Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Ministry of Justice

Oral Answers to Questions

Ed Davey Excerpts
Tuesday 18th December 2018

(5 years, 11 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Lucy Frazer Portrait Lucy Frazer
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I know that my hon. Friend, as Chair of the Justice Committee, has done a significant amount of work on this issue, and I have been pleased to respond to a number of debates that raised these important issues. The deal will allow us to continue working closely with the EU, specifically on family matters, which are important to so many citizens. We will continue to press for broader civil jurisdiction arrangements.

Ed Davey Portrait Sir Edward Davey (Kingston and Surbiton) (LD)
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Can the Minister confirm that the Brexit talks on co-operation on justice and security have not yet been concluded, and that the limited text on justice and security in the political declaration is not legally binding? Can she give the House her best estimate of how long, were the House to vote for the withdrawal agreement, it would take to conclude the specific Brexit talks on justice and security? One year? Two years?

Lucy Frazer Portrait Lucy Frazer
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As the right hon. Gentleman will know, the political declaration sets out the framework for the negotiations that will go forward. I would encourage him to read the assessment the Government produced on 28 November on the security partnership, which compares the impact of the criminal justice and law enforcement proposals set out in the political declaration with a no deal scenario.