Speeches by Bryant.

“First of all, I do not think that people anticipated that we would get to 0%, because President Trump had said quite a lot of things about pharmaceuticals and the fact that Americans were paying more for drugs than we were in the UK. Secondly, I would point to the argument that Lord Patrick Vallance has been making for…”

“Obviously that is one of the things that we have been considering. Some of that relationship, in relation to specific energy prices, lies with DESNZ rather than ourselves, but we need to consider what the knock-on effects might be for other sectors. That is one of the things we are already focused on—I cannot remember …”

“It slightly depends who it comes to sometimes, but it would normally be Jason Stockwood—Lord Stockwood. All of us in the Department, whenever we come across such problems, want first to unlock whatever we can immediately—whether that involves speaking to other Departments, to local government or whatever—and secondly t…”

“Thank you. The second point I was going to make was around exports. You have heard me say before that I find it worrying that only one in 10 UK businesses exports. One of the strengths of what we did last year was that we focused on the eight key industrial sectors where we think there are real economic opportunities f…”

“Certainly. That is the whole purpose of the Office for Investment. There is no point in making an announcement and it not leading to anything.”

“Yes, very much so. It is slightly early days because some of these investments were signed up to only a few months ago. The £90 billion investment pledge from Blackstone, the £3.9 billion investment from Prologis, the £1.5 billion from Palantir, and so on, are all being tracked by the Office for Investment but it is a …”

“I said earlier that I had two things that I was focused on. The first was about services. I am not sure whether the figures you gave there are for goods or services.”

“They are all new investments. I am sure that if the investments were cancelled, everybody would be blaming the Government so it seems only fair that if the investments are brought forward, that is a sort of vote of confidence in Britain as a place in which to make long-term investments. As a Department we are very keen…”

“No, I do not think it would be fair to say that. I was not involved when that went through but I understand that, as I said earlier, because the British Government, working with the US Government, created an environment in which people felt confident to make those investments, they were able to proceed. Similarly, when…”

“Obviously there are two different ways in which economists look at balance of trade. Some, in the United States of America, for instance, would argue that having a negative balance of trade is a major long-term problem for the country. Some would also point to the fact that if we are able to access goods from elsewhere…”

“I think the Chancellor has been asked directly about it in the Chamber, so I would be inclined to go with whatever she said.”

“As Kate has just said, and so far as I am aware—I have not been in any of the rooms personally, so I am a bit hesitant about precisely what I can say—it has not been raised.”

“No. It is British legislation. We brought it in, and I think it is necessary. Indeed, we may need to go further, but it is a matter for DSIT to decide exactly how far we go.”

“Yes. I have Jimmy Maxton running through my mind from 1935. He said that if you can’t ride two horses at the same time, you better get out of the circus. The truth of the matter is that since the UK left the European Union, we have a new responsibility, which is trade, and we have to be able to ride an awful lot of hor…”

“Sorry to interrupt, but it is for the British Parliament to determine what the legislation should be in relation to that. It has not happened in this particular case, but sometimes people say, “Well, you’ve got to change this or that piece of legislation to get a deal over the line.” I often have to point out, “I’m sor…”

“Can I just go back, because you asked me another question?”

“It is worth saying that we have not had any indication that going to 15% is what will happen, and that is why I wrote to you as I did.”

“Yes.”

“There is a lot of noise, and we tend to pretty much ignore it. We just plough on with trying to get the best possible deal we can—and that is what we get from the other side as well, to be fair.”

“I am at a bit of a disadvantage, because the first of those is a Treasury issue and the second is a DSIT issue. But having been in DSIT as a Minister for a year and a bit, my view is that the legislation introduced under the previous Government will probably not be sufficient to last three, four or five years but was n…”