Perran Moon

I wholeheartedly agree: for our farmers and our fishers, Brexit has been a disaster—I will come on to that. We were promised in Cornwall that the funding would be replaced like for like, but it never was. The Brexit benefits were all smoke and mirrors. As my hon. Friend says, our farmers now compete with cheap imports, our fishermen face more bureaucracy, and our businesses face new trade barriers. Across Britain, 20,000 small businesses have stopped exporting to the EU. Farm exports to the EU fell 37% in the five years following the referendum. Brexit has been a tragic failure and Britain is infinitely weaker—economically, socially and culturally—because of it. It is interesting to listen to the hon. Members for Harwich and North Essex (Sir Bernard Jenkin) and for East Wiltshire (Danny Kruger), who sound like two King Cnuts shouting at the sea while the waves of evidence that Brexit has been a failure crash over them. I reiterate what I said in September: there were virtually no small boat crossings before the Brexit referendum. Why the increase? It is because we took the disastrous decision to leave the Dublin agreement and the Eurodac database without replacements. It is only since this Labour Government have started working collaboratively with our friends and colleagues in France that the number of people crossing the channel in small boats is down, year on year, by 44%. I therefore welcome the Prime Minister’s willingness to hold an honest conversation about our long-term relationship with Europe with all options on the table. As chair of the electric vehicle all-party parliamentary group, I am particularly concerned by the “Made in Europe” policy. I am delighted that the Prime Minister has just raised that issue at the Dispatch Box. Without an agreement, British-built electric vehicles could be excluded from subsidies available to EU-produced vehicles, placing UK manufacturers at a systemic disadvantage. I therefore urge Ministers to ensure that an agreement there remains a priority. The question the Prime Minister has posed is: how can we contemplate another 10 years of failure? If we are not prepared to commit to the status quo, what are the alternatives? I hope that in coming weeks and months we can engage constructively, cross party, for the sake of our constituents and our country.