Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Cabinet Office

Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Hanson of Flint Excerpts
Wednesday 15th June 2016

(8 years, 4 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Matt Hancock Portrait Matthew Hancock
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Yes, I think councillors do an excellent job at what councils are meant to do, but councils are not meant to set foreign policy, and attempts at local foreign policies that are discriminatory are potentially illegal, and we make that clear at every opportunity.

Lord Hanson of Flint Portrait Mr David Hanson (Delyn) (Lab)
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Was it wrong for my local authority to boycott South African goods in the 1970s?

Matt Hancock Portrait Matthew Hancock
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Where a national boycott is in place and where a national decision has been made, local authorities should of course follow that, but these decisions are rightly for the Foreign Office and not for local authorities; the country cannot be run by having hundreds of different foreign policies.