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  • Kemi Badenoch – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    Kemi Badenoch – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    The speech made by Kemi Badenoch, the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, in Manchester on 2 October 2023.

    The last time I gave a speech at conference was 6 years ago. It was absolutely terrifying. Not because I was a new MP. But because standing on this stage, means something…

    It means standing on the shoulders of some of the greatest Conservatives this country has ever produced.

    On the conference stage in 1988, a Cabinet Minister said, “you can build far greater and far more lasting prosperity, by letting people cooperate in the freedom of the market place, than by making them submit to the coercion of Government regulations and state bureaucracy.”

    That minister was the late Nigel Lawson, our greatest chancellor and a man who helped turn this country’s fortunes around …

    We here today are custodians of that tradition. At every significant moment of British history, Conservatives have applied our values for the good of the country.

    As Business Secretary, I have the privilege of travelling all around our United Kingdom listening and learning from the people who make this country great: the entrepreneurs, the risk-takers, the problem-solvers who are inventing new products, creating new jobs, and generating prosperity.

    And as Trade Secretary, I am filled with pride at the huge honour of representing the UK on the world stage.

    And you know what? Everywhere I go other countries speak with nothing but admiration and respect for Britain.

    Then I feel a twinge of sadness, because I remember that our political opponents back home and their friends in the media continue to speak about our country like it’s an irrelevant nation. We reject this narrative.

    But that is why Conservatives must always be vigilant. We look at the world as it is, not as we wish it to be. Nigel Lawson said, “To govern is to choose”. Conference, we know if you can’t choose, you can’t govern.

    We are honest about costs and trade-offs. We are prepared to make difficult decisions.

    Our opponents are not honest and they are not prepared. Liberal Democrats want more immigration but no housing. Labour’s big idea…after 13 years in opposition is to slap 20% on school fees…a policy not seen since Jeremy Corbyn’s manifesto! And as for the SNP…well let’s wait until the outcome of the police investigation.

    My 6-year-old asked me, “Mummy, What’s a Business Secretary. What does that mean?”. I told him it means “everything is my business”.

    From supermarkets to labour markets, supply chains to strikes, small business to big business we are working to keep Britain on top.

    And it has been a difficult time to be in government anywhere in the world.

    Ministers in other countries tell me about supply chain issues affecting everything from getting car components to stocking supermarket shelves. They tell me about how they are coping with unfilled vacancies as societies from Germany to Japan get older.

    But it is only when I am back in the UK that l am told that all these issues are down to Brexit.

    Our political opponents are obsessed with viewing every problem as Brexit. Relentlessly talking down our country.

    So as your Business and Trade Secretary, I’m here to set the record straight.

    They told us Brexit would hold back our recovery from the pandemic and we have the worst economic performance in Europe. Wrong.

    The UK’s recovery from COVID has outpaced France and Germany. This year we overtook France to become the third 3rd largest manufacturer in Europe.

    They tell you ‘Our exports have dropped to an all-time low’. Wrong. This year we rose from the world’s 6th to 5th largest exporter of goods and services.

    They told you that Brexit would be the end of the City. Wrong. London remains the top financial investment destination in Europe. Far from losing jobs in the City, they are at a record high. 8% more today than in 2019.

    But I’m not here to tell you that leaving the EU was without challenges. That would not be true. People knew it would take time and there would be challenges along the way. What is true, is that we are working to fix them.

    Whether it is the Prime Minister’s landmark Windsor Framework or the great work of my Lords ministers, Malcolm Offord and Timothy Minto lowering export barriers and removing unnecessary regulations, I want you to know we are solving those problems one by one.

    But this government’s vision for business and trade is about more than Brexit. My ministers and I have been securing investment, delivering jobs, and levelling up the UK.

    An hour from here is Ellesmere Port, where car manufacturer Stellantis have invested £100 million in the new production plant, the first of its kind for them in the world.

    Ellesmere Port may have a Labour MP, but it’s a Conservative government that is delivering for them.

    In Oxfordshire, BMW is investing £600 million to build electric Minis…

    In Somerset, thanks to the hard work of my investment minister, Lord Johnson, we secured a £4 billion investment in a new gigafactory. Creating up to 4,000 highly skilled jobs.

    Minister Nus Ghani helped deliver a fantastic deal with Airbus, Rolls Royce and Air India. Worth more than £100 million of investment to Wales.

    Last month, I announced our plans to regenerate Port Talbot steelworks. Creating a plant that is more profitable, less polluting and ensures we are not dependent on countries like China to produce steel. It will level up a part of South Wales which many had written off. Saving 5,000 jobs.

    Port Talbot may have a Labour MP, but it’s a Conservative government that is delivering for them.

    But we are not just securing increased investment today…we’re delivering long term economic security for tomorrow through trade.

    My proudest achievement, with the help of minister, Nigel Huddleston, has been securing the membership of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, CPTPP.

    We are joining a club of fast-growing countries committed to free trade. A club with no membership fees, no political union, and no free movement of people. A club that will give us access to a region that will account for 54% of global growth and home to half of the world’s middle-class consumers. A club in which we will never again be asked to sacrifice our sovereignty.

    Conference, I’m not listing these achievements to make us feel good. Actually, we must acknowledge what we might lose if we assume the arguments are won forever.

    The people who tell you that Brexit is the cause of every problem, do so because they think the answer to everything is the EU.

    Listen to what Keir Starmer says… His answer to the global challenges we face is to tax more, regulate more and ask the EU what to do next.

    This is not someone who believes in the UK’s ability to think for itself.

    Our Prime Minister is different. He set out his five priorities in black and white. He refused to cave to the public sector union barons, or dance to the tune of the metropolitan bubble on energy policy.

    What he did two weeks ago was brave. Shattering a lazy consensus about the costs of Net Zero.

    We can’t deliver our net zero targets with magical thinking, expecting those who can least afford it, to not have cars or heat their homes.

    We are on your side. The side of hard-working people, and entrepreneurs who take risks with their money and livelihoods to provide jobs and services for others.

    We are on the side of those who toil. Not those who tweet.

    We are on the side of those whose voices have been ignored for too long. Sometimes it feels like the system is against you. Sometimes the system gets it wrong.

    That happened with the Post Office Horizon scandal. Scores of postmasters across Britain were wrongly convicted due to faulty software. Hardworking men and women endured unimaginable hardship, financial ruin, jail time. I was determined to right this wrong.

    No amount of money can fully compensate for liberty unjustly taken away. But with the help of my business minister Kevin Hollinrake, last month we announced that every wrongfully convicted postmaster will receive £600,000 in compensation.

    Telling the truth is the most important thing in politics. It’s the only way to really show who’s side we’re on.

    One of my heroes is the economist, Thomas Sowell. He says “When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear.”

    Nowhere is this more important than in my role as Women and Equalities minister. I’m not a difficult woman but I do like doing difficult things. Conservatives aren’t afraid of doing difficult things.

    Last year I published a report that told the truth about race in the UK. Labour didn’t like it. They want young people to believe a narrative of hopelessness.

    A narrative that says there is no point in trying, because British society is against you and you’re better off asking for reparations.

    A narrative that tells children like mine that the odds are stacked against them. I tell my children that is the best country in the world to be black – because it’s a country that sees people, not labels.

    Conservatives want young people to be proud of their country when others want them to be ashamed. It wasn’t a tough decision for us to reject the divisive agenda of critical race theory. We believe as Martin Luther King once said, people should be judged by the content of their character – not the colour of their skin. And if that puts us in conflict with those who would re-racialise society, who would put up the divisions that have been torn down – well, Conference, all I can say is: bring it on.

    Let Labour bend the knee before this altar of intolerance. We’ll keep building a country that is, in every way, stronger and fairer for all.

    The left accuses us of fighting a culture war. But we will not apologise for fighting for common sense.

    I will not apologise for fighting for a society that knows what a woman is.

    It was this Conservative government that stopped shameful SNP and Labour politicians in Scotland pursuing a self-ID policy that let convicted rapists pretend that they were actually women so they could be housed in a women’s prison with potential new victims.

    I pay tribute to the many women’s and LGBT groups such as Conservatives for Women, Sex Matters and the LGB Alliance who despite unbelievable opposition kept fighting this policy, refusing to be cancelled and speaking the truth.

    There is no other party that will defend common sense.

    Next week, Labour will tell the country that it is ready for government. But ladies and gentlemen, let me ask you this if Labour MPs can’t tell us what a woman is, what else aren’t they telling us?

    Conference, I think it is obvious that I love my country, I love my party and I love my job. I’m proud of what my ministers and I have achieved in the last year.

    No, the job is not yet finished… it never is. But we have done great things and we cannot let our good work be undone by letting Labour in.

    The biggest threat to Britain’s future would be the calamity of a Labour government and when we get closer to the election the starkness of that choice will become clearer.

    We have in Rishi Sunak, a Prime Minister who is making decisions for the long term interest of our country, even when he gets flak for it. He protects businesses and employees when in crisis as he did during Covid. But he says no to lazy subsidies and anti-competitive regulations.

    He has the intellect and work ethic to steer us through whatever comes next, to tell the country what it needs to hear, not just what it wants to hear.

    Brexit was perhaps the greatest ever vote of confidence in the project of the United Kingdom – and we will soon be asking the country to trust that this project is safe in our hands.

    We’ll do this by reminding them that Conservative ideas are just as powerful, just as relevant today as they have been in the past. That Government is not the answer to every problem and neither is more spending.

    We’ll remind them that just as Margaret Thatcher and Nigel Lawson did in the 1980s we are taking tough decisions for the long-term future of the country today.

    A new British success story is getting started: we must not let Labour ruin it.

  • Kemi Badenoch – 2023 Speech to the Northern Ireland Investment Summit

    Kemi Badenoch – 2023 Speech to the Northern Ireland Investment Summit

    The speech made by Kemi Badenoch, the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, in Belfast on 13 September 2023.

    Good afternoon everyone, your Royal Highness, my Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen.

    I know you’ve already been welcomed several times over the last two days, but I would like to thank you specially this afternoon for being in Belfast for the Department of Business and Trade’s first ever investment Summit, and I believe the first Investment Summit ever of its kind in Northern Ireland.

    This Summit is absolutely swarming with ministers desperate to talk to business and the investment community. So, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank my fellow ministers, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Chris Heaton-Harris, the Minister of State Steve Baker, Secretary of State for Levelling Up Michael Gove and of course business and trade ministers, Lord Johnson, and Lord offered for all their support on business engagement.

    I’d also like to thank the Prime Minister’s trade envoy to the US Sir Conor Burns for being an excellent sherpa over the last couple of days.

    So at this summit, we’re going to be telling a story of Northern Ireland that’s different from the ones you typically hear. A story of energy, creativity, and innovation.

    But first, for me, a story about growth and how the UK Government and my department will help achieve that.

    When I first became Business and Trade Secretary, I decided our mission was to ensure that our department became the government’s engine for economic growth.

    It was my focus when I was a Treasury minister, and even more so now in a world that is becoming increasingly competitive and increasingly complex.

    So how does government deliver growth?

    The truth is, it doesn’t, business does.

    Our job is to get out of the way and make life easier for all of you to grow. So we’ve been doing this by focusing on five priorities.

    The first is removing the barriers to business and trade, not just in our country, but around the world, cutting through red tape and tailoring regulation to better suit the needs of a dynamic UK.

    The second is maintaining our status as Europe’s top investment destination.

    For three years running, the UK has topped the tables for new foreign direct investment projects in Europe. And since I took up the role, the UK has risen to third in the world for inward investment only behind the US and China, and business investment is up nearly 7% year-on-year.

    And I was particularly delighted just this week that we have overtaken France and are now the eighth largest manufacturing economy in the world.

    We need to attract the capital that transforms homegrown enterprises into global ones. And building on this progress is why we’re here today to help deliver our other priority of growing exports.

    We don’t just want to sell in the UK or even in the EU, but all over the world. Building on this progress is why we’re all here today.

    Another priority is signing high quality trade deals. Earlier this year, we signed our accession to CPTPP – the Comprehensive Progressive Trans Pacific Partnership for those of you who don’t know – that is a deal that is going to give our businesses including here in Northern Ireland greater access to markets that are home to half a billion people.

    That’s where the 21st century’s middle class will be coming from. They’ve got money in their pockets and surging demand for your goods and services.

    The final one, and the one closest to my heart, is defending free and fair trade. Many people hear this and they think it means giving money to developing countries.

    But actually, it is about providing economic security, and defending the rules-based trading system that underpins a lot of the security and safety of how we do business in our country.

    Many people think that the way to do this is to become more protectionist. And I can understand that. There are a lot of countries who are feeling the pain from a whole list of issues.

    The supply chain fallout post-pandemic, Russia’s war in Ukraine, a more assertive China, and when the world feels so unsure, the natural reaction is to want to retreat from it. But slamming down the shutters and putting up a ‘closed’ sign isn’t the solution.

    I grew up in a country that was actually very protectionist, and it can be quite awful. And people continue to bring more policies that make life worse for people that make them poorer, while championing a nationalism that actually doesn’t do anything for anyone.

    What we need is an open economy. And in a ever more connected world, we cannot be economically isolationist.

    But we also can’t be knowingly naive. We need to be smart. We need to be clever, but we also need to be open.

    You can’t put a border on ideas, but you can put a border on opportunity if you have the wrong policies.

    And that brings me back to the story which we want to tell about Northern Ireland at this summit.

    It is about opportunity, and how the UK Government is working to create it here.

    Today, there are more people employed in manufacturing in Northern Ireland than either the Republic or the UK average.

    And we know that long term prosperity requires peace, and the political progress of the last few decades has nurtured business confidence.

    It’s led to billions in inward investment and it’s driven economic growth.

    There have undeniably been some recent challenges. But this government has restored the smooth flow of trade from Great Britain to Northern Ireland and protected Northern Ireland’s place in our Union.

    This certainty and stability makes Northern Ireland an even more attractive investment prospect, given its unique trading position with a seamless land border with the single market and within an internal UK market that is striking trade deals across the world and scrapping hundreds of trade barriers.

    When you back Northern Ireland, you back this country, you are joining a growing list of businesses and investors who also recognise these opportunities.

    From the creators of Game of Thrones – my favourite TV show – who filmed one of the world’s most successful fantasy dramas not far from here, making an enormous contribution to Northern Ireland’s incredible creative industry, to the businesses that are committing £20 billion of investment a year, creating thousands of new jobs in the last few years alone.

    Just today, for example, you would have heard EY announcing 1,000 new jobs in a new hub here.

    Northern Ireland is well positioned to take advantage of the government’s broader work to drive innovation across the UK.

    On new Smarter Regulation Framework also commits to regulation only as a last resort so that we don’t stifle innovation.

    And of course, every nation needs a bedrock of talent and skills to succeed.

    Health and life sciences is just one of the many areas where Northern Ireland is in a prime position, thanks to a combination of expertise, world class research, strong links between industry, clinicians and academia – in Queen’s University and also the University of Ulster.

    But what’s been interesting is listening to all of you over my meetings this morning and at the reception yesterday, telling me about what your personal experiences have been, how you see business and education being a lot better integrated here than in other parts of the UK, for example, and an increasing numbers of businesses are using this skills base as a springboard to diversify into the low carbon and renewable energy sector.

    Local businesses are building expertise in producing green hydrogen, manufacturing hydrogen buses, and developing intelligent systems for carbon capture and storage.

    But I won’t go on because this summit is not about me. It is about you, and I’d like to finish on one final note.

    It is our responsibility to promote all parts of Northern Ireland, especially the Northwest, not just this great city of Belfast where we meet today. And that is something that the government is trying to ensure that we are levelling up across the UK but also across Northern Ireland too.

    I’m convinced that Northern Ireland has an incredible future and over the summit we’ll get a glimpse of all that lies ahead. Please consider becoming more of a part it.

    Thank you so much, and now I’m honoured to welcome our special guest, Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, to the stage.

  • Kemi Badenoch – 2023 Statement on the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership

    Kemi Badenoch – 2023 Statement on the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership

    The statement made by Kemi Badenoch, the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, in the House of Commons on 17 July 2023.

    Introduction

    The UK officially signed its accession protocol to the comprehensive and progressive agreement for trans-pacific partnership (CPTPP) on 16 July 2023. This trade agreement contains some of the world’s largest and most dynamic economies. Our membership will take the agreement from 11 to 12 members and represents the first expansion of this high-standards trade agreement.

    The agreement will act as a gateway to the wider Indo- Pacific and Americas region, bringing new opportunities for British businesses, supporting jobs across the whole UK and shaping the future of international trading rules.

    The Indo-Pacific region will account for the majority of global growth in coming decades and be home to around half the world’s middle-class consumers. On the UK joining, the CPTPP membership will account for around £12 trillion in GDP, a number which will grow as new members join. Economies including Costa Rica, Uruguay and Ecuador have formally applied, and the Republic of Korea, Thailand and the Philippines have expressed an interest in doing so. As the first acceding country, we have placed ourselves in an ideal position to benefit from future expansion of the agreement.

    Geopolitical benefits

    Accession to the agreement will send a powerful signal that the UK is using our post-Brexit freedoms to boost the economy. It will secure our place as the second largest economy in a trade grouping dedicated to free and rules-based trade while taking a larger role in setting standards for the global economy.

    Becoming a member will see us deepening our multilateral relations and strengthening our trading links in the Indo-Pacific region. We will work closely with our partners to develop the agreement, creating further benefits for all its members.

    As CPTPP grows, the UK will help shape its development to fight unfair and coercive trading practices that threaten the future of international trade. British businesses will benefit from enhanced access to more markets while trading under fair rules that allow them to compete and thrive on the global stage.

    Our status as an independent trading nation is putting the UK in an enviable position. Membership of this agreement will be a welcome addition to our bilateral free trade agreements with over 70 countries.

    Gains for businesses and consumers

    In an historic first, joining CPTPP will mean that the UK and Malaysia are in a free trade agreement together for the first time, giving British business better access to a market worth £330 billion. Manufacturers of key UK exports will be able to make the most of tariff reductions to this thriving market. Tariffs of around 80% on whisky will be eliminated within 10 years and tariffs of 30% on cars will be eliminated within seven years.

    In addition, over 99% of current UK goods exports to economies in the agreement will be eligible for zero tariff trade. The agreement’s provisions will also help facilitate trade by ensuring that customs procedures of CPTPP parties are efficient, consistent, transparent and predictable.

    Beyond goods exports, the UK’s world-leading services firms will benefit from modern rules which ensure non-discriminatory treatment and greater levels of transparency. In key sectors, UK companies will not be required to establish or maintain a representative office in a CPTPP territory. This will make it easier for them to provide services to consumers in other CPTPP countries.

    The deal we have struck will also open up new opportunities in the Government procurement markets of CPTPP members, including in Malaysia, Singapore and Japan.

    Business travel will be easier under the agreement. Britons travelling to CPTPP members for work purposes will enjoy greater certainty on trips for short-term work meetings. Professionals going to Peru and Vietnam for short-term business will be able to stay for six months. That is double the amount of time for previous agreements.

    UK consumers are also set to benefit from tariff reductions on imports. These tariff reductions could lead to cheaper prices, better choice and higher quality. Products such as fruit juices from Chile and Peru, and Mexican honey and chocolate, to name but a few, could all cost less.

    Defending UK interests in negotiations

    We have ensured that joining will not compromise our high animal and plant health, food safety or animal welfare standards. We have also maintained our right to regulate in the public interest, including in areas such as the environment and labour standards. Furthermore, we ensured that the NHS was kept off the table throughout the course of discussions, as in all of our free trade agreement negotiations. We have also ensured that UK producers will be protected. We have reduced import tariffs in proportion to the market access we have received and kept safeguards where necessary. Market access increases will be staged over time for certain products, ensuring that farmers have time to adjust to new trade flows. Permanent limits on tariff-free volumes have been agreed on some of the most sensitive products that can be exported to the UK. This includes on beef and pork.

    Conclusion and next steps

    Following signature, the Government will now take the necessary steps to ratify the agreement. The Secretary of State will write to the Trade and Agriculture Commission to commission its advice on the agreement.

    The Government have now published the accession protocol and related market access schedules, as well as relevant side letters, an impact assessment and a draft explanatory memorandum. With the publication of the accession protocol, the agreement text has now been presented to Parliament, but the Government will not commence the pre-ratification scrutiny process under the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 for a period of at least three months. This will ensure there is appropriate time for the relevant Select Committees to consider the agreement in advance. Legislation necessary to implement the agreement will be brought forward, and duly scrutinised by Parliament, when parliamentary time allows.

    Joining CPTPP marks a key step in the development of the UK’s independent trade policy. It will deepen our relations with a strategically vital region and offer exciting new opportunities for British businesses and consumers.

  • Kemi Badenoch – 2023 Speech at London Tech Week

    Kemi Badenoch – 2023 Speech at London Tech Week

    The speech made by Kemi Badenoch, the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, at London Tech Week on 13 June 2023.

    Good evening ladies and gentlemen.

    It’s a pleasure to be here at the flagship event for the Department for Business and Trade on the tenth anniversary of London Tech Week.

    This Government has a clear mission: to make the UK the most innovative economy in the world and cement our status as a Science and Technology Superpower.

    As the Business and Trade Secretary, I see it as my job to create the best possible business conditions to encourage innovative tech companies to start-up, invest and expand.

    The door of my Department is always open. We want to hear your concerns, celebrate your successes, and ensure that the Government is doing what it can for the real innovators and wealth creators.

    And we’re starting from a good base.

    The UK’s technology landscape is diverse and thriving, with a vibrant startup culture and a robust ecosystem that fosters innovation and provides significant opportunities for investors.

    We are home to some of the world’s most successful tech companies, including DeepMind, Graphcore and Darktrace, to name just a few.

    Last year, the UK became just the third country in the world to have a tech sector valued at $1 trillion, with more ‘unicorn’ billion-dollar tech startups being created than Germany, France and Sweden combined.

    During 2022, fast-growing UK tech companies raised near-record levels of funding at £24 billion.

    And in support of this success, Government has committed to £20 billion per year in R&D over the next two years.

    Because we want to create an environment that supports tech investment and entrepreneurship.

    Now, some people around the globe have seen recent decisions taken here and said it means Britain is not open for business.

    Let’s not forget those voices have clear skin in the game and speak in their own interests, and perhaps not always for the value and importance of protecting fair and open competition.

    We all depend on the products and services that big tech companies provide in our daily lives… and we all love a success story, but smaller start-ups need competitive markets if they are to grow into the success stories of tomorrow.

    The kind of competition where tech firms compete, prosper and thrive.

    That’s why the UK is providing what tech investors actually want: a highly skilled and engaged workforce and an ecosystem built to grow large scale investments.

    Part of this is ensuring that regulation is fit for purpose. I recently announced a new Smarter Regulation Framework that commits to regulating only as a last resort, and where industry standards and free markets have failed.

    This is the right thing to do. Less regulation means greater innovation, and driven by that enduring spirit of innovation, the UK is a place with all the right ingredients for tech success.

    Ladies and Gentlemen, we are open for business.

    And that’s why I’m excited to announce the launch of our new global tech awards, promoting the benefits of the UK ecosystem around the world.

    Building on the success of our Tech Rocketship Awards, our Unicorn Kingdom: Pathfinder Awards 2023 will identify the brightest and best tech companies around the world. Winners will be flown to the UK and given support to help them accelerate their business growth.

    And while I’m talking about growth, I’m sure you are all aware that it was just a few weeks ago that we agreed our accession to the CPTPP – the UK’s biggest trade agreement since we left the EU – which promises huge potential for the UK economy.

    Such trade deals are often framed as being all about tariffs and the trading of physical goods, but they’re about much more.

    What we actually gain from signing new trade deals and joining new trading blocs is forging new strategic partnerships that can spur collaboration, promote investment, and which encourage innovation, dynamism and creativity.

    London Tech Week is absolute proof of that, as we welcome the biggest ever Asia Pacific delegation this year, including investment funds worth £100 billion.

    The thriving relationship between the tech sectors of the UK and APAC – the fastest growing region of the world – is one that we’re determined to strengthen.

    For this reason, it is my great pleasure to say that the APAC Digital Trade Network, which seeks to raise the profile and accelerate the expansion of UK technology in Asia will expand its coverage to two new markets – Vietnam and Taiwan.

    And I’m also pleased to announce that it has appointed Oxfordshire-based Intralink to take the reins and deliver tailored support across 11 APAC markets, ensuring UK tech firms get the support they need to trade and flourish in this fast-growing and vibrant part of the world.

    I want the Department for Business and Trade to be an office for economic growth, and I see a key part of that ambition as harnessing the power of technology to drive growth, create jobs, and solve the world’s most pressing challenges.

    With your support and collaboration I am confident that a UK… unashamedly and unquestionably open for business… is well placed to lead the way in the tech revolution.

    Thank you.

  • Kemi Badenoch – 2023 Statement on the Canada Trade Negotiations

    Kemi Badenoch – 2023 Statement on the Canada Trade Negotiations

    The statement made by Kemi Badenoch, the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, in the House of Commons on 17 April 2023.

    The fifth round of UK-Canada Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations began on 20 March and concluded on 24 March. Similar to previous rounds, this was conducted in a hybrid fashion—Canadian officials travelled to London for negotiations and others attended virtually.

    Technical discussions were held across 29 policy areas over 78 separate sessions. They included detailed discussions on treaty text.

    Prior to the round, my counterpart Minister Mary Ng visited London, with a women-owned business delegation. We discussed the negotiations and the wider UK and Canada trade relationship, including the CPTPP negotiations. Discussions covered our respective ambitions for the deal, and we welcomed the progress made so far.

    The negotiations continue to reflect our shared ambition to secure a progressive deal which strengthens our existing trading relationship, already worth over £24.8 billion in the year to Q3 of 2022.

    The Government remain clear that any deal we sign will be in the best interests of the British people and the United Kingdom economy. We will not compromise on our high environmental, public health, animal welfare and food standards, and we will maintain our right to regulate in the public interest. We are also clear that during these negotiations, the national health service and the services it provides are not on the table.

    The sixth round of official-level negotiations is due to take place in June 2023.

    The Government will continue to keep Parliament updated as these negotiations progress.

  • Kemi Badenoch – 2023 Statement on Conclusion of CPTPP Negotiations

    Kemi Badenoch – 2023 Statement on Conclusion of CPTPP Negotiations

    The statement made by Kemi Badenoch, the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, in the House of Commons on 17 April 2023.

    With your permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I will make a statement on the progress of negotiations for us to join the comprehensive and progressive agreement for trans-Pacific partnership.

    I am delighted to announce that since we first launched consultations in 2018, and after nearly two years of talks, the UK has substantially concluded negotiations to accede to the CPTPP. We will become the first country to join since the original partnership was founded. I am also pleased to tell the House that we are delivering on our post-Brexit agenda for a modern, free-trading global Britain, and that this agreement represents the future of global trade. Our negotiators have spent 21 months working painstakingly, and often through the night, to secure the best deal for the UK, and that is what they have done. This is an outstanding deal for our country, giving access to a fast-growing economic bloc that will allow us to sell our goods and services without giving up control of our laws.

    Before I continue my statement, let me thank former Secretaries of State for International Trade. I thank my right hon. Friend the Member for North Somerset (Dr Fox), who developed this strategy and without whom today would not have been possible. I thank my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Norfolk (Elizabeth Truss), who first appointed me as Trade Secretary, and who launched the negotiations and ensured throughout her tenure that this was a deal that would be delivered. I thank the present Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, my right hon. Friend the Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Anne-Marie Trevelyan), for her support and invaluable advice. I also thank my current and former Trade Ministers.

    I am told that Their Excellencies the Japanese and Vietnamese ambassadors are with us today. It should not go without saying that both countries were extremely supportive of our accession. I thank the ambassadors and their countries, and the various negotiators and working groups, for everything that they did to help the UK to accede today.

    The CPTPP will act as a gateway to the Indo-Pacific, one of the most dynamic and fastest-growing regions on Earth. The Indo-Pacific is expected to account for the majority of global growth by 2050. The CPTPP will grow nearly 40% faster than the EU over the next three decades, and membership of the bloc will enhance access to a market of more than 500 million consumers for the UK’s goods and services. That is why I described the CPTPP as representing the future of global trade. The brilliant terms that we have secured mean that British businesses will be able to target these dynamic economies, which will account for 15% of global GDP once the UK has joined. As the partnership grows, so will its role in shaping the rules of global trade. This alliance will help us to confront growing protectionism and unfair trading practices, putting us in a stronger position to withstand global shocks.

    British businesses will enjoy new opportunities as part of the CPTPP. For instance, 99% of current UK goods exports to its members will be eligible for tariff-free trade, new tariff reductions with countries such as Mexico and Canada will boost export opportunities, and a new free-trade deal with Malaysia will open up a £330 billion economy to the UK.

    We will benefit from reduced red tape and simplified customs procedures across the bloc, and from modern rules of origin that offer British businesses new export opportunities and could help support UK efforts to diversify critical supply chains. We have all seen what can happen to supply chains when economic shocks happen. This global flexibility with like-minded partners will help British firms to become more resilient and protect economic security. For supply chains, this partnership is the future of global trade.

    As a Minister who represents a rural constituency, I understand the concerns farmers may have about trade agreements because they have told me about them many times, so I know that Members representing agricultural communities will be delighted with the opportunities the CPTPP presents. I would like to put on record my thanks to the President of the National Farmers Union, Minette Batters, for recognising the opportunity to, as she puts it,

    “get more fantastic British food on plates overseas”.

    As the world’s demand for meat and dairy changes, having better access to growing and dynamic economies in other parts of the globe will protect British farmers and food producers into the future.

    Our farmers will benefit from increased market access on these products, including through tariff free exports to Mexico for beef, pork and poultry and new zero-tariff access to Canada’s butter and cream market, which we did not have under our existing EU roll-over agreement. Our cheesemakers will have new market access to additional shared quotas, equating to about 7.5 times the amount we currently export to Canada, and our distillers will benefit from the elimination of tariffs of around 80% on UK whisky to Malaysia within 10 years. So for food and drinks exports, the partnership represents the future of global trade.

    The UK is already a services superpower. Our digital, financial and legal services, among many others, are the envy of the world. This world-leading agreement will help them to grow further still. In future, a British firm will be able to operate on a par with a Vietnamese one without setting up a Hanoi branch. British firms will face less red tape in doing trade and business travel will become smoother and easier. For the modern services and tech economy, the partnership represents the future of global trade.

    As you will know, Madam Deputy Speaker, no trade agreement comes without a quid pro quo, but we have taken our time to get this deal right for the UK and we never compromise on food quality or animal welfare standards. Joining CPTPP is no different. We will not have to change our standards to join, including on chlorine-washed chicken and hormone-fed beef, as many detractors would like to have the British public believe. We have also made sure that our high environment and labour standards are protected, so the CPTPP agreement includes comprehensive chapters for environmental protections, anti-corruption and improving workers’ rights. We have secured appropriate protections for the UK producers, reducing import tariffs in a manner proportionate to the market access we have received, and maintaining protections where needed.

    Membership will enable us to shape the future of the agreement, including its future membership, and it will increase our influence and that of the wider bloc in setting the rules of the global economy. CPTPP shows how sovereign countries can uphold high standards without being subject to foreign court rulings or membership fees.

    Parliament will rightly want ample opportunity to scrutinise this deal before ratification. My Department will follow the process set out in the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010. Parliament will also have the opportunity to scrutinise any implementing legislation, as was the case with the recent Trade (Australia and New Zealand) Act 2023. The people of this country have voted for the future of global trade, not the past. On goods, on services, on supply chains, on growth and on rules-based trade without ceding sovereignty or losing control of our borders, this agreement lives up to that instruction. We are securing a place for the UK in the future of global trade, and I commend this statement to the House.

  • Kemi Badenoch – 2023 Statement on Investment Treaty Negotiations – Singapore

    Kemi Badenoch – 2023 Statement on Investment Treaty Negotiations – Singapore

    The statement made by Kemi Badenoch, the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, in the House of Commons on 29 March 2023.

    The Government will shortly commence negotiations with Singapore to deliver a new, modern investment treaty. Negotiations build on the strong investment relationship between our two nations and represent the United Kingdom’s Indo-Pacific tilt.

    As of 2021, the stock of UK investment in Singapore totals £11.4 billion and the stock of Singaporean investment in the UK totals £12.0 billion, up from £4.1 billion in 2012. The United Kingdom and Singapore share a joint ambition to further strengthen our trade and economic relationship, deepening trade and increasing investment flows for the benefit of both countries.

    That is why we are pursuing a new, modern investment treaty. This will fulfil a commitment made in the free trade agreement between the United Kingdom and Singapore, and it is an opportunity to put the UK at the forefront of international best practice. This follows on from the successful UK-Singapore digital economy agreement last year.

    His Majesty’s Government remain clear that, in addition to guaranteeing clear standards of fair treatment to investors, any deal we sign will be in the best interests of the British people and the United Kingdom economy. We will not compromise on our high environmental, public health, animal welfare and food standards, and we will maintain our right to regulate in the public interest.

    We are also clear that this negotiation will not open the NHS to further competition and overseas companies will not be able to take legal action to force us to do so.

    The Government will update Parliament as we reach key milestones in negotiations.

  • Kemi Badenoch – 2023 Speech at the Launch of the Legatum Institute’s Prosperity Index

    Kemi Badenoch – 2023 Speech at the Launch of the Legatum Institute’s Prosperity Index

    The speech made by Kemi Badenoch, the Secretary of State for Business and International Trade, in London on 28 February 2023.

    It’s a pleasure to be here at Legatum and launching this year’s Prosperity Index.

    The Index was created, as we have just seen, to help decision-makers across the world think about domestic growth and development, seeking policy solutions to drive improvements in prosperity.

    When I received the invitation to speak tonight it was as the Secretary of State for International Trade.

    Now, I am the Secretary of State for Business and International Trade, and my newly formed Department for Business and International Trade will enable me to achieve a lot more.

    As much as I enjoyed the trade brief, I lacked some of the levers to really drive forward the growth advantages of international free trade on a domestic market.

    There is so much to look forward to now that I’m looking after this brief.

    However, today we are here to discuss global prosperity. So I will be speaking about my five priorities on trade, where the focus is on global rather than just on domestic prosperity.

    My first priority is removing barriers that stop businesses succeeding.

    Domestically, this means not about taking away any safety nets. It’s about ensuring that we have a modern, dynamic, nimble economy where the regulations are fit for purpose and actually help businesses to start up, grow and export.

    Internationally, we want to remove barriers to trade, in particular remove barriers to our exporters.

    Leaving the EU was not an end itself, now it is incumbent upon us to realise the opportunities that Brexit has enabled.

    One of the things that we can now do with our independent trading policy is make sure that the global trade rules work for the UK, not just the UK and 27 other countries.

    So we identify the blockers faced by UK businesses in getting their goods and services into other countries, and we get rid of them.

    That’s meant, for example, getting Welsh lamb back on US dining tables for the first time in 20 years. And also opening up China’s huge beauty industry to cruelty-free UK cosmetics.

    So we’ve identified, in my department, over 100 key barriers to trade, and we are taking them down one by one.

    I know that this is something that Legatum cares very much about so I thought you would be pleased that was the first priority.

    The second priority is increasing our exports every year until we hit £1 trillion by 2030.

    Exports are a huge driver of economic growth, but, historically, we have fallen behind some of our competitors.

    And this is because compared to smaller countries like Sweden, we already have a large domestic market, which means many businesses don’t feel the need to export the way that their comparative businesses would do in smaller countries.

    We should be doing better. Not least because English is the international language of business and we aren’t capitalising on it as much as we should do.

    So, our job is twofold. At one end, it’s encouraging smaller businesses and showing them that there are markets for their products and services overseas.

    At the other, it’s about supporting our world-leading companies. Just as we did with Airbus and Rolls Royce this month in landing the biggest aircraft export deal in the history of global aviation.

    In removing market barriers, we make exporting more efficient. So my top two priorities work hand-in-hand.

    Thirdly, I want to make the UK the top investment destination in Europe.

    And this is important for many reasons.

    Without investment, businesses cannot grow. And, without growth, they will not export.

    So, in building a business-friendly environment in the UK, we need to keep barriers to investment under constant review.

    There are so many reasons why companies, and in fact other countries, want to invest in the UK (our position in the Prosperity Index is one of them, by the way, which is why we need to make sure that we keep doing well).

    These reasons come together in the unique offer we have, which is a strong rule of law and stable economic environment; world class institutions and a highly skilled labour force; and our history of innovation and creativity.

    There is so much about the UK that will ensure we have a prosperous future, but we don’t shout enough about it.

    When I was at the World Economic Forum last month, I was struck by how other countries played as a team and pitched their strengths across public and private sector.

    By contrast, UK ministers were alone in trumpeting the immense value of the UK, while our business groups and former politicians were complaining about the country and trying to relitigate Brexit.

    So I’ll give you an example. We are constantly being told that our exports are falling. And yet the opposite is true. We’ve just broken the £800bn mark for the first time and are well on the path to our £1tn export ambition.

    So some will tell you that all is doom and gloom and we are in decline.

    This is nonsense.

    Britain remains the unicorn capital of Europe – with more privately held start-up companies worth over a billion pounds more than France and Germany combined.

    Of the major economies, we are the per-capita Nobel Prize champions of the world.

    Domestic investment was up nearly 10% last year. And inward international investment stock broke the £2tn mark for the first time. So there is a lot to be happy about and a lot to be proud of.

    My fourth priority is signing high-quality trade deals.

    At the moment I’m currently negotiating our accession into the Trans-Pacific Partnership – this is one of the largest free trade areas in the world, it spans the Asia-Pacific and the Americas, and includes some of the world’s biggest current and future economies.

    So, the UK’s membership will add another like-minded partner and strong voice to this powerful alliance, and takes the trade bloc’s GDP to £11 trillion.

    But it’s not just about exporting goods or even services. The Trans-Pacific Partnership is also about the geostrategic shift to the Indo-Pacific as set out in the government’s Integrated Review and this really matters for our long-term security.

    It also matters for our long-term growth – this is where the global middle class of the future will come from and we need to be a player.

    That’s also why we’re pursuing a great trade deal with India. A deal to cut tariffs and open opportunities for UK services, making it easier for British businesses to sell to an economy set to be the world’s third largest by 2050. There are other trade deals in the pipeline – Israel and Switzerland, like us, services superpowers with complementary economic strengths. The Gulf countries too, and many others to follow.

    So, you may wonder why trade deals are my fourth priority and not my first. And, I’m going to repeat an analogy I’m sure some of you have heard me use before.

    Trade deals are like motorways. They are only useful if there are cars to drive on them, and the cars are exports and investments. That’s what trade is really, and that’s my main focus.

    So we are not just the department for getting deals, taking pictures, signing bits of paper. And that will become even more key as I flesh out our role as the Department for Business and International Trade.

    And my fifth and final priority is probably the one that is most relevant to all of you here at Legatum this evening.

    Free and fair trade is what global prosperity and security are based on. And it is not an empty platitude.

    Too often people of think of fair trade as just giving money to poor countries. Fair trade, for me, means ensuring that the rules-based trading system continues to thrive and does not collapse in the face of protectionism.

    Trade means treating companies and countries equally and making sure that the rules are abided by. That is what’s going to work for the UK and for the rest of the world.

    You will, I’m sure, have heard about the US Inflation Reduction Act. I made my opinions on this clear. We should not have a global subsidies arms race.

    Interventions like the IR Act may look good in the short term. But, in the long term, it runs the risk of becoming self-defeating, not least by creating a single point of failure on supply chains.

    We won’t deal with the economic challenge that we face from China by acting alone. There are many countries with similar views, not just the UK, the EU, Japan, South Korea or Australia.

    The countries who believe in free trade will be stronger acting together. And we have been promoting this as the UK for 70 years since the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade was agreed.

    And I will carry on speaking out on the world stage to promote free trade.

    So, my priorities will contribute not just to UK prosperity, but global prosperity.

    If we deliver on these, the Department for Business and International Trade will actually become the Office for Economic Growth, which I’ve always wanted us to be. And we will ensure that British values are promoted, perhaps even adopted, across the world, and that will deliver for the people of the United Kingdom.

  • Kemi Badenoch – 2023 Speech at Lancaster House

    Kemi Badenoch – 2023 Speech at Lancaster House

    The speech made by Kemi Badenoch, the Secretary of State for International Trade, at Lancaster House in London on 24 January 2023.

    Welcome to Lancaster House.

    What a spectacular setting. The sort of setting that makes me realise how lucky I am to do the job I do.

    Lancaster House has been the venue for G7 meetings, the backdrop for royal TV adaptions and the location for numerous grand political speeches. The very best of the UK.

    So it’s only fitting that among our audience this evening we’ve got Fever-Tree, who are now the number one premium mixer firm in the world.

    Creative Nature CEO Julianne Ponan and Scanning Pens co-founder Jack Churchill, both honoured for their services to industry in the New Year’s Honours….

    and Nestlé who have just officially opened their new £30m mineral water distribution facility in Buxton, Derbyshire.

    I could carry on, but if I listed all the achievements of people in the room there wouldn’t be any time left for my speech.

    And also, I’d rather talk to you than at you. So I will keep this brief.

    The first part of my speech focuses on my priorities for the year ahead.

    The second is about how I want to work with you to deliver them for the country.

    When I was the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, it was my job to focus on economic growth. And I always felt that it needed its own department. That’s why I am thrilled to be running DIT – which really is the Government’s flagship economic growth department.

    More importantly, the Prime Minister this month laid out his five priorities for the Government, the second of which was growing the economy.

    Everything DIT does is about creating economic growth…

    …whether it’s supporting exporters…

    securing foreign investment to create UK jobs…

    or building the global security in trade – working with old friends and new – to help British businesses thrive.

    In doing all that, we have an exciting vision to sell. Of a high-skill, high-tech economy with the capability to thrive in the modern world. And one that is finding the life sciences solutions for a healthier world.

    So how are we going to deliver that economic growth; those opportunities; and the secure global trading environment that we need?

    It’s through these five priorities.

    First, we will:

    Remove trade barriers – DIT will knock down 100 unnecessary blockers standing in the way of helping UK businesses sell more and grow more, creating new jobs and paying higher wages.

    We have already made progress. Last year, we opened up the Chinese market to cosmetic companies who sell cruelty-free products – that’s a half a billion pound opportunity for British business.

    Second, we will:

    Grow UK exports every year until we hit our Race to a Trillion – selling over a trillion pounds of goods and services to the world a year by 2030.

    There are, as I have said recently, and many times, a number of people who keep wanting to talk the UK down. Whatever you have read in papers today, the fact is that UK exports are growing – and even to the EU.

    You might not know that I am also the Secretary of State for UK Export Finance. It’s great to see Tim Reid, the newly appointed CEO, here tonight.

    In just five years UKEF has provided over £30 billion to help firms around the country export. And that money has a direct impact on lives – supporting as many as 72,000 jobs.

    Exports are currently at over £800 billion – and that doesn’t happen by accident. We set the challenge of accelerating the race to a trillion to push companies to export, creating more jobs and increasing wages, and that is why it’s my second priority.

    Third, we will:

    Make the UK the undisputed top investment destination in Europe, attracting new investment into communities and helping to level-up the country.

    The UK is a leading destination for foreign investment. However, this position is not a given. There is fierce global competition for every pound of finance.

    I want to make the UK the most attractive place to invest in Europe, enticing companies from across the world to put their money into communities across the country.

    Fourth, we will:

    Seal high quality deals with India and CPTPP – they have a combined population of nearly 2 billion consumers – opening exciting opportunities in fast-growing markets for years to come.

    That’s essentially a quarter of the world’s population in two huge deals, meaning companies such as Coventry-based driverless car manufacturer, Aurrigo, could benefit on its exports to huge markets in Vietnam and Japan.

    But I want to be clear that just signing on the dotted line is not the objective. These deals will only be agreed if they are the right deals for the people of this country. Bringing in jobs and investment to left-behind communities and capitalising on those areas in which we specialise.

    The fifth and final priority is to…

    Defend free trade, and make the world more secure by strengthening supply chains and standing up to protectionism.

    We are a trading nation at heart and by tradition. So we know that free trade is the surest way to prosperity that the world has.

    So that’s the pitch. I will be your biggest defender, your keenest saleswoman, and your proudest backer.

    Because the success of business is the success of the British people – more jobs, higher pay, and better lives.

    Here’s the catch – I need your help to deliver it.

    Some of you will know I was a software engineer and a systems analyst before I became a politician.

    That means I’m a problem solver at heart.

    So when our Indian trade talks hit a bit of an impasse, I didn’t pick up the phone, I got on a plane. That deal’s not done yet, but it’s back on track.

    But to illustrate my point, think about something you use every day, when you open your emails, your WhatsApp, your text messages.

    The QWERTY keyboard.

    One of the greatest problem-solving inventions of all time and still going strong in its 150th year.

    The layout was created because the technology of early typewriters couldn’t cope with clusters of commonly-used keys being too close together.

    Those keys became stuck and blocked – the QWERTY layout unstuck and unblocked them.

    That’s what we need to do as we seek new export markets and drive international investment.

    It’s too easy for trade to become stuck and blocked. For well-meaning rules to become needless regulation.

    But I can’t solve your problems if I don’t know what they are. I need to know which keys are sticking, which levers need pulling, which wheels need greasing.

    So I need you to tell me the problems you face.

    A Lancashire firm called VetPlus did just that. They came to DIT a little while ago and said they had a paperwork problem in selling their pet food products into India.

    We fixed it. And the company now expects to do £1.5m of additional business over the next five years.

    This is where my team comes in.

    We have a new Permanent Secretary at DIT – Gareth Davies. He joins Crawford in adding yet more knowledge and experience to the department’s top team.

    I also have a brilliant team of ministers…

    Greg Hands, back in the department once again to help remove barriers and negotiate FTAs…

    Andrew Bowie, our advocate for British exports…

    Nigel Huddleston, bringing the FTAs we are negotiating into law and working to defend global free trade…

    And Lord Johnson, banging the drum for investment into the UK.

    Please come and talk to any one of us.

    And if you’re not getting the access to the department you need, let us know. If there are things we should be doing differently, do tell us.

    I want DIT to be both a department of economic growth and business engagement. But business engagement with a purpose.

    I wish I had enough time to meet with everyone, but I don’t.

    So instead I will say that the best meetings I’ve had come with a purpose, an agenda and an objective.

    That’s how I work – and it’s not just my time that’s precious but yours too.

    If we get this relationship right I can be your problem-solver-in-chief.

    I look forward to working with you all to deliver for UK PLC..

    Thank you.

  • Kemi Badenoch – 2023 Statement on the India Trade Negotiations

    Kemi Badenoch – 2023 Statement on the India Trade Negotiations

    The statement made by Kemi Badenoch, the Secretary of State for International Trade, in the House of Commons on 9 January 2023.

    The sixth round of UK-India free trade agreement negotiations began on 12 December and concluded on 16 December. As with previous rounds, this was conducted in a hybrid fashion—UK officials travelled to New Delhi for negotiations and others attended virtually.

    Technical discussions were held across 11 policy areas over 28 separate sessions. They included detailed draft treaty text discussions in these chapters.

    Coinciding with the start of the round, on 12 and 13 December I also visited New Delhi to meet my counterpart, Minister Piyush Goyal. We discussed the negotiations and the wider UK and India trade relationship. Discussions covered our respective ambitions for the deal, and we welcomed the progress made so far. I also made clear our red lines in the negotiation. I was also clear in this negotiation that, as with all our FTA negotiations, the NHS and the services it provides are not on the table.

    I also met a number of UK and Indian businesses. I heard at first hand about the significant opportunities that an ambitious FTA could bring, as well as the challenges that some businesses currently face and how Governments can help break down barriers to trade and investment.

    Both sides are working toward a balanced deal that will strengthen our economic links and bring real benefits to UK businesses, families and consumers.

    The seventh round of official-level negotiations is due to take place in early 2023.

    The Government will continue to keep Parliament updated as these negotiations progress.