Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Anne-Marie Trevelyan and Shaun Bailey

Thursday 20th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

We will be pushing for a deal that is right for the UK steel industry and I am confident that the long-standing alliance between the UK and the US, built on a rich history of shared values and free and fair trade, will ensure that the negotiating outcomes are what we need for UK industry. The UK and the US work together across the piece in so many difficult areas at the moment and I hope that those in all parts of the House will continue to give support as we take on some of those challenging security issues.

[Shaun Bailey (West Bromwich West) (Con)]

T2. With over £2.6 billion-worth of exports, I am sure my right hon. Friend agrees that the Black Country is, and will remain, the beating industrial heart of the west midlands. As she goes out with ministerial colleagues to bat for the Black Country on the industrial stage, what is she doing to ensure that supply chain issues in particular are at the forefront of our trade negotiations, and that businesses such as KJV Furniture in Oldbury are able to import and export smoothly; and will she ensure that once again other areas of the world can see the fantastic wares that are made in the Black Country?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Anne-Marie Trevelyan and Shaun Bailey

Thursday 21st October 2021 Commons Chamber

[Shaun Bailey (West Bromwich West) (Con)]

15. What recent progress her Department has made on securing a free trade agreement with India.

[The Secretary of State for International Trade (Anne-Marie Trevelyan)]

I met my Indian counterpart, Minister Goyal, at the G20 in Italy last week to discuss final preparations for the launch of negotiations before the end of this year. My officials have concluded a series of bilateral working groups with Indian colleagues, and we will publish our negotiating aims, the response to the public consultation and an economic assessment of the FTA in the coming weeks.

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

I thank my hon. Friend for his passionate presentation. I know about his relationship with India, and I hope very much that we will be able to harness all his knowledge and passion as we pull this together. We are in the final phase of preparations for the launch of negotiations very shortly, and I look forward to updating the House on our negotiating aims very soon.

[Shaun Bailey]

Businesses in Wednesbury, Oldbury and Tipton are excited about the prospect of a trade deal with India. Can I ask my right hon. Friend what work she is doing with businesses with existing links to India to ensure that we can really leverage those connections and make sure that areas such as the Black Country—which I know my right hon. Friend is going to visit very soon to see some of those businesses—make the most out of a trade deal with India?

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

I thank my hon. Friend, and I am always happy to stop in and meet some of the amazing businesses in his constituency, for which he is such a great champion. All UK sectors and regions stand to benefit from a trade deal with India, improving access to one of the fastest growing and most dynamic markets in the world. Its GDP is predicted to grow by 8.5% next year and imports into the UK by 8.2%. I want to make sure that, as the trade deal comes together, we are providing both the tools and the liberalising opportunities for all our great businesses.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Anne-Marie Trevelyan and Shaun Bailey

Wednesday 10th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

The UK Government condemn any action to restrict the freedom of expression of journalists, and have repeatedly raised the issue of internet restrictions and shutdowns at the highest level with the Myanmar Government, but, after going through due diligence, CDC invested in Frontiir to extend internet access to more people in Myanmar and to combat poverty. The company has followed the international Global Network Initiative standards by posting transparency statements so that users know whether the site has limitations upon it.

[Shaun Bailey (West Bromwich West) (Con)]

Wishing you a bostin’ birthday from the Black Country, Mr Speaker. I was recently lobbied by a year 12 student from Wednesbury called Queenie, who wanted to ensure that no one in the world cannot access a vaccine. So I wish to ask my right hon. Friend: in addition now to being the largest funder of Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, what work is the UK doing and what message does she have for Queenie to ensure that she can carry on in her fight to make sure that everyone can access vaccines globally?

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

Queenie is clearly a wise young person, and it is a really important question. The UK is at the forefront of efforts to drive global collaboration and resourcing, including through our engagement through the access to covid tools accelerator and through industry for the development of new vaccines at the speed and scale required to ensure access for all those who will need them. As well as contributing £1.65 billion to fund Gavi’s core programme we have committed £48 million to its newly launched covax advanced market commitment, aimed at incentivising manufacturers to produce sufficient quantities of a potential vaccine to ensure future access for low-income and middle-income countries.