Parliament has debated plans to expand the capacity of UK Export Finance (UKEF), with MPs from across the House backing support for exporters while differing sharply on the role of subsidies, Brexit and regional priorities.
Speaking for the Conservatives, Dame Harriett Baldwin said her party supports updating legislation dating back to 1982 and 1991 to ensure government has the tools to back British exporters. She argued that UK firms have repeatedly shown they can compete internationally “with the right conditions” and said modernising the framework would help sustain that success.
Baldwin pointed to recent UKEF-backed deals as evidence of global demand for British engineering, aerospace and defence. She cited guarantees including “£165 million for supplying Ethiopian Airlines, £102 million for Avolon in Ireland and £66 million for Emirates in Dubai”, alongside defence exports where “BAE Systems and MBDA [have been] receiving over £120 million per major contract,” including support for air defence systems in Poland.
She stressed, however, that UKEF should remain a backstop rather than a substitute for private finance. “UK export finance should be deployed only when no private sector solution is available,” Baldwin said, adding that Conservatives do not support increased taxpayer subsidy until issues such as “energy prices, tax and regulation” are addressed. She also raised questions on regional balance, SME access, sanctions enforcement and the role of embassies in supporting exports.
Responding for Labour, Ben Coleman welcomed the Bill as part of the government’s wider trade agenda, saying it would “expand and clarify the spending limit for UK Export Finance.” He described UKEF as having “a very proud history of boosting British exports, and supporting thousands of companies and tens of thousands of British jobs.”
Coleman drew on his experience as trade envoy to Morocco and francophone west Africa, highlighting recent engagement in Togo and neighbouring states. He said UKEF played “an absolutely brilliant job” in co-organising a regional trade forum, promoting what he described as a UK approach based on “co-production rather than extraction.”
He also argued that UKEF has a role to play closer to home, particularly in rebuilding trade with the EU. Coleman described Brexit as “an absolute disaster” for trade, claiming that “more than 16,000 SMEs have given up trading with the EU.” He welcomed the government’s efforts to reset relations with Brussels and called for further steps, including mutual recognition of conformity assessments and professional qualifications.
Deregulate.