UK Parliament / Open data

Trade Bill

Proceeding contribution from Greg Hands (Conservative) in the House of Commons on Monday, 20 July 2020. It occurred during Debate on bills on Trade Bill.

I will not give way just now. We are committed to additional scrutiny arrangements for any deal with Japan. We believe that the current sunset provisions in the Bill strike the right balance between flexibility for negotiators and the ability to keep agreements operable, and that they provide sufficient constraints and scrutiny to Parliament.

The Government are aware that during the 2017-19 Trade Bill there was uncertainty and concern in Parliament about the nature of the Government’s continuity programme—indeed, I can testify to that, because I was the Minister at the time—and that is why we have tabled a number of amendments to the Bill. There is, however, a crucial change in circumstance since the previous Bill, because Parliament can now see that we have not strayed beyond our mandate to deliver continuity. The transition agreements have not resulted in new or enhanced trading obligations, standards have not been reduced in any way, and our right to choose how we deliver public services has been protected.

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
678 c1890 
Session
2019-21
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
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