Leaving the EU: Preparations Debate

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Department: Cabinet Office

Leaving the EU: Preparations

Luciana Berger Excerpts
Tuesday 3rd September 2019

(5 years, 2 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Michael Gove Portrait Michael Gove
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My hon. Friend is absolutely right that business wants certainty. The best certainty we can give is to make sure we secure a good deal with the European Union, which is why I hope everyone across the House will give my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister the time and space necessary to secure that good deal on which he has been working so hard.

Luciana Berger Portrait Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Ind)
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Further to the question we have just heard about food shortages, on Sunday the Minister said that there will be no shortages of fresh food. He has just told us that there will be a wide choice. Does he accept what the British Retail Consortium said, which is that his initial claim was “categorically untrue” and that a no-deal Brexit would be

“the worst of all worlds for our high streets and those who shop there”?

Michael Gove Portrait Michael Gove
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The hon. Lady, like me, wants to avoid a no-deal Brexit if at all possible. The British Retail Consortium, supermarkets and others involved in providing our food have been doing important work to make sure we continue to have a wide choice and a ready supply of the fresh food that we all enjoy.