US-UK Trade Deal: Northern Ireland Debate

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Department: Department for Business and Trade

US-UK Trade Deal: Northern Ireland

Clive Jones Excerpts
Monday 12th May 2025

(1 day, 13 hours ago)

Commons Chamber
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Lindsay Hoyle Portrait Mr Speaker
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I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

Clive Jones Portrait Clive Jones (Wokingham) (LD)
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Please bear with me, Mr Speaker, because I think that I too am losing my voice.

Parliament must be given a vote on the United States trade deal and all future trade deals, which must be properly scrutinised by Parliament. Let me remind the Secretary of State that Labour party policy was to have a vote in Parliament on trade deals. What a massive U-turn has taken place over the past few months. Trump’s trade war threatens jobs across the United Kingdom and especially in Northern Ireland, where there is heightened uncertainty because of the Tories’ botched Brexit deal. What is the Secretary of State’s assessment of the impacts of Trump’s trade war on our small businesses and our living standards, and what will he do to address those impacts?

In Wokingham, where I live, Shinfield Studios employs hundreds locally. We are the Hollywood of the UK. What steps are the Government taking to protect the UK film industry from potential tariffs, and thus to protect jobs in Wokingham and in other parts of the UK, including Northern Ireland?