Luke Taylor
Main Page: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)Department Debates - View all Luke Taylor's debates with the Cabinet Office
(1 day, 15 hours ago)
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Sir Bernard Jenkin
Sadly, European Union defence has always promised far more than it delivers. It was meant to galvanise all the European states into spending more money; it failed and just did not do that. When any serious military operation was required, it was NATO. To the EU’s credit, some EU military operations are taking place, but they are on a very limited scale. The British and the Americans need to reinforce the Balkans now, because the Europeans are not committing enough on their own and are incapable of doing so.
Even if, this time, there were rapid growth in EU military capability to address the crisis that we face, it would take decades to replicate what the Americans currently provide, such as tactical nuclear weapons and air cover. Why does the EU need to have its own air defence policy when that is exactly what NATO does? It does European air defence. We need to bolster NATO. It is encouraging that force planning for a possible peacekeeping force in Ukraine is all being done at NATO and not in the EU crisis management centre or at EU military headquarters. Only NATO has the capability to plan large-scale military activity.
Sir Bernard Jenkin
The hon. Gentleman shakes his head. What does he know about it? I would be interested in him challenging me.
Luke Taylor
Does the hon. Gentleman not see the fragility of a European defence that is dependent on key items of American hardware, which he correctly identifies that we do not have, and which it will take decades for us to replicate, operate, integrate with our systems and train people on? Does he not see the fragility of our defence if President Trump or another incoming US leader says, “Actually, you’re on your own. We don’t care about the defence of Ukraine”?
Madam Deputy Speaker (Caroline Nokes)
Order. While I am in the Chair, interventions will be shorter than that.
Tom Hayes
I agree with the right hon. Member. With the UK a sovereign, independent trading nation, we in this place are able to shape the debate and conditions of trade. We have the prospect of an EU trade deal before us, and we must grasp it. If we do not, we will see our country fall further behind. There are areas of possibility for that trade deal. For example, there is a need for the transfer and exchange of clean energy between the UK and France and the European Union on a larger scale. I had the privilege of visiting Gosport recently to see IFA2—Interconnexion France-Angleterre 2—where the subsea interconnector is exchanging clean energy between the UK and France, ensuring that we can keep the lights on not only here but in France and across the European Union. Surely energy security is an important feature of our democracy, in an age where we are threatened by Putin and other dictators.
Luke Taylor
The hon. Member talks about us being a sovereign nation and being able to choose our trade deals. I assume we will get a vote in this place on the shape of a future trade deal with the United States, so that we are able to examine it, vote and exercise our parliamentary sovereignty.
Tom Hayes
I thank the hon. Member for listening to some of what I said. I said that we in this place have the right to speak in debates such as this, to shape the conditions of trade. Clearly, with the Minister on the Front Bench listening acutely to everything that Members are saying, that message is being carried into Government —the Minister is nodding profusely—in which case, we will have that democratic accountability.
I turn to the other areas of potential EU-UK relationship improvement. Defence is obviously a core part of that. NATO is the cornerstone of our collective security, but a strong UK must sit alongside strong European countries. The UK is raising its defence spending to an unprecedented level and making efforts to grow our defence industrial base. We need to do that not only for our own security and the security of democracies, but to set an example to European countries about raising their own defence spending, while working with them to grow our collaboration.
On the question of trade, all of us in this House, whichever party we represent, will have had small businesses come to our surgeries and tell us about the red tape they encounter as a result of the Brexit deal. If they voted for Brexit, they did not vote for that Brexit deal; they voted for something very different. I think we can all recognise that, and if we do not, we are not listening to our constituents when they come to our surgeries and tell us their truth very clearly.
By reducing red tape, we can help to grow the number of jobs in our economy, open up our borders to more trade and smooth our exports, which is critical if we are going to achieve the Government’s No. 1 goal of growing our economy. Without growth in our economy, we will not raise living standards, we will not be a country at ease with itself, we will not again be confident on the world stage, and we will not be a leading democratic voice in a world of strengthening democracies.