Speeches by Bryant.

“I said earlier that I had two things that I was focused on. The first was about services. I am not sure whether the figures you gave there are for goods or services.”

“The draft that was published was, I think, not the version that was anticipated in December, and the draft that was anticipated in December would have excluded us from everything. That is why, notwithstanding the very significant concerns we have about the automotive sector, I was pleased last week to see the version t…”

“This is primarily a DSIT lead, rather than DBT, but because some of it was announced around the same time as our work on the economic prosperity deal, it has sometimes got conflated with it. I am happy to make sure that you get any information from DSIT that you want. Kate, is there anything that you want to add?”

“I certainly have not been to one. Kate?”

“There are lots of bits of it. It is a series of chunks; bits of it are still progressing, and other bits are—I think the Americans themselves have used this term—“paused”. For instance, in our work on quantum research we are still moving forward.”

“I might have to write to you, because although I read it all last week, it is not at the top of my mind. When I met with SMMT on Wednesday or Thursday—whichever day it was—the key point it was making to me was about access to fleet sales.”

“I am very happy to. I am going to Brussels on Monday, I am going to Paris on Tuesday, and I think on Wednesday I am going to the Netherlands, as well, to meet members of the new Government there.”

“Indeed. But also, the free flow of trade is vital to everybody.”

“It is certainly true that we have discussions. I myself have not seen those two things connected, and I do not think that we have, but Kate will answer in a moment. It is certainly true that one of the things that the US has regularly said, in Senate hearings and so on, is that it wants us to dismantle some of what it …”

“There is a technical reason why. Basically, what Canada was being offered in proportion to what it was seeking to achieve was very similar to the UK. If you want all the detail on that, we are happy to write to you, but Amanda is about to give some of it. As I say, British businesses are still able to participate, but …”

“I am told there are others making a different argument, and I am visiting Paris on Tuesday.”

“True, which is one of the reasons why we quite often focus on our services capacity. That is part of our negotiation with China at the moment—to be able to unlock much more potential with UK trade and services to China.”

“Yes, from the conversations that I have had with my counterparts. I think I am going to have to persuade them for 10 minutes and then they start with it; they say it before I do, because it is as damaging for them as it is for us. How many cars are made just in one country—the final thing? Hardly any, if any.”

“Obviously that is one of the things that we have been considering. Some of that relationship, in relation to specific energy prices, lies with DESNZ rather than ourselves, but we need to consider what the knock-on effects might be for other sectors. That is one of the things we are already focused on—I cannot remember …”

“Sorry, thank you—mutual recognition of professional qualifications. We are working on a series of sectors at the moment. There are a series of other standards—not just in relation to foodstuffs but in relation to furniture and electronic equipment and so on—where I would like us to get to a position of as much alignmen…”

“As much frictionless trade as is possible. What are the frictions in different sectors? You might have friction about business travel and whether people are able to do their business elsewhere in Europe. Some of that might be about mutual recognition of professional standards—”

“Yes. I have Jimmy Maxton running through my mind from 1935. He said that if you can’t ride two horses at the same time, you better get out of the circus. The truth of the matter is that since the UK left the European Union, we have a new responsibility, which is trade, and we have to be able to ride an awful lot of hor…”

“Of course. If you go back to steel, which is the classic instance, I think from memory that—I might have got these figures wrong—in 1970 we produced 27.8 million tonnes of steel in the UK. That was our peak. When we got to 2010, I think it was something like 9.4 million and now it is 4 million. The rapid fall in the la…”

“That is why I am very hopeful that we will win this argument.”

“It is a chunk of things that have been enabled by co-operation between the two Governments and would not have happened without that co-operation, although they are in the commercial interests of both ends of the equation.”