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Further measures in today’s consultation include requiring banks to publish rates for small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) lending products and to develop tools to allow for easier comparison of SME banking products.

Our joint futures are underpinned by our research and development partnership. The UK India research relationship has never been so strong, rising from £1 million in 2009 to over £200 million today, and is growing exponentially. UK and Indian universities are doing more research together than they have ever done before with partner Institutions. New catapult centres and Knowledge transfer networks are bringing together top universities and private sector Institutions to achieve high-value real-world innovation. At the heart of that sits the Newton Bhabha Fund which brings together the UK and Indian scientific research and innovation sectors to find joint solutions to global challenges. The Newton Bhabha Fund is worth £10 million this year and will expand up to £104 million by 2021.

The funds will be invested in innovative small businesses with potential for growth, to provide the finance that they need to expand. This will support up to £1 billion of new investment.

Northern Ireland’s prestigious universities should also benefit from the UK government’s decision to increase funding for research and innovation by £2 billion a year by 2020-21, ensuring that the UK continues to be a world leader in science and technology.

Second, that public sector net debt as a share of GDP must be falling by the end of this Parliament.