Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Rob Butler and Ranil Jayawardena

Thursday 21st October 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jayawardena]

We took a very careful and measured approach to this difficult issue. We are determined to back the steel sector, but we will do so in a WTO-compliant way. The Trade Remedies Authority is working very hard on this issue.

[Rob Butler (Aylesbury) (Con)]

T7. With almost all my immediate family living in New Zealand and as a regular visitor there in more normal times, may I thank my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the work she has done to secure the free trade agreement, and provide my assurance that there is a market there for British businesses that is very keen to grow? How, during the course of the development of free trade agreements, do she and her Department engage with the Crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, which are also very keen to benefit from the advantages of our new-found freedoms now we are no longer in the EU?

[Mr Jayawardena]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for all that he says. He is right that we should be ambitious not only for the United Kingdom herself, but for the Crown dependencies. The Crown dependencies are an important part of our family and the Department for International Trade has developed a very strong working relationship with both officials and Ministers from their Governments. They are consulted prior to the launching of FTAs and consistently engage with us as the agreements progress towards signature and implementation.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Rob Butler and Ranil Jayawardena

Thursday 10th June 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jayawardena]

I am delighted to hear what the shadow Minister says, but what he is asking for, which is the imposition of measures against the independent recommendation of the TRA, is not within the Secretary of State’s powers today. In fact, his party argued that the Secretary of State should have fewer powers when the legislation was going through the House under the last Government. It wanted to curtail her powers further, and it was robust on that. We will not hesitate to defend British industry; that is our policy. The world has changed since 2018, when these powers were put in place, and the Trade Secretary is exploring what else might be needed in Britain’s toolkit to defend British industry.

[Rob Butler (Aylesbury) (Con)]

What assessment she has made of the potential benefits of a free trade agreement with Australia for Buckinghamshire.

--- Later in debate ---

[Rob Butler (Aylesbury) (Con)]

I know that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is currently working on a possible trade deal with the Gulf, which would be of great benefit to all concerned. For trade to be successful, we need to ensure easy mobility for business people, but currently Emiratis wanting to visit the UK on the visa waiver scheme are permitted only a single entry in a period of six months. Will the Minister work with colleagues in the Home Office to allow multiple entries so that the UK is never at a disadvantage compared with other European countries?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Trade (Mr Ranil Jayawardena)]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to recognise the importance of the Gulf given that the six countries in the Gulf Co-operation Council are our third-largest non-EU export market, at over £30 billion last year. I am very pleased that we have a strong visa offer for our partners there, including the electronic visa waiver programme, and that the introduction of Britain’s new points-based immigration system creates a level playing field for the first time in many years. I will continue to work closely with fellow Ministers at the Home Office to make sure that the visa system contributes to Britain rightly being recognised as a world leader with which to trade and invest.