In its aggregation of polling numbers from members of the British Polling Council on Wednesday (19 June), the BBC put the combined vote share of Reform UK, the Green Party, SNP and Plaid Cymru at 26%.
With over a quarter considering a vote for one of these parties, it’s worth knowing where each stands on trade, the green transition and other business issues.
Green Party
The Green Party’s manifesto calls for a host of changes to the UK’s approach to international trade, including an end to what it calls “parallel judicial systems in trade and investment agreements”, which it says “allow companies to sue government secretly for billions”. The manifesto states:
“These mechanisms give too much power to corporations at the expense of democracy, the environment and human rights.”
The emphasis in negotiation of future trade deals should be on workers’ and consumers’ rights, as well as on meeting UK animal protection and environmental standards. The UK’s prominence in financial services should also be used “to ensure that this industry plays a key role in financing the transition to an environmentally sustainable carbon-neutral global economy”, the party said.
Ending “unfair trade deals” is also included in the section of the Green’s manifesto on food and the farming system. The party’s aim will be, it says, to increase the amount of food produced and traded in the UK as much “and as locally as possible”.
Reform UK
Beyond the headline pledge to “freeze non-essential immigration” and “slash red tape to boost industry and exports”, Reform UK’s ‘contract’ with voters also promises to abandon the Windsor Framework.
It describes the agreement as “worse than the original Northern Ireland Protocol”, arguing that it amounts to a partition of the UK “down the Irish Sea”.
It is “unacceptable that British citizens in Northern Ireland are being ruled by EU laws”, the document contends. The post-Brexit settlement between the UK and EU would be in for a shake-up under Reform too, as the party promises to renegotiate the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), which it says is “holding us back”.
On farming, the party would require taxpayer-funded organisations to buy 75% of their food from UK producers in an effort to ensure food security, with “clear labelling for consumer choice” – something already under scrutiny in the form of a Defra consultation discussed in a Trade Insights feature earlier this month.
SNP
The SNP has put the EU at the heart of its offering at this election, promising to deliver “an independent Scotland in the EU”.
Arguing that neither the Conservatives nor Labour “want to talk about what we’ve lost, or how much worse off we are with Brexit”, it says returning to the EU as an independent nation would mean “cheaper and quicker trading for business”. It would also enable “access to workers from across the EU, enabling many of our industries to grow”.
Before that, it would seek a new veterinary agreement with the EU “to ease exports and imports”. It follows the introduction of the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) post-Brexit customs system, and echoes the plans of the Labour Party – though as reported yesterday, the EU may demand concessions on fishing in UK waters in negotiations.
Beyond EU reintegration, the SNP also promises to “promote Scotland’s hydrogen export potential”, arguing that the country is “well placed” to be a major supplier of hydrogen to the EU. To this end, the party’s MPs “will press for the UK government to secure progress with direct interconnection between Scotland and the continent”.
Plaid Cymru
Plaid Cymru, or the Party of Wales, published its manifesto last week, with much of its trade focus on the food sector.
Arguing that Welsh food production benefits those outside Wales rather than within its borders, the manifesto states:
“Too often our primary produce is exported to be processed elsewhere, meaning we lose the added value that should be retained in our local economies.”
To that end, Plaid Cymru pledges to develop Wales’ capacity to process its own food locally. It also aims to put procurement policy to use “to shorten supply chains, cut food miles and create local jobs”.
There is an emphasis in the manifesto on the party’s ‘Unnos’ policy, which it says will support Welsh construction by developing “Welsh local supply chains and skilled labour” with the aim of keeping “profits from the Welsh house-building industry… within Wales, rather than exported by the large ‘volume’ housebuilders”.
Arms exports also come under scrutiny in the document, which promises to review the current system for exporting defence equipment with “a clear statement of intent to withdraw from the international arms supply trade”.
The IOE&IT perspective
IOE&IT UK public affairs lead Grace Thompson said:
“Investment in ‘place’ is a key theme across the manifestos, with parties looking at how to bolster productivity of nations and regions, promote industry strengths and boost brand heritage. This seems closely linked in to wider considerations in political debate as to how to reframe the UK’s place in the world going forward and what this looks like, also, in relation to trade deals.”