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 benefit to businesses and the economy of a transition period of three years or longer as called for by the British Chambers of Commerce.

The Government is undertaking analysis of different scenarios, but will not publish any information that could undermine our negotiation position.

We will need to build a bridge from our exit to our future partnership, to allow business and people time to adjust, and to allow new systems to be put in place. It makes sense for there to be only one set of changes.

That is why we are proposing a strictly time-limited implementation period, based on the existing structure of EU rules and regulations, during which the UK and the EU would continue to have access to one another’s markets on current terms, and the UK would take part in existing security measures.

The length of the period should be determined by how long it will take to prepare and implement the new processes and new systems – as the Prime Minister has said, this is likely to be for a period of around two years and it should be agreed as early as possible, so as to provide certainty.