European Union (Withdrawal) Act

David Simpson Excerpts

Monday 14th January 2019 Commons Chamber

[David Simpson (Upper Bann) (DUP)]

It is good to follow the right hon. Member for New Forest West (Sir Desmond Swayne). I want to speak about a number of issues in relation to Northern Ireland. Members will be well aware of my party’s position.

In February last year, I asked the Prime Minister a question that was referred to last Wednesday by the shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. I said:

“I ask the Prime Minister to reinforce her earlier comments, given the imminent publication by the EU of the draft legal text arising from December’s joint report. Will she confirm that she will never agree to any trade borders between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom?”

The Prime Minister’s answer was:

“We continue to stand behind all the commitments that we made in December, and my negotiating team will work with the Commission to agree how they should be translated into legal form in the withdrawal agreement.”

[Emma Little Pengelly]

In line with what my hon. Friend has said, just after the Joint Report back in December 2017, I asked the Prime Minister in this Chamber whether, although the statement said that there would be unfettered access from Northern Ireland to GB, she could clarify for the House that there would also be absolutely unfettered access from Great Britain to Northern Ireland for goods, and she confirmed on the record of this House that that was the case. Yet we now have 68 pages in an annexe of further checks that would put a border within this United Kingdom and sever our single market.

[David Simpson]

My hon. Friend is correct.

I will continue with the Prime Minister’s answer:

“The hon. Gentleman is right: the draft legal text that the Commission has published would, if implemented, undermine the UK common market and threaten the constitutional integrity of the UK by creating a customs and regulatory border down the Irish sea, and no UK Prime Minister could ever agree to it. I will be making it crystal clear to President Juncker and others that we will never do so.—[Official Report, 28 February 2018; Vol. 636, c. 823.]

I do not know what happened from that time to now, but as we say in this country, we are where we are.

Northern Ireland and the people I represent in my constituency feel very despondent. They feel that they have been made the sacrificial lamb to placate the Irish Republic and the European Union. That is exactly how they feel. If we are to believe everything we read or everything we hear, EU officials have been quoted as saying that Northern Ireland is the “price” that the UK will pay for Brexit. I am a Unionist—and a proud Unionist—and I listen to some of the comments in the media and to the scaremongering from Ministers and Government officials when they go out to proclaim the doom and gloom, but my constituents are concerned about the Union of this Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

[Kevin Hollinrake]

I guess the question I have for the hon. Gentleman is this: what is the alternative? Michel Barnier said on 11 October last year that, in the event of no deal, there would be checks at the border for all live animals and produce of animal origin. What effect would that have on Northern Ireland and on the integrity of the United Kingdom?

[David Simpson]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention, but it is very interesting that, a week or 10 days ago, the papers released from the European Union and from the Republic of Ireland never mentioned the words “border checks” and never mentioned the land border in Northern Ireland. They mentioned the ports and the airports, but they did not mention this hard Brexit or this hard deal. We hear so often about this hard Brexit and this problem with the border. Who is going to implement this? The British Government have said they are not going to do it, the Irish Government have said they are not going to do it and the European Union is not going to do it, so who is going to enforce this hard border and this hard Brexit?

[Kevin Hollinrake]

Specifically, Ireland is part of the European Union, and the European Union has said very clearly that it would implement those checks at the border.

[David Simpson]

With the greatest respect to the hon. Gentleman, he has been long enough about this House to know that what the Europeans say and what they do are two different things. We have seen the history of the whole of the European Union, although when it comes to the midnight hour, things may change.

My constituents in the Upper Bann constituency voted to leave, and they are very clear that they want a deal, but they want the right deal for the best of the whole of the United Kingdom—and that is the bottom line. Certainly as it stands at this moment in time, I could not support this deal tomorrow, and neither can my party. I think that the way that the European Union has treated the fifth largest economy in the world is an insult, and I cannot support it.

Foreign Direct Investment 2016-17

David Simpson Excerpts

Tuesday 12th September 2017 Westminster Hall

[Michael Tomlinson]

If you are, perhaps we should all get on to Snapchat. It has opened its new global hub right here in London, which again shows that it believes in this country in a post-Brexit world. There may well be bumps ahead, but let us look at the facts and the evidence of what has happened so far, while also being cautious about the future.

Having looked at the general picture, let me give some specific details of FDI. The latest report on inward investment results from the Department for International Trade, which is from 2016-17, showed that there were more than 2,260 inward investment projects in the UK. The good news is that that is up by 2% on the previous year and the investments secured over 75,000 new jobs, which is a huge number. However, there is one reason to be cautious, on which I specifically challenge the Minister. We are told that the jobs figure is down by 9% from 2015-16, so I invite him to explain why that is. Obviously the number of projects being invested in is still rising, but why are the jobs figures not quite as high as before? Of course I welcome the jobs that are being created and retained; in the south-west region alone, there have been nearly 3,500 new jobs and I very much welcome them.

Let me turn to the specific regional figures. As one would expect, London and the south-east is the region of the UK that attracts the most FDI. My hon. Friend the Member for Stirling (Stephen Kerr) mentioned Scotland, which receives the next largest amount of FDI. Again, that shows the strength of the whole United Kingdom, which is good for our United Kingdom. However, I challenge the Minister specifically about the south-west, my own region—other speakers will no doubt champion their own region. Although I welcome the 3,500 new jobs in the south-west, I invite the Minister to ensure that there is sufficient FDI in the regions outside London and the south-east.

[David Simpson (Upper Bann) (DUP)]

The hon. Gentleman will know that Northern Ireland has a land border with the Republic of Ireland, where corporation tax is 12.5%. We hope to neutralise that and have corporation tax at the same rate. Does he agree that although there is a lot of FDI in Northern Ireland, as we move forward after the vote last night, we will remain part of the United Kingdom out of the EU and the future is bright?

[Michael Tomlinson]

I am very grateful for that intervention. I will mention Northern Ireland in relation to the “Britain is great” project. The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. As I said earlier, I am optimistic about the future of our country in a post-Brexit world.

Foreign direct investment is important for a number of reasons. It is important for job creation, which I have touched on, and for growth. Businesses in receipt of FDI have been shown to be more productive. All those things raise living standards, and they are why I challenge and invite the Minister to ensure that all regions across the United Kingdom—the south-west in particular—benefit. It is right and proper that London and the south-east attracts FDI—it is to be expected that our capital city should be the largest recipient of FDI—but I ask the Minister to ensure that all regions are attractive.

I declare an interest as chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on youth employment.