Mundell given trade task

The EU-UK Parliamentary Assembly will include 35 members each from the European Parliament and the UK parliament. It has been set up following the new EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement struck between the European Commission and the UK government in December last year.

Mr Mundell said: “I am delighted to have been appointed as a member of the new UK-EU Parliamentary Partnership Assembly. While the UK has left the European Union, the EU remains an extremely important trading partner.

“While the share of UK exports and imports accounted for by the EU has generally fallen over time, taken as a whole, the EU is the UK’s largest trading partner. In 2020, UK exports to the EU were £251 billion, being 42% of all UK exports, while UK imports from the EU were £301 billion, amounting to 50% of all UK imports.

“That means it’s vital we continue to do everything we can to maximise the benefits of trade between the UK and the European Union and I am looking forward to making a positive contribution to that process through the UK-EU Parliamentary Partnership Assembly.”

However, in 2019, after he had been sacked as Secretary of State for Scotland by Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Brexit was hanging in the balance, Mr Mundell announced that he would never vote against a Conservative government in a vote of no confidence, even if it was to prevent the UK crashing out of the European Union without a deal.