European Union (Future Relationship) Bill

Stephen Timms Excerpts

2nd reading & 2nd reading: House of Commons
Wednesday 30th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark (Tunbridge Wells) (Con)]

It was such a pleasure to see my right hon. Friend the Member for North Shropshire (Mr Paterson) back contributing in the Chamber. 

Given the time available, I want to make just one simple point and reflection on an agreement whose ambition and scope, embracing everything from energy and science to security, is, I think, underappreciated. As it is considered, in time that will come out. During my time as Business Secretary, I came to appreciate and value the important contribution of many businesses based in Britain that relied on just-in-time production to be competitive with the rest of the world. They were very concerned that one of the consequences of Brexit might be to interrupt their ability to trade, including in components, and therefore make them unviable. In particular, trading terms that reflected sensible rules of origin were vital to companies such as Nissan in Sunderland, as we have heard, Toyota in Derbyshire and north Wales, and BMW in Oxford. I was therefore very pleased when I spoke to the chief executive of Toyota in Europe on Christmas eve, who called to say that the terms of the deal, when it came to rules of origin, met the requirements that that company had for its location in the UK. It has a good and prosperous future in Derbyshire and north Wales, and in the entire the supply chain, which employs many thousands of people across this country.

To respond to some comments that the hon. Member for Washington and Sunderland West (Mrs Hodgson) made, it is now important that we seize the opportunity that we have, as this country emerges from covid, having proved ourselves to be a place of agility and ingenuity when it comes to the pace of new discoveries. We must now apply that across all the industries that we have in this country. I hope that when my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster responds, he will recommit to a reinvigorated industrial strategy that will position Britain, with all the strengths that we have in science and technology, and with the advantages that come from putting behind us this Brexit debate that has dominated the last few years—

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

[Greg Clark]

I will not give way; I want to conclude.

To capitalise on those strengths, as we come into 2021 with covid behind us and this agreement under our belts, I hope that we can take a position leading the world on some of the technologies that will contribute to growth all around the world.