Oral Answers to Questions

Tom Pursglove Excerpts

Thursday 19th July 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Walker]

As the hon. Lady says—I recognise this from my constituency, too—chemicals are an important part of production input, and the proposed free trade area for goods, underpinned by a common rulebook, will protect existing supply chains. Our proposals will ensure that products meet the necessary regulatory requirements for both the UK and EU markets, removing the need for regulatory checks at the border, and will mean that existing chemicals regulations and authorisations will remain valid in both markets.

[Tom Pursglove (Corby) (Con)]

T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

[The Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union (Dominic Raab)]

Last week, the Government published their White Paper on the future relationship between the UK and EU. Today, I will travel to Brussels to meet Michel Barnier to discuss the negotiations, and I look forward to working with him to secure a deal in the best interests of both the United Kingdom and our European partners.

[Tom Pursglove]

What steps is my right hon. Friend taking to bolster and emphasise the importance of no deal planning across Government?

[Dominic Raab]

Most of our no deal preparation has been developed internally with targeted engagement with the relevant parties, but we are now at the point at which more of that delivery will start to become more public. Over the summer, the Government will release a series of technical notices to set out what UK businesses and citizens in various sectors will need to do in a no deal scenario and to make public more of our preparations. That is the responsible thing for any Government to do.