EU: UK Balance of Trade

Baroness Falkner of Margravine Excerpts

Wednesday 14th November 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Warsi]

My Lords, I think that there are a number of assumptions in my noble friend’s question. I know that he has devoted many years to this subject, but there is an assumption that trade deficits are in themselves bad. We run trade deficits with some countries and trade surpluses with others. Running trade deficits and trade surpluses is the basis of free markets. I am sure that my noble friend would support that. On negotiations, I would say that there are many benefits to being a member of the European Union, so simply to assess the strength of that relationship on the basis of our trade figures is not the correct way forward.

[Baroness Falkner of Margravine]

My Lords, does my noble friend agree that, irrespective of how you interpret the data, which are contested, according to the Office for National Statistics, since the 1980s the UK’s bilateral trade with EU member states has more than trebled, while according to UKTI and the UN, the UK is the number one destination for inward investment? Those are all things that we should be extremely proud of in terms of our relations with EU member states.