Oral Answers to Questions

Heather Wheeler Excerpts

Thursday 3rd September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Chris Green (Bolton West) (Con)]

What recent discussions she has had with her international counterparts on the UK joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

[Mrs Heather Wheeler (South Derbyshire) (Con)]

What recent discussions she has had with her international counterparts on the UK joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

[The Minister for Trade Policy (Greg Hands)]

We have taken strong steps towards joining the CPTPP through engaging with all 11 member countries on UK accession to the CPTPP. In July, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State chaired an event with all CPTPP Heads of Mission in London, and next week she will join a CPTPP meeting chaired by Mexico.

[Greg Hands]

I absolutely share my hon. Friend’s enthusiasm for promoting the UK’s manufacturing exports around the world. He will be interested to know that north-west business goods exports to CPTPP countries were worth over £2 billion in 2019, and road vehicles were the top export within that, at £333 million. So I am sure that manufacturing exports from Bolton will have a fantastic future, with his support and that of this Department.

[Mrs Wheeler]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his answers so far. Next door to the CPTPP grouping area is Taiwan. Could the Minister provide an update on the UK’s trade relationship with Taiwan?

[Greg Hands]

I thank my hon. Friend for that question. I take a very strong interest in our superb bilateral trade relationship with Taiwan, which has actually provided a lot of assistance to the United Kingdom during the pandemic. This autumn we will hold our annual trade talks with my Taiwanese counterpart, with whom I first engaged in such talks in 2016.

Like us, Taiwan, through its membership of the World Trade Organisation, is committed to the same values of free trade and free markets as we are, and we look forward to deepening our relationship with Taiwan in the coming trade talks.

Oral Answers to Questions

Heather Wheeler Excerpts

Thursday 14th March 2019 Commons Chamber

[Naz Shah (Bradford West) (Lab)]

The primary victims of religiously motivated attacks are women, but how can the Government reassure Muslim women that they are serious about tackling Islamophobia when they choose to ignore and shut down the voices of the British Muslims in their own party who are calling for an independent inquiry into institutional Islamophobia? Speaking as a British Muslim, I believe that it is disgraceful and patronising that the Conservative party continues to refuse to act and tells British Muslims in the party that there is not a problem. Will the Minister at least accept that her party has a problem?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Mrs Heather Wheeler)]

The Conservative party took immediate action to suspend 14 members who put issues in, so we are not going to take any lectures from a party that refuses to suspend people or throw them out of the party for antisemitism.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

T6. Will my right hon. Friend set out the legislative timetable for removing caste as a protected characteristic from the Equality Act 2010?