US-UK Trade Deal: Northern Ireland

Joe Morris Excerpts

Monday 12th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Jonathan Reynolds]

That was a fairly odd stream of consciousness, if I am being totally honest. It appears that I have given a stronger defence of the Windsor agreement negotiated by the former Conservative Government than the Conservative party has managed today.

The shadow Minister has asked for detail. I acknowledge that, particularly when dealing with the US and the style of the US system, negotiations have a pace—a pulse—and they are perhaps different from how we would present the detail of a complete trade agreement, such as the one we agreed with India. However, I think he would acknowledge the importance of last week’s announcements, because such a significant part of our exports to the US is covered by its sectoral tariffs, not the reciprocal ones. Businesses would have had to start planning this week for a world of—in some cases—25% tariffs, which would have had major repercussions for jobs, businesses and growth in the UK. Being able to give those businesses reassurance, alongside a clear indication of the ongoing nature of the negotiations, is a significant win for British business. I hope the Opposition recognise that.

The hon. Gentleman asked specifically about preferential rates on pharmaceutical products. Those in the United States have not yet completed their own investigations in respect of some of the sectoral tariffs to which they have alluded, and have not announced what they are putting in place. The nature of the agreement, given that it covers the sectoral tariffs, is to recognise that we would want the UK to be in a preferential position on those as well, rather than agreeing what we have already agreed on sectoral tariffs and then seeing further sectoral tariffs announced in future.

The hon. Gentleman asked about the digital services tax. It is not in the agreement; it is not a part of what was announced last week.

As for the question of the special status of Northern Ireland, this is the agreement that the Conservative party struck. It manages two very difficult countervailing pressures. The Conservatives might have thought more about this during the Brexit process, but they did not. They had to resolve the issue after the agreement, and to be honest, I do not think they did a particularly bad job in reaching the compromise that Windsor represents.

Exports from Northern Ireland are covered by the preferential trade terms that we have secured with the United States. When goods come into Northern Ireland, there is a differential depending on whether they are staying in the United Kingdom or there is a risk of their entering the EU’s single market. That is what the Conservative party agreed. I think that the new degree of complexity comes from differentials between the EU’s approach to trade and trade defence, and our own, but surely we all recognise that part of what we are talking about here reflects the fact that we are not in the European Union. The hon. Gentleman again engaged in some language about the European Union.

This country did a trade deal with India last week, one that the Conservative party promised many times but never delivered. We reached an agreement with the United States in the same week. We have the EU summit coming up. Everything that we have said about how this country does not have to pick just one trading partner—it can be the best connected market in the world—is borne out by the agreements that we have signed. Every Member of this House should get behind a UK that is strong on the world stage and connected to each and every one of the major economic markets that we need to be our partners.

[Joe Morris (Hexham) (Lab)]

I congratulate the Secretary of State first on being papped in the away end on Friday night, and secondly on, twice in one week, upholding our world-leading environmental and welfare standards. Can he assure me that as these conversations—and, indeed, conversations with future trading partners—develop, further deals will always prioritise high food standards to protect both our farmers and our consumers?

[Jonathan Reynolds]

Last week was a good week all told, on footballing and trade matters. You may be noting, Mr Speaker, that my voice is a little hoarse as a result.

We on the Government Benches were elected on our manifesto commitment not to alter our sanitary and phytosanitary regime and our food standards. Some people said that a deal with the United States would not be possible if we stuck to that, but we did, and we have an agreement. That proves everything we said about why that issue is so important to us.

Department for Business and Trade

Joe Morris Excerpts

Wednesday 5th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Liam Byrne]

Well, there was an awful lot more money than there is now. We certainly did not have a debt interest bill of £100 billion a year, which is what the bill has risen to, and why so many difficult choices are having to be taken. At that time, we were beginning genuinely to consider how to create single, pooled funds that came together from different Government Departments. A challenge for us in the House is that we have to reflect on the fact that we reinforce silos in Government, and do not reinforce joined-up Government. This estimates debate is a good example: we are considering the accounts of the Department for Business and Trade, but in an ideal world we would also have here Ministers from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, the Treasury, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and a couple of other Departments, and we would ask those Ministers how they were working together to deliver a joined-up offer to our business community, because businesses have not got time to muck around and deal with all the red tape; they are trying to build a business.

[Joe Morris (Hexham) (Lab)]

I thank my right hon. Friend for giving way—he has given way a few times already. When I speak to businesses in my constituency, I pick up that young people who want to remain in the most rural communities simply cannot get to the jobs that they want to get to, and that businesses in rural settings have real trouble accessing a lot of the help that he refers to. Does he believe that one of the particular sins of the past 14 years is that the business climate has been unfriendly to business, and particularly unfriendly to small rural businesses?

[Liam Byrne]

My hon. Friend is right, but we have to look to the future. We have to understand how Government will connect together and ensure a transformation in regional transport and connectivity. So many parts of our country are bedevilled by a lack of internet connectivity, so they cannot access the kind of applications that might give them access to artificial intelligence, for example, or to international markets. They cannot get access to the internet full stop. We have to think boldly about how we join Government together in a revolutionary way.

Finally, I wanted to mention the Post Office. When we look at these accounts in the round, we see a 44.8% increase in the amount allocated, taking the figure up to nearly £6 billion a year. That is partly driven by £444 million for the British Business Bank, but it is overwhelmingly driven by about £1.3 billion extra for the Post Office. The good step has been taken of increasing funding for the Post Office compensation scheme, but that money is still not going out the door fast enough. I accept that that has improved, but the Committee will return with some tougher questions for Ministers in the light of their response to our recent report.

My final point, which I urge on both the Minister and his colleagues in the Treasury, is that we cannot transform the Post Office into the organisation it could be by drip-drip-dripping the funding for modernisation through to it. The Post Office needs a proper five-year to 10-year funding plan so that it can genuinely become the organisation that it could be. When these accounts were published by the Department, they were qualified and late. I know that civil servants have to work hard to iron out a number of problems, and we have asked the permanent secretary for monthly updates on how he is doing in bringing the kind of clarity that this House should expect. I thank the civil servants and the Department for the extraordinary work that they do; they are absolutely mission-critical to the hopes of so many of us in this country and to our becoming the fastest-growing economy in the G7.

UK Supply Chains: Uyghur Forced Labour

Joe Morris Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Alexander]

I thank the Opposition spokesperson for her characteristically kind and generous words in welcoming me back to Parliament and, indeed, the Dispatch Box.

There is a tension between the first two questions we have heard, with my hon. Friend the Member for Rotherham observing that there is a need for radical transformation in the legislation and, on the other hand, the Opposition spokesperson asserting that it is adequate, although she drifted into demanding a review of her own legislation after only five months in opposition. We should try to find common ground, rather than score points.

I assure the hon. Lady that the Government stand firm on human rights, including in Xinjiang, where China continues to persecute and arbitrarily detain Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities. That includes raising our concerns at the highest levels with the Chinese Government, and co-ordinating efforts in international fora to hold China to account for human rights violations.

The hon. Lady asks specifically about where the treatment of the Uyghurs has been raised as a human rights issue. During the recent session of the Human Rights Council in September, the UK signed a US-led joint statement on Xinjiang, called out China’s persecution of Uyghurs and restriction of civil society, and urged China to engage meaningfully with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and to implement the recommendations made in its assessment. Where possible, the Government also conduct independent visits to areas of major concern and support non-governmental organisations in exposing and reacting to human rights violations. On previous occasions when I have visited China as a Government Minister, I have of course raised the issue of human rights, and I will continue to endeavour to do so.

On the hon. Lady’s rather ungenerous observations about the growth mission, it is perfectly possible for a Government to set themselves a clear ambition to raise the UK economy’s trend rate of growth, and to continue to be a strong and powerful advocate for human rights in China and elsewhere.

[Joe Morris (Hexham) (Lab)]

Like many, I was very concerned to see the report to which my hon. Friend the Member for Rotherham (Sarah Champion) referred. Does the Minister agree that forced labour is a threat to supply chains and to the resilience of our economy not just in our food sector, but across our entire economy?

[Mr Alexander]

I am in full agreement with my hon. Friend. For businesses to be able to invest and thrive, they need confidence in their supply chains, which is why the Government are establishing a new supply chains taskforce. The taskforce will work to assess where supply chains that are critical to the UK’s economic security and resilience, including those in the growth sectors identified in the industrial strategy, could be vulnerable to disruption. The taskforce will ensure that the Government work with business to address the risks, including by exploring wide-ranging policy solutions and other mitigations.

Oral Answers to Questions

Joe Morris Excerpts

Thursday 31st October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Justin Madders]

If the shadow Minister is complaining about the state of the adult social care sector, he should look to his own party and how the sector was left to rot for 14 years. The impact assessment says that the overall cost to employers will be 0.4% overall and, as the economic analysis says, the make work pay package will help to raise living standards across the country and create opportunities for all. I think 0.4% is a fantastic achievement to get such a deal. If he does not want to support improved working conditions for people, an end to fire and rehire and better maternity protections, he should continue to vote against the Employment Rights Bill, but I do not think his constituents will thank him for that.

[Joe Morris (Hexham) (Lab)]

4. What recent progress he has made on developing a new industrial strategy.

[The Minister for Industry (Sarah Jones)]

We have made significant progress in developing a new industrial strategy and I am delighted to report to the House that we published a Green Paper on 14 October, setting out our plans for a modern industrial strategy. We have set our sights higher than the previous Government, we have thrown off their ideological shackles and we have worked in partnership with business and our colleagues across the nations and regions to set us on a path to a credible 10-year plan, delivering the certainty, drive and ambition that businesses need to invest in the UK.

[Joe Morris]

For 14 years, businesses in rural communities such as my constituency were ignored and neglected by the Conservatives in government. Will the Minister elaborate on how the industrial strategy will allow rural communities to share in the proceeds of growth?

[Sarah Jones]

The difference between a Labour Government and a Conservative Government is that we believe that growth needs to be felt in our communities, not just measured on a spreadsheet. I know that my hon. Friend is working hard in his constituency and is already campaigning on issues such as banking services, which are so important for our rural communities. He is right: the industrial strategy needs to be designed and implemented in lockstep with local leaders, mayors and devolved leaders across the country, alongside our wider plans for housing and skills, which of course will be part of the picture. I look forward to working with him on identifying the barriers to growth in rural communities so that we can break them down.

Pub and Hospitality Sector

Joe Morris Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd October 2024 Westminster Hall

[Joe Morris (Hexham) (Lab)]

Thank you, Madam Chair; it is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, and I thank the hon. Member for Mid Leicestershire (Mr Bedford) for securing a very important debate. My constituency of Hexham is home to 116 pubs and nine breweries, spanning 2,200 local jobs, with about 580 of those being worked by people aged between 18 and 24.

I want to start by paying tribute to a lot of those pubs, including The Tannery in Hexham, where I bought my first pint; The Angel of Corbridge, where I went for lunch on Saturday after I went door-knocking; my local, The Crown in Humshaugh; as well as The Falcon in Prudhoe and—particularly—The Samson in Gilsland, which is due to reopen this weekend, having been bought by the community after a longstanding campaign by local people to get their pub back. There are a lot of other pubs I could name, such as The Dipton Mill, Travellers Rest, and The Engine in Walbottle.

Ultimately, these pubs are essential to my local economy. They are essential to so many people and communities in the small towns and villages that dot across the Tyne valley. They are also incredibly important in supporting our tourism sector. Northumberland—as I am sure many hon. Members will be incredibly aware—is probably the most beautiful county in England. We have Hadrian’s wall, one of the most iconic sites of these islands, and somewhere that brings people from all around the world to walk. The advantage of having pubs along the length of Hadrian’s wall is of course that you can find somewhere to stop after a long and often rain-sodden walk along it.

Ultimately, however, they are the route into employment for so many people in my constituency. They are where people learn to cut their teeth and pick up those soft skills that end up serving us so well in later life and in future professions. It is where people learn their responsibilities, and even how to turn up on time.

I would also like to pay tribute to a lot of the pubs that are sadly no longer open in my constituency. They have left a void in their communities. Ahead of the Minister’s remarks, I look forward to hearing what we can do to help communities in future reopen pubs that they have lost.

UK Steel Manufacturing

Joe Morris Excerpts

Thursday 5th September 2024 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Jones]

I thank the hon. Member for that question. We need to be technology agnostic and look at what the new industries, the new developments and the new research are telling us. We are doing that, which means some companies taking risks, with the Government needing to intervene when we see a new market in need of support. We will have that approach in Government. We are technology agnostic—we need to look at what will work, what will make our country thrive, and also what other countries are doing.

[Joe Morris (Hexham) (Lab)]

The previous Government’s plan for steel was to pay half a billion pounds to Tata Steel to not make any steel for years, while placing thousands of highly paid and highly skilled workers at risk of redundancy with no guarantee of jobs in the future. Can the Minister reassure me that she is taking steps to secure the future of our strategic industries?

[Sarah Jones]

I thank my hon. Friend for that question. Steel is an incredibly important strategic industry for the UK and it will be saved under this Government from the decline that we saw under the previous Government. The £2.5 billion that we are investing alongside the £500 million for Port Talbot will ensure that our industry thrives. We are working closely with industry, the unions and local communities, and we will work with our regional metro mayors and others, to make sure that we have the right industries in the right places and that we see success where previously we have seen decline.