Extracts from Exiting the
European Union Questions: Scientific, Cultural and Educational
Programmes
Sir (Southend West) (Con):
When Southend-on-Sea becomes a city, I am keen that we are seen
as a centre of excellence for learning. Will my hon. Friend tell
the House how the Government intend to replace the funding for
the Erasmus+ programme, which is increasingly popular with
university students, if we leave the European Union on 29 March
without some sort of agreement?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exiting
the European Union (Kwasi Kwarteng): Of course, we are
seeking to reach an agreement with the EU so that UK
organisations can continue to participate in Erasmus. We are
committed to that. As my hon. Friend will know, a number of
countries participate in the Erasmus scheme that have never been
members of the EU—I believe Israel is one such country—so there
is no reason why we cannot have a similar arrangement.
Universities
(Lichfield)
(Con): A number of university students have been
traumatised by remainers saying that they will no longer be able
to participate in the Erasmus programme. Will my hon. Friend—if
he is not right honourable, he should be—reassure them that the
programme is open not only to students in the European Union, but
to those in Canada, Israel and other countries outside the EU?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exiting
the European Union (Mr Robin Walker): My hon. Friend has
made an excellent point. The Under-Secretary of State for Exiting
the European Union, my hon. Friend the Member for Spelthorne
(Kwasi Kwarteng), mentioned Israel in this context earlier. It is
true that Erasmus has a number of non-EU participants, and it is
clear that the UK has ambitions to continue its cultural
co-operation with the EU even after we have left.
Extract from Commons
Urgent Question on Free Trade Agreements
Mr (Huddersfield)
(Lab/Co-op): I feel sorry for the junior Minister. This
must be one of the worst cases of neglect of duty since Nero
fiddled while Rome burned. His boss is in the fleshpots of Davos,
rubbing shoulders and having a lovely time, while he is slaving
here at the Dispatch Box, on a day when the media tell us that
many more companies are fleeing to Holland, Ireland and France.
He is not trying to mislead the House—I am not saying that—but he
is being very careful with his answers in terms of how many of
these agreements have been signed. He is not giving any
information to the House or our constituents, while his boss is
having a lovely time in Davos.
The Minister for Trade Policy (George
Hollingbery): I anticipated that that subject might
arise, and I speculated that the timing of this urgent question
was quite deliberate, for that very purpose. Let me tell the hon.
Gentleman exactly what the Secretary of State is doing in Davos.
Believe me, he has not taken his ski suit; he has taken his
business suit. He met yesterday with the Israeli Government, from
whom he elicited an agreement that our arrangements with Israel
will be rolled over. He met the Egyptians, from whom he had a
very positive reaction. He met with the Peruvians and the
Colombians, and he further met with the South Korean Government.
Today he will meet with the Ecuadorian Government, the Canadian
Government and the South African Government, and later
today—[Interruption.] The hon. Gentleman pretends to be playing a
violin; I suppose he is saying that it is a sob story.
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Backbench Business
Committee nominated debate on Holocaust Memorial Day
2019
Holocaust
Memorial Day 2019
