Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has visited Harland and Wolff in Belfast.

The Secretary of State has not yet had the opportunity to visit the Harland and Wolff Belfast site but looks forward to doing so in the future. However, as the Minister for Industry, I had the privilege of visiting Northern Ireland on 19th December to observe first-hand the potential of the site for job creation and manufacturing growth. The recent agreement between Navantia UK and Harland and Wolff, which was announced that day, will enable us to maintain our essential sovereign shipbuilding capacity and capability both now and in the long term.