Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the merits of increasing trade relations with the EU, particularly by joining the European Union Customs Union.

This government is committed to trade policy that is based on data, and the evidence is clear that better trading relations with the EU are crucial to the overarching goal of better economic growth.

However, as Minister Nick Thomas-Symonds said at the Business and Trade Select Committee on 21 January, we have a democratic mandate, as set out in our manifesto, not to return to the single market or join the Customs Union.