Brexit Negotiations and No Deal Contingency Planning

Alex Cunningham Excerpts

Tuesday 4th September 2018 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

I am not sure where the hon. Gentleman was, but I set them out in my statement. They include regulatory control and border control, and of course we would be able to move more swiftly not just to negotiate but to bring free trade deals into effect.

[Alex Cunningham (Stockton North) (Lab)]

Ministers have implied in the past that the chemical industry can take comfort that good progress has been made on the future of the EU regulation concerning the registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemicals, which governs, among other things, the production and quality standards for chemicals. Can the Secretary of State give chemical companies on Teesside the assurance that REACH will apply and that there will be no other impediments to their business if we get a no deal Brexit?

[Dominic Raab]

As the hon. Gentleman will know, our White Paper includes proposals for continued co-operation and stability in this area. There is no deal until there is a whole deal, and although my thoughts and ambitions are with him and with his constituents on this point, I am afraid that I will not give out snippets from the negotiation room. The reality is that we need to present the package as a whole when we have negotiated it, so that people can see it in a balanced and rounded way.