Transcription
And security for the British people. And I commend this statement to the House.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Prime Minister for advanced sight of his statement, but it is utterly reprehensible that he began it by accusing the previous government of isolationism. The same conservative government. Oh, the business secretary is laughing. Just, just that we will tell him the same conservative government that led the world in our response to the invasion of Ukraine, that signed a vital strategic alliance in Orcus. The, the business sector is asking how many FTAs we signed. Britain's biggest post-Brexit trade deal, the CPTP, bringing us closer to the 11 Indo-Pacific nations, including Japan. He asks, "I know about that deal because I signed it myself." And so, I welcome the Prime Minister's efforts to collaborate more with our long-standing ally, Japan.
But let's turn to China. Of course, Britain should engage with China, even though the Chancellor wasn't allowed to go. Even though they are an authoritarian state who seek to undermine our interests, even though they spy on us, sometimes within the walls of this building, even though they fund regimes around the world hostile to our country, they are a fact of life, a global power, and an economic reality. So, let me be clear. It is not the Prime Minister engaging with China that we take issue with. What we are criticizing is his supine and short-termist approach.
I am sure the Prime Minister, I'm sure the Prime Minister means well, but his negotiating tactic has always been to give everything away in the hope that people will be nice to him in return. Before the Prime Minister even got on the plane, he'd already shown that he would do anything to demonstrate his good relationship with China. But China uses every interaction to improve its own position.
The Prime Minister looked like he enjoyed his trip. In fact, it looked like a dream come true for a man who was virtually a communist most of his life. [laughter] But apart from the [cheering] Mr. Speaker, apart from the Laboo doll in his suitcase, and I hope he's checked it for bugs, he has come back with next to nothing.
We all want cheaper tariffs for Scottish whiskey. But if the Prime Minister bothered to speak to the whiskey industry like I did two weeks ago, he would know that what they really need is cheaper energy and lower taxes. What else did he get? Visa-free travel. China already offers this to other countries. It's not big enough for a Prime Ministerial visit.
But the worst thing, Mr. Speaker, the worst thing was the Prime Minister claiming a glorious triumph with the lifting of sanctions on four Conservative MPs as if he'd done us a favor. Let me tell him, those MPs were sanctioned because they stood up to China. They, they stood up against human rights abuses. They stood up against a country spying on our MPs in a way that he wouldn't dare. Those people don't want to go to China. The Chinese know that. They know that they are giving him something that costs absolutely nothing. Why can't the British Prime Minister see that? And I say to you, Mr. Speaker, and the whole House, like with the Chaos Islands, the Prime Minister has been played.
China is about to build an enormous spy hub in the center of London. A ransom he had to pay before he could even get on the plane. I would never allow Britain to be held over a barrel like that. Yet again, the Prime Minister has negotiated our country into a weaker position in the world. His entire economic policy is to tax business more, regulate them harder, and make energy so expensive that we de-industrialize. And then we can import Chinese wind turbines, Chinese solar panels, Chinese batteries for electric vehicles, all manufactured in a country that is building a coal-fired power station every other week.
Did he speak to them about that? What did his chief, his trip achieve for Jimmy Lie? Nothing. Did China promise to stop fueling Putin's war machine in Ukraine? Doesn't sound like it. What did this trip achieve for the Uyghurs who are being enslaved? Absolutely nothing. Have China agreed to stop their relentless cyber attacks? Have they? We all know the answer to that. The reality is that China showed its strength and Britain was pushed around, literally.
It is no wonder, Mr. Speaker, President Xi praised the Labour Party because the Conservatives stood up for Britain. We don't get pushed around. Britain is a great trading nation. Of course, we should engage with other countries, even hostile ones.
Order. Mr. Kyle, you said to me when you're going to China how well you will behave. Oh, you owe me a big thank you. You're not showing it today. Come here.
Mr. Speaker, I'm not worried about the business sector. The entire business community thinks he's a joke and doesn't know what he's talking about. So, as I was saying, of course, we should engage with other countries, even hostile ones, but we need to do so with our eyes open and from a position of strength. And that requires a Prime Minister and a government that puts our national interest first.
Prime Minister.
Mr. Speaker, let me see if I understand her position. This is the Leader of the Opposition who said we should empty chair the most important NATO summit for years, who wouldn't turn up to the G7, who would rip up our valuable trade deals with the US, India, and the EU. This is the Leader of the Opposition who characterized Greenland as a second-order issue, then undermined the government's position on sovereignty. And when it comes to China, her policy is to stick her head in the sand, unable to influence anything. In a volatile world, that is not policy. That's an abdication of responsibility. No wonder her front bench are leaving in droves.
And Mr. Speaker, she talks of the embassy. China's had an embassy in the UK since 1877. It is currently spread across seven sites. The Leader of the Opposition is so busy trying to hold her party together, she's clearly not read the letter from the security and intelligence services. But Mr. Speaker, she claims great interest in the China embassy. She was offered an invite for a Privy Council briefing on the issue. What did she do? She chose not to attend. Mr. Speaker, that's a dereliction of duty. Even worse, what did she do? She sent in her place the Member for Croydon South, the Shadow Home Secretary. That is a double dereliction of duty. Instead of taking up a Privy Council briefing, she took up a megaphone on the streets outside the embassy. I changed my party from a party of protest to a party of power. She's rapidly going in the opposite direction. And her, her reply this afternoon seems to be that we should engage with China but not engage with China. That, what we should do instead of leader-to-leader discussions where we raise all the opportunities and the difficult issues, each and every one of them, instead of those leader-to-leader meetings, should get a bag of sand and put her head in it and influence absolutely nothing. They're so unserious about world affairs.
Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Emily Thornberry.
Very much, Mr. Speaker. Um, I'd like to thank the Prime Minister for his statement, and I'm pleased to see that his trip went so well. This morning I was in touch with the Scotch Whiskey Association, who want me to convey their congratulations to the Prime Minister for securing reduced tariffs in China. But there is, of course, more work needed. A Prime Minister's job is never done. Um, the biggest overseas market for whiskey is, of course, the US, where the tariff is still too high. So, can the Prime Minister confirm that this will not be the end of the support that he will give to the Scotch whiskey um industry, and will continue to be an advocate for them?
Yes, I can, uh, confirm that, uh, we're continuing to work with the US, and of course, uh, the India deal that we secured will have an impact on tariffs for whiskey as well.
Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Ed Davey.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And with your indulgence, can I start by paying tribute to my friend Jim Wallace, one of the great Scottish Liberals, and offer our thoughts and prayers to his family and many friends. Jim devoted his life to public service, his Christian faith, and the cause of liberalism. But, Mr. Speaker, his judgment wasn't always impeccable, for it was Jim who gave me my first job in politics. We'll miss him.
Turning to the statement, can I thank the Prime Minister for advanced sight of it? I listen to the Conservative leader whose position now seems to be to oppose trade with the world's biggest economies. So much for Global Britain. But with, Mr. Speaker, with President Trump threatening tariffs again, just because of the Prime Minister's trip, with Vladimir Putin still murdering civilians in Ukraine, now more than ever, the United Kingdom must forge much closer alliances with nations.