Northern Ireland Protocol

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Hywel Williams

Tuesday 17th May 2022 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

We negotiated the Northern Ireland protocol in good faith, and I have been negotiating with Maroš Šefčovič in good faith, but we have seen real consequences for the people of Northern Ireland that need to be addressed.

[Hywel Williams (Arfon) (PC)]

Under the current Brexit arrangements, freight trade through Holyhead is down 34%, whereas north-south trade in Ireland is up by 34% and south-north trade is up by 49%. Does the Foreign Secretary accept that such economic fundamentals argue against her taking precipitous unilateral action on the protocol?

[Elizabeth Truss]

Those figures demonstrate that there has been trade diversion in Northern Ireland, and they demonstrate that we need to restore the balance of the Belfast/Good Friday agreement to make sure east-west is treated with equal esteem to north-south.

Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (Accession)

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Hywel Williams

Wednesday 17th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

My hon. Friend is a huge champion for his farmers. What we have seen in British agriculture is increasing success in exports. We are now a net exporter of dairy products for the first time in recent years. We are getting increasingly large exports of all kinds of meat products, dairy products, and finished food and drink products. He can be assured that when we are negotiating the specific market access schedules in CPTPP, we will always be looking out for British farmers, making sure that they are getting the benefit of the deal.

[Hywel Williams (Arfon) (PC) [V]]

Nearly half of the UK’s carbon footprint probably comes from our trade overseas to satisfy UK demand. What impact assessment has the Secretary of State made of the environmental costs of expanding UK trade into the Pacific region?

[Elizabeth Truss]

We are very committed as a country to our zero carbon target by 2050, and we are working hard on the new COP—conference of the parties—summit to make sure that we achieve that. In all the trade negotiations we are conducting, we want to have strong environmental protections protecting our environmental legislation in the UK but also reduced tariffs on low and zero carbon goods.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Hywel Williams

Thursday 5th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[Hywel Williams (Arfon) (PC)]

T8.   Is the Secretary of State confident that the Government stance in the EU trade negotiations meets the needs of successful horticultural businesses such as Seiont Nurseries in my constituency, whose time-sensitive exports just will not thrive with delays at the ports, regulatory divergence and punitive tariffs?

[Elizabeth Truss]

We are leaving the EU so that we can make our own regulatory decisions, including about how we manage our agriculture and horticulture. Of course we want to get the best possible free trade deal with the EU, but that does not mean continuously harmonising with its regulations.

Arms Export Licences (Saudi Arabia)

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Hywel Williams

Thursday 26th September 2019 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

I hope to have the results of the internal review within the next few weeks.

[Hywel Williams (Arfon) (PC)]

Was there a change to UK policy on arms sales to Saudi Arabia in 2016 to discontinue consideration of past Saudi humanitarian law breaches?

[Elizabeth Truss]

As I said, the issue here is not the policy so much as how the procedure was or was not followed.

A11 (Dualling)

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Hywel Williams

Tuesday 27th July 2010 Westminster Hall

[Elizabeth Truss]

I shall continue to press my case. Infrastructure in this country has lost out in current spending, and we have all paid the price for that in economic growth held back. I will certainly put the case that infrastructure projects, as part of the capital budget, should be prioritised if they deliver such economic benefit. Clearly, the best option would be for the scheme to be approved under the road budget, and we look to the Minister to consider that as part of the comprehensive spending review.

As my hon. Friend the Member for West Suffolk said, the A11 dualling from Thetford to Fiveways is not just another road project. It is a very important project that will free up a huge amount of business resource, energy and entrepreneurship across East Anglia and help drive growth across the region. We are not asking for handouts in Norfolk. We are a county that delivers jobs, 72% of which are in the private sector, and we are a net contributor to the overall tax pot. What we want is our fair share of infrastructure spending to ensure that we can carry on delivering those economic benefits into the future.

[Hywel Williams (in the Chair)]

Order. As a number of new Members are in the Chamber, may I remind them of three points? First, they need not touch the microphones; they will come on automatically. Secondly, no reference should be made to members of the public or members of the press being present. Thirdly, irrespective of the obvious infectious enthusiasm for the A11, there should be no applause.