Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether leaving the EU customs union is a prerequisite to signing trade agreements with non-EU countries.

As the Prime Minister has said, the UK will strike a unique agreement that gets the best deal for people at home, and the right deal for Britain abroad. The issues relating to the customs union are complex and the Government continues to consider our approach to this issue carefully. Whilst we remain clear that it would be wrong to give a running commentary on our work, it is not correct that the UK simply faces a binary choice between our customs arrangements and future trading relationship with non-EU countries.