Lordships’ House.

No matter what any of us thought about leaving the European Union, our shared objective now is to protect and promote the interests of the United Kingdom outside the EU. Part of that task is to replace trade agreements from which the UK benefited as an EU member. Time has been short. In future, it will be better when Parliament is consulted by the Government when framing objectives for trade negotiations.

The economic partnership agreement with Kenya is one of the first wave of trade agreements. As a lower middle-income country in a customs union with least-developed countries, Kenya finds itself in a bind. All its neighbours enjoy duty- and quota-free access to the UK. For now, its neighbours are not interested in signing a trade agreement. Kenya’s horticultural exports are vital to its economy and the UK is one of its largest markets. To help our key partner, I believe we should not impose tariffs on Kenya’s flowers, fruits and vegetables. To achieve that in a way that is compatible with World Trade Organization rules, the agreement we are debating today is the best option available.

To support the work of the UK overseas will be my main objective in your Lordships’ House, but I shall not confine myself to foreign affairs. My other interests are the environment and the governance of the UK—the union, the regions and the Civil Service. It is my honour to be the latest Foreign Office PUS to join your Lordships’ House; three of my distinguished predecessors are already noble Lords. My only regret in joining now is that I shall not be able to work with a fourth predecessor, the late Lord Wright of Richmond, but I think of him today and honour his memory, as his successor and son-in-law.

Having spoken for the first time, I plan now to listen carefully before disturbing your Lordships again. Meanwhile, I thank your Lordships for making me feel young and naive for the last time in my life, and for listening to me today.