EU Customs Union and Draft Withdrawal Agreement: Cost

Debate between John Glen and Chi Onwurah

Monday 22nd October 2018 Commons Chamber

[John Glen]

Such an answer is dependent on so many conditions and the determination of what is in those trade deals, so I am sorry, but I cannot give a precise answer.

[Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)]

Is the Minister finding withdrawal from the European Union as easy and cost-free as some of those on the Government Benches behind him suggested it would be?

[John Glen]

Government is always challenging, and there are always issues that need to be resolved. It is self-evident that this is a challenging set of negotiations.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John Glen and Chi Onwurah

Tuesday 27th February 2018 Commons Chamber

[John Glen]

The Government are expanding Tech City’s reach across the UK, creating Tech Nation by investing £21 million over four years to help people grow digital businesses. That includes a large-scale CityVerve smart city demonstrator in Manchester, which demonstrates how the internet of things, technologies and services can improve local services in transport, energy, health and culture.

[Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)]

Newcastle has national centres of excellence in data, health and energy—key drivers of our future economy. On Saturday, I held a business summit with Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, at which start-ups identified attracting investment as a key barrier to their growth. What are the Government doing to attract investment to businesses in Newcastle? Does that include a regional business bank, as supported by Labour?

[John Glen]

We certainly have a national bank to encourage investment in small businesses. We also have the £400 million digital infrastructure fund. As a Minister, I am doing all I can to ensure that we find the best conditions for investing in small and medium-sized enterprises across the country.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John Glen and Chi Onwurah

Thursday 21st December 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (John Glen)]

My hon. Friend raises an excellent point. The cultural development and cultural protection funds are both top of my list. The cultural protection fund has done an enormous amount internationally. I would draw his attention to what has been highly successful diplomacy, including the V and A opening a new gallery in Shekou design centre in China earlier this month, which is one example of the advances we have made.

[Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)]

T3. This week the German competition authority ruled that the collection and use of data by Facebook was abusive. Does the Minister agree?