The Tories’ favoured trade deals post-Brexit are likely to make regional inequality worse, by focusing on the best deal for the City of London at the expense of smaller firms across the country. Barry Gardiner Read Quote
A Brexit that works for Britain needs to work for small businesses and must ensure that our future trade deals don’t just work for big business. Barry Gardiner Read Quote
Science tells us we need to keep the majority of fossil fuels in the ground, and that we must urgently invest in renewable energy, and other alternative industries. Doing so would create millions of jobs, ensure a fair transition for fossil fuel workers into new industries, and avert the most catastrophic climate breakdown. Barry Gardiner Read Quote
Thanks to David Attenborough and ‘Blue Planet 2,’ we’ve become aware of the damage to our oceans from plastic pollution. We now know to use textile shopping bags instead of plastic, reuse coffee-cups and refuse polystyrene ones, and avoid plastic straws when ordering a drink at the bar. Barry Gardiner Read Quote
Acidisation isn’t benign – like fracking, it can pose risks to groundwater sources, and runs counter to the urgency with which we must shift away from fossil fuels. Barry Gardiner Read Quote
Labour believes that every trade deal should come before parliament for a full debate on the floor of the House of Commons, with a vote at the end of that debate. Barry Gardiner Read Quote
Treaties negotiated with foreign powers create binding obligations on future generations that cannot be repealed in the way that domestic law can. As a consequence, the most rigorous process should be in place to scrutinise such treaties before they ever come to be ratified. Barry Gardiner Read Quote
Most trade agreements arise from a desire to liberalise trade – making it easier to sell goods and services into one another’s markets. Brexit will not. Barry Gardiner Read Quote
Labour must evince a positive vision for the future of our country outside the E.U. One that is consistent with the leave voters’ objectives, without sacrificing our rights and protections, as the Conservatives threaten to do. Barry Gardiner Read Quote
