Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what discussions she has had with her (a) Commonwealth and (b) other international counterparts on progress towards the founding principles and commitments of the intergovernmental Equal Rights Coalition as a condition of agreeing or maintaining preferential trading relationships with the UK.

The Secretary of State continues to engage with a wide range of colleagues on issues across her portfolio. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is responsible for managing development of the Equal Rights Coalition (ERC). In its role as co-chair of the ERC, the FCDO has conducted extensive engagement on the development of a UK led Five Year ERC Strategy, with both international partners, as well as Commonwealth member states. The Strategy is based on the founding principles and commitments of the ERC, which feature the important role business has to play in advancing LGBT equality.