Commons
Ministerial Statement
14 July 2026
UK-Switzerland Enhanced Free Trade Agreement
With permission, Mr Speaker, I will update the House on the enhanced free trade agreement that was concluded yesterday between the United Kingdom and Switzerland. This is the sixth trade deal that the Government have secured over the last two years.
We already had an FTA with Switzerland, which was…
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
2 July 2026
2 contributions
Trade with Europe
We are taking two steps to try to drive up our trade with Europe. First, we are seeking bilateral wins with individual countries like the small modular reactors deal that has just been done by Rolls-Royce in Sweden, or opening up the pilot digital trade corridors that we have with Germany and France…
My hon. Friend is absolutely right, not least because in the most recent figures, our trade in goods with Europe has fallen by 2% in the last year, whereas our trade in services has grown by 7%. All of this shows what a shockingly appalling, shameful, despicable deal was done by the previous Governm…
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
2 July 2026
6 contributions
Supply Chain Security
Resilience is vital in all our supply chains. That is why we have launched the supply chain centre, which will help to strengthen that resilience. War, extreme environmental events and the deliberate or accidental closure of shipping routes can affect everything from agriculture to construction in t…
My hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise El Niño. We believe that it has already started, and we are conscious of the issues that may arise from it. We are closely monitoring it and trying to ensure that we have resilient policies in place in every single sector, including agriculture and fisheri…
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
2 July 2026
2 contributions
Topical Questions
We have already laid out our steel trade measures, which are there to ensure that the UK has a steel industry. This is vital for our economic future. I want to make clear that 73% of all steel imports into the UK are not in scope of the measure, but I will, of course, look at this specific issue. If…
That is one of the issues that we need to look at not just in the UK but with our international allies. We have got ourselves in a ludicrous position where critical minerals are available all over the world, but 85% of them are only processed in one country. We need to ensure that we have resilience…
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
2 July 2026
3 contributions
Farming Sector: International Trade
When it comes to international deals, we regularly fight determinedly for the farming sector and the wider food and beverage sector. Sometimes that means defending our UK farming and food standards, but just as often, we are able to secure significant advances; for instance, we have managed to secur…
I commend my hon. Friend—since he has been in the House he has raised lots of issues on behalf of the farming sector in his constituency. Some of those are issues that need to come directly to Ministers, so that we can take action on them, and this is one of them. We are very keen to make sure that …
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
2 July 2026
Youth Employment
Give us the opening line!
Commons
Proceedings
30 June 2026
4 contributions
Steel Tariffs: Northern Ireland
I hope you would agree, Mr Speaker, that I have always done my level best to come to the House first with any new announcements.
As I told the House last Thursday in written and oral statements, the Government’s new steel trade measure comes into force tomorrow, immediately succeeding the expiry of…
I am sorry, but I think that the absurdity all lies with the hon. and learned Member. He seems to be trying to create a difference between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which we are striving in every way to prevent. We have made it absolutely clear that the existing—[Interruption.] If he chunt…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
25 June 2026
Steel Trade Measure
With your permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I wish to make a statement on our steel trade measure, which will come into force on Wednesday 1 July.
Let me start with first principles. The UK needs a strong steel sector, both in production and downstream, but the whole sector is facing an existential…
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
21 May 2026
4 contributions
Topical Questions
The thing about a Labrador is that when it has got hold of the wrong end of the stick, it is very difficult to get that stick back. A lot of hon. Members have got the wrong end of the stick about what we are doing. We are increasing the sanctions on Russian oil. Up until now, it has been perfectly p…
I am very happy to meet the company, and the right hon. Gentleman if he want to come and see me, to talk through all those issues. It is really important, if we are to have a steel production sector in this country, to ensure that it has an opportunity to compete with unfair competition around the r…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
21 May 2026
2 contributions
SMEs: European Trade
We are helping SMEs do more trade with European countries by taking down tariff and other trade barriers in our EU-UK summit, reducing red tape in individual countries, enabling easier business travel and allowing the mutual recognition of professional qualifications, both across the EU and bilatera…
I am afraid that I am not going to take any ideas from the Lib Dems on this matter—I think I can pretty much unite the House on that. One of the things I am very keen on is that we maintain our position as the second-largest art market in the world. That means that we have to negotiate better agreem…
Commons
Debate
21 May 2026
8 contributions
Humble Address: Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
With your permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I wish to make a statement on the Government’s return to the Humble Address on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. I will speak briefly, because I am conscious of the time.
I have today laid before the House documents that the Government have identified that the …
Yes, there was a long version but, to be honest, I would basically have been reading out the written ministerial statement that we laid at 10.30 am. Much as I love the sound of my own voice, I am not sure that the House does—I think I have united the House on that—so I thought I would go for the sho…
+6 more contributions in this session
Commons
Proceedings
20 May 2026
28 contributions
Processed Russian Oil Products: Sanctions
Putin must never be allowed victory in Ukraine and we will do everything we can as a Government and a country to debilitate and degrade the Russian war machine. That is precisely what our sanctions regime is designed to do. We have sanctioned more than 3,300 individuals and organisations and hundred…
First, I think the hon. Member must have missed the fact that a statutory instrument that, for the first time, implements a ban on refined Russian crude oil products processed in a third country is coming into force today. It did not come into force earlier in the year. Incidentally, it did not come…
+26 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
12 March 2026
4 contributions
Topical Questions
I thank my hon. Friend for standing up for the business in her constituency, and she is absolutely right. The Trade Remedies Authority is investigating, as she knows, and I urge industry to participate in that, although I cannot comment on the precise details of the investigation because it might ev…
My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and I commend him for supporting his constituents. Equally importantly, there are many Scottish products in respect of which we need to ensure that British businesses can take the opportunities the India FTA affords, and build on those so that we can build strong …
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
12 March 2026
5 contributions
Start-ups and Scale-ups: Access to New Markets
We want to build new opportunities for start-ups and scale-ups to export around the world. That is why we are providing tailored market advice, free training through our business academy, export finance and support on the ground in international markets.
My hon. Friend makes a really good point by raising th4e example of London Fashion Week. She is quite right that lots of businesses in Northamptonshire are working in this field. One key thing we do through NEWGEN is to provide support to people—including, in fact, some of those she mentioned, such …
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
12 March 2026
3 contributions
Scottish Industry: International Promotion
Promoting Scottish industry overseas is one of our prime objectives. Whether it is opening up new markets such as India for Scotch whisky, securing new beef opportunities in the United States of America, securing contracts for Scottish steel in new bridges in Ukraine, or promoting financial services…
I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for the work he has done to make sure that the UK Government have delivered in his constituency. I am glad that he has raised the Lanarkshire AI growth zone, because it is really important in trying to make sure that the industries of the future are at the heart of th…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
24 February 2026
29 contributions
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
Let me be clear from the outset: we support this motion. Frankly, it is the least we owe the victims of the horrific abuse that was perpetrated by Jeffrey Epstein and others—abuse that was enabled, aided and abetted by a very extensive group of arrogant, entitled and often very wealthy individuals i…
I heard that.
+27 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
23 February 2026
8 contributions
Industry and Exports (Financial Assistance) Bill
It is good to see you in the Chair, Mrs Cummins. I welcome all Members to this slightly unusual Committee. Normally, a Committee of the whole House is awfully contentious, with everybody shouting at one another, but it will not be so contentious this afternoon—certainly not as regards the main body …
I was about to sit down, I am afraid. I had finished.
+6 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
12 February 2026
4 contributions
Onshoring: Fashion and Textiles
You’re taking other people’s jobs—typical Lib Dem!
It is an enormous delight to see you in the Chair, Ms Jardine—I cannot imagine a greater delight this afternoon. I warmly commend my hon. Friend the Member for Hornsey and Friern Barnet (Catherine West) for securing this debate, and for the passion with which she has approached the issue, not just t…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
9 February 2026
26 contributions
UK-India Free Trade Agreement
I beg to move,
That this House has considered the UK-India Free Trade Agreement.
I will start by saying why this deal is so important. That may seem obvious, I suppose. We did £47.2 billion-worth of trade with India last year. That was up 15% year on year, and India is now our 10th-largest trading…
Oh dear. I will give way, but I think I know what my hon. Friend is going to say.
+24 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
29 January 2026
11 contributions
Topical Questions
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply, because he is in China with the Prime Minister. In the last few weeks, our Department has concluded an enhanced trade deal with the Republic of Korea, published a critical minerals strategy and secured the Employment Rights Act 2025, which will see the b…
I was told that my hon. Friend was going to ask a question about choral farms; I was wondering how one farmed tenors, altos and contraltos. He makes a very fair point. As the Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade, my hon. Friend the Member for Stockton North (Chris McDonald), said earlier,…
+9 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
29 January 2026
2 contributions
Arms Export Licences: Israel
We regularly assess Israel’s compliance with, and commitment to, international humanitarian law. It was those assessments that led us in September 2024 to suspend licences where the items might be used in military operations in Gaza. Most of the licences suspended at that time have since expired, bu…
I agree with one part of what the hon. Member said, which is that we do want to see humanitarian aid get to the people who need it, and we need to see a proper, lasting peace, based on peace and justice, working together, and that is our commitment. He is, however, completely wrong to suggest that i…
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
29 January 2026
7 contributions
Encouraging Exports
The UK is the fourth largest exporter in the world and the second largest in services, but we want to do even better, which is why we are pushing forward our new trade deals to cut barriers for UK businesses, strengthening UK Export Finance, providing tailored market advice and targeting resources s…
First, it was great that my hon. Friend and other MPs brought individual constituency businesses along, because one of the things I want to do as Minister for Trade is try to persuade all 650 colleagues to come along with individual businesses so we can work out where there are barriers to export an…
+5 more contributions in this session