Honda in Swindon

Debate between Greg Clark and Ben Bradshaw

Tuesday 19th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

My right hon. Friend is correct in pointing that out. As I said in my statement, the company has decided to consolidate its production, in this instance, in Japan, and the consequences for Turkey and the Swindon plant are the same. That also draws attention to the fact that free trade agreements, important though they are, do bring about changes themselves and are associated with decisions that sometimes can be difficult.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

This is a devastating blow for the south-west, Swindon and the wider UK manufacturing base. Does the Secretary of State not accept that it is a fact that our not being in the new Japan-EU free trade agreement, and therefore not being able to guarantee future tariff-free trade between our country and Japan, puts us at a disadvantage when people are making these sorts of decisions? I was encouraged by the replies he gave to my right hon. Friend the Member for Leeds Central (Hilary Benn), who chairs the Brexit Committee, but when will he and other of the more sensible Ministers in the Government, many of whom are flanking him today, act to stop the Prime Minister pursuing this reckless, crash-out no-deal Brexit strategy?

[Greg Clark]

It is evidently the case that we should be part of a free trade agreement with Japan, and we should avail ourselves of the one that has been negotiated with the EU, unless and until it is replaced by a better one. Notwithstanding the disruption that free trade can sometimes cause, I am strongly of the view that, as a nation, we prosper from being a nation of free trade, and I think the right hon. Gentleman agrees. I think it has been evident in my replies to hon. Members on both sides of the House that I regard it as an urgent requirement to conclude our discussions. That will require compromise on both sides of the House, but that is something that this House has achieved over the years; indeed, the rest of the world has admired this House of Commons for coming to pragmatic decisions that are in the interests of the long-term reputation of this country.

Nissan in Sunderland

Debate between Greg Clark and Ben Bradshaw

Monday 4th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

As I said in my statement, there has been a regular and long-standing programme of support for companies right across the automotive sector. It is conducted independently. Companies make applications either through the Advanced Propulsion Centre or through the scrutiny of the Industrial Development Advisory Board. This has been a success. Nissan has applied for it, and many other companies have done so as well. For example, I commend the investment that Toyota made in its Burnaston facility. I had the pleasure of opening the production line for the new Corolla there a few weeks ago.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

I thank the Secretary of State and his like-minded colleagues for what we read they are trying to do to avert a ruinous no-deal Brexit, as he just described it, but I gently suggest to him that when the moment of truth arrives again in 10 days’ time when the votes come back, they will be judged on their deeds and not just their words. I say to my own Front Benchers that if we have a Whip that ignores the unanimously agreed policy of our own party in opposing a no-deal Brexit, they will be judged just as harshly.

[Greg Clark]

I cannot speak for the right hon. Gentleman’s Front Benchers, but he has heard me say that it is incumbent on the whole House to keep the national interest in mind and to reflect our traditions of doing that. I recently looked at the speech that Margaret Thatcher gave when she opened the Nissan plant in Sunderland. She commented that Nissan had chosen the UK because

“within the whole of Europe, the United Kingdom was the most attractive country—politically and economically—for large scale investment and offered the greatest potential.”

That political stability, confidence and pragmatism, which was so important then, is important now, and we should return to it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Greg Clark and Ben Bradshaw

Tuesday 27th June 2017 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

I will indeed. My hon. Friend is a great champion of the sector. In our negotiations, we want to ensure that we can continue these successful collaborations, as well as making further investment in the future of research through our industrial strategy. The House may be interested to know that I can announce today that the Government’s commitment to underwrite the UK’s fair share for the Joint European Torus costs—the leading nuclear fusion facility in Oxfordshire, supporting 1,300 jobs—will be made. The facility is funded through a contract between the European Commission and the UK Atomic Energy Authority. In making this commitment, the Government hope to provide the certainty and reassurance needed for a mutually beneficial extension of the contract.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

All the five business organisations to which the Secretary of State refers have come out against the Prime Minister’s extreme and damaging Brexit. What is he personally doing to ensure that the Prime Minister not only hears what they are saying, but listens to it?

[Greg Clark]

The right hon. Gentleman will know that the five business organisations have put forward a sensible set of principles to govern the transition and the shape of a final agreement. Those suggestions seem very sensible. Part of the point of engaging with business, as I do rigorously and frequently, is to ensure that that voice is heard.