Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Relations with the European Union

Thursday 10 July 2025 · 6 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 6 Partly answered 0 Not answered 0

Key points

  • The SPS agreement will remove routine border checks and certification for goods traveling through Folkestone and the Port of Dover.
  • Scottish businesses such as Glenmorangie whisky, Paterson's shortbread, and the Scottish salmon industry have welcomed the SPS agreement for easier and cheaper trade with the EU.
  • The new agreement with the EU starts the process of filling the gap left by the previous trade deal through enhanced operational relations on security and migration.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Tony Vaughan Lab Folkestone and Hythe
Brexit
Context

The MP references the new sanitary and phytosanitary agreement between the UK and EU which impacts trade, safety, and economic benefits for his constituents.

Question

I thank my right hon. Friend the Minister for his answer. Given that he leads on UK-EU relations, will he outline how the Cabinet Office will ensure that the new sanitary and phytosanitary agreement will reduce the level of checks on goods at both the Eurotunnel terminal in Folkstone, in my constituency, and the Port of Dover, and improve the flow of trade? What steps are being taken to further break down barriers to trade in goods with the EU?

Answer from Nick Thomas-Symonds (Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office)

My hon. and learned Friend is a powerful advocate for his constituents in Folkestone and Hythe. The SPS agreement will remove routine border checks and certification, including for goods travelling through Folkestone and the Port of Dover. It will mean that fresh produce will hit supermarket shelves more quickly, with less paperwork and fewer costs.

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Q2 Gregor Poynton Lab Livingston
Scotland Business & Trade
Context

The MP mentions specific examples of local businesses in his constituency that have benefitted from the new trade deal with the EU and questions why other parties oppose it.

Question

The new agreement with the EU will help Scottish businesses to grow and to export. World-class producers such as Glenmorangie whisky, which is bottled in my constituency, Paterson’s shortbread, which is baked in my constituency, and the Scottish salmon industry have warmly welcomed the deal for Scotland. Why does the Minister think that the SNP, the Tories and Reform have set their faces against it?

Answer from Nick Thomas-Symonds (Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office)

My hon. Friend speaks very powerfully for his local businesses, and I am delighted that great produce such as Paterson’s shortbread, Lorne sausages and Scottish seed potatoes will benefit from easier and cheaper trade with the EU via the SPS agreement. Any party that wants to reverse that will have to explain why it wants to take £9 billion-worth of benefits a year by 040 away from our economy.

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Q3 Connor Rand Lab Altrincham and Sale West
Immigration Brexit Business & Trade
Context

The MP contrasts the current government's approach with previous policies of conflict and argues that recent agreements show benefits.

Question

Does the Minister agree with me that, after years of the Conservatives picking fights with our most important allies rather than working with them on the shared challenges we face, our recently agreed trade deal and our closer co-operation on security and migration show the benefits of a grown-up approach to improving relations with our European partners?

Answer from Nick Thomas-Symonds (Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office)

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The trade and co-operation agreement left a massive gap in our ability to tackle irregular migration. The agreement we have now made with the EU starts the process of filling that gap through a comprehensive partnership. It includes enhancing our operational relationship to tackle organised immigration crime and irregular migration with key agencies such as Europol.

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Q4 James Wild Con North West Norfolk
Business & Trade
Context

The MP questions the implementation progress of recent agreements with the EU, citing previous delays.

Question

This Government have a track record of announcing trade deals and then nothing actually happens, as our steel sector can attest. Two months on from the Prime Minister crowing about a deal with the EU, will the Minister confirm whether any legal text has been agreed on SPS checks, sharing criminal records data and energy co-operation, and whether any of those measures have been implemented?

Answer from Nick Thomas-Symonds (Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office)

If the hon. Member is seriously saying that our trade deals make no difference, he should visit Jaguar Land Rover and speak to the workers there, whose jobs were saved by the economic deal with the United States. He is absolutely right to say that the new common understanding is not in itself a legal text, but we will be moving to agree that legal text as soon as possible. Given the questions from Conservative Back Benchers so far, they all seem to want it done as soon as possible, despite the opposition from those on their Front Bench.

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Q5 Alistair Carmichael Lib Dem Orkney and Shetland
Business & Trade
Context

The MP emphasizes the importance of engaging with exporting companies during the negotiation process to ensure their voices are heard.

Question

If the last nine years have taught us nothing else, they have surely taught us that it is much easier to agree about the need for an agreement than it is to reach an agreement. The SPS agreement will be critical for food and drink exports. We are only going to get one chance on this, so to get it right we need maximum engagement with the companies and businesses doing the exporting. What is the Minister doing to ensure that their voices are heard in these negotiations and that the agreement suits them?

Answer from Nick Thomas-Symonds (Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office)

The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right, which is why I have engaged throughout. The domestic advisory group under the previous trade and co-operation agreement contains a range of stakeholders, and I regularly speak to them, but I go beyond that in my work with stakeholders. He is right that it is hugely important that their voice is heard in the process of agreeing the legal text on the SPS agreement.

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Q6 Robin Swann Ulster Unionist Party South Antrim
Northern Ireland
Context

The MP questions the implementation of grace periods and additional bureaucracy in relation to Northern Ireland's trade with the EU.

Question

While we await the detail of the SPS deal, Northern Ireland is still seeing new and additional bureaucracy to implement the Windsor framework. Does the Minister agree that it would make more sense to extend the grace periods and put a freeze on that bureaucracy rather than introduce more, as indicated in the report by the Federation of Small Businesses in Northern Ireland?

Answer from Nick Thomas-Symonds (Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office)

On our ability to negotiate generally, it is hugely important that we show good faith in implementing the agreement that the country previously agreed. However, I say to the hon. Gentleman that I always show pragmatism on implementing the Windsor framework. If we take parcels, for example, when I went to Belfast last summer I was told that there was no readiness for businesses there, but I applied for and secured a six-month delay, and then implemented that part of the agreement, so he can be assured that I take a pragmatic approach.

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