Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Con)

My Lords, I am very grateful to the Minister for the Answer, and it is reassuring to hear that the Secretary of State is in India. However, the fact is that the previous Government secured Brexit freedoms precisely to break free from EU protectionism and position Britain as a champion of global free trade. Within months of signing what Ministers themselves called a landmark deal with India, this Government have now announced steel tariff measures so damaging that senior Indian officials are threatening to withdraw important concessions. For example, the Scotch whisky industry, one of Britain’s greatest exporting success stories, was on the cusp of seeing tariffs on its exports to India slashed from 150% to 75% immediately, falling further to 40% over the life of the agreement. We do not need a review in 12 months to tell us what 100 years of economic history already confirms: tariffs damage trade, raise costs and, ultimately, hurt the very industries and consumers they purport to protect. Will the Minister commit today to reversing the steel tariffs outright, saving the landmark deal and sending an unambiguous signal to British businesses and our global partners that Britain is open for business?