Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect on the responsibilities of his Department of the UK leaving the EU.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office will remain at the heart of the British Government’s efforts to strengthen ties with Europe after we leave the EU, based on our shared values and shared interests. As the Prime Minister has said ‘we are leaving the EU but we are not leaving Europe.’ That includes working closely with other Government Departments to take forward a new deep and special partnership with the EU. It also means cementing our strong bilateral relationships with the countries of Europe and our cooperation with them in other international fora.