Oral Answers to Questions

Freddie van Mierlo Excerpts

Tuesday 25th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Anneliese Dodds]

I am grateful to the right hon. Lady for her question, and for her passion for the protection of women and girls. Protecting them, and, indeed, religious and ethnic minorities, has been at the core of the UK’s engagement with the Syrian authorities. It was at the core of the interventions I made at the conference on Syria that I attended in Paris just a few days ago, and it is also very important in relation to the changes to sanctions that my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary set out.

[Freddie van Mierlo (Henley and Thame) (LD)]

8. What steps he is taking to increase diplomatic co-operation with his European counterparts.

[The Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Stephen Doughty)]

The Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary, the Minister for the Cabinet Office and I are engaging extensively with European counterparts, including through the Prime Minister’s attendance of a European Council meeting for the first time since Brexit. We are working closely with European allies, and are calling for increased defence spending and support for Ukraine. This deeper engagement has already delivered results on growth and security, including a landmark defence and migration agreement with Germany.

[Freddie van Mierlo]

The Thames valley is one of the most important economic zones in this country. At a recent meeting that I held with the business leaders of the Thames Valley chamber of commerce, the overwhelming message was that Brexit has been a disaster for business, and that Boris Johnson and the Tories did them dirty. Will the Minister commit to correcting that wrong, and start negotiations to join a European Union customs union?

[Stephen Doughty]

We have been very clear that we do not seek to rejoin the customs union, but our co-operation is already delivering results, particularly in relation to growth and business. We recently secured a £250 million Czech investment in Rolls-Royce small modular nuclear reactors, and a further £600 million investment by Polish firm InPost in its UK operations, and as I have said, we have also signed deals on migration with Serbia, Kosovo, Slovenia and Slovakia.