Oral Answers to Questions

Alan Brown Excerpts

Thursday 9th January 2020 Commons Chamber

[Steve Barclay]

My hon. Friend is right to highlight the importance of the food and drink sector—not least, for example, when we consider the Scottish whisky industry, which is key. From memory, the UK has 88 geographical indications, whereas Europe has over 3,000: from a negotiating point of view, the European Union obviously has more interest in that issue. From a Scottish point of view, however, the importance of the intellectual protection of Scottish whisky and salmon is huge. We are very alive to those issues.

[Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)]

22. Scottish farmers and Scotland’s food and drink industry are completely reliant on existing EU arrangements. A no-deal crash-out would be disastrous for both sectors, so our relationship with the EU is critical. Also, trade deals with the US could undermine environmental standards: if there is a no-deal crash-out under World Trade Organisation rules, we will not be able to avoid cheap food involving poorer environmental standards coming from the States. That future relationship is important, as are the trade deals that the UK negotiates. Surely the Scottish Government need a statutory role in both those areas.

[Steve Barclay]

One of the most welcome things about the debate since the general election has been its more positive tone, and one aspect of that has been moving on from the language of no-deal crash-outs. The withdrawal agreement safeguards things such as citizens’ rights. It includes the Northern Ireland protocol and settles settlement. We therefore move into a different phase, in which the risks of no deal that the hon. Gentleman and many others spoke about no longer apply. That is the benefit of the Prime Minister’s deal and it is why the hon. Gentleman should support the withdrawal agreement Bill on Third Reading.