Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to his oral response to the hon. member for Christchurch of 20 March, on Leaving the EU: Fisheries Management, for what reason he is unable to guarantee to achieve the outcome which he seeks.

The government agreed to the final terms of the Implementation Period in order to give businesses that trade with the EU additional time to prepare for future change. We will decide who can access our waters after 2020 and on what terms for the first time in over 40 years. As the Prime Minister confirmed on 26 March 2018, as we leave the EU, we can not only uphold the interests of the fishing industry but give it an opportunity to rebuild and be enhanced.