Debates between Lord Sharma and Chris Law during the 2019-2024 Parliament

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Sharma and Chris Law
Wednesday 29th January 2020

(4 years, 9 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Lord Sharma Portrait Alok Sharma
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I commend my hon. Friend’s support for entrepreneurship in his constituency and more widely. The UK is absolutely committed to increasing women’s role in trade, recognising the importance of trade as a lever for equality. That is why we recently announced an extension to the Commonwealth SheTrades programme, which provides training and mentoring to female entrepreneurs and connects them to international markets and investment opportunities.

Chris Law Portrait Chris Law (Dundee West) (SNP)
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In 2013, Australia merged its aid and trade departments, resulting in worse-performing aid programmes and a mass exodus of development experts and even leading to DFID downgrading the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to third-tier status for staff exchanges. Is that the future that the Secretary of State wants for his own Department, or does he agree that a standalone Department remains the best way for the UK to deliver world-leading international development projects?

Lord Sharma Portrait Alok Sharma
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Machinery of government changes are a matter for the Prime Minister, but the UK is and will continue to be a superpower when it comes to international development. He will have seen in our manifesto the commitment to spend 0.7% of GNI.