The new post-Brexit trade deal between the UK and India has been “warmly welcomed” by one of the MPs for Reading.
Matt Rodda, the Labour MP for Reading Central, spoke in Parliament in support of the trade deal, expressing hopes for the town’s burgeoning technology sector.
He said: “I welcome the trade deal between the UK and India.
“This could create billions of pounds of growth in the British economy and create significant benefits for local businesses in Reading.”
Mr Rodda asked a question about the potential benefits for the town in Parliament on Tuesday, May 6.
He said: “May I ask the minister to elaborate a little on the benefits to the UK tech sector and, in particular, startups like many in my own constituency in Reading and the benefits to those young entrepreneurs setting up their own small businesses.”
Douglas Alexander, the minister of state for trade policy, replied: “It’s right to recognise, given the significant progress that we’ve made in goods there’s also huge opportunities in relation to services, and I would pay tribute to the tech sector in the UK for its extraordinary work not just in his constituency but more broadly that is being done.
“There are huge opportunities as a result of this deal.”
Mr Alexander is the Labour MP for Lothian East.
Since Brexit, the UK has signed trade deals with Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
The signature of the deal comes amid a flare-up in the Kashmir conflict in the Indian Subcontinent.
The radical Islamic terror group The Resistance Front carried out an attack on April 22 in Pahalgam, in the Indian controlled area of Kashmir, where 26 people were killed, with survivors saying the militants were singling out Hindus.
Indian state forces conducted retaliatory strikes in Pakistan against what it identified as Resistance Front targets, with the military of Pakistan stating at least 31 people were killed and 57 injured in the strikes on Tuesday.
