European Free Trade Association Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Exiting the European Union
Lord Monks
Main Page: Lord Monks (Labour - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Monks's debates with the Department for Exiting the European Union
(6 years, 8 months ago)
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Lord Callanan
I am sure that we all await with interest what the Prime Minister has to say in her speech on Friday, but the point about joining a customs union is a serious one. We are the fifth-largest economy in the world and the normal state of affairs in the rest of world is that large countries negotiate their own trading arrangements. It baffles me why people want to contract that out to the European Commission. We collect tariffs that we would then send to the European Commission; we would be totally in its control. Surely, if anything, the EU referendum means that we need to take back control in this country and do not want to contract out our trade policy to another organisation.
Lord Monks (Lab)
My Lords, can I ask about the three baskets? It seems that there is detached, semi-detached and alignment. Which of those baskets will take employment rights and workers’ rights? Can we please be told?
Lord Callanan
I think the noble Lord will have to wait to see what the Prime Minister has to say about the issue on Friday. I am building up the sense of anticipation.