Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Windsor Framework will allow freeports to be set up in Northern Ireland.

We are committed to extending the benefits of our Freeports programme across the UK and to working with stakeholders from sectors and places across Northern Ireland on how best to do so. Of course we need to see a restored Northern Ireland Executive before those discussions can be progressed further, similar to our engagements with Scottish and Welsh governments on proposals there.