Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union on the UK trading on WTO terms after the UK leaves the EU.

We firmly believe it is in the interests of both the EU and the UK to strike a deal. That remains the goal on both sides and we are confident that this will be achieved. But it is the job of a responsible Government to prepare for all scenarios, so we have already carried out very significant ‘no deal’ preparations for the unlikely event that we reach March 2019 without agreeing a deal and trade with the EU reverts to WTO terms.

Consequently, no deal planning and trading on WTO terms forms a necessary part of the discussions across Whitehall between all members of Cabinet, including the Department for Exiting the European Union.