Pippa Heylings

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Edward. I thank the petitioners for bringing forward the petition. In the referendum, South Cambridgeshire was one of the strongest remain-voting constituencies in the country, and many of my constituents have signed this petition. We all respect the result, but 10 years on, we have a responsibility to look honestly at the consequences and costs of Brexit and the relationship that we do want with Europe, so that we can strengthen our economy, security, immigration, energy independence, climate and nature recovery. In South Cambridgeshire, we see the impacts and consequences clearly. Our farmers have faced costs and red tape because the UK lost alignment with EU sanitary and phytosanitary rules, leading to additional, burdensome checks on animal and plant shipments. Our universities and life science research have faced barriers to world-class collaboration, particularly in relation to our exclusion from Horizon until 2024. Our young people have lost the right to live, work and travel across Europe, and I ask the Minister to confirm that we will rejoin the Erasmus scheme. Cambridgeshire chamber of commerce told me that in its latest survey, one in five businesses reported falling overseas sales, alongside increased paperwork and higher export costs. On the cost of living, by taking the UK out of the EU’s energy market, the Conservatives created barriers to trading electricity with our nearest neighbours. According to Energy UK, that has increased the cost of electricity imports by up to £370 million a year, with cumulative costs potentially reaching £10 billion by 2030. Will the Minister confirm that the upcoming UK-EU summit will enable the UK to rejoin the EU internal electricity market? Brexit has also had an environmental cost. Many Brexiteers wanted environmental deregulation, and since Brexit, we have seen Britain diverge from European standards, including in areas such as tackling deforestation and saving primary tropical forests, on which we have been far outpaced by the EU. The lesson of the last decade is clear: Britain benefits when it works closely with its closest European neighbours. Will the Minister confirm that he will scrap the red lines and join the Liberal Democrats in calling for a new growth and defence partnership with the EU? By joining the customs union, the single market and the internal electricity market, we can collectively boost growth, create jobs, strengthen immigration, raise living standards and make Britain safer, as well as recover our nature and tackle climate change together.