Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Duncan Baker

Wednesday 19th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

What we need is an efficient postal service that delivers for people across this country. That is what I am focused on, not making ideological points.

[Duncan Baker (North Norfolk) (Con)]

Q12. When I was in business, it was a real privilege to employ many talented, bright young people. I always found that when we believed in somebody and gave them opportunity, they went on to thrive in their career. That is why tomorrow in North Norfolk, I will be launching my new scheme, the 100 Apprenticeships Challenge, to drive 100 new apprenticeships all over my rural constituency. Will the Prime Minister please thank not just my Department for Work and Pensions office and Julia Nix, who has been fantastic, but district councils, county councils and the many stakeholders who have worked for more than six months to deliver this fantastic scheme to drive growth and jobs for young people across my constituency?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank Julia and her team for the fantastic job that they are doing, and my hon. Friend as the local Member of Parliament. Apprenticeships are a fantastic way for people to learn and gain experience, and I am proud that we have created 5.1 million apprenticeships since 2010.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Duncan Baker

Wednesday 13th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Duncan Baker (North Norfolk) (Con)]

T7. Will my right hon. Friend congratulate my constituent, the jewellery designer Monica Vinader, whose roots are in North Norfolk and whose head office is on the Holkham estate, on winning the 2022 Queen’s award for enterprise and sustainable development? Does she agree how wonderful it is to see women in business promoting ethical and sustainable business practices around the country?

[Elizabeth Truss]

I am pleased to say that I have been to the Holkham estate and seen her fantastic business operating in rural Norfolk. We need to turbocharge rural economies, and we need to get more women into business; we know that if women set up businesses at the same rate as men, it would add £250 billion to our economy. She is a fantastic businesswoman.

Free Trade Agreement Negotiations: Australia

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Duncan Baker

Thursday 17th June 2021 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

I am pleased to say that this deal is the first that Australia has signed that has specific references to our achieving our climate change objectives. We are working very closely with the Australian Government and other allies to reach net zero.

[Duncan Baker (North Norfolk) (Con) [V]]

I warmly congratulate my right hon. Friend on this deal. She has now signed nearly 68 trade deals. Given the shadow Secretary of State’s comments, I would love to know how she thinks that that is not up to the job. While the doubters are still stuck in the past, can my right hon. Friend reconfirm not only that this free trade agreement paves the way to CPTPP membership for the UK, but that membership of the CPTPP would provide untold opportunities for our businesses by opening up access to 11 Pacific markets worth £9 trillion. As a believer in free markets, that is something that we cannot overlook.

[Elizabeth Truss]

We are expecting trade with those 11 countries to grow by 65% by 2030. The deal is a huge opportunity for the United Kingdom. The country has very high standards in areas such as digital and services where we are the second largest exporter in the world. What we have agreed with Australia also covers the market access negotiations for CPTPP, so this is very important stepping stone for those broader opportunities that are in the trans-Pacific partnership .

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Duncan Baker

Thursday 15th April 2021 Commons Chamber

[Duncan Baker (North Norfolk) (Con)]

What steps she is taking to tackle the use of (a) trade-distorting subsidies and (b) other unfair trading practices.

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

It is completely wrong that other countries are applying unfair practices to undermine fantastic British products. I am working with the new director of the World Trade Organisation, Dr Ngozi, to ensure that other countries play by the global rules of free trade.

[Duncan Baker [V]]

The wool trade started in Norfolk in medieval times, many, many years ago, and we have always been an outward-looking area to the world, but for trade to be free, it must also be fair. Can my right hon. Friend tell me what steps she is taking to protect vital industries to ensure that they are not undercut by those unscrupulous countries that engage in unfair trading practices?

[Elizabeth Truss]

We are establishing the new Trade Remedies Authority—which, of course, the Opposition voted against—in the Trade Bill, which will ensure that all countries follow the WTO rules. It will look at the evidence and be unafraid to recommend countervailing duties on exports when other countries do not play by the rules, so Chinese products, such as steel and ceramics, that receive unfair state subsidies that will distort trade and damage British business will be tackled.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Duncan Baker

Thursday 25th February 2021 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

We have signed deals covering 64 countries, including the Caribbean nations, where my hon. Friend is our trade envoy. Total exports to CARICOM—the Caribbean Community—were worth £1.5 billion in the 12 months to September 2020, and I am sure he is actively looking for new opportunities to use those trade deals to benefit people in the Caribbean and here in the United Kingdom.

[Duncan Baker (North Norfolk) (Con)]

What assessment she has made of the potential merits for UK businesses of the UK joining the comprehensive and progressive agreement for trans-Pacific partnership.

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

Joining the CPTPP is a massive opportunity for UK businesses. It will cut tariffs for vital industries such as cars and whisky, and it will help drive an exports-led, jobs-led recovery from covid.

[Duncan Baker [V]]

As opposed to the flat EU markets, we know that CPTPP markets are emerging and growing, giving huge tariff-free opportunities for those that join, so for my barley barons of North Norfolk, may I ask the Secretary of State what wonderful opportunities for growth access to these markets gives us?

[Elizabeth Truss]

I know my hon. Friend was delighted with our Japan deal, which gave more access for malt in the Japanese market, where we are the second largest exporter of malt. We will be looking for more such opportunities under the CPTPP for malt and whisky, to make sure that the barley barons continue to do well.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Duncan Baker

Thursday 14th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[Duncan Baker (North Norfolk) (Con) [V]]

We were told that, as an independent nation, we could not get a free trade deal with the European Union, but we did. We have also signed more than 60 additional trade deals with nations all around the world, and that is undoubtedly a magnificent achievement for the world’s fifth largest economy. Can my right hon. Friend tell me how these trade deals impact us and what their potential value is to the UK economy?

[Elizabeth Truss]

The trade deals that we have secured are worth £885 billion of trade. What trade means is jobs. It means opportunities for firms to export abroad. It means strong supply chains for businesses across the United Kingdom. The FTAs that we have secured mean that UK traders will continue to enjoy preferential access to trade that covers 63% of UK trade. In the case of our deal with Japan, that deal goes further and faster, and that will bring more benefits to our tech companies, to our food and drink industry and, of course, to our fantastic creative industry.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Duncan Baker

Thursday 18th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

I thank the hon. Lady for her positive question about Chile. Chile is an important trade partner of the UK. Of course, it is a key member of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, which we want to join. We want to have a better trading relationship with Chile and the 11 fast-growing members of that agreement.

[Duncan Baker (North Norfolk) (Con)]

My rural constituency of North Norfolk is highly agricultural, with farming being the lifeblood of the community, so along with telling me what steps are being taken to ensure that high animal welfare and import standards are kept, can we be positive and can the Secretary of State tell me about the great opportunities that there are for the farming community in North Norfolk to celebrate with a free trade agreement?