Topical Questions

Part of Exiting the European Union – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 15 March 2018.

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Photo of David Davis David Davis The Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union 12:00, 15 March 2018

My hon. Friend is exactly right. As the Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, my hon. Friend Suella Fernandes, said earlier, that is one of the great prizes that will come out of our departure from the Union. Indeed, I am rather sorry that Keir Starmer did not raise the issue of a customs union explicitly. I know that he has difficulties with his own leadership on these matters, so I thought I should find a leader of whom he did approve, Mr Tony Blair, who said:

“So the way I look at it is that the Labour party position is: it’s pulled up its anchor and it’s left the kind of, what looks like a safe port, but actually isn’t, of being in the same position as the Government…but they’d be very unwise to drop anchor at the customs union, because the truth is that doesn’t really resolve your problems. By the way, it doesn’t really resolve your problems in Northern Ireland, either.”