Public Procurement: Prioritising British Suppliers
Lord Tyrie Excerpts(1 week, 2 days ago)
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Baroness Twycross (Lab)
I am not aware of the point the noble Lord raises, but I thank him for drawing it to my attention. I will look into it and revert to him.
Lord Tyrie (Non-Afl)
My Lords, the WTO is widely held to be in deep trouble. Its dispute resolution mechanism is scarcely used and countries are imposing unilateral tariffs everywhere. The UK has to reconsider its position in the light of this. To think that through—that was part of what the noble Lord implied in his Question—have the Government made an assessment of the overall effect of the decline in WTO effectiveness on UK trade?
Baroness Twycross (Lab)
The World Trade Organization remains a really effective way for us to enable British businesses to get that reciprocal access to £1.3 trillion in public procurement opportunities overseas annually. We think that this is a valuable way of ensuring that our suppliers and businesses get access to opportunities across the world.