Oral Answers to Questions

Felicity Buchan Excerpts

Thursday 16th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mike Freer]

If there is such great export potential, I am surprised that the member of the Scottish Government who, let us not say has responsibility for exports, because we have been there before, but who does specific work on exports, has not raised it with me. I look forward to that conversation when I go up to Scotland, but if this is such a barrier, I urge the Scottish Government to discuss it with the Minister for Energy, Clean Growth and Climate Change.

[Felicity Buchan (Kensington) (Con)]

2. What recent discussions she has had with her Indian counterpart on increasing (a) trade with and (b) foreign direct investment from India.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

15. What recent discussions she has had with her Indian counterpart on increasing (a) trade with and (b) foreign direct investment from India.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Trade (Mr Ranil Jayawardena)]

Mr Speaker, I should also like to associate myself with your comments about our colleague Jo Cox.

Our trading relationship with India was worth over £24 billion last year, and we are already India’s top investment destination in Europe. We have had many discussions and remain determined to create more good jobs and boost wages across Britain. Together, we are bulldozing trade barriers and—from Scotch whisky to Welsh lamb and medical devices—I think we all know that a trade deal will take our relationship even further.

[Felicity Buchan]

My constituency of Kensington has strong links with India. We have the oldest gurdwara in the whole of Europe, the Khalsa Jatha, and we also have the residency of the Indian high commission. Indeed, on Sunday I will be with the Indian high commissioner in Holland Park launching International Yoga Day. Everyone is welcome to attend. [Laughter.] Can my hon. Friend explain to the House how a trade agreement with India can benefit the whole of the UK?

[Mr Jayawardena]

I may not be sufficiently flexible to attend and to join the high commissioner on International Yoga Day, but it is wonderful to hear of my hon. Friend’s collaboration.

Following the Prime Minister’s visit to India in April, British and Indian businesses have confirmed more than £1 billion of new investment and export deals in areas from software engineering to health, and this has created almost 11,000 jobs across the country, including in Edinburgh, Leeds, Northumberland and York. This illustrates how investment and a trade deal will continue to bolster our levelling-up agenda to the benefit of the whole of the United Kingdom.

Oral Answers to Questions

Felicity Buchan Excerpts

Thursday 21st April 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mike Freer]

I know the strength of the Eastbourne English language sector, and I believe my hon. Friend met alumni out in the United Arab Emirates; the spread of Eastbourne goes far and wide. The Department continues to work with the Home Office to work closely and constructively with the sector to support its recovery. That has included the introduction of a six-month allowance to study English at an accredited centre under the standard visitor route, meaning that EU students, together with nationals from more than 50 locations, can study for six months or less as visitors. We continue to work with the sector to ensure that we continue to remove barriers to it.

[Felicity Buchan (Kensington) (Con)]

3. What steps her Department has taken to increase foreign direct investment in the UK’s green industries.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Trade (Mr Ranil Jayawardena)]

First, I thank my hon. Friend for her efforts in boosting our nation’s trade with Norway and Iceland as the Prime Minister’s trade envoy.

Last year, on behalf of the Prime Minister, we delivered the global investment summit, which saw almost £10 billion of foreign investment into our offshore wind, hydrogen and electric vehicle sectors. Meanwhile, the Office for Investment landed almost £18 billion of further green deals, and just last month the Prime Minister met Australian investors, who committed more than £20 billion to clean energy projects across the kingdom.

[Felicity Buchan]

I am proud that the UK is a leader in the G7 in the transition to net zero. I am the trade envoy to Norway and Iceland, where there are huge opportunities to do more to further that transition to net zero. Will my hon. Friend update the House on the discussions we have had specifically with companies in Norway and Iceland?

[Mr Speaker]

Can I just say to the Minister that he has his fan club up there in the Public Gallery? It is a pleasure to see his family watching him.

Oral Answers to Questions

Felicity Buchan Excerpts

Thursday 2nd December 2021 Commons Chamber

[Sir Robert Syms (Poole) (Con)]

14. What recent steps her Department has taken to increase the export of British financial services.

[Felicity Buchan (Kensington) (Con)]

15. What recent steps her Department has taken to increase the export of British financial services.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Trade (Mike Freer)]

With colleagues in the Treasury, we are committed to championing export opportunities for our world-class financial services sector. We have done this through targeted export campaigns supporting specific UK financial services, as well as through signing ambitious free trade agreements that are reducing market access barriers and opening new doors for great British businesses to sell their services worldwide.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

It might have been easier just to say that!

[Felicity Buchan]

Financial services account for more than 10% of our total tax take and are responsible for more than 1 million jobs throughout the country. Financial services are important not only to my constituents in Kensington but to Scotland, including Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Glasgow, and to Newcastle, Leeds, Bristol and Chelmsford. Does my hon. Friend agree that financial services need to be priorities in all future trade agreements to secure best market access?

[Mike Freer]

We are absolutely committed to prioritising British financial services in FTAs. I am sure that my hon. Friend, as the Government’s trade envoy to Iceland and Norway—a role that she fulfils with her usual vigour—will be pleased to see our commitment in practice in the UK’s recently signed FTA with Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein, which benefits financial services.

Oral Answers to Questions

Felicity Buchan Excerpts

Thursday 21st October 2021 Commons Chamber

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

Economic growth and the UK’s world-leading commitment to the climate challenges that the planet faces are not mutually exclusive; they go hand in hand. The environment and climate change will continue to be a key priority for the UK. Our ambition and leadership in that and helping our UK businesses that are driving the green agenda and providing the clean technologies of the future will be a critical part of making sure that our trade deals are very good for those British producers.

[Felicity Buchan (Kensington) (Con)]

9. What progress her Department’s newly appointed trade envoys have made on promoting British exports and investment.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Trade (Mike Freer)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on her appointment as the Prime Minister’s trade envoy to Iceland and Norway. Our new trade envoys are strengthening commercial ties in their designated markets and assisting UK businesses to take full advantage of opportunities arising from our global trade and investment agenda.

[Felicity Buchan]

I was delighted to be appointed the Prime Minister’s trade envoy to Norway and Iceland, following the signing of free trade agreements with those countries. Can my hon. Friend update the House as to how his Department is looking to deepen the relationship between the UK and Norway and Iceland?

[Mike Freer]

I am pleased to say that on 8 July, the UK signed the new, improved trade deal with Norway and Iceland. It is the most advanced trade deal that both countries have ever signed, with gold-stamped provisions in digital trade, mobile roaming and business travel. It will cut tariffs and support jobs in every corner of our country, and I look forward to working with my hon. Friend to exploit those opportunities.

Oral Answers to Questions

Felicity Buchan Excerpts

Thursday 15th April 2021 Commons Chamber

[James Sunderland (Bracknell) (Con)]

What steps she is taking to promote professional business services in free trade agreements.

[Felicity Buchan (Kensington) (Con)]

What steps she is taking to promote professional business services in free trade agreements.

[The Minister for Trade Policy (Greg Hands)]

The UK is a world leader in professional business services and the second biggest exporter of PBS globally, with a trade surplus of £33 billion in 2018. To support this important and diverse sector, we are seeking ambitious FTA commitments in cross-cutting areas like mobility and digital, as well as tackling specific behind-the-border regulatory barriers such as recognition and professional qualifications.

[Greg Hands]

DIT has very active participation in the current helplines for businesses facing issues in exporting to the EU. We participate, of course, in the Brexit business taskforce, we provide a DIT internationalisation fund for those looking to export, and we have 300 international trade advisers across the country and at posts right across the European Union. This is a whole-of-Government effort, and, as I said earlier, the data are starting to show encouraging signs of a recovery in our trade.

[Felicity Buchan]

Many of my Kensington constituents work in professional services, whether financial services, law, consulting or accountancy. These industries account for a huge amount of gross value added to our economy. Can my right hon. Friend assure me that the professional services sector will be at the forefront of our minds in negotiating future trade deals?

[Greg Hands]

My hon. Friend and neighbour puts it extremely well. Professional business services are vital for her constituency, for mine and for the whole country. Around 79% of gross value added and 80% of employment in this country is in services. As she knows, we secured special provisions for legal services in the EU agreement. I meet regularly with bodies such as TheCityUK, the City of London Corporation, UK Finance, the Royal Institute of British Architects, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, the Law Society, the Bar Council and others to ensure that professional business services are right at the heart of the UK’s trade agenda.

Continuity Trade Agreements: Parliamentary Scrutiny

Felicity Buchan Excerpts

Tuesday 17th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[Greg Hands]

As I pointed out earlier, we have we added quite a lot and gone beyond the CRaG process to ensure that Parliament is incredibly well informed. Over the course of this year, we have had many debates and published many documents, impact assessments, economic assessments and now reports on individual trade agreements. Parliament has been kept very well informed. When it comes to public distrust, the data shows that the UK public remain strongly in support of free trade.

[Felicity Buchan (Kensington) (Con)]

As my right hon. Friend and neighbour knows, I am Scottish born and bred. Will he confirm that we will look to put in place deals that benefit all four nations of the United Kingdom and all regions?

[Greg Hands]

I thank my hon. Friend and parliamentary neighbour for that question. We will always take the time necessary to negotiate the right deals that work for all nations of the United Kingdom and for all the regions of England, including our own region of London, as witnessed by the UK-Japan deal and the importance that that gives to UK financial services, which I know are very important to her constituents and mine.

Gender Recognition Act Consultation

Felicity Buchan Excerpts

Thursday 24th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

I have set out the Government’s position on transgender rights, in terms of making sure that we protect those rights and making the process kinder and more straightforward in improving transgender healthcare services. As for what corporates’ views are, that is a matter for them rather than the Government.

[Felicity Buchan (Kensington) (Con)]

I welcome the very measured and conciliatory tone that the Minister has taken today. I welcome the improvements to transgender health services and the protection of vulnerable women, in terms of the retention of single-sex spaces in places such as domestic abuse shelters. Will my right hon. Friend outline the Government’s approach to women’s prisons?

[Elizabeth Truss]

My hon. Friend is right that under the Equality Act 2010, service providers can restrict entry on the basis of biological sex. Of course, there are cases, such as women’s refuges and prisons, where that is an important issue.

Oral Answers to Questions

Felicity Buchan Excerpts

Thursday 3rd September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Felicity Buchan (Kensington) (Con)]

What steps her Department is taking to help international trade recover from the covid-19 pandemic.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Trade (Mr Ranil Jayawardena)]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. Covid has threatened global trade and exacerbated protectionism. Our ambitious free trade agreements—with the United States, Japan, New Zealand and Australia—will not only help Britain bounce back by boosting trade but secure greater choice for consumers here by opening up and liberalising international markets. For example, increasing transatlantic trade could add £3.4 billion to the British economy; and the value of our exports to our friends down under could increase by around £1 billion through the deals we are striving for.

[Felicity Buchan]

We have seen increasing trade tensions over the course of the last year. Does my hon. Friend agree that we need to avoid an escalation of trade tensions?

[Mr Jayawardena]

My hon. Friend is right. There are no winners in a trade war. We will continue to shine as a beacon for free trade in the world, illuminating and toppling trade barriers through free trade agreements, boosting British influence at the G7, the G20 and the World Trade Organisation, and keeping free and fair trade at the heart of all that we do.

Oral Answers to Questions

Felicity Buchan Excerpts

Thursday 5th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[Graham Stuart]

As I said in an earlier answer, I was pleased to meet Northern Ireland representatives in No. 10 Downing Street yesterday. When I visited Belfast last year, I learnt more about the phenomenal tech, and in particular cyber, capability there is in Belfast. The Department is determined to make sure that the message of how investable and how strong Northern Ireland is, and what great capability it has, is understood through all our posts in countries around the world.

[Felicity Buchan (Kensington) (Con)]

There has been a huge amount of foreign direct investment in the financial services sector, not only in London but throughout the regions and in Scotland. Can my hon. Friend assure me that, in all free trade negotiations, the interests of the financial services sector will be protected?

[Graham Stuart]

I thank my hon. Friend, who characteristically puts her finger on an important point. Services have too often not had sufficient focus in trade agreements. We are very much looking to put financial services, data and other elements at the heart of our trade policy, which will be great for the City of London. However, it is important to note that there are more people working in financial services in the northern powerhouse than there are in the whole of Frankfurt.