Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the Answer of 10 April 2021 to Question 181471 on Football: Takeovers, whether the Government was involved in discussions on the sale of Newcastle United football club; and whether Lord Grimstone, Minister for Investment, had discussions with the Premier League during that takeover process.
Answered by Mike Freer
I have been asked to reply on behalf of HM Government.
The Government was not involved in commercial discussions on the sale of Newcastle United Football Club. The takeover has always been a commercial matter for the parties concerned.
It is part of my noble Friend the Minister of State for Investment’s responsibilities to monitor significant prospective investments into the UK. As part of this process, my noble Friend kept in touch with both parties involved in the potential acquisition of Newcastle United Football Club. At no point did my noble Friend attempt to influence the Premier League to approve the takeover.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what (a) working groups or (b) structured dialogues have been launched following the trade discussions in Baltimore; and how those groups or dialogues compare with the 10 US-EU Trade and Technology Council Working Groups in place.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
At the first UK-U.S. Trade Dialogue on 21-22 March in Baltimore, the UK and U.S. made a number of commitments (found here in the Joint Statement), including re-launching the joint Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) Dialogue. We will continue to identify further steps to move forward our important U.S.-UK bilateral trade relationship at the next Trade Dialogue on 25-26 April in Aberdeen.
The UK has its own unique interests and relationship with the United States. Our independent trade policy allows us to pursue this in detail, and discussions at the UK-U.S. Joint Dialogues have been tailored to our bilateral interests.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps she is taking to increase the proportion of exports to the EU to levels prior the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The proportion of goods exported from the UK to the EU (as a proportion of total UK goods exports) was 50.1% in May 2021. This has increased since the decline in January to 36.9%, and is slightly above the annual proportions for 2018 (49.5%), 2019 (47.4%) and 2020 (48.5%).
The proportion of services exported from the UK to the EU (as a proportion of total UK service exports) was 37.6% in Q1 2021, slightly above the annual proportion for 2020 (36.9%), and below 2019 (38.1%) and 2018 (40.4%).
The Department for International Trade provides a range of services to support businesses to export to the EU, including through the overseas Europe Network, International Trade Advisors and the Transition Period Enquiry Unit.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
What recent assessment the Government has made of the potential effect of her Department’s trade policies on the protection of animal welfare.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Government’s manifesto is clear that we are firmly committed to upholding our high standards. Having left the EU, we get to decide how we set and maintain our own animal welfare laws, standards and regulations. The Government will stand firm in trade negotiations, taking account of animal welfare considerations, to ensure any future trade deals live up to the values of farmers and consumers across the UK.