Oral Answers to Questions

Keith Simpson Excerpts

Wednesday 10th September 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. The Prime Minister will attend the UN General Assembly later in September. We have not yet issued, or finally decided, his precise schedule, but of course we are looking at attendance at the meeting the hon. Lady refers to, and Britain will continue to play a leading role in the world in bringing about legally binding agreement on climate change. The next 15 months is a very important period, leading up to the meeting in Paris at the end of next year. We are one of the most active countries in the world in climate change diplomacy, and the Prime Minister and other Ministers in New York will be fully conveying that, whoever attends the meeting.

[Mr Keith Simpson (Broadland) (Con)]

Will my right hon. Friend explain to the House why, with the possibility of a yes vote, finance is leaving Scotland and many businesses are thinking of leaving Scotland? Surely if the economic arguments were so good for the yes campaign, the reverse would be happening?

[Mr Hague]

My hon. Friend makes a very powerful point. The anxieties of businesses are very clear to see. While we can understand people doubting the word of politicians about economic events, it is very important to listen to what businesses say they will do with their jobs, with their headquarters and with their investments, because a country that has separated itself from the fastest growing economy of the G7, that has put itself outside the European Union without thinking about the implications of doing that, and that has ended up with no central bank and unsure which currency to use, would of course find it difficult to attract new business to its shores.