Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what plans he has to celebrate the 120th anniversary of the signing of the Entente Cordiale.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
On 8 April, the UK and France celebrated the 120th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale with joint changing of the guard ceremonies at Buckingham Palace and the Élysée Palace. Throughout this anniversary year, our respective embassies are organising events reflecting the breadth of the UK-France relationship, showcasing our longstanding cooperation on issues including climate change, science, sport, culture, defence, education, and trade. In meetings last week, I reflected on this anniversary and positive state of the relationship with my French counterpart and with the French Ambassador to the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make an assessment of the economic impact of the free trade agreements with (a) Australia and (b) New Zealand since they came into force.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department’s impact assessments of the UK-Australia and UK-New Zealand Free Trade Agreements were published on 17 December 2021 and 28 February 2022 respectively. These impact assessments set out the potential long-run incremental economic impact of these FTAs and are available on gov.uk.
The agreements entered in force on the 31 May 2023, and we continue to monitor the economic impact of the two Governments.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make it his Department’s policy to reintroduce Lord Lieutenancies of the historic counties abolished upon the creation of Greater London in 1965.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The allocation of Lieutenancies to counties was set out in the 1997 Lieutenancies Act and there are currently no plans to amend it.
The Government attaches great importance to the history and traditions of this country and recognises that the tapestry of our historic counties is one of the bonds that draws the nation together. Whilst the Government shares your enthusiasm for promoting historic counties, it has no plans for any legislation on historic counties.