British Council
Debate between Jerome Mayhew and Nigel Adams(3 years, 5 months ago)
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Jerome Mayhew (Broadland) (Con)
While it is generally agreed across the House that the soft power applied on behalf of the UK by the British Council has been enormous, surely we must take account of the fact that thousands—in fact, tens of thousands—of businesses across this country have had to adjust to the financial disaster that covid has applied to them. The British Council should do no other than that, despite having hundreds of millions of pounds support from this Government.
Nigel Adams
My hon. Friend makes a fair point. These are extraordinary times and the impact that the pandemic has had on world economies—not just on the UK economy—has sent out a shock wave. We have backed the British Council, we have supported it and we are ensuring that it has an increase in its funding for next year. He is right to point out how important a role the British Council plays in soft power through its work overseas. I am told that one in five world leaders was educated at a UK university, which is more than any other country except the US. Given the fact that 15% of foreign students are influenced by the work of the British Council in determining where they have their education, that is testament to the brilliant work that it does.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Jerome Mayhew and Nigel Adams(4 years, 8 months ago)
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Jerome Mayhew (Broadland) (Con)
Nigel Adams
My hon. Friend is right to raise this issue. The UK and Ireland are in regular contact at the highest levels to discuss our respective responses to covid-19, and we will continue to work closely together. On Saturday, at a meeting of the North South Ministerial Council in Armagh, the First Minister, the Deputy First Minister and Northern Ireland’s Minister for Health met the Taoiseach, the Irish Health Minister and the Irish chief medical officer to discuss the issue. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is also in regular contact with his counterpart. Obviously, health is devolved in Northern Ireland, but my hon. Friend can rest assured that we are in regular contact with our Irish friends.