Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ranil Jayawardena and Alun Cairns

Wednesday 18th July 2018 Commons Chamber

[Alun Cairns]

I, too, congratulate the hon. Gentleman on his significant birthday. The Under-Secretary of State for Wales, my hon. Friend the Member for Pudsey (Stuart Andrew), and I meet Welsh farming unions regularly, and we also meet them jointly with the Welsh Government’s Agriculture Minister. That demonstrates the collaborative approach that we are taking. If I have said once, I have said 100 times that we will not be using the Barnett formula to distribute agricultural spend. Clearly, the current level of spend is the starting point, and we will be consulting in due course. The financial protection that the UK Government have given to Wales, whereby Wales now receives £120 for every £100 spent in England, demonstrates the priority that we put on protecting Wales’s interests.

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

2. What recent steps he has taken to promote Wales’s international trading opportunities.

[The Secretary of State for Wales (Alun Cairns)]

My Department continues to work closely with the Department for International Trade on promoting Wales’s trading opportunities. During my recent trips to Qatar, Kuwait, Hong Kong and the US I saw at first hand the enthusiasm for Welsh exports as well as the potential for foreign direct investment projects to come to Wales.

[Mr Jayawardena]

Given Wales’s connectivity on the M4 corridor, does my right hon. Friend agree that we can truly capitalise on trading opportunities internationally for Wales and, indeed, the Thames valley by improving the Reading to Gatwick road corridor?

[Alun Cairns]

My hon. Friend will be aware that I have been a strong supporter of the third runway at Heathrow because it is important to the Welsh economy, and connectivity to airports is vital to deliver its prospects and objectives. He is right about the M4 corridor. With the abolition of the Severn tolls, it creates an opportunity for a natural economy to develop between Bath, Bristol, Newport and the south Wales economy in general, to create further economic growth.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ranil Jayawardena and Alun Cairns

Wednesday 14th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Alun Cairns]

I also want to support Celsa Steel, but I remind the hon. Gentleman that Wales voted to leave the European Union, and we have an obligation to act on that instruction. However, he is right about the diversion and the distortion to the market from the risks of the action that is taking place. We are working closely with the European Union to protect the interests of Welsh steelworkers.

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

8. What steps the Government are taking to ensure that the growth corridors set out in the industrial strategy facilitate cross-border working.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ranil Jayawardena and Alun Cairns

Wednesday 13th December 2017 Commons Chamber

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

6. What assessment he has made of the effect of the UK’s decision to leave the EU on Wales’s international business links.

[The Secretary of State for Wales (Alun Cairns)]

Leaving the EU allows us to establish new trading opportunities across the globe, forging ahead as a global leader in free trade. Welsh exports have outperformed the UK average over the last year, and I am working closely with the International Trade Secretary to build on that success.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I see that the hon. Member for West Dunbartonshire (Martin Docherty-Hughes) has beetled back into the Chamber. It is good of the fellow to drop in on us. We are grateful to him.

[Mr Jayawardena]

What is my right hon. Friend doing to encourage Welsh businesses and consumers to seize the opportunity of a global Britain by boosting imports and exports to increase consumer choice and helping businesses to create more good jobs as we leave the EU?

[Alun Cairns]

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade has established the UK Board of Trade, and I am pleased that Lord Rowe-Beddoe and Heather Stevens sit on it as Welsh representatives—their reputation goes well before them. Businesses are already responding. I have already quoted the encouraging export data, but clearly there is more work to do.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ranil Jayawardena and Alun Cairns

Wednesday 1st November 2017 Commons Chamber

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

7. Will the Secretary of State reassure us that the two important markets that he visited recently—Japan and Qatar—are committed to their current international business links with Wales? What plans do they have to expand that involvement?

[Alun Cairns]

As I mentioned to the hon. Member for Islwyn (Chris Evans), I am encouraged by their interest and commitment. Japanese companies, by tradition, make long-term investments. The first was in Bridgend—Sony was one of the first—in 1973, and they have similarly committed that they want to remain with us for the long term to come. [Interruption.]

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ranil Jayawardena and Alun Cairns

Wednesday 18th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[Alun Cairns]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that question. When we move from the basic minimum wage to the national living wage next April, there will be an increase of 7.5%. That means that 100,000 people in Wales will benefit immediately from next April.

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

9. What assessment he has made of the effect in Wales of the Government’s measures to support small businesses.