Nissan in Sunderland

Vicky Ford Excerpts

Monday 4th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

The views of businesses up and down the country—not of all of them, but of the majority of them—are clear that having a transitional period is something that they regard as important. The small businesses as well as the large businesses have called for that. It is one of the features of the withdrawal agreement that has been negotiated and it is why businesses specifically and through their representative organisations have called on this House to back it.

[Vicky Ford (Chelmsford) (Con)]

My first experience of Westminster politics was as the parliamentary candidate for Birmingham Northfield when Rover closed the Longbridge works and 6,000 people lost their jobs. It takes years to build a car factory, and one phone call to close it. Our car manufacturers benefit from frictionless trade with Europe and being part of the cumulative rules of origin regime. The withdrawal agreement keeps those. Does the Secretary of State agree with me that those who seek to vote against the withdrawal agreement or to try to rewrite large swathes of it are playing a deeply dangerous game?

[Greg Clark]

I do agree with my hon. Friend. She knows the industry well and she knows that, time and again, the leaders—the chief executives—of the players, big and small, in the industry have called on us to back the deal for precisely the reasons that she gives.