Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-10-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth on the UK’s decision to leave the EU.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
As the Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Boris Johnson) has said, the referendum result means that we need to be redoubling our efforts in multilateral organisations, including the Commonwealth. My noble Friend, The Rt Hon. Baroness of Anelay of St Johns, Minister for the Commonwealth, has discussed a range of issues with the Commonwealth Secretary General, including the decision by the UK to leave the EU. Building on the positive momentum from the Commonealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in 2015 in Malta, and will make the most of the opportunities that the Commonwealth has to offer. The UK will continue to be a global advocate for Commonwealth interests, including with our European allies. We will work closely with the Secretary General and the Secretariat to successfully deliver the next CHOGM, which will be hosted by the UK in 2018.
