In a recent letter to David Davis Seema Malhotra, Labour and Cooperative MP for Feltham and Heston, has continued to press for the UK to remain as part of the European Investment Bank (EIB).

The EIB is the EU’s not-for-profit, long-term lending institution, and it is symbolic of the commitment of European countries to each other’s progress. EIB funding in the UK for infrastructure spending, entrepreneurship and development has been worth €35 billion in the past six years.  Britain has been more successful than others in obtaining investment funds in recent years.

Seema Malhotra MP has been holding the government to account on the issue for some time, including putting down an amendment on the subject in the February 2017 debates on the triggering of Article 50.

While the government has spoken of an “ongoing relationship” with the EIB, start-ups, utilities and technology firms have been raising their concerns about access to future funding for vital investment in Britain.  Only this week the National Infrastructure Commission’s noted that, “The UK’s decision to leave the European Union makes the future of financing through the European Investment Bank uncertain. Without it, the cost of finance for relevant projects would be higher than it would otherwise have been. There may be further implications for levels of investment in infrastructure in new and ‘risky’ sectors.”