Oral Answers to Questions

Tom Hunt Excerpts

Thursday 15th April 2021 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

First, we are not removing the safeguards in June. When we were part of the EU, decisions about safeguards were made on an independent basis. Nobody on the Opposition side of the House complained about that then, but they seem to object to independent decisions being made when we are a sovereign nation, which I find utterly bizarre. And I do not agree with the hon. Gentleman’s pessimistic prognosis of the future of Welsh exports. We have massive opportunities for more beef exports, more lamb exports, more car exports and more aerospace exports, and that is what we are going to do through our new trade and investment hub in Cardiff. It is going to be driving those opportunities and I urge him to get behind it.

[Tom Hunt (Ipswich) (Con) [V]]

In Ipswich, we are fortunate to have an incredibly engaged local Indian community, many of whom run businesses sourcing goods coming from India. Also down the road, let us not forget, is Felixstowe, which takes in most of the goods that come in from India and then go around the rest of the country. Do the Government have any plans to closely engage with local communities, such as the Indian community in Ipswich, and possibly introduce cultural exchanges to bridge any cultural barriers there may be and therefore increase and boost trade between our country and our close friends, India?

[Elizabeth Truss]

I would be delighted to engage with the local Indian community in Ipswich and across the country, because I think we have huge opportunities to expand our trade with India. It is currently £24 billion, but it could be so much more. We are currently working on an enhanced trade partnership with the Indian Government and I look forward to engaging with my hon. Friend and the people of Ipswich to make it happen.