UK-EU Trade: Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Debate
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Lord Watts
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UK-EU Trade: Small and Medium-sized Enterprises
Lord Watts Excerpts(10 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Lord Offord of Garvel (Con)
I thank my noble friend. Seed potatoes are a specialised area so I will need to write to her on that.
Lord Watts (Lab)
My Lords, the Minister says that trade with Europe is as important today as it was three years ago, and it is. However, the Government’s refusal to negotiate positively with the European Union is causing major problems for many industries. Is that not what we are hearing from every source other than the Government?
Lord Offord of Garvel (Con)
The reality, as we said yesterday, is that our economy is 80% services and 20% goods, but our exports are 50/50, because our goods are good. We make things that people, especially in Europe, want to buy. European countries are coming to us and saying that they want to get rid of these barriers because they want our goods imported. We are working on a country-by-country basis and it is improving all the time.