Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what assessment he has made of the ability of the EU to reach a legally-binding agreement with the UK on a future trading relationship in advance of the UK leaving the EU.

As the Prime Minister made clear in her Statement to the House on Monday (22-10-2018), the Future Framework agreement will take the form of a political declaration that will accompany and be referred to in the Withdrawal Agreement. Although the EU is only able legally to conclude the final agreements on the future relationship once the UK has left the EU in March 2019, this political declaration will nevertheless carry significant force.