European Union (Withdrawal) Act
Debate between Sheryll Murray and Liam Fox(5 years, 10 months ago)
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Mrs Sheryll Murray (South East Cornwall) (Con)
I have a lot of admiration for my right hon. Friend. He is a much more experienced Member of Parliament than me and has been in this place for a long time. Could he explain to me how we would have no Brexit at all? As I understand it, and as many people are saying, even if the withdrawal agreement falls, the date of 29 March is in the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Sheryll Murray and Liam Fox(7 years, 9 months ago)
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Robert Courts (Witney) (Con)
The Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade (Dr Liam Fox)
I launched a trade policy dialogue with the New Zealand Trade Minister last October to consider how we can strengthen our economic ties. Last month, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister met the Prime Minister of New Zealand and agreed that preparatory work should be undertaken on the potential for an ambitious new free trade agreement between the UK and New Zealand, once the UK leaves the European Union.
Mrs Murray
I warmly welcome the early and constructive dialogue with our colleagues and friends in New Zealand. Will my right hon. Friend do all that he can to explore every opportunity for bilateral trade with New Zealand, including the natural synergies between our rural economies?
Dr Fox
I very much agree. The UK exported over £1.2 billion-worth of goods to New Zealand last year, and opportunities for our rural businesses and farmers will be a very important part of our work as we take forward the dialogue with New Zealand, which I intend to visit over the summer months.
South-west England (Long-term Economic Plan)
Debate between Sheryll Murray and Liam Fox
Dr Liam Fox (North Somerset) (Con)
Today the Chancellor set out in his Budget a number of measures to help strengthen our national economy and keep the promises we made as a party to the British people in May, but before the general election the Conservatives set out a clear set of aims for the south-west in a speech given by the Chancellor in Plymouth. He outlined six clear strategic objectives.
They were: first, to increase the long-term growth rate of the south-west to at least the expected average of the UK as a whole—although the south-west constitutes 8.4% of the UK population, it provides only 7.5% of UK economic output; secondly, to sustain job creation in the region and have 150,000 more people employed by the end of the decade; thirdly, to transform connections, both in transport, via a £7.2 billion investment plan, and in the crucial area of digital connectivity; fourthly, to ensure that the large defence assets in our region support the local economy, high-tech manufacturing and high-end skills—we will have been heartened indeed today to hear the Chancellor commit to spending 2% of our GDP on defence; fifthly, to boost science, and support tech clusters and green energy to promote skills development and an innovative rural economy; and, sixthly, to make the most of the region’s outstanding natural beauty and unique cultural heritage as part of a boost to tourism.
To those aims, we, the south-west Members, would add one of our own: a fair and equitable funding settlement across education, health and local government, redressing the current underfunding in these largely rural areas. Not all those strategic objectives are of equal importance to all our constituencies. For example, the economic situation in Cornwall is quite different from that in North Somerset, which has the lowest unemployment of any constituency in the UK.
Mrs Sheryll Murray (South East Cornwall) (Con)
Small businesses are a key part of the economy in my constituency. Does my right hon. Friend agree that we need to ensure that information is made available to them so that they do not miss out on any opportunities?
Petitions
Debate between Sheryll Murray and Liam Fox
Sheryll Murray (South East Cornwall) (Con)
I present this petition on behalf of a very large number of my constituents in the same terms as my hon. Friend the Member for Beverley and Holderness (Mr Stuart).
The Petition of the residents of South East Cornwall.
[P001249]
Dr Liam Fox (North Somerset) (Con)
I am handing in a petition in the same terms for 435 signatories from my constituency and another petition also in the same terms on behalf of 812 signatories from the constituency of Weston-super-Mare in pursuit of natural justice for the rural parts of this kingdom.
The Petition of the residents of Weston-Super-Mare Constituency.
[P001247]
The Petition of the residents of North Somerset Constituency.
[P001248]
Rural Fair Share Campaign
Debate between Sheryll Murray and Liam Fox
Sheryll Murray (South East Cornwall) (Con)
I present this petition on behalf of a very large number of my constituents in the same terms as my hon. Friend the Member for Beverley and Holderness (Mr Stuart).
The Petition of the residents of South East Cornwall.
[P001249]
Dr Liam Fox (North Somerset) (Con)
I am handing in a petition in the same terms for 435 signatories from my constituency and another petition also in the same terms on behalf of 812 signatories from the constituency of Weston-super-Mare in pursuit of natural justice for the rural parts of this kingdom.
The Petition of the residents of Weston-Super-Mare Constituency.
[P001247]
The Petition of the residents of North Somerset Constituency.
[P001248]