Brexit impact on Falklands not realised in Westminster
Written for the November 25, 2022 issue of Penguin News.
POTENTIAL impacts of Brexit on the Falkland Islands and Overseas Territories were not “properly considered,” said an MP during a press conference on Tuesday with members of the Falklands All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG).
The same MP said there was there was little understanding of it in relation to overseas territories including the Falklands.
In recent weeks six members of the Falklands APPG were present in the Islands, invited by the Falkland Islands Government to visit in the 40th Anniversary of 1982 to learn more about the Islands and inform the work of the APPG.
Stephen Doughty MP
James Sunderland MP
Among a number of issues raised at the press conference was Brexit, which has been confirmed to be costing the Falkland Islands Government nearly £17m a year in tariffs.
Penguin News asked MPs whether they felt the effects of Brexit on the Falklands were understood in Westminster or had been lost among other issues.
Labour MP Stephen Doughty said: “I raised the issue on a number of occasions in the past with ministers, and indeed in Parliament directly, and I found that there was very little understanding of it.
“This was obviously before Brexit happened, and there were a whole series of issues that I don’t think were properly considered at the time of Brexit.”
James Sunderland MP said he wouldn’t want to be critical of the Conservative government, as he considers himself a “team player, quite loyal” - he noted that “politics has been very distracted in recent years. It’s been very difficult politically.
“Brexit has been horribly divisive in the UK, the need to get Brexit done was very acute in 2019 when Boris Johnson got elected as Prime Minister, so that’s been difficult.
“Also, we’ve had the pandemic, which has been all consuming for politicians over the last two years, as it has been across the world.”
He added, that he felt, “given that the pandemic is now, thankfully, behind us in most respects; and given that we’ve got Brexit done” there could be the chance “to go back into the melting pot and to renegotiate with the European Union.
“Your £15m of tariffs every year is a huge hit,” he added, “and I wouldn’t be doing my job as a Tory MP without going back to the UK and making it known that this is work to be done.”
Mr Sunderland said he recognised that Brexit “hasn’t been particularly kind to you guys down here, so there is work to do. And what we’ll [the visiting APPG members] do as politicians together is go back and make the representations that we think that we need to on your behalf.”
Mr Sunderland noted that, “it’s also about the government of the Falklands representing their own issues to the British Government as well.”
Mr Doughty clarified the “clear position” of the Labour party that they will not be rejoining the EU, not rejoining the single market or the customs union, but “there are a whole series of things where the UK needs to have a cooperative and special partnership with the EU.”
He added that he had hopes “if we could get around some of the current impasses - for example around the Northern Ireland Protocol - would be to address some of the issues affecting yourselves.”
Mr Doughty added that he felt “people didn’t fully understand, and attention wasn’t paid, despite Falkland Islands Government representatives in London doing a very strong job in trying to make that case, and the number of MPs in the all-party group trying to do the same.
“So I certainly hope the current UK Government does listen to that in the future and tries to find a way forward.”
Asked by FITV whether there was any political will in Westminster to renegotiate with the EU to include Overseas Territories in the Trade & Cooperation Agreement - which provides for zero tariffs and zero quotas on all goods that comply with the appropriate rules of origin - Mr Doughty said “the Trade & Cooperation Agreement is what it is, but it will come up for a review period in a number of years.
“There’s actually also reviews of specific areas, including around fisheries and other matters, and I’ve certainly been looking at these matters over the last few weeks,” Mr Doughty added, “the reality is though, at the moment, unfortunately, none of these issues can be discussed because of the approach that the current UK Government has taken over the Northern Ireland Protocol.”
He added later that there had been “more welcome noises in recent days, and I’m hoping that there is a negotiated solution where the EU and the UK sit down and come to a sensible, pragmatic conclusion.”
The two MPs agreed that there was no disagreement between the parties on the self-determination of the Falklands, which Mr Sunderland described as “sacrosanct” and “absolute.”