EU Trading Relationship

Clive Jones Excerpts

Thursday 24th April 2025 Westminster Hall

[Clive Jones (Wokingham) (LD)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Jeremy. I commend the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Andrew Lewin) for his evidence-based opening remarks.

The Conservatives’ botched deal has been a disaster for Britain’s trade and our economic growth, and the majority now believe that it was a massive mistake by the Conservatives. Trade deals should be designed to streamline processes and reduce barriers, but the previous Government somehow managed to negotiate agreements that only added mountains of red tape for businesses. Since Brexit, 2 billion pieces of paperwork have been added to UK exporters—enough paper to come from 250,000 trees or go around the world nearly 15 times. This mountain of unnecessary bureaucracy holds back businesses from reaching new markets, hiring more workers here in the UK and contributing to our economy through taxes. The Office for Budget Responsibility has warned that our economy will be 4% smaller in the long run; since 2019, UK goods exports have grown by a mere 0.3% a year—far below the OECD average of 4.2%. Let us not forget the 20,000 small businesses that have simply stopped exporting to the EU because of the Conservatives’ red tape suffocating that part of their business.

We need closer alignment with the European Union. We need to work with our closest partners to boost our economy and create meaningful change. It will mean more public funds to pay for the services that nobody thinks are working any more, with new hospitals, more GP appointments, roads fixed and schools built.

Trump’s tariffs will hit our businesses in so many areas, particularly the automotive business. Will the Minister give us an update on the trade deal negotiations with the US and confirm that his Government, unlike the Conservatives, will act only in the national interest, and that we will not be bullied by Trump and Vance?

European Union: UK Membership

Clive Jones Excerpts

Monday 24th March 2025 Westminster Hall

[Clive Jones (Wokingham) (LD)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir John. I thank the hon. Member for Colne Valley (Paul Davies) for introducing the debate, and Robert and others for originating the petition.

Brexit is an issue that continues to shape the future of our economy. Way back in 2016, promises were made that our departure would lead to a stronger, more prosperous economy—promises from the likes of Boris Johnson, Jacob Rees-Mogg and the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage). However, today we stand here confronting the harsh reality that those promises have not been fulfilled. Instead, costs have gone up and supply chains are disrupted.

Research from the London School of Economics concludes that leaving the EU reduced the value of our goods exports by an estimated £27 billion in 2022—a sum so large that it would plug the black hole created by the Conservatives’ mismanagement of the economy and leave enough to build two and a half new Royal Berkshire hospitals on the edge of my constituency. The same study estimated that 14% of firms that previously exported to the EU have now stopped.

I know of one company that used to export over £0.5 million-worth of product to the EU, but the business with the EU stopped straight after Brexit. Recently, the owner told me that after several years they had got the business back. That was seemingly good news, but when I asked them what the profit margin was, they said, “Absolutely shot away”—nothing like it was before. That is one of the damaging effects of Brexit, and those are the losses felt by real people in our communities. Small businesses have been left to suffer most from the Conservatives’ legacy of creating trade barriers that are so expensive to overcome.

[Tim Roca]

The hon. Member talks about ridiculous trade barriers, which we have heard a lot about today. I and other members of the Select Committee on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs were in Dover to see the preparations that the previous Government had made on trade barriers, particularly in relation to agricultural products coming into the UK, and were shocked to discover a £20 million facility in Bastion Point that was built but will never be used. Does that not exemplify Tory incompetence?

[Clive Jones]

It certainly does. They certainly know how to easily waste £20 million. They showed us that they were very good at doing that.

Shockingly, it is estimated that from 2021 up to the end of 2023, nearly 2 billion additional pieces of paper had to be filled out by British exporters as a result of our leaving the EU. They range from export declarations to transit declarations, origin certificates and other documents with obscure acronyms. It is a Gordian knot of red tape. It is a figure so large that if all 2 billion pieces of paper were put end to end, they could wrap around the circumference of the Earth 14.7 times, or reach the moon and come halfway back again. When the Government said that Brexit would be a stellar success, that was not what I thought they had in mind.

Marks and Spencer recently hit out against the Brexit bureaucracy that plagues our economy. I want to share some of its examples because they perfectly illustrate the day-to-day impact of the current Brexit deal in constraining our economy’s ability to grow. Before Brexit, lorries full of produce going from Scotland to the Republic of Ireland would need just one piece of paper listing what was in the trailer before setting off. Now, its trucks are armed with more than 200 pieces of paper, which take hours to complete and require niche details such as the Latin name for the chicken used in its tikka masalas. About 7,000 different Marks and Spencer products destined for Irish customers require export health certificates, and each certificate requires a vet to sign it off, costing Marks and Spencer more than £1 million a year. Exporting to the EU has become a nightmare, even for bigger companies, because of unnecessary administration and physical checks.

[Sean Woodcock]

Will the hon. Member give way?

[Clive Jones]

I will.

[Sir John Hayes (in the Chair)]

Order. I advise the hon. Member that I would like him to wind up his speech in a few moments so that I can get the other speakers in, so it would probably be better if he did not take another intervention. Forgive me, but I want to give these other people a chance.

[Clive Jones]

I will be very quick, Sir John.

The Prime Minister and others have started resetting the relationship with Europe. That cannot be easy because trust has been lost on the part of European leaders—it has completely disappeared. But we have to ask the Minister this: when can we expect tangible changes to be made to the trading relationship between the UK and the EU? Does the Minister recognise the difficulties that 2 billion pieces of paperwork present for our country’s businesses, and that that is massively constraining our ability to grow?

Oral Answers to Questions

Clive Jones Excerpts

Wednesday 12th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Dame Nia Griffith]

As I am sure the shadow Secretary of State has been reminded many times, difficult decisions had to be made to fund our public services, but the changes still leave a significant amount of relief in place. Farming parents will typically be able to pass on up to £3 million to their children without paying any inheritance tax at all, and above that amount inheritance tax will be paid at a reduced effective rate of up to 20%, rather than the standard 40%. Estates have up to 10 years to pay any tax due, and it will be interest-free. Those terms are not available to others. That fair and balanced approach maintains support for family farms while also fixing the public services on which we, including farmers, rely.

[Clive Jones (Wokingham) (LD)]

4. Whether she has had recent discussions with the Welsh Government on the implementation of cancer strategies.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales (Dame Nia Griffith)]

I have regular discussions with my Welsh Government colleagues about health. I am pleased to see clear progress in cancer services in Wales. In December, performance against the 62-day cancer target was the best we have seen since August 2021, but no one should ever be complacent about cancer, which is why our two Governments are committed to working closely on cancer, sharing best practice and delivering better outcomes for patients across England and Wales.

[Clive Jones]

Since August 2020, not a single health board in Wales has met its cancer target, leaving patients waiting months for their referral to start treatment, and despite recommendations to implement screening programmes properly, the standard for uptake is not being achieved, leading to poorer health outcomes. As the Department of Health and Social Care embarks on developing a strategy for England, how will the Secretary of State for Wales ensure that those issues are not repeated there?

[Dame Nia Griffith]

I can tell the hon. Gentleman that there is now positive progress on waiting lists. Both Governments are working together in a spirit of genuine collaboration to cut NHS waiting lists and build an NHS fit for the future. The Welsh Government have committed more than £600 million in extra funding to health and social care in their budget for 2025-26. They are also setting up a national cancer leadership board to improve cancer care. Thanks to those investments, Welsh NHS services are improving, including for cancer, and waiting lists are falling.

Ukraine

Clive Jones Excerpts

Monday 3rd March 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Member makes a very good point. We are doing everything we can and bearing down on those third parties that are providing support to Russia, in whatever form, and we will continue to do so.

[Clive Jones (Wokingham) (LD)]

I commend the Prime Minister for his efforts to make sure that Europe continues to support the defence of Ukraine. The United States, however, has changed the conversation on Ukraine by appearing to put Russia first. The United States’ Defence Secretary now claims that Russia is not a significant cyber-security threat to the US any more; Elon Musk is publicly calling for the US to leave NATO; and the US vice-president is an effective mouthpiece for Vladimir Putin in the Oval Office. Considering all that, does the Prime Minister think that we and our European and Commonwealth allies can keep President Trump on board until a fair settlement for all the people of Ukraine is achieved?

[The Prime Minister]

I have had extensive discussions with President Trump, and I believe him to be completely sincere in his desire for lasting peace in Ukraine. He is sincere about that and he is right about that, and that is why we will work with him to do everything we can to bring about that lasting peace.

Business and Trade

Clive Jones Excerpts

Wednesday 12th February 2025 Written Corrections

The following extract is from the urgent question on US steel import tariffs on 11 February 2025.

[Clive Jones (Wokingham) (LD)]

Donald Trump’s tariffs will cause much uncertainty across the world, not least for those working in our great British steel industry. Tariffs are not just bad news for UK steel producers; they would have a tangible effect on people’s lives, from lower economic growth to higher inflation. It is not likely to end with steel, so we may well be caught up in America’s economic vandalism. Will the Minister set out how US tariffs may affect the UK economy and what preparations are being made as a result, and does he agree that British jobs are on the line and that businesses and workers want to see the Government stand up for them?

[Mr Alexander]

To give a sense of quantum to the House, about £400 million-worth of UK steel exports go to the United States. That represents, if I recollect accurately, about 10% of UK production, so the hon. Gentleman is entirely right to recognise that this is a significant moment…

[Official Report, 11 February 2025; Vol. 762, c. 184.]

Written correction submitted by the Minister for Trade Policy and Economic Security, the right hon. Member for Lothian East (Mr Alexander):

US Steel Import Tariffs

Clive Jones Excerpts

Tuesday 11th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Clive Jones (Wokingham) (LD)]

Donald Trump’s tariffs will cause much uncertainty across the world, not least for those working in our great British steel industry. Tariffs are not just bad news for UK steel producers; they would have a tangible effect on people’s lives, from lower economic growth to higher inflation. It is not likely to end with steel, so we may well be caught up in America’s economic vandalism. Will the Minister set out how US tariffs may affect the UK economy and what preparations are being made as a result, and does he agree that British jobs are on the line and that businesses and workers want to see the Government stand up for them?

[Mr Alexander]

To give a sense of quantum to the House, about £400 million-worth of UK steel exports go to the United States. That represents, if I recollect accurately, about 10% of UK production, so the hon. Gentleman is entirely right to recognise that this is a significant moment. We take that very seriously, which is why we are engaging in dialogue with both the workforce and the owners of the various steel producers here in the United Kingdom. More broadly, as my right hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North (Liam Byrne) alluded to, we want to avoid a significant escalation. We saw retaliatory measures taken under the first Trump Administration. It feels to me that this is an opportunity for the UK to exercise a cool head and a clear-eyed sense of where the national interest lies. These tariffs will not be imposed until 12 March, which gives us time to undertake the dialogue that is already under way, to reach a judgment on the basis of the analysis that we have already done, and to ensure that our interlocuters in Washington and elsewhere are engaged in a constructive and mature dialogue.

Ministerial Code: Policy Announcements

Clive Jones Excerpts

Tuesday 29th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Nick Thomas-Symonds]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. In recent weeks, we have had the investment summit, where this Government—an active Government —got pledges of £63 billion of investment into our economy. That is already a much better record than that of the Conservative Government, under whom investment was in decline.

[Clive Jones (Wokingham) (LD)]

I declare an interest as a governor of the Royal Berkshire hospital, and a family member of mine has a shareholding in a health company. Yesterday, I asked the Chief Secretary to the Treasury whether he would commit to urgent funding for the Royal Berkshire hospital, and I was told very politely to wait for Wednesday’s Budget. Does the Minister agree that there is a democratic deficit when elected MPs cannot get an answer on issues that affect their constituents, but details of the Budget are, at the same time, being briefed to the press?

[Nick Thomas-Symonds]

There are a range of ways in which the hon. Gentleman can get answers for his constituents, from written parliamentary questions to securing a debate in Westminster Hall or an Adjournment debate. He does not have long to wait for the Budget, and he will have four days of debate afterwards to raise that point.

Oral Answers to Questions

Clive Jones Excerpts

Thursday 24th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Clive Jones (Wokingham) (LD)]

4. What steps his Department is taking to help reduce trade barriers with the EU.

[The Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office (Nick Thomas-Symonds)]

The Prime Minister and President von der Leyen have agreed to strengthen the relationship between the UK and the EU. Vice-President Šefčovič, whom I met in Strasbourg on Tuesday, and I will be getting the reset moving this autumn. As part of this, the Government will seek to negotiate a sanitary and phytosanitary agreement and remove other barriers to trade.

[Clive Jones]

The British Poultry Council has recorded a 50% drop in poultry-linked exports since 2020. Between 2019 and 2022, UK agrifood exports to the EU contracted by 5% and have struggled to recover to 2019 levels. Rural businesses are being held back from exporting to the EU due to costly border charges and administrative hurdles. Has the Minister’s Department assessed the impact on food prices if a veterinary and plant agreement with the EU is not reached before Christmas?

[Nick Thomas-Symonds]

The hon. Gentleman’s question sets out exactly why negotiating an SPS agreement is so important. The Government have set out that there will be a UK-EU summit in the first half of next year, and it has been made clear to me, and indeed to Vice-President Šefčovič, that there should be progress by then.