Oral Answers to Questions

Matt Rodda Excerpts

Tuesday 20th February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mark Field]

The council has agreed to reduce its non-ODA grant from the Foreign Office to zero by the end of the spending review period in exchange for additional official development assistance funding. As part of our vision for a global Britain, we want a properly funded and effective council that projects British values right across the world. The council will continue to deliver activity in non-ODA countries through the income generated from other sources, such as its commercial income.

[Matt Rodda (Reading East) (Lab)]

14. What assessment he has made of the strength of the UK’s future diplomatic co-operation with its current EU partners after leaving the EU.

[Bambos Charalambous (Enfield, Southgate) (Lab)]

22. What assessment he has made of the strength of the UK’s future diplomatic co-operation with its current EU partners after leaving the EU.

[The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Boris Johnson)]

We are seeking a deep and special partnership with the EU post Brexit. Our existing relationship provides a strong foundation for vital continued co-operation on global challenges. We are working to strengthen, reinvigorate and reshape our bilateral relationships with our European partners, focusing on shared values and interests.

[Matt Rodda]

The Foreign Secretary’s 5,000-word speech on Brexit last week was described by one of his ministerial colleagues as follows:

“He is completely in denial about the complexity of the exit and the negative economic…consequences.”

Will the Foreign Secretary clear something up? Is he in denial or is he just wrong?

[Boris Johnson]

If I may, I will respectfully resist the alternatives that the hon. Gentleman lays before me. Last week, I was trying to make the point that we now have a massive opportunity to come together—people who voted remain and people who voted leave—to get a positive arrangement and a positive Brexit that will be of massive benefit to people both in this country and in the whole of the European continent. If we are ambitious and positive, I have absolutely no doubt that we can pull it off.