Oral Answers to Questions

Christian Matheson Excerpts

Thursday 6th July 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Minister for Trade and Investment (Greg Hands)]

My hon. Friend makes an extremely strong point. Over 99% of businesses in this country’s non-financial business economy are small and medium-sized enterprises. Last year we helped over 1,200 Welsh companies, most of which were SMEs, and we ensure that we have regular SME-focused roundtables. We meet SME representative groups and, of course, SMEs can always access our portal, GREAT.gov.uk, which gives important indicators on how to improve their exports.

[Christian Matheson (City of Chester) (Lab)]

T2. The Secretary of State wants to leave the EU because he felt it was undemocratic and unaccountable, so why is he happy for the UK to trade under World Trade Organisation rules, given that the WTO is more undemocratic and more unaccountable?

[Dr Fox]

The two things are not analogous. We operate with the WTO because we believe there needs to be a rules-based system for global trade, and if the WTO did not exist, we would have to invent it today.

--- Later in debate ---

The Minister was asked—

[Christian Matheson (City of Chester) (Lab)]

1. What discussions she has had with the Democratic Unionist Party on the Government’s commitment to equality and women’s rights.

[Anna McMorrin (Cardiff North) (Lab)]

8. What discussions she has had with the Democratic Unionist Party on the Government’s commitment to equality and women’s rights.

[The Minister for Women and Equalities (Justine Greening)]

The UK has a proud record of promoting equality, and we have some of the strongest laws in the world to prevent and tackle discrimination. The Government will continue to champion equal rights.

[Christian Matheson]

We have seen the recent tangle on abortion policy that the Government got into with the DUP. Women with pre-existing medical conditions, such as uncontrolled epilepsy, who seek abortions need to receive treatment in hospital settings to access back-up medical care if it is required. Will the Minister commit to ensuring that women from Northern Ireland with complex medical needs who cannot be treated in a stand-alone clinic will be able to access funded care in NHS hospitals?

[Justine Greening]

First, I recognise that this whole subject area is incredibly sensitive, and we need to approach it with some care and, indeed, some respect. I had a helpful first meeting with a number of the organisations, including charities, that are involved in this area. We talked about not only the core issues that were discussed in the House last week but some of the more challenging issues that women face when seeking abortion services. I assure the hon. Gentleman that we will consider all those issues very carefully.