Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Cabinet Office

Oral Answers to Questions

Sheryll Murray Excerpts
Thursday 11th February 2021

(3 years, 10 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Laurence Robertson Portrait Mr Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury) (Con)
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What steps the Government are taking to help ensure goods can continue to flow freely between the UK and the EU.

Sheryll Murray Portrait Mrs Sheryll Murray (South East Cornwall) (Con)
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What steps the Government are taking to help ensure goods can continue to flow freely between the UK and the EU.

Michael Gove Portrait The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office (Michael Gove)
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Our trade and co-operation agreement with the EU is the first free trade agreement that the EU has ever reached based on zero tariffs and zero quotas. The agreement will help unlock investment and protect high-value jobs right across the UK. We will now take full advantage of the opportunities created by this deal, helping to boost productivity, unlock investment and safeguard high-value jobs in the UK. Goods are flowing freely through our ports, with levels of freight around what we would expect for this time of year, but we are also working closely with businesses that are facing challenges, and we are in regular operational contact with EU countries in order to smooth trade.

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Sheryll Murray Portrait Mrs Murray [V]
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Fishing exporters in my constituency are having problems exporting to the EU. We signed a deal that said we could export to the EU. What action is my right hon. Friend taking to ensure that these exports happen without hindrance, and will he start boarding EU vessels in retaliation if we still see this obstructive action on the part of the European Union?

Michael Gove Portrait Michael Gove
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My hon. Friend has been one of the doughtiest defenders of the fishing sector in this House for a few years now, and she is absolutely right to say that we need to ensure that any bureaucratic obstructions that individual EU member states may still be applying are lifted. As I mentioned in response to our hon. Friend the Member for Totnes (Anthony Mangnall), we will reserve our right as an independent coastal state to do whatever is required to ensure that our fishermen are backed up every step of the way.