Speeches by Byrne.

“Yes, Chair. Apologies for being late; Lord Sedwill slightly ran over in his evidence, but it was so excellent I did not want to stop him in mid flow. Thank you for looking at this application. There are basically three reasons why we have put the application in, and we are conscious that you have got the devil’s choice…”

“We think there is plenty of material and interest across the House, so yes.”

“What is essential now is that this does not escalate. Widespread duties on UK exports to the US would be devastating for economic growth, bad for inflation and bad for interest rates. The whole House ought to wish His Majesty’s new ambassador, Lord Mandelson, the very best of luck in the conduct of his new tasks in Was…”

“I very much welcome the statement from my right hon. Friend, but the reality is that he has inherited a deal with the European Union that has knocked about 4% to 5% off our economic output each year. Certainly, the Business and Trade Committee heard in Brussels last week a clear message from the business community that…”

“I want to check something. On 23 February 2023, you said, “By the end of Labour’s first term, we will deliver the highest sustained growth in the G7.” That critical phrase, “By the end of Labour’s first term,” was not in the plan for change. Is it still the goal to deliver the highest sustained growth in the G7 by the …”

“Congratulations to the Secretary of State. This is excellent news for the people of Appledore and of Northern Ireland and for workers across the Harland & Wolff supply chain. He might want to confirm that the peril of providing a Government guarantee was the possibility of entailing a huge payout to a US-based hedg…”

“You are committed to negotiating an SPS deal—a closer veterinary deal—with the EU. That would probably rule out a grand bargain free trade deal with the United States, because we could not include something on agriculture in such a bargain. How are you going to put the two deals together—with Europe on the one hand and…”

“Did you discuss this?”

“Among the perils that we face next year is now the looming threat of tariffs. What are you going to do to dissuade President-elect Trump from imposing tariffs on the UK?”

“But we are landing three big changes at the same time. That is what is causing the howls of pain.”

“We are going to need to unleash business potential in order to hit that ambition, as you yourself have said. My Committee has talked to hundreds of businesses over the last month. What they say to me really clearly is that the combined impact of the national insurance contribution rise, the Employment Rights Bill and t…”

“But you have not put numbers on that ambition; you have just said that you want to see real household income go up. I think we have delivered that in every Parliament since 1955, so are you going to put numbers on how much better off people will feel?”

“Thank you—I get that. I just want to pin this down. The IMF, by 2029, has us at about third in the G7, behind Canada and the US. You are telling the Committee today that our goal is to beat both the US and Canada and be top of that league table by the end of this Parliament.”

“What businesses are really asking for now is a plan for growth, and they are struggling to see that. I appreciate the long-term virtues of the investment plan the Chancellor has set out; the challenge is that it is all quite long-term, and in the long term we are all dead. What is needed for the business community is h…”

“That is obviously not what the forecasters are predicting, but your goal is then to beat those forecasts.”

“I welcome much of the Minister’s statement today. Redress is being paid out faster, but the truth is that 70% of the budget for redress has still not been paid. The Select Committee will be supplying its advice on how we make that faster in a report that we will release on new year’s day. The Minister has set out detai…”

“I welcome the statement made by this hard-working Minister. I take it from the announcement that Mr Křetínský has cleared the investment screening tests that the Cabinet Office is responsible for. It would be useful to have that confirmed. Let me press my hon. Friend about the universal service obligation. Is it his in…”

“Let me come to exactly that argument. The Foreign Secretary was followed by the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, who said that there were now “significant doubts” about Israel’s “record of compliance”. In court, His Majesty’s Government said bluntly, in their opening statement on 12 November 2024, that Israel…”

“I will not, because time is so short. Last week, in front of the Business and Trade Committee, a Defence Minister said that although it is technically possible to track the parts, it is contractually impossible. Indeed, Lockheed Martin has supplied me with a letter that states that, if I want to know anything about the…”

“I am grateful to the Minister for giving way; he is being characteristically generous. As I understand it, we cannot track F-35 parts because we have signed a contract that basically renders us blind when they leave our borders. Technically, it is possible; the Ministry of Defence has said that. The issue the Minister …”