Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Customs

Wednesday 18 March 2020 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 2 Partly answered 0 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Government is ensuring customs regulations consistency between Northern Ireland and Great Britain
  • Protocol guarantees unfettered market access for goods moving from Northern Ireland to Great Britain
  • Government aims to eliminate economic uncertainty but does not plan to extend the period for leaving the EU

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Wendy Chamberlain Lib Dem Westbury
Northern Ireland Brexit
Context

The question concerns the need for consistent customs regulation across Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

Question

What steps is the Government taking to ensure that customs regulations are consistent throughout Northern Ireland and Great Britain?

Answer from Brandon Lewis, Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union

Northern Ireland is in, and remains part of, the United Kingdom's customs territory. The protocol makes that clear. It ensures unfettered market access for goods moving from Northern Ireland to Great Britain, and the arrangements we introduce will reflect that. We will discuss the implementation of the protocol with the EU at the joint committee later this month.

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Q2 Wendy Chamberlain Lib Dem Westbury
Economy Northern Ireland Brexit
Context

The question addresses the potential extension of the Brexit transition period to reduce economic uncertainty.

Question

At a time when many people have sadly been thrown into economic turmoil, it is incredibly important that wherever the Government can eliminate economic uncertainty, they do so. There is no area more clouded by uncertainty due to our departure from the EU than the Irish border and its regulatory future. Given that the Government have committed to doing “whatever it takes”, will the Secretary of State commit to removing that uncertainty by extending the Brexit transition period by one year?

Answer from Brandon Lewis, Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union

I do not think that anyone around the United Kingdom would thank us for extending the period. The election was very clear in giving us a mandate to deliver on our manifesto pledge to leave the European Union, and we are determined to do that. The certainty that we can give to business is that Northern Ireland is, will be and will always remain part of the United Kingdom's customs territory and will have unfettered access.

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