Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Leader of the House
Wednesday 10th September 2014

(9 years, 8 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Lord Hague of Richmond Portrait Mr Hague
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My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has been dealing with these matters and has held a briefing about them, so I have no doubt we can furnish the hon. Lady with more details on these issues, but it is very important to maintain a commitment to free trade, which has been a characteristic of the United Kingdom over many centuries, and which has invariably brought greater prosperity to the people of the UK, as well as to people all over the rest of the world. The TTIP is another major opportunity to boost free trade across the world.

Glyn Davies Portrait Glyn Davies (Montgomeryshire) (Con)
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Q11. A vote next week in favour of an independent Scotland will have major, damaging implications for Wales. Does my right hon. Friend agree that my fellow Welsh citizens who care about the future of our Welsh nation should be hoping and praying for rejection of the break-up of the United Kingdom?

Lord Hague of Richmond Portrait Mr Hague
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Yes, absolutely, and I think they are. I regularly consult at least one Welsh citizen, and on the evidence of that the Welsh are very much hoping and praying that the UK will not be broken up. My hon. Friend, I know, speaks very well for his constituents in mid-Wales. All of us in the United Kingdom would be diminished by the break-up of the United Kingdom. We are something greater than the sum of our parts, and that is well understood across the UK. The impact on Wales would be unmistakable.