Stephen Hammond
Main Page: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)Department Debates - View all Stephen Hammond's debates with the Cabinet Office
(2 years ago)
Commons ChamberThe United Kingdom took the lead in imposing some of the most stringent economic sanctions on the Russian economy, Russian businesses and Russian individuals. It is pleasing that other countries have followed. We will continue to push other countries to follow our lead on sanctions and we will continue to tighten them where we think it can make a difference.
I thank my right hon. Friend for his update on trade talks. In those talks, was there any discussion of extending the arrangements to include our No. 1 industry: finance and professional services?
My hon. Friend knows this area well. It is important that we take our time with trade deals, because services liberalisation, which as he knows is important for our economy, often takes longer to negotiate than simple tariff reductions on goods. Our economy has an incredible services sector; it is important that it benefits from trade deals, and I want to ensure that that happens.