Oral Answers to Questions

Mark Logan Excerpts

Thursday 15th April 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jayawardena]

Indeed I do join my right hon. Friend in wishing all Israelis a happy independence day. He is right to recognise the strong relationships that we have with the state of Israel. We welcome the normalisation of relations, which creates many opportunities for increased trade, tourism and cultural links as well. Britain is well placed to support Israel in this endeavour. Total trade between us was £4.9 billion in the year to September 2020, up from the previous year. We are building a framework for a new bilateral science partnership. In addition, the tech hub based in the British embassy in Tel Aviv continues to partner Israeli expertise with British companies, delivering significant benefits to the British economy.

[Mark Logan (Bolton North East) (Con)]

What recent estimate she has made of the number of jobs in the north-west that are delivered by international trade.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Trade (Graham Stuart)]

Around 630,000 jobs in the north-west were supported by exports in 2016, and export—[Interruption.]

--- Later in debate ---

[Graham Stuart]

Export activity helped support a further 472,000 jobs in the region through the consumption spending of export workers in the wider economy. In total, more than 1.1 million jobs—not a laughing matter, Mr Speaker—in the region are linked to exports in some way.

[Mark Logan [V]]

Napoleon said that Britain was a nation of shopkeepers; I want to say that Bolton is a town of exporters. I recently hosted the parliamentary export programme in Bolton North East, seeking to help Bolton businesses such as Ajax Equipment and Velden Engineering to take advantage of new trading relations. Across Greater Manchester, foreign direct investment and foreign capital investment are worth £37 billion to the local economy. What actions is the Minister taking to put Bolton North East at the forefront of the global stage when it comes to research and development?

[Graham Stuart]

It is as much my hon. Friend as me who is putting Bolton North East at the forefront. He has joined colleagues as a member of the parliamentary export programme, and I congratulate him on hosting a recent event. He will have seen that we are working hard to help Bolton North East companies take advantage of new global opportunities and promoting a strong north-west R&D offer to international investors through the high potential opportunities programme in frontier sectors such as molecular diagnostics, lightweighting and sustainable packaging.

Oral Answers to Questions

Mark Logan Excerpts

Thursday 3rd September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mark Logan (Bolton North East) (Con)]

What steps her Department is taking to facilitate trade with the Indian subcontinent.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Trade (Mr Ranil Jayawardena)]

My Department continues to promote increased trade with the subcontinent. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I recently took part in the 14th annual UK-India JETCO—Joint Economic Trade Committee—during which we set a more ambitious trajectory for an enhanced trade partnership. Through our independent trade preferences scheme, we are strengthening our trading relationships with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh too, but our stronger trade ties are already delivering advantages for British businesses. I hope my hon. Friend will excuse a reference from across the Pennines, as I am pleased to announce today that Britain can now export polyhalite to India—it is an organic fertiliser mined in Yorkshire.

[Mark Logan]

I welcome the Minister to the Dispatch Box for his first questions, on his birthday—congratulations. Bolton-born company Vernacare has big international demand for its infection control products used in hospitals. However, such companies face inflated import duties when trading. Exporting to India is proving cost- prohibitive for some businesses, so does he agree that through increasing co-operation with India we will be able to explore the reduction of import duties and thus bear a bountiful boost for businesses in Bolton?

[Mr Jayawardena]

My hon. Friend is right to say that we can go much further, and increasing bilateral trade and investment with India will benefit both Indian and British businesses, and, of course, our peoples. Here at home this work will support businesses located in every corner of the country, including Vernacare, in his constituency. It is just one example of a company that my Department has worked with to achieve significant success in India already, including agreeing a five-year supply deal with Manipal, one of Asia’s largest healthcare management groups

Oral Answers to Questions

Mark Logan Excerpts

Thursday 5th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mark Logan (Bolton North East) (Con)]

6. What recent assessment she has made of the ability of the UK to attract foreign direct investment in (a) film and (b) television production.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Trade (Graham Stuart)]

Foreign investment in film and TV is booming. Just last month, I met representatives of the US’s Blackhall Studios, and they unveiled plans for a major investment in conjunction with Reading University, which should bring £500 million a year in inward investment to the UK. That studio alone is expected to employ 3,000 people and further strengthen the UK industry as a creative and economic triumph.

[Mark Logan]

As everyone knows, Bolton is the new Hollywood. Having appeared in the Netflix show “The Stranger” and in “Top Gear”, which is filming in town today, Bolton has generated more than £200,000 in the past 12 months from being used as a film location. Will the Minister give an indication as to how a US-UK trade deal will benefit Bolton’s creative industries and cement our place as the newest leading media centre in the UK?

[Graham Stuart]

Smoothing access to the US through an FTA will help Bolton, and having such an excellent and film-ready advocate for Bolton as my hon. Friend, I look forward to him appearing, perhaps even with a speaking role, in future productions. It is notable that, in the past two years alone, we have seen the BBC, Netflix and Sky all using Bolton as locations for major productions, including “Peaky Blinders”, which I can certainly see him in; the “Last Tango in Halifax”, where he may be a younger love interest; “The Stranger”, although I know he never tries to be; and “Cobra”, which perhaps suggests his action credentials.