Member

The SPS controls—which have prevented our agri-food industries gaining the benefits that they used to gain when we were a member of the European Union and that they could have gained if there had been an SPS agreement—are very substantial, and I wonder whether the noble Lord who is moving this Motion took, at the time, the views and interests of those industries. Did he ask them whether they wanted an SPS agreement? I rather doubt it. Did he pay any attention to the fact that many of those industries are now extremely enthusiastic about the idea of an SPS agreement with the European Union? I think that is pretty clear. Did he at the time conduct any kind of impact assessment as to the effect his dereliction would have? I doubt that too.