Brexit: Commonwealth, Trade and Migration
Debate between Lord Pearson of Rannoch and Lord Price(7 years, 9 months ago)
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Lord Pearson of Rannoch
My Lords, do the Government agree that the EU single market will continue in long-term and irreversible decline, whereas the Commonwealth contains many of the markets of the future?
Lord Price
I thank the noble Lord for his question. I am not able to predict the future of any part of the world, but I can say that the UK’s trade outside the EU has grown more quickly in recent years. Over the last five years or so it has grown by 6% inside the EU but by more than 14% outside it. We therefore feel very optimistic that in a new world of trading more powerfully individually outside the EU we can boost UK exports.
Brexit: World Trade Organization Rules
Debate between Lord Pearson of Rannoch and Lord Price(8 years ago)
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Lord Price
My noble friend is right that a whole host of service agreements fall outside the WTO arrangements. The Department for Exiting the EU and the Department for International Trade are aware of those and will work diligently to ensure continuity when we exit the EU.
Lord Pearson of Rannoch (UKIP)
My Lords, do the Government agree with the Civitas research which finds that, if we are forced to accept WTO tariffs, EU exporters will pay some £13 billion per annum on their exports to us while our exporters will pay only some £5 billion on their exports to the single market? Given that the EU also has some 3 million more jobs through selling things to us than we have through selling things to the single market, is it not in the interests of the people of the EU, as opposed to the Eurocrats in Brussels, not to interfere with any of this but to agree to carry on as we are?
Lord Price
The noble Lord mentions some research. At the moment much research and many figures are bandied around, all based on assumptions about a future which right now none of us is clear about. However, I can agree with the noble Lord that any disruption in trade will be to the disadvantage of people both in Europe and in the UK, of whom there are 500 million. That is why this Government have talked about a smooth path to the new order post-Brexit, and we will work diligently to achieve that.
China: Market Economy Status
Debate between Lord Pearson of Rannoch and Lord Price(8 years, 7 months ago)
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Lord Price
The noble Baroness supports my own position: that the UK is stronger inside the EU. We have more trade agreements between the UK and the rest of the world than the United States and Canada together. We believe in free trade and, in our current position, we are best placed to access the world through free trade through the agreements that we have with the EU.