Business of the House

Kevin Brennan Excerpts

Thursday 21st March 2019 Commons Chamber

[Andrea Leadsom]

I am delighted to join the hon. Gentleman in commending the decision to buy British. I am a big fan of doing that wherever possible. Obviously, in return for our being able to export our great British products, we also recognise the need for our own producers to be competitive, which is why we do not always buy British; nevertheless, I absolutely agree with the thrust of his proposal. I encourage him to seek an Adjournment debate to talk directly to Ministers about what more we can do to promote great British products.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

I have raised previously with the Foreign Secretary the case of Luke Symons, a constituent of mine being held captive in Yemen. There is some hope that the International Committee of the Red Cross might be able to get him out, but he needs to get somewhere where there is a British embassy so that he can apply for a visa for his wife and bring his son back to the United Kingdom. Can we have a statement from the Foreign Office about this case? Barring that, can the Leader of the House pass on the message to her ministerial colleagues that that is what we need and that we need it swiftly?

[Andrea Leadsom]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising his constituency case again in the Chamber—he is absolutely right to do so—and I am sure that my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary will be looking into it. If he would like to write to me with more details, I can take it up directly on his behalf, or he could raise it directly with Ministers at Foreign Office questions on 2 April.