Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will be able to finalise the agreement to withdraw from the EU by the October 2018 deadline; and what contingency plans they have in place to prepare for a scenario where they are unable to do so.

We have made good progress in negotiations and we remain firmly on track to reach agreement on the Withdrawal Agreement and Future Framework by October. In March we confirmed that we had reached agreement on the implementation period, on citizens’ rights and on the financial settlement. We recently published a joint statement setting out the further progress we have made in locking down the text on many separation issues and we have now reached agreement on the vast majority of the Withdrawal Agreement.

Given this, agreeing a deal is increasingly likely. Nevertheless, as a responsible government we are preparing for all possible outcomes. Departments’ plans are well developed and are designed to respond to all scenarios, including the unlikely possibility that we leave the EU without a deal in place. Some delivery of these plans has already become evident, and more will become public over the coming weeks and months.