Uncertainty not clarity from government White Papers – Barry Gardiner MP and Peter Dowd MP

Barry
Gardiner MP, Shadow Secretary of State for International Trade, and Peter Dowd MP, Labour’s Shadow Chief Secretary
to the Treasury, comment on the government’s Trade and Customs White Papers
published today.

Barry Gardiner MP
said:

“We needed clarity
on how the Government will ensure a level playing field for British businesses
in our trade defence and trade remedy mechanisms. We got none.

“We needed
clarity on how the Government will continue the third country Trade Agreements
we are part of through the EU. We got none.

“We needed
clarity on how the Government is laying down our schedules at the WTO and the
proportion of tariff rate quotas we will keep after we leave the EU. We got
none.

“Above all we
needed clarity about how trade negotiations and treaties would be scrutinised
in parliament. We got worse than nothing: an emphasis on speedy implementation
with barely a nod to ‘due process in parliament’. This is simply unacceptable.”

Peter
Dowd MP said:

“The
Government’s Customs White Paper continues the ambiguity that they have made
British businesses suffer under.

“While
there is talk of delegating the necessary powers to the Government for post-Brexit
customs arrangements, the Government goes worryingly further, seeking to
undermine parliament by giving itself the power to set import duties without
the normal legislative process.