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 potential effectiveness of the provisions in the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill for Parliament to scrutinise the UK-EU free trade agreement negotiations.

The European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill, introduced on 21 October included a clause intended to give Parliament a crucial role in shaping and agreeing the UK’s future relationship with the European Union. This clause would require:

• that Parliament signs off of the final objectives for the negotiations, before negotiations EU-UK can begin.

• that Parliament sign off on the final deal, once political agreement has been reached.

• that the Government formally reports on progress of negotiations against the objectives set by Parliament every three months.