European Union (Withdrawal) Act

Debate between Nick Thomas-Symonds and Karin Smyth

Tuesday 15th January 2019 Commons Chamber

[Nick Thomas-Symonds]

The right hon. Lady is right and I am sure that she has noted the inconsistency. The Attorney General said only a few moments ago that we could not expect to have anything detailed negotiated at this stage, but that is precisely what the Government had previously promised. How are we supposed to believe those conflicting statements?

[Karin Smyth (Bristol South) (Lab)]

That point is exactly at the heart of this question of trust. The Attorney General just committed the EU to not agreeing to future trade deals, in response to our request for a customs union, but he refused to say—the Government still refuse to do so—whether the Government will commit to a customs union in that future trade agreement. If they were to do so, there would be no need for this discussion about the backstop or about the matter of trust that the right hon. Member for Broxtowe (Anna Soubry) talked about.

[Nick Thomas-Symonds]

My hon. Friend highlights the really vague nature of the political declaration, which I will come back to in a moment.