Cabinet Office – in the House of Commons at on 10 July 2025.
Tom Hayes
Labour, Bournemouth East
What discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on visa rules for UK citizens visiting the Schengen area for 90 in 180 days.
Nick Thomas-Symonds
The Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Government officials and Ministers, including me, regularly engage the EU on a range of issues of importance to British citizens. The UK and the EU allow for visa travel in line with the standard arrangements for third-country nationals. The UK Government will continue to listen to and advocate for British citizens.
Tom Hayes
Labour, Bournemouth East
Many thousands of constituents, including Philip and Kathryn in my Constituency, live for part of the year in Spain. Prior to Brexit, they did so without restriction, but now they face limited visa options, resulting in more frequent flying. What conversations has the Minister had with Spain’s Government about ending these barriers?
Nick Thomas-Symonds
The Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
I thank Philip and Kathryn for raising this issue, and I know my hon. Friend is a powerful advocate for them. The Foreign Office leads on bilateral issues with EU member states, and they regularly engage on a range of issues. While we recognise that extending the 90/180 day period is a matter for member states and the EU, my hon. Friend can be assured that we will continue to listen to and advocate for UK nationals affected.
Jim Shannon
DUP, Strangford
As the Minister knows, Northern Ireland is in that wonderful limbo land of movement—half in the United Kingdom and half in the EU, because of the unfinished protocol Bill. Can he tell us how those in Northern Ireland will be affected by the Schengen area due to the particular, and perhaps peculiar position they are in as a result of the protocol?
Nick Thomas-Symonds
The Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Northern Ireland has the unique advantage of dual market access. On the wider issues of application of EU law that the hon. Gentleman is talking about, he can be assured that as co-chair of the joint committee I work carefully and closely on these matters with the Northern Ireland Executive.
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
In a general election, each Constituency chooses an MP to represent them. MPs have a responsibility to represnt the views of the Constituency in the House of Commons. There are 650 Constituencies, and thus 650 MPs. A citizen of a Constituency is known as a Constituent
