Northern Ireland Protocol

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Brendan O'Hara

Tuesday 17th May 2022 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

We are very clear that we need to restore the balance of the Belfast/Good Friday agreement, and we need to ensure that all communities in Northern Ireland are treated with esteem.

[Brendan O’Hara (Argyll and Bute) (SNP)]

We spent so much time debating the Northern Ireland protocol that this Government could not have been unaware of a single dot or comma. Were they simply unable to understand the implications of their own protocol deal, or did the Prime Minister present his oven-ready Brexit deal knowing that he would end up deliberately breaking international law? Is this Government stupidity or Government duplicity?

[Elizabeth Truss]

We negotiated the Northern Ireland protocol in good faith, and I have been negotiating with Maroš Šefčovič in good faith, but we have seen real consequences for the people of Northern Ireland that need to be addressed.

Sanctions

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Brendan O'Hara

Monday 28th February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

I can reassure the hon. Lady that we are doing all of those things. The sanctions that we currently have in place on Russia are the toughest, in terms of the size of the package, that the UK has put on any country in our entire history. Importantly, however, we are doing more; we are working with our allies to do more every day.

[Brendan O'Hara (Argyll and Bute) (SNP)]

My constituents cannot understand why we still allow Russian state-owned oil tankers to use UK ports. The Russian state-owned oil tanker NS Century is currently at the Finnart oil terminal on Loch Long, a port adjacent to Coulport, which is a home to the UK’s nuclear arsenal. Why, when we are imposing such harsh economic sanctions on the Kremlin, are we continuing to allow Russian state-owned oil tankers to go freely about their business, particularly so close to this most sensitive military installation?

[Elizabeth Truss]

They will not be going about their business freely for much longer.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Brendan O'Hara

Thursday 15th July 2021 Commons Chamber

[Brendan O'Hara (Argyll and Bute) (SNP)]

If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.

[The Secretary of State for International Trade (Elizabeth Truss) [V]]

The United States is our largest single country trading partner and an important ally. We have already made progress in the Airbus-Boeing dispute, getting tariffs removed on great British products such as machinery and whisky. I am now working closely with my US counterparts to tackle global issues on steel, aerospace and technology to make sure that trade is fair as well as free.

[Brendan O'Hara]

We are six months into Brexit and the sea of opportunity that the seafood producers of my Argyll and Bute constituency were promised has turned out to be swamp of bureaucracy. Alongside a mountain of paperwork and red tape, they all report falling prices, loss of markets, labour shortages and major transport and logistical problems. Six months into Brexit, they are facing an existential crisis. How has the Secretary of State’s Department allowed that to happen?

[Elizabeth Truss]

We have seen trade with the EU bounce back after some initial issues. In particular, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has offered support to seafood producers to ensure that they have what they need to be able to deal with those issues.

Free Trade Agreement Negotiations: Australia

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Brendan O'Hara

Thursday 17th June 2021 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

I fear we already know the answer to whether they believe in Britain or not. This deal will go through the proper parliamentary scrutiny process, through the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 process, as all international treaties do. I concur with my hon. Friend that the idea that Britain’s future should be in closing ourselves off to the rest of the world—in putting up high-tariff barriers, not innovating, not learning and not sharing ideas—is the recipe for penury, not the recipe for success.

[Brendan O'Hara (Argyll and Bute) (SNP)]

My constituency overwhelmingly rejected Brexit, because we knew what it would do to our farming and fishing industry. Is the Secretary of State concerned that the Australian farmers are hailing this as a huge victory, while Scottish farmers see it as a complete betrayal? Will she therefore explain to the hill farming communities in my constituency how flooding the UK market with cheap, factory-farmed, inferior produced meat is the golden opportunity that the Prime Minister promised that this deal would be?

[Elizabeth Truss]

I think the hon. Gentleman’s farmers deserve better than the ludicrous scaremongering that he has been putting forward.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Brendan O'Hara

Thursday 17th October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Brendan O'Hara (Argyll and Bute) (SNP)]

3. What recent discussions she has had with her US and EU counterparts on the imposition of tariffs on Scotch whisky. [R]

[The Secretary of State for International Trade (Elizabeth Truss)]

We are extremely disappointed that the US has decided to levy tariffs, including on the Scotch whisky industry. I have urged my US counterpart to rethink this, and the Prime Minister has also raised the issue with President Trump.

[Brendan O'Hara]

In the days following this announcement, the Government were asleep at the wheel. We now have only 12 hours before this tariff is implemented. What action will the Secretary of State take in the next 12 hours to delay this? If she cannot delay it, what will she do to mitigate the impact, particularly on small and medium-sized distillers, which rely so heavily on the US market?

[Elizabeth Truss]

I have been raising this issue with my US counterpart since July, when I first met Bob Lighthizer. I have also raised it with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. I have made it clear to the Americans that it is not helpful in terms of our relationship with them to see these tariffs placed on such an iconic industry, among other industries in the UK.

Arms Export Licences (Saudi Arabia)

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Brendan O'Hara

Thursday 26th September 2019 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

The question refers specifically to the process of issuing export licences, and that is what I have been focusing on.

[Brendan O'Hara (Argyll and Bute) (SNP)]

Is it not the case that this Government will always seek to break their own rules and turn a blind eye to breaches of humanitarian law when there is money to be made and deals to be had?

[Elizabeth Truss]

As soon as this issue was brought to my attention on 12 September, I took action to ensure that such things cannot happen.