Oral Answers to Questions

Ranil Jayawardena Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd March 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman asks me to respond to something that is a party matter, but I can assure him that the Conservative party did campaign in 2015 across the country for the return of a Conservative Government, and we should be clear that such campaigning would be part of the party’s national return, not candidates’ local return, as the Electoral Commission itself has said. The party accepted in April 2016 that it had made an administrative error on its national spending. It brought that to the attention of the Electoral Commission in order to amend its national return. As I have said, national electoral spending is a question for the national party, not individual Members. The Electoral Commission has looked into these issues, as it has with issues for the Liberal Democrats and the Labour party. It has issued fines to all three parties, and those fines will be paid.

[Mr Ranil Jayawardena (North East Hampshire) (Con)]

The International Trade Committee has been taking evidence about exports from chambers of commerce this morning. Given the Prime Minister’s commitment to a global Britain, does she agree that we can maintain good relations with our European friends as we leave the European Union and also build on our long-standing relationships with our Commonwealth friends across the world to trade our way to greater prosperity?

[The Prime Minister]

One of the four pillars of our plan for Britain is a global Britain—that more outward-looking Britain. My hon. Friend is right that this is not just a question of ensuring that we get the right relationship with Europe when we leave the EU. We do want to continue to have a partnership—to be able to trade freely across Europe, and for companies in EU member states to trade with us—but we also want to enhance and improve our arrangements for trade with other parts of the world, including members of the Commonwealth.