West Midlands MP Named As Trade Envoy
19 July 2019, 15:01 | Updated: 19 July 2019, 15:04
Former Labour MP Ian Austin has been appointed as a trade envoy to Israel by Prime Minister Theresa May.
Mr Austin quit Jeremy Corbyn's party in February in response to what he claimed was a "culture of extremism, anti-Semitism and intolerance".
The Dudley North MP now sits as an independent in the Commons.
Tory peer Lord Risby has been appointed as trade envoy to Lebanon, in addition to his current role covering Algeria.
International Trade Secretary Liam Fox told MPs: "These new appointments take the total number of trade envoys to 27 parliamentarians covering 58 markets.
"The Prime Minister's trade envoy programme is an unpaid and voluntary cross-party network, who support the UK's ambitious trade and investment agenda in global markets."
