EU Customs Union and Draft Withdrawal Agreement: Cost Debate

Full Debate: Read Full Debate
Department: HM Treasury

EU Customs Union and Draft Withdrawal Agreement: Cost

Andy Slaughter Excerpts
Monday 22nd October 2018

(6 years, 1 month ago)

Commons Chamber
Read Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts

Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.

Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.

This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record

John Glen Portrait John Glen
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

What I can say is that unemployment in this country is at a record low, demonstrating the coherence of this Government’s economic policy.[Official Report, 12 November 2018, Vol. 649, c. 2MC.]

Andy Slaughter Portrait Andy Slaughter (Hammersmith) (Lab)
- Hansard - -

The Minister looks as though he wishes he was somewhere else, and he has referred most of our questions to the Prime Minister, for which I am sure she is grateful. He must be able to answer this question: does he stand by the Treasury forecast that this country will be worse off outside the customs union, the single market and the EU?

John Glen Portrait John Glen
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

What I stand by is the desire of the Government to find the best possible solution for the United Kingdom—that maximises the advantages to the UK economy of the growth in economies outside the EU. There is a range of assumptions to a range of forecasts, and the Treasury always goes into considerable depth in setting those out clearly.