Greg Hands debates with Cabinet Office
There have been 19 exchanges between Greg Hands and Cabinet Office
| Wed 8th January 2020 | Oral Answers to Questions | 4 interactions (111 words) |
| Tue 8th October 2019 | Preparations for Leaving the EU | 3 interactions (88 words) |
| Wed 25th September 2019 | Prime Minister's Update | 3 interactions (74 words) |
| Tue 3rd September 2019 | G7 Summit | 3 interactions (74 words) |
| Thu 25th July 2019 | Priorities for Government | 3 interactions (27 words) |
| Wed 17th July 2019 | Oral Answers to Questions | 5 interactions (80 words) |
| Wed 10th April 2019 | Voter ID Pilots | 3 interactions (106 words) |
| Wed 13th March 2019 | Oral Answers to Questions | 3 interactions (53 words) |
| Wed 6th February 2019 | Oral Answers to Questions | 7 interactions (125 words) |
| Mon 21st January 2019 | Leaving the EU | 3 interactions (170 words) |
| Mon 14th January 2019 | Leaving the EU | 3 interactions (123 words) |
| Wed 19th December 2018 | Oral Answers to Questions | 3 interactions (20 words) |
| Mon 17th December 2018 | European Council | 3 interactions (108 words) |
| Mon 10th December 2018 | Exiting the European Union | 3 interactions (61 words) |
| Thu 22nd November 2018 | Progress on EU Negotiations | 3 interactions (48 words) |
| Wed 31st October 2018 | Oral Answers to Questions | 5 interactions (87 words) |
| Mon 22nd October 2018 | October EU Council | 3 interactions (95 words) |
| Mon 15th October 2018 | EU Exit Negotiations | 3 interactions (102 words) |
| Wed 27th June 2018 | Oral Answers to Questions | 3 interactions (48 words) |
Oral Answers to Questions
Greg Hands Excerpts(11 months ago)
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Cabinet Office
Greg Hands (Chelsea and Fulham) (Con)
1. What recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the 2016 fiscal framework agreement between the Government and the Scottish Government. [900085]
The Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr Alister Jack)
8 Jan 2020, 11:35 a.m.
I welcome you to your new role, Mr Speaker, and give you my very best wishes for 2020.
The UK Government continue to work closely with the Scottish Government to implement the fiscal framework agreed in February 2016. I pay tribute to my right hon. Friend the Member for Chelsea and Fulham (Greg Hands), who played his part in that agreement. A review of the arrangements is due in 2021.
Greg Hands
8 Jan 2020, 11:36 a.m.
I also welcome you to your position, Mr Speaker, and the new Secretary of State to his. One of the interesting features of the negotiations was that the venue alternated between London and Edinburgh, which might be an idea for other negotiations that are about to start. The fiscal framework, combined with the Scotland Act 2016, helped create possibly the most powerful devolved Parliament anywhere in the world. Could the Secretary of State tell us, however, what the consequences of fiscal devolution have been for Scottish taxpayers?
Mr Jack
8 Jan 2020, 11:36 a.m.
My right hon. Friend is absolutely right: the Scottish Parliament is the most powerful devolved Parliament in the world, and with those tax powers it is much more accountable than was previously the case. However, I regret its decision to make Scotland the most highly taxed part of the United Kingdom.
Preparations for Leaving the EU
Greg Hands Excerpts(1 year, 1 month ago)
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Cabinet Office
Greg Hands (Chelsea and Fulham) (Con)
I welcome the publication of the 31 country guides for UK nationals in other EU and EEA countries. I will ask my right hon. Friend a question that I asked our hon. Friend the Member for Worcester (Mr Walker) when he was working on no-deal preparations: is it possible to publish the preparations done by those countries all in the same place so that we can compare countries such as Spain and Denmark, which are doing the right thing for our nationals, with those that perhaps are not?
Michael Gove
8 Oct 2019, 2:49 p.m.
My right hon. Friend makes a characteristically original, helpful and constructive idea. As well as the individual country guides, we should also publish a guide that allows for the comparisons of the kind he mentions.
Prime Minister's Update
Greg Hands Excerpts(1 year, 2 months ago)
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Cabinet Office
The Prime Minister
25 Sep 2019, 8:06 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I am mindful of what you have said about the surrender Act—[Interruption.] I do appreciate that tensions on this matter are high, but I want to be very clear with the hon. Lady. There is only one way to end those tensions in this country, and that is to get Brexit done. If she really thinks that staying on in the EU month after month after 31 October will make those tensions, that acrimony and that storm on Twitter abate, she has got another think coming. Let us get this thing done.
Greg Hands (Chelsea and Fulham) (Con)
25 Sep 2019, 8:08 p.m.
I am glad to hear of the Prime Minister’s continuing commitment to getting a deal, and it seems to me that that deal will inevitably be based around alternative arrangements. He mentioned the discussions in Brussels but, crucially, there will also be discussions in Belfast and Dublin. Could he give us an update on his meeting with Leo Varadkar on Monday in New York? Did they discuss alternative arrangements, and what is his view?
The Prime Minister
25 Sep 2019, 8:08 p.m.
I really thank my right hon. Friend, because he has played a huge role in developing the whole concept of alternative arrangements, and yes, that played a large part in our conversation on Monday with the Taoiseach. I think it would be over-optimistic to say that that alone can solve the problem. There remain difficult issues about customs, as I am sure he understands, and we really must make progress on that issue.
G7 Summit
Greg Hands Excerpts(1 year, 3 months ago)
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Cabinet Office
The Prime Minister
I am grateful to the right hon. Lady, but I do not comment on leaks. As I say, I saw the story on the front of the Telegraph this morning. It seemed to me wholly implausible, but—I can happily answer her question on that—I have not seen fit to ring any journalist today on any matter, because as you can imagine, I have been working flat out to get out of the EU on 31 October.
Greg Hands (Chelsea and Fulham) (Con)
3 Sep 2019, 4:30 p.m.
When it comes to alternative arrangements to the backstop, the commission that I co-chair is making real progress. Yesterday, we published a revised withdrawal agreement and a political declaration. We are hosting a conference in Dundalk next week, bringing together parliamentarians from across these islands. I thank the Prime Minister for the meetings that I have had with his team and I assure him that our proposals are in very good shape going forward.
The Prime Minister
I thank my right hon. Friend for the fantastic work that he has done with many colleagues to prepare for the alternative arrangements that really do hold out the prospect of a solution to the problem of the Northern Irish border—[Interruption.] If the hon. Gentleman would care to study the report, he might elucidate himself on that matter. There are a number of proposals that have been made, and indeed, many others, that hold out real hope of progress, but those are not the only areas in which we are making progress. There are several areas in which we are now discussing how the UK can retire whole and perfect from the EU while retaining the integrity of the market in Ireland. That is a hard thing to achieve, but it can be done.
Priorities for Government
Greg Hands Excerpts(1 year, 4 months ago)
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Cabinet Office
The Prime Minister
25 Jul 2019, 1:19 p.m.
I ask the hon. Lady to look at my political record and at what we have achieved. Look at what I have done, as a one-nation Conservative, to lift up and help with policies that are uniformly delivering better outcomes for the poorest and neediest in society. That is what I stand for, that is what I believe in, and that is what the whole Government will deliver.
Greg Hands (Chelsea and Fulham) (Con)
25 Jul 2019, 1:19 p.m.
Does my right hon. Friend welcome the findings of the alternative arrangements commission, led by me and my right hon. Friend the Member for Loughborough (Nicky Morgan)?
The Prime Minister
25 Jul 2019, 1:19 p.m.
I do. They are, if I may say, a withering retort to the gloomsters on the Opposition Benches who say there is no solution and who begin the prospect of negotiations by saying that defeat is inevitable. That is not true. As my right hon. Friend has identified, the facilitations and the remedies do exist. What it takes now is the political will to get there.
Oral Answers to Questions
Greg Hands Excerpts(1 year, 4 months ago)
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Cabinet Office
17 Jul 2019, 11:39 a.m.
No, we will not. The reason is that there are issues of capacity in both the World Bank and the UN. The key point here is not the ideological choice of the channel through which we pass the money but the capacity to manage these projects responsibly.
Greg Hands (Chelsea and Fulham) (Con)
2. What steps his Department is taking to help to achieve sustainable development goal 2.2 on ending all forms of malnutrition. [911987]
The Minister for Africa (Harriett Baldwin)
17 Jul 2019, 11:39 a.m.
The UK Government are working closely with the Government of Japan to ensure that next year’s summit secures meaningful and transformational commitments from Governments. We have invested £2.6 billion in this area since the last summit, and we are considering what offer the UK Government will make to next year’s summit.
Greg Hands
17 Jul 2019, 11:39 a.m.
Last year, I travelled with Results UK to Zambia, where 40% of under-fives are stunted. That has an astonishing lifelong impact on their social and economic development. Will the Minister go into a little more detail about next year’s summit and about how we will show our commitment to really tackling deficiencies in nutrition on a worldwide scale?
Harriett Baldwin
17 Jul 2019, 11:39 a.m.
My right hon. Friend is right to highlight this important issue. I am pleased to be able to tell him that, since his visit, the work we have been doing in Zambia specifically, which has reached more than 1 million people, has reduced the level of stunting to 35%, but clearly that still leaves a lot more to be done.
Voter ID Pilots
Greg Hands Excerpts(1 year, 8 months ago)
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Cabinet Office
Chloe Smith
10 Apr 2019, 1:37 p.m.
I thoroughly welcome those comments. The hon. Lady is absolutely correct. This is simply a matter of common sense. It is a quite reasonable and proportionate thing to ask people to do that is in line with what we do elsewhere in the UK and throughout everyday life.
Greg Hands (Chelsea and Fulham) (Con)
10 Apr 2019, 1:39 p.m.
Madam Deputy Speaker,
“How will we check people’s ID? We will be using a two-level check to verify the person attending is who we have on our membership list. Named Photo ID: This is for branch officers to see photographic ID which has a name that matches the name on the list and is of the person who has presented to the meeting…Proof of Address”.
That is from the Tottenham constituency Labour party website with regard to its own meetings. If Labour Members think that two forms of proof are needed to vote in their own elections, why do they think that is not appropriate for national elections?
Chloe Smith
10 Apr 2019, 1:38 p.m.
I quite agree, and I am delighted that my right hon. Friend has laid it out so clearly. It is not good enough to say one thing and do another, and then come to this House and lecture others on it.
Oral Answers to Questions
Greg Hands Excerpts(1 year, 8 months ago)
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Cabinet Office
Brandon Lewis
As I said to the hon. Lady’s colleague earlier, she should not believe every rumour she reads in a newspaper or on Twitter. It is simply not true.
Greg Hands (Chelsea and Fulham) (Con)
T4. My right hon. Friend will be aware of the arbitrary 15-year rule that prevents Britons abroad from voting in UK elections. Will she recommit the Government to supporting the private Member’s Bill of our hon. Friend the Member for Montgomeryshire (Glyn Davies), when it comes back to the House next week? [909778]
The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Chloe Smith)
I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for raising that point. The Government continue to support that Bill and think it is the right thing to do.
Oral Answers to Questions
Greg Hands Excerpts(1 year, 10 months ago)
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Cabinet Office
Oliver Dowden
6 Feb 2019, 11:39 a.m.
Prompt payment is important to all businesses, particularly small businesses. That is why we have set a target for 90% of undisputed invoices from small and medium-sized enterprises to be paid within five days. We are making good progress, and six Departments are already exceeding that target. I know that there has been an issue in respect of the Cabinet Office, but I can give the hon. Gentleman the latest figures, from December, which show that 95% of invoices are now meeting the 30-day target and that 82% are meeting the five-day target.
Greg Hands (Chelsea and Fulham) (Con)
6 Feb 2019, 11:39 a.m.
Will the Minister join me in welcoming moves to roll over the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement—the GPA—and in welcoming the access that that would give to UK companies competing abroad and the opening up of our own markets to foreign competitors?
Oliver Dowden
6 Feb 2019, 11:39 a.m.
I know that my right hon. Friend has a great deal of experience in this area, and he is absolutely right to highlight the importance of the GPA. I am pleased that we have made progress and reached agreement in principle for the United Kingdom to join the GPA, and I am confident that we will have that in place shortly.
Break in Debate
6 Feb 2019, 12:27 p.m.
The hon. Gentleman has been a completely open and honourable champion of the second referendum, and I respect that fact. He knows the Government’s concerns that that would lead to an erosion of public trust in our political process, and that it would not actually settle the question because there would then be demands from whoever lost a second referendum to proceed to a third. I have to say to the hon. Gentleman that he needs to persuade his own Front Benchers, because I find that opposition to a second referendum is quite deep in both major parties in the House.
Greg Hands (Chelsea and Fulham) (Con)
6 Feb 2019, 12:27 p.m.
I have just come from speaking at the launch of a draft EU-UK free trade agreement. It lays out 300 pages of what such an agreement would look like and invites the Government and businesses to engage, but it depends on our being outside a customs union with the EU. Notwithstanding the earlier exchanges on this very topic, will my right hon. Friend recommit himself today to our manifesto commitment to be outside a customs union with the EU in the future relationship?
My right hon. Friend, perfectly properly, made reference to the 2017 Conservative manifesto, but I could also refer him to many, many statements made from this Dispatch Box and elsewhere by our right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to the same effect. I would say to him that, for the complex negotiations that would be needed to establish the detail of the future economic partnership between ourselves and the European Union, we need to have the implementation or transitional period that is specified in the withdrawal agreement. That is what businesses of all sizes in all sectors are asking us in this House to do, and that is why the House should come together and support a deal.
Leaving the EU
Greg Hands Excerpts(1 year, 10 months ago)
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Cabinet Office
The Prime Minister
21 Jan 2019, 4:57 p.m.
If the right hon. Gentleman had heard the speech that I made last week in the no-confidence debate, he would know that I made it absolutely clear that I do not believe that a general election is in the national interest at this time.
Greg Hands (Chelsea and Fulham) (Con)
21 Jan 2019, 4:59 p.m.
May I return to issues concerning the World Trade Organisation? One of the things that will need to be sorted out in connection with the question of a no-deal Brexit is what will happen in relation to some of the “most favoured nation” clauses. If the Prime Minister were to put up no tariffs, barriers or checks to EU goods at all after 29 March—which would be very helpful in ensuring that there was no change in free-flowing trade from our side—that might provoke MFN challenges at the WTO.
What assessment have the Government made of the relative merit of carrying on with trade as it currently is in such a scenario, vis-à-vis the risk of WTO challenges? Those challenges would of course not be heard for 18 months, and any infraction could not be retrospective. Does my right hon. Friend agree that it may well be worth while—as long as the study is done—to pursue that course of simply keeping the border open in the event of a no-deal Brexit?
The Prime Minister
21 Jan 2019, 4:58 p.m.
I know—given his previous ministerial position and his interests—that my right hon. Friend has considered this issue with great care. However, it is not simply a question of the tariffs that we set for items going across our border. Questions of the WTO requirements in relation to customs declarations at the border, and other issues which are referred to in the political declaration, such as issues relating to data, are also relevant to this matter.
Leaving the EU
Greg Hands Excerpts(1 year, 10 months ago)
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Cabinet Office
The Prime Minister
14 Jan 2019, 5:09 p.m.
The political declaration sets out the instructions to the negotiators for the next stage in relation not just to the trade arrangements but to the security arrangements and some issues underpinning all of those, such as the questions of data exchange. Those are the instructions according to which the negotiators for the next stage will be working in order to change it into a legal text. It is not possible for the EU to agree a legally binding text of the trade agreement with a country that is a member of the EU; it has to wait until we are a third country and outside the EU.
Greg Hands (Chelsea and Fulham) (Con)
14 Jan 2019, 5:10 p.m.
The Prime Minister will have read the comments from leading European Commission officials at the very highest levels about the withdrawal agreement since it was finalised. Sabine Weyand, Michel Barnier’s deputy, has said:
“This requires the Customs Union as the basis for the future relationship”.
She has also said:
“They must align their rules, but the EU will retain all the controls”.
Finally, she said:
“The EU retains its leverage”.
Martin Selmayr, the secretary-general of the Commission, has said:
“The power is with us”.
He also told the Passauer Neue Presse on 7 December that the agreement showed that
“leaving the EU…doesn’t work”.
Those in Brussels clearly believe it is a great deal for them. Why is the Prime Minister seemingly equally enthusiastic in thinking this is a great deal for the UK?
The Prime Minister
14 Jan 2019, 5:12 p.m.
I know that a number of Members were concerned about the phraseology in the political declaration around the future relationship in relation to customs and about building on the protocol and the assumption that therefore what was in the protocol would effectively have to be taken forward into that future relationship. In fact, the letters we have received today from the EU make it clear that that is not the case. My right hon. Friend asks why I believe this is a good deal. I believe it is a good deal because, as I have said previously, it delivers on the vote of the referendum—control of money, borders and laws; out of the common fisheries policy and common agricultural policy; the ability to have an independent trade policy—and enables us to do so in a way that protects jobs and security and gives certainty to businesses.
Oral Answers to Questions
Greg Hands Excerpts(1 year, 11 months ago)
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Cabinet Office
Chloe Smith
19 Dec 2018, 12:01 p.m.
I shall be happy to meet the hon. Lady and her colleagues. I know that the independent Office for National Statistics, whose decisions these are, has written to the APPG in some detail, and I know that the ONS will also listen carefully to the hon. Lady’s question and endeavour to answer it.
Greg Hands (Chelsea and Fulham) (Con)
19 Dec 2018, 12:01 p.m.
Are the Government still committed to abolishing the insidious 15-year rule that applies to British expats voting in UK elections?
European Council
Greg Hands Excerpts(1 year, 11 months ago)
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Cabinet Office
The Prime Minister
17 Dec 2018, 4:29 p.m.
I have indicated my approach in relation to the extension of article 50.
Greg Hands (Chelsea and Fulham) (Con)
17 Dec 2018, 4:34 p.m.
Notwithstanding what Emmanuel Macron said on Friday, recent comments from the European Commission have been rather more hostile, and anything but nebulous. Martin Selmayr is reported to have told officials that losing Northern Ireland was the price of Brexit. Briefing EU ambassadors on the deal, Sabine Weyand said that the UK
“must align their rules but the EU will retain all the controls.”
At the weekend, a further EU official was reported in The Times to have said:
“To use a Christmas theme, we want all parties and factions in the British parliament to feel the bleak midwinter.”
Does that sound to my right hon. Friend like people negotiating in good faith?
The Prime Minister
17 Dec 2018, 4:34 p.m.
I have always been clear throughout this that these have been tough negotiations, but we have held our side and achieved a deal that delivers on the vote of the British people, and delivers it in a way that protects jobs and security and, I believe, protects our prosperity for the future.
Exiting the European Union
Greg Hands Excerpts(1 year, 12 months ago)
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Cabinet Office
The Prime Minister
10 Dec 2018, 4:44 p.m.
I say to the right hon. Gentleman that I think the whole premise of his question was wrong, and if he looks back at the history of Governments in this country, he will see that.
Greg Hands (Chelsea and Fulham) (Con)
10 Dec 2018, 4:47 p.m.
The Prime Minister in her statement said that the Government will step up their work in preparation for a possible no-deal outcome, and this is very important. She said the same last month, so I am wondering whether my right hon. Friend could tell us at least one action that is now taking place that was not taking place last month.
The Prime Minister
10 Dec 2018, 4:44 p.m.
Yes, I am very happy to say to my right hon. Friend that we have indeed been stepping up the action that has been taken. Since I said that, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs has taken action in writing to over 140,000 businesses, and the Department of Health and Social Care has written to pharmaceutical companies, for example, on the potential impact of no deal on medicines and devices.
Progress on EU Negotiations
Greg Hands Excerpts(2 years ago)
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Cabinet Office
The Prime Minister
22 Nov 2018, 2:54 p.m.
In response to the hon. Lady’s final question, I refer her to the answer I have given to other right hon. and hon. Members. There is much else I could say about the other details in her question, but I will simply make this point. This deal does not make the European Court of Justice the final arbiter on any dispute.
Greg Hands (Chelsea and Fulham) (Con)
22 Nov 2018, 2:54 p.m.
The Prime Minister mentioned that there is an explicit and welcome reference in the document to the UK pursuing an independent trade policy, including the ability to sign new trade deals with the rest of the world. Does that include specifically the ability to conclude free trade agreements?
The Prime Minister
22 Nov 2018, 2:54 p.m.
Yes. We will have the opportunity to conclude free trade agreements with countries around the rest of the world. As I hope my right hon. Friend sees, this aspect has been inserted in the full political declaration to make absolutely clear that we will have an independent trade policy.
Oral Answers to Questions
Greg Hands Excerpts(2 years, 1 month ago)
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Cabinet Office
Mr Vara
I appreciate that this is a long-standing issue and a matter of concern. What I will say is that we have just introduced measures for transparency. It is important that we have some data as we move forward. Then, as with many other things, there is no reason why there cannot be a review. When that review takes place, there will be consultation with the Northern Ireland parties and the Electoral Commission.
Greg Hands (Chelsea and Fulham) (Con)
10. What steps she has taken to seek closure for victims of the Irish Republican Army and Irish National Liberation Army activity during the troubles. [907327]
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Karen Bradley)
31 Oct 2018, 11:57 a.m.
I have been deeply moved by the personal stories of pain and suffering endured by the families of the victims and survivors of the troubles. That is why we have consulted on how we best move forward and address the legacy of Northern Ireland’s past. I wanted everyone to have the opportunity to be heard, and over 17,000 responses have been received. It is right that we take the time to consider those responses carefully. We will set out how we intend to move forward in due course.
Greg Hands
31 Oct 2018, 11:57 a.m.
I met the Home Secretary yesterday on behalf of Airey Neave’s family to discuss his brutal murder on these very premises almost 40 years ago. Will my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland join me in saying that the victims of the IRA and the INLA on mainland Britain also deserve information and closure on the troubles?
Karen Bradley
31 Oct 2018, 11:57 a.m.
My right hon. Friend is a doughty campaigner for the family of Airey Neave, some of whom live in his constituency. We have spoken about the issue, and he will know that this matter is dealt with by the Home Office, as are all terrorist atrocities in Great Britain. I will work with him to get that closure.
October EU Council
Greg Hands Excerpts(2 years, 1 month ago)
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Cabinet Office
The Prime Minister
22 Oct 2018, 5:29 p.m.
I have answered that question on a number of occasions already this afternoon. I believe it is right that we gave the people the vote in 2016. They voted to leave and we will deliver on that.
Greg Hands (Chelsea and Fulham) (Con)
The Leader of the Opposition spoke of fudge and shambles, but his policy of leaving the EU but remaining in a customs union would be precisely that. But could my right hon. Friend tell us: in such a situation, whether temporary or permanent, who looks after trade remedies and trade defences of key UK industries such as steel and ceramics? Who sets the tariff policy for the developing world, which at the moment we have through the EU but would like to do on our own? Who is responsible for trade remedies and trade preferences?
The Prime Minister
22 Oct 2018, 5:34 p.m.
Obviously, my right hon. Friend, as a former Trade Minister—a position he held with distinction—understands these issues and their intricacies. Of course, in a customs union, trade policy—with all the issues like trade remedies and trade sanctions—will be a matter for the European Union and not the UK. I believe that we should be making those decisions for ourselves here in the UK.
EU Exit Negotiations
Greg Hands Excerpts(2 years, 1 month ago)
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Cabinet Office
The Prime Minister
15 Oct 2018, 4:24 p.m.
As I have said to others, the British people made their decision on our leaving the European Union. If the hon. Lady wants to know how to deliver frictionless trade, she should read the White Paper.
Greg Hands (Chelsea and Fulham) (Con)
15 Oct 2018, 4:24 p.m.
I am delighted that my right hon. Friend has rejected the Opposition proposal to be in a customs union in the EU, which was of course rejected by this House only in July. Apart from the most important reason—having our tariffs and trade policy determined by Brussels without our having a seat at the table—it would also mean we would have no control over trade defences, dumping, unfair trade practices or trade preferences for the developing world. Does she therefore agree with me that it would illogical to agree to be in a customs union with the European Union beyond December 2020?
The Prime Minister
15 Oct 2018, 4:24 p.m.
First, I commend my right hon. Friend for the work he did on our trade policy when he was a trade Minister. I absolutely want to see that we are able to put those new trade arrangements into place at the end of the implementation period. I want to see that future relationship coming into play at that point, which of course would be 1 January 2021.
Oral Answers to Questions
Greg Hands Excerpts(2 years, 5 months ago)
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The Prime Minister
27 Jun 2018, 12:34 p.m.
A number of decisions are being made to ensure that we have the defence estate that is right for our future capabilities and requirements. I will ensure that the hon. and learned Lady’s point about not yet receiving a reply from the Secretary of State is brought to the attention of the Ministry of Defence.
Greg Hands (Chelsea and Fulham) (Con)
27 Jun 2018, 12:34 p.m.
We all need to keep our election pledges, whether we made those pledges one year ago or nine years ago, so will the Prime Minister update us on our Conservative manifesto election pledges to leave the single market, leave the customs union and pursue an independent trade policy?
The Prime Minister
27 Jun 2018, 12:34 p.m.
I thank my right hon. Friend for the service that he has given to the Government over the past seven years, most recently in an important role on the very topic that he has just raised—as Minister of State at the Department for International Trade—and also in his time as Minister for London. He conducted all these jobs with great ability and distinction, and I thank him for all the work that he has done.
My right hon. Friend is right that we want to ensure that we can negotiate independent trade deals around the rest of the world. We will be leaving the single market and the customs union so that we can do exactly that—have an independent trade policy and negotiate our own trade deals with the rest of the world.