Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Heather Wheeler Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

I can reassure the hon. Gentleman that each of those strands is a critical element of the integrated review.

[Mrs Heather Wheeler (South Derbyshire) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree with me and my South Derbyshire constituents that as we lead the world’s efforts to recover from the coronavirus pandemic now is the right time to move to the creation of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, as it will allow us to seize the opportunities that lie ahead and bring our international effort together?

[Dominic Raab]

My hon. Friend is right, and I pay tribute to the work she did as Minister for Asia. She has seen at first hand why this is so important. Covid actually reinforced the case: the ministerial groups that brought together all aspects of international decision making in relation to covid, from repatriation of nationals through to the purchase of PPE and the search for a vaccine, showed how effectively we could work when we worked closely together and the gap in the absence of integration, which is what the merger will deliver today.