EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement

Lord Vaizey of Didcot Excerpts

Friday 8th January 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Vaizey of Didcot (Con)]

I congratulate my noble friend Lord Wharton of Yarm on his excellent maiden speech. I look forward to working with him for decades to come in the House of Lords.

I am very pleased we have a deal. It is the end of the beginning. I hope that the dynamics, which have been changed by having such a significant economy as the UK now outside the EU, will lead to some pragmatic co-operation—perhaps with us working more closely with countries such as Norway and Switzerland, and even perhaps Turkey. These are countries which find themselves on the border of the most significant economic trading bloc in the world. I hope that we will see ourselves engaging in pragmatic ways that help our businesses and our economy, rather than taking refuge in the petty nationalist rhetoric that has characterised the Brexit debate for far too long.

When I talk about pragmatism, of course I naturally turn my attention to the arts, culture and creative industries. I hope the Minister, who mentioned them in his opening remarks, and his colleagues will keep a relentless focus on measures to support them. For example, the ability for our tech start-up community to access talent from Europe and the touring opportunities for musicians, which the Minister referred to, need to be sorted out. We need talent visas that allow people to travel as freely as possible between the UK and EU. It is not just people; it is the movement of equipment. I understand that the Government have succeeded in securing the free movement of production equipment—except, bizarrely, there is a lack of clarity as to whether that can move between Great Britain and Northern Ireland without a carnet. I hope that the Minister will also look at the exclusion of the audio-visual industries from the state aid arrangements under the treaty. I would be keen to explore the implications for the film tax credit for productions that cross borders. There is a huge impact on broadcast licences and a need to secure data arrangements between the EU and the UK. There is a whole to-do list to support our world-beating creative industries. I hope that Ministers will focus on this in the months and years to come.