Jonathan Edwards
Main Page: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)Department Debates - View all Jonathan Edwards's debates with the Cabinet Office
(5 years, 8 months ago)
Commons ChamberI thank my hon. Friend for pointing that out. The point of the intervention we are making and the money that we are making available is that it will help to leverage private finance. It is through Government working together with private finance that we will be able to ensure that projects can come on board in a number of countries in Africa.
If the Prime Minister’s Brexit proposals are implemented, the trade deals that she talks about will have to concentrate primarily on services, as opposed to goods. Will she therefore make a commitment to rule out using public services as a bargaining chip?
We have always been clear in relation to public services. The economy of the United Kingdom relies significantly on services—it is one of the areas in which we are particularly leading across the world—and I expect that we will be able to ensure that the trade deals that we do around the world incorporate those aspects of services in which we are leading.