Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Robin Walker and Desmond Swayne

Thursday 26th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Walker]

The Government are engaging closely with businesses and industries throughout the whole country to ensure that we have taken on board their concerns, and to ensure that we know what opportunities they expect to gain from this process. Many of the business representatives whom I have been meeting are excited about the opportunities for the UK to go out and make trade deals, and trade around the world.

[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

If my hon. Friend has not seen Professor Patrick Minford’s analysis of the liberating effect of escaping from the common external tariffs, I, as a former economics beak, am happy to give him 45 minutes on the subject.

[Mr Walker]

I look forward to the lesson.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Robin Walker and Desmond Swayne

Wednesday 4th May 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Swayne]

We are vastly in advance of the situation left by previous Administrations, and we are advancing by agreement. That information will be available if countries sign up to the initiative for the automatic exchange of beneficial ownership registers, and next month the United Kingdom will be the first country to publish that information.

[Mr Robin Walker (Worcester) (Con)]

Another way that the UK can increase transparency and help to lead the world towards more open communication and higher revenues for developing countries is to support strongly the extractive industries transparency initiative. The previous Government signed us up to that, after too many years in which we had stood aside from it. Will the Minister confirm that we will be leading other parts of the British overseas territories, and signing up to the EITI?

[Mr Swayne]

Those territories certainly have extractives, and we are pushing that agenda. I regularly meet representatives of the extractives industry to drive forward this initiative.