Business of the House

Jacob Young Excerpts

Thursday 3rd September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

The Home Office has made its position on this very clear. It is not willing to give the exemption that the hon. Lady is asking for. It does not believe that it would be in the best interests of society at large.

[Jacob Young (Redcar) (Con)]

May I ask my right hon. Friend whether the Government will make a statement on their free port policy, specifically in relation to the potential for a free port in Teesside? I am sure he agrees that that would be a fantastic location for our first post-Brexit free port, so that we can maximise the benefits of leaving the EU and bring jobs back to Redcar and Cleveland.

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

My hon. Friend raises a really sensible and important point. Free ports will be of great importance to many areas of our economy, both coastal and inland, and they will be a centrepiece of our international trade economy in the future. As he rightly says, this is only possible because we are leaving the dead regulatory hand of the European Union’s transition period on 31 December, having already left that organisation on 31 January. The free port consultation has closed and officials are carefully reviewing the hundreds of responses received, probably including one from my hon. Friend. The Government will publish a response in due course and set out their policy of free ports being national hubs for trade, innovation and commerce regenerating communities across the United Kingdom.