UK Border Strategy: Single Trade Window

Lord Newby Excerpts

Tuesday 25th February 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I am grateful to my noble friend for his question. It was a key manifesto commitment of this Government to deliver those touring visas and it remains a key ask of ours in the EU reset negotiations. We recognise that delivering such new agreements will take time, but we are ambitious and we want to move forward at pace.

[Lord Newby (LD)]

My Lords, I agree with the Minister’s analysis about the bad economic consequences of Brexit, with 12% lower GDP. Does he not agree that the only way that we can get rid of trade costs, as he wishes, is by rejoining the customs union and single market? Tinkering at the edges will have virtually no positive benefit for most small exporters.

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I agreed very much with the beginning of the noble Lord’s question but less as he progressed. He is absolutely right that the measures he proposes would eliminate those challenges and I pay tribute to him for consistently advocating a pro-European case. We are committed to resetting our relationship with the EU. It is our biggest trading partner. As I said, the Prime Minister was the first Prime Minister since Brexit to have attended a meeting of the EU Council and the Chancellor was the first Chancellor since Brexit to have attended a meeting of the Eurogroup of EU Finance Ministers. We are ambitious to reset that relationship and we will continue to move forward at pace.