Oral Answers to Questions Debate
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Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
Main Page: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)Department Debates - View all Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi's debates with the Department for Business and Trade
(9 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Kemi Badenoch
I thank the hon. Lady for her question. Many of the issues that businesses have been raising with us are specific not to the TCA but to member countries. That is why Ministers and I, along with officials, go to all these countries, and we have removed many of the market access barriers, which are not specific to the TCA. The hon. Lady will know that the TCA will be up for review. If she has specific things she would like us to take to EU Trade Commissioners, we are very happy to do so.
Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Slough) (Lab)
This week, the Financial Times reported the most significant decline in UK trade volumes since 1997. It is clearer than ever that this Government’s hard Brexit policy has exacerbated challenges for British businesses. With a 7.4% drop in trade since 2018 and exports down by 12.4%, we are starkly lagging behind our G7 peers. Can the Secretary of State explain how 14 years of Conservative rule have prepared British businesses for their despair around extra red tape and the chaos unleashed by this Tory hard Brexit policy?
Kemi Badenoch
I think the hon. Gentleman has just time-travelled from 2018 or 2019—it has been a long time since I have heard the phrase “hard Brexit”. He will of course know that we left the European Union with a deal, so he needs to catch up with what has actually happened. It is also interesting that he talked about an FT report from 1997; I should let him know that we have not been in government since 1997—we have been in government since 2010. Many of the things he is pointing out are things we have said will occur as trade flows move away from the European Union to the Indo-Pacific. That is why we have left; that is why we are trading with the rest of the world. The hon. Gentleman should also know that our economy is 80% services, so most of the things he is talking about will not impact on the vast majority of the economy. Services exports are booming, and we are doing well since leaving the EU.