Oral Answers to Questions

Simon Baynes Excerpts

Tuesday 13th October 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mark Eastwood (Dewsbury) (Con)]

What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on progress in ensuring that the UK is prepared for the end of the transition period.

[Simon Baynes (Clwyd South) (Con)]

What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on progress in ensuring that the UK is prepared for the end of the transition period.

[Lee Anderson (Ashfield) (Con)]

What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on progress in ensuring that the UK is prepared for the end of the transition period.

--- Later in debate ---

[Wendy Morton]

Yes, the UK will indeed pursue an independent sanctions policy driven by our foreign policy objectives. We established a global human rights sanctions regime on 6 July, which gives us new powers to fight those involved in serious human rights abuses. The sanctions we recently imposed on individuals in Belarus are a good example. Sanctions are best delivered, though, through collective action, and we will continue to work with EU and other international partners.

[Simon Baynes]

Does the Minister agree that the end of the transition period will herald a global Britain with more freedom to follow our own path in the world, to the benefit of my constituents in Clwyd South?

[Wendy Morton]

Yes. At the end of this year, the process of transition will be complete, and we will recover our economic and political independence. That is why we did not extend the transition period. We need to be able to design our own rules in our best interests, without the constraints of following the EU.