UK Internal Market: White Paper

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

Wednesday 29th July 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan]

The noble Lord is asking the ultimate hypothetical question—on one of those things which I hope will never come about. If this legislation did not exist and Scotland were ever to join another trading regime, that would throw up the possibility of a hard border, which would be crucially damaging for Scottish business. Scotland sells more to the rest of the United Kingdom than it does to the rest of the whole world, so unfettered access to other markets in the United Kingdom is crucial to Scotland economically.

[Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Non-Afl) [V]]

Will the Minister outline how the Government intend to achieve the UK internal market arrangements in the devolved regions, particularly Northern Ireland, which has to continue to operate EU state aid rules in the agricultural sector?

[Lord Callanan]

I can tell the noble Baroness that, for as long as the protocol is in force, mutual recognition and non-discrimination will be adapted for British goods moving to Northern Ireland to account for the relevant goods rules that apply there. The UK Government have committed to delivering unfettered access for Northern Ireland businesses to the whole UK market, and we will enshrine this principle in law, as promised in the New Decade, New Approach agreement. Mutual recognition and non-discrimination will support commitments on unfettered access, ensuring that they form part of a coherent UK-wide system.

On agricultural support, discussion continues in order to find an approach to agriculture that works for all of the UK whereby legislation is not needed. Officials have had positive discussions on all issues in scope of an agricultural support framework, including marketing standards, agricultural support spending, crisis measures—including public intervention and private storage aid—data collection and sharing, and cross-border farms. We expect this close collaboration with all the devolved Administrations to continue over the coming months.