Speeches by Bryant.

“If you look at the figures of significant costs, first of all national insurance contributions in India and in the UK are broadly comparable. They are not identical, but they are broadly comparable. Secondly, this is only for people who are working here on a temporary basis. Thirdly, the additional charges that there a…”

“I have not seen that figure, no. Obviously this process is not completed. That negotiation still has to be completed and it is one of the other reasons why it is difficult to be precise about a date for entry into force and full ratification, because we have said that these two things will happen at the same time. I wa…”

“I was not involved in that process. I do not know whether that was a demand, but we were very keen to make sure on business mobility—and everybody that was referred to earlier by Mr Reynolds has welcomed the changes that we have secured there—the locking in of the system, which has been welcomed. That was where we thou…”

“Likewise, legal services are always very difficult and nearly every country in the world—India particularly—has a concept of legal services as being a noble profession, and this again would require significant legislative change in India. There came a point at which we deemed it would be too difficult to be able to ach…”

“For a start, it would have required significant and legislative change in India. We would have liked to have been able to see us go further in this, and we were not able to do so. There is always a balancing act between wanting to be able to ensure that your own country is able to innovate in life sciences and pharmace…”

“It is a different amount of money. It is a much more dramatic change that it is giving to us than the other way round.”

“No, it does not give us access to all of that, but I hope and have an aspiration that we will be able to improve on that in future years. As I say, the UK has always had an open procurement policy and India has historically always had a very closed one. This is a much more significant advance that we have made and it h…”

“The total Indian procurement market is £500 billion.”

“First of all, it is worth bearing in mind that we have gained access to potentially £38 billion-worth of contracts in India in sectors including advanced manufacturing, healthcare, construction and infrastructure. When you bear in mind India’s historic “made in India” provisions, that is a very significant improvement.…”

“In many regards, it is as important in services as it is in goods, but sometimes it is more difficult to evaluate. For instance, we have gained market access on telecommunications—UK firms can now invest up to 49% of foreign direct investment, and subject to Government approval up to 100%—and that is a significant win …”

“In the end, the deal has to be judged in the round but, yes, you are absolutely right, the agricultural deal has to be looked in the round. As you know, in every single negotiation it is one of the most sensitive areas.”

“I do not know whether Kate was more intimately involved in the process of deciding.”

“As with any deal, when it comes to agricultural issues, of course there are issues that are of particular concern for some countries and not for others. There are issues that we deliberately did not put on the table and there are others that India did not. We have already had clearance from an independent body that the…”

“I understand the point you are making, but I am making a different one. I thought we were referring to the NFU trying to claim that there were two sets of standards that were going to be introduced into UK dairy.”

“A competitive threat is different from a standards threat. The point is being made that the independent body—”

“That is incorrect.”

“As I was trying to explain earlier, my point here is that there are not going to be any dairy products coming in from India at the moment because none of the companies have the required licenses to be able to import into the UK because they do not meet our standards. One of the things that we have been very keen to do …”

“I have been trying to explain already that I do not have anything against dairy farmers.”

“Yes, I am happy to write if that would be helpful.”

“One of the conversations that has been going on—and started before my appointment—with other Departments and the FCDO is how we make sure that the whole of the UK Government presence in India is geared towards implementing the FTA and enabling UK businesses to export into that market and exploit the opportunities that …”