Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement: Scrutiny

Debate between Martin Docherty-Hughes and Ranil Jayawardena

Tuesday 19th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jayawardena]

I am very happy to set out the process, Mr Speaker, if you allow me the time. There are four points. First, the Government may not ratify the treaty for 21 sitting days—days when both Houses are sitting—after it was laid before Parliament. Secondly, if within those 21 sitting days either House resolves that the treaty should not be ratified by agreeing a motion on the Floor of the House, the Government must lay before Parliament a statement setting out their reasons for nevertheless wanting to ratify. Thirdly, if the Commons resolved against ratification, regardless of whether the Lords did or did not, a further period of 21 sitting days is triggered from when the Government’s statement is laid. During that period, the Government cannot ratify the treaty. Fourthly, if the Commons again resolves against ratification during that period, the process is repeated. That can continue indefinitely, in effect giving the Commons the power to block ratification. Of course, that is what the Opposition want—to block the opportunities of Brexit from this trade deal.

[Martin Docherty-Hughes (West Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

The first thing that leaps out from the stats on the website of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is the export of 159 billion Australian dollars-worth of goods and services each year to communist China. The integrated review of 2021 stated that China posed a “systemic challenge” to UK interests, yet here we are attempting to sign a free trade deal with—I will be blunt, Mr Speaker—a state that has been enabling communist China to build capacity, clamp down on dissent and tighten its grip on Hong Kong with exports of raw materials for its economic needs. Can we assume that the Secretary of State will be ignoring the findings of his own Government in the integrated review and supporting China’s application to join the CPTPP alongside the UK and Australia, as he mentioned at the Dispatch Box only a moment ago?

[Mr Jayawardena]

I welcome that question, actually. The challenges—[Interruption.] Opposition Members heckle, but the challenges posed by those who do not play by the rules are challenges we should face head on. We are not currently a member of the CPTPP, otherwise known as the trans-Pacific partnership—the TPP—so it is not within our gift to support or block anyone from joining it, but what is clear is that we are first in the queue, we are looking forward to joining it, and we believe that like-minded nations who play by the rules should trade more with one another.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Martin Docherty-Hughes and Ranil Jayawardena

Thursday 16th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jayawardena]

We remain seriously concerned about allegations levied against Chinese surveillance firms with regard to Xinjiang, and we take the security of our citizens, systems and establishments very seriously. We have a range of measures in place to scrutinise the integrity of our arrangements. In addition, the Procurement Bill will further strengthen the ability of public sector bodies to disqualify suppliers from bidding for contracts where there is a history of misconduct. We have already set out a number of measures to help ensure that no British organisations are profiting from or contributing to the violations of rights.

[Martin Docherty-Hughes (West Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

5. What recent assessment her Department has made of the progress of the UK-India Free Trade Agreement.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Trade (Mr Ranil Jayawardena)]

As I said a moment ago, talks with India continue to be positive, and on Monday we welcomed Indian officials to London for the fourth round of negotiations. An FTA offers the opportunity to deepen our already strong relationship, which was worth over £24 billion last year. We are determined to grow that, creating jobs in every corner of the country, including in whisky distilleries across Scotland, on which 150% of tariffs and taxes must currently be paid in India.

[Martin Docherty-Hughes]

The Republic of India has a respected independent legal system, and that will form part of the basis of the FTA between the UK and India. The Secretary of State will be aware of my constituent, Jagtar Singh Johal. What importance do the Minister and the Government place on a well-functioning legal system that respects human rights and the dignity of the individual when progressing free trade negotiations with states such as the Republic of India?

[Mr Jayawardena]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for what he says, and he has raised this issue with me in the past. Her Majesty’s Government are committed to working with the Government of India to resolve longstanding and complex consular cases such as this. The Foreign Secretary met the hon. Gentleman and the family of his constituent on 9 June, and she committed to continuing to raise those concerns with the Indian authorities. Our strong ties with India benefit British prosperity and security, and vice versa, but we are clear that increased trade need not come at the expense of our values.

India-UK Trade Negotiations

Debate between Martin Docherty-Hughes and Ranil Jayawardena

Tuesday 22nd February 2022 Westminster Hall

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Trade (Mr Ranil Jayawardena)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Davies. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman) for raising this important topic and for sharing his passionate belief in the importance of closer ties between Britain and India. I also thank Members from across the House for their broad support for the notion of a trade agreement with India. Although we do not have much time left, I shall do what I can to cover as much as possible.

The Government fundamentally believe in the power of free trade and free markets as unrivalled forces for good in the world, which is why we are pulling out all the stops to champion this great cause globally. We are using free trade around the world to forge new bonds of prosperity with nations worldwide, unlocking fresh growth for businesses of all kinds and sizes based across our United Kingdom. We are positioning Britain at the heart of a rapidly changing global trading system, in which the greatest opportunities lie in emerging markets and the fast-growing economies of the east, and the free trade deals that we are signing with our partners are key to that endeavour.

As has been mentioned, we have already signed deals with 70 countries plus the EU, covering trade worth £772 billion in 2020, and there is more to come. We have already gone above and beyond existing EU agreements with some of the world’s most advanced economies, such as Japan, and we have secured new deals with Australia and New Zealand, but we are just getting started.

To witness the fantastic potential of the global Britain that we are building, we need look no further than the deal that we are discussing today: the free trade agreement that we are negotiating with India. This deal promises to be a game changer for our economic partnership with the world’s largest democracy, opening the door for British businesses to a vast and fast-diversifying market of almost 1.4 billion people—larger than the population of the EU and US combined. The deal is bringing us closer to an economic superpower that, despite covid, was worth more than £2 trillion in 2020 and is on course to become the world’s third largest domestic market by 2050. As the world’s spending power shifts eastward, giving global Britain a greater stake in the Indo-Pacific is crucial, because it is a part of the world that represents over 40% of global GDP and contains the growth of tomorrow.

As has already been said, Britain and India share a trade partnership that was worth almost £24 billion in 2019—energised, as my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow East says, by the living bridge of people and ideas that flow between our nations. We already share close business ties, including nearly half a million jobs across our economies, according to the Confederation of British Industry. Our financial markets are interconnected, with 35 Indian companies listed on the London stock exchange, and our firms partner one another in driving change across a range of fields, from finance to manufacturing, and from tech to transport.

There are innovative businesses such as the Indian firm Intas Pharmaceuticals, which has its headquarters in the constituency of the hon. Member for Harrow West (Gareth Thomas) and near that of my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow East. There are many other such businesses across London, but we know that our nations could and should be doing far more together. That is why we want to strengthen the partnership with India further and faster, building on the bedrock of shared values, common law, institutions and, as the hon. Member for Ealing, Southall (Mr Sharma) said, cricket.

[Martin Docherty-Hughes]

What do shared values mean, when a UK citizen born in this country—a full UK citizen with a full UK passport—can be arbitrarily detained by an ally?

[Mr Jayawardena]

I will address the points made by the hon. Gentleman and, indeed, by the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) in a moment, but I want to make some progress on trade, which we are also here to discuss.

As part of the road map signed by both Prime Ministers last year, we have set the ambition of doubling our trade with India by 2030, as has been said. That provides a clear framework for our bilateral relationship in future. As part of the road map, we committed to deepening the economic relationship through an enhanced trade partnership, an ETP.

I was delighted to play a role in driving forward that partnership, which is already helping to increase opportunities for British businesses in India by tackling market access barriers, for example, allowing our apples to be imported into India once again—some say, for the first time in 50 years. The partnership has also secured improved access for British medical devices, as noted by Members; committed us to agreeing on mutual recognition of educational qualifications, as requested by the Labour Front Bencher, the hon. Member for Harrow West; and is exploring how we can increase our trade and co-operation in legal services, as raised by the SNP Front Bencher, the hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey (Drew Hendry).

Major restrictions such as high tariffs, however, still hold us back, so a free trade deal between Britain and India holds the key to unlocking our enormous untapped trading potential. An ambitious deal could bring huge economic benefits, boosting Britain’s GDP by up to £6 billion by 2035 and delivering a triple bonus of higher wages, lower prices and greater choice for British consumers. We could slash taxes on British exports, such as whisky, whether from Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales or even England—

[Mr Jayawardena]

I will make some progress. Whisky and cars, from across our nation, face import duties of 150% and 125%, respectively, in the Indian market. A trade deal could give British businesses a first-mover advantage over American and European firms in India, positioning our exporters—as said by my hon. Friend the Member for Wyre Forest (Mark Garnier)—at the front of the queue to meet the expanding demand for world-class goods and services from India’s tens of millions of middle-class consumers.

Increasing trade-led growth could benefit Scotland by up to £220 million, Wales by more than £120 million and Northern Ireland by £70 million, while delivering tens of millions pounds-worth of growth across every English county, including counties in the west midlands, where a deal could bring a boost of up to £300 million, providing fresh opportunities for firms that do business with India, such as Aceleron Energy in Worcestershire and Fortress Security in Wolverhampton. Opening the door to further trade-led growth for firms in the south-east could see a boost to their collective economy of about £430 million in the long run. Such companies include manufacturer He-Man Dual Controls based in Hampshire—not in my constituency—and Larchfield Aerospace in Kent.

The trade deal has the potential to benefit SMEs, which account for 80% of British trade in goods to India in 2020. Smaller firms are disproportionately hindered by costly trade barriers and, as a result, they stand to benefit the most from a deal that cuts red tape and reduces administrative burdens.

Any agreement will be a future-facing deal, expanding the business we do with India in cutting-edge sectors that are shaping the global economy, pushing the boundaries of technological change from fintech to clean tech, automation and AI. As the world’s second-largest services exporter, Britain is perfectly placed to support Indian growth in those fields, taking our partnership in the industries to the next level.

None of that will alter this Government’s commitment to uphold British values. I said that I would address this point: we condemn any instances of discrimination of religion or belief, regardless of the country or faith involved. Where we have concerns, we raise them directly with the Government of a particular country, including the Government of India, at official and ministerial levels. That continues to be so in the case referred to by the hon. Member for West Dunbartonshire (Martin Docherty-Hughes), which the Foreign Office has raised more than 70 times—

[Martin Docherty-Hughes]

rose—

[Mr Jayawardena]

I am afraid I do not have time today, but I am sure we can continue the discussion.

This deal will help to define the future for the global Britain that we are building. It will lay the foundation of our trade relationship with one of our strongest and most important global partners. It will place the world’s oldest democracy and the world’s biggest one side-by-side as we champion a world view that puts people first. It will shape how a modern, ambitious and truly global Britain is using the irresistible power of free trade to tear down barriers to growth.

Motion lapsed (Standing Order No. 10(6)).