Industry and Exports (Financial Assistance) Bill Committee: New Clause 3
77
Ayes
—
280
Noes
Defeated · Government won
286 did not vote
Analysis
Commons
Commons
**What happened**: On 23 February 2026, MPs voted on New Clause 3 during the Committee stage of the Industry and Exports (Financial Assistance) Bill. The new clause, tabled by opposition parties, sought to add extra conditions or restrictions on the government's ability to provide financial assistance to businesses. It was defeated by 280 votes to 77. **Why it matters**: The Industry and Exports (Financial Assistance) Bill's central purpose is to raise the cap on government financial assistance available under section 8(1) of an existing law -- from £12 billion to £20 billion -- and to expand the scope of export finance and insurance the government can offer. New Clause 3 would have attached additional conditions to that assistance, limiting the government's flexibility in how it deploys this substantially increased pot of public money. Its defeat means the government retains its preferred, less restricted approach to disbursing industrial and export support. **The politics**: The vote split sharply along government-versus-opposition lines. Labour MPs, including those elected under the Labour and Co-operative banner, voted unanimously against the new clause, providing the bulk of the 280 Noes. Support for the clause came from a broad but numerically modest opposition coalition -- the Liberal Democrats supplied 53 of the 77 Ayes, joined by the SNP, Plaid Cymru, the Greens, the DUP, and a small number of independents and Reform UK members. There were no Labour rebels. The result mirrors a related division on the same day (Amendment 1), which was also defeated, suggesting the opposition's attempts to reshape the Bill throughout its Committee stage were consistently repelled.
Voting Aye meant
Support adding new reporting requirements on how export finance assistance affects GDP and benefits SMEs, arguing greater transparency and accountability is needed
Voting No meant
Oppose the new reporting clause as unnecessary, since the government argues existing legal reporting obligations already capture this information
357 voting MPs. Each dot is one vote; left-to-right by party. Grey dots in the centre are the 286 who did not vote.
Aye
No
Absent
Labour PartyWhipped No
0
254
108
Conservative and Unionist Party
0
1
115
Liberal DemocratsWhipped Aye
53
0
19
Labour and Co-operative PartyWhipped No
0
26
16
Independent
2
3
8
Scottish National PartyWhipped Aye
6
0
3
Reform UK
2
0
6
Sinn Féin
0
0
7
Democratic Unionist PartyWhipped Aye
5
0
—
Green Party of England and WalesWhipped Aye
4
0
—
Plaid CymruWhipped Aye
4
0
—
Social Democratic and Labour Party
0
0
2
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
0
0
1
Speaker
0
0
1
Traditional Unionist Voice
1
0
—
Ulster Unionist Party
1
0
—
Your Party
1
0
—
Supports the Bill to increase financial assistance limits and backs UK Export Finance's existing human rights and environmental oversight; rejects amendments as duplicative of current safeguards but commits to ongoing responsible business conduct review.Labour · Voted no · Read full speech (2,569 words) →
Supports the Bill's principles but proposes amendments to prevent export finance where goods may be re-exported to sanctioned destinations and to require annual steel industry impact reporting for transparency and accountability.Conservative · Voted no_vote_recorded · Read full speech (1,692 words) →
Strongly advocates for amendments to prohibit UKEF support for businesses with modern slavery or human trafficking in supply chains, citing past failures where UKEF funded sanctioned Chinese entities and calling for zero-tolerance legislative approach.Conservative · Voted no_vote_recorded · Read full speech (1,344 words) →
Argues Northern Ireland faces unequal treatment under Windsor Framework EU state aid rules and proposes new clause for annual transparency reporting showing how financial assistance is distributed across UK nations.DUP · Voted aye · Read full speech (1,468 words) →
Supports the Bill but advocates for amendments on annual reporting of impact on GDP, SMEs and EU trade; expresses concern that UKEF's eligibility criteria lock out first-time exporters and that structural barriers to EU trade remain unaddressed.Liberal Democrat · Voted aye · Read full speech (1,477 words) →
Supports the Bill but raises practical concerns about SME access to trade finance, downstream steel processors being overlooked, and defence exporters' access to finance amid ESG-related restrictions.Labour · Voted no · Read full speech (280 words) →
Supports new clause 1 for transparency, arguing Northern Ireland faces economic disadvantage due to Windsor Framework constraints and Irish Sea border, requiring equal access to state aid as rest of UK.DUP · Voted aye · Read full speech (932 words) →
Supports amendments on modern slavery safeguards, noting inconsistency with protections already established in health and energy sectors; calls for alignment across government.Labour · Voted no · Read full speech (298 words) →
Sources
Division dataUK Parliament Votes API
DebateHansard · Commons
Stance analysisAI analysis · Claude 4.x
LicenceOpen Parliament Licence v3.0