Speeches by Bryant.

“We are looking at all those issues in the round. We need to ensure that there is the support that people need in a variety of different ways. Some of that is about ensuring that bills get paid on time and some is making sure that those businesses have the access to finance that they have historically found difficult. W…”

“I can count; the hon. Member cannot. Let me remind him: growth under the Tories was 1.5%, and growth under Labour is 2.2%. Which is higher? It is higher under Labour, isn’t it? Why did we lose the vote last night? Because of 25 Tory hereditary peers. Why on earth would that be? Why do we think they might not be willing…”

“We are going to get the best possible deal that we can out of the European Union. That is one of the reasons that I was in Brussels only yesterday alongside Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Minister for the Cabinet Office. We are getting a better deal from the European Union. We want to ensure that we have frictionless trade w…”

“I apologise on behalf of the Secretary of State, who is striking deals in the United States of America. In recent weeks, we have announced £2.5 billion of investment in the UK’s first small modular reactor site at Wylfa, launched a critical minerals strategy and done a deal with the US on pharmaceuticals. Mr Speaker, i…”

“Yes.”

“It is a bit of a cheek, isn’t it, the Conservatives coming and talking about a steel strategy when they had absolutely no strategy and did not even choose to go and visit some of the steelworks that we are talking about. There will be a steel strategy. The Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Chris McDonald…”

“My hon. Friend refers to his long and proud career in the industry. It can’t have been that long, because he is so young—[Interruption.] I am being nice. One thing I have felt very strongly about for a long time is that the hospitality industry in the UK needs to consider a job in the industry as a proper, honourable c…”

“The hon. Member seems to have lost the plot, frankly. Let me just point something out to him: what was average growth under the Tories? It was 1.5%. What is it under Labour? It is 2.2%. Which is higher? It is higher under Labour than the Tories. Average employment in the UK under the Tories was 73.8%. What is it under …”

“Yes, completely. One tiny other thing that you and I have on occasion bemoaned in the House is the fact that whereas 20 years ago there was a general expectation that free trade around the world would grow, in recent years that space has tended to be more limited, rather than grow. Still 72% of trade in the world is do…”

“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.…”

“It will be on a motion.”

“Yes. As the Minister who took forward CRAG in 2009-10, it would be bizarre if the Government did not want to have a debate on the FTA, not least because we think that it is a very dramatic and significant achievement. It will lead to the protection of jobs in the UK. It will make people in the UK better off and it will…”

“Didn’t you want to ask me about ISDS?”

“It is not very alive at the moment. It is certainly one of the things that we need to consider, because investment between our two countries is a key part of enabling some of the other aspects of any deal.”

“We do have an extensive committee structure. The truth is, as I said right at the beginning, an FTA is only the start of a process. It often feels like the end of a process because Kate and her team have slogged their guts out and gone on endless meetings and so on, but the truth is it is all about the implementation a…”

“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…”