Government Referendum Leaflet

Paul Farrelly Excerpts

Monday 11th April 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lidington]

There is a key difference, which my right hon. Friend alluded to when she said that the Government decided to remain strictly neutral during the Welsh referendum. The Government are not neutral in this referendum; they are advocating and recommending a particular outcome, and our decision about the publication of information flows from that principle.

[Paul Farrelly (Newcastle-under-Lyme) (Lab)]

I congratulate the Minister on the informative and well-written booklet that dropped through my door this morning, but may I suggest a little more balance on red tape? For example, north Staffordshire’s biggest private sector employer, bet365 and the owner of Stoke City, can only dream of having one set of regulations in a fully fledged single market in future, rather than 28—or more—at the moment. Indeed, that simplification makes EU membership very attractive to many businesses, so perhaps in May the Government should issue a follow-up booklet to expand in more depth on those tangible benefits to the UK.

[Mr Lidington]

The hon. Gentleman hits on an important point. Although the single market is successful when it comes to trade in goods, it is insufficiently developed for trade in services. We must do more—indeed, we are leading the debate in Europe on the liberalisation of services and the simplification of product standards and regulations. Particularly for an economy such as ours, in which roughly 80% of GDP derives from the services sector, it would be a major risk to turn ourselves from being the shapers of new rules on services trade to the takers of rules set by other European countries, with us absent from the table.