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 progress on the three initial divorce issues and whether this is sufficient to begin trade negotiations after the EU Council in December.

In response to an Urgent Question in the House this afternoon on progress with negotiations on exiting the EU, the Secretary of State for Exiting the EU said that:

"We held further talks in Brussels over the past few days and progress has been made. But we have not yet reached a final conclusion. However, I believe we are now close to concluding the first phase of the negotiations - and moving on to talk about our future trade relations. There is much common understanding, and both sides agree that we must move forward together. Our aims in this negotiation remain as they always have been.”

“As was made clear by the comments from President Juncker and President Tusk yesterday, all parties remain confident of reaching a positive conclusion in the course of the week.”

“In particular, on the issue of Northern Ireland and Ireland we have been clear that we want to protect all elements of the Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement, to maintain the Common Travel Area and to protect associated rights. We want to ensure there is no hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. We recognise that as we exit we must respect the integrity of the EU single market and the customs union.

“But we are equally clear that we must respect the integrity of the United Kingdom. There remain some final issues to resolve, which require further negotiation and consultation over the coming days. Our officials are in continuous contact and we expect to reconvene in Brussels later this week for further negotiations."