Select Committee
Parliament

Labour's Kate Hoey asks a question referring back to pre-referendum negotiations, and asks whether any of the other 27 EU countries really believed that there was a big possibility of the UK voting to leave.

"Did you ever say that things were looking bad?" she probes.

Sir Ivan confirms that he told EU colleages repeatedly that the vote was a "50:50 shot".

He says he has been thinking about a post-exit Britain for many years, and told his key opposite numbers "don't underestimate this, there's a very serious risk of this referendum being lost."

"Did you tell the Prime Minister (David Cameron) this?" asks Ms Hoey,

"Yes," replies Sir Ivan.

Select Committee
Parliament

Image source, House of Commons

Edward Leigh says Theresa May was not entirely clear in her Brexit speech about the UK's future customs arrangements with the rest of the EU.

He asks Mr Fox to shed some light on what kind of customs agreement the UK is seeking and whether this really means exiting the existing customs union.

The minister says the prime minister had made it clear the UK should be outside the common external tariff - a key component of the customs union - but the final detail of this would be subject to the negotiations.

The MP doesn't seem to be satisfied with the answer he is getting and asks for further explanation. 

In response, Mr Fox says customs and trade negotiations are not the same but insists there are advantages to the UK being outside the customs union in terms of striking trade agreements with countries like South Korea. 

Select Committee
Parliament

Sir Ivan said the UK and EU were currently in a "phony war situation" and warned talks "usually end up in a fairly mercantilist fist-fight" before finally resolving themselves in a deal of some sort.

Brexit talks will be on a "humongous scale", the UK's former ambassador to the EU tells MPs.

Select Committee
Parliament

The UK has had a reputation in the past for having an overly "transactional" trade policy, Mr Fox suggests, lavishing attention on countries when it wants something specific and perhaps not being so attentive at others times.

This needs to change, with the UK committed to "building relationships" on a continuing basis.

House of Commons
Parliament

It's day two of debate on the EU withdrawal bill, after an epic day of debate yesterday.

At around 7pm, MPs will vote on whether to give the bill a second reading. 

The SNP has put down an amendment against the bill, accusing the government of failing to consult the devolved governments of the UK and of failing to guarantee the rights of EU nationals.

Before that, Theresa May faces Jeremy Corbyn at Prime Minister's Questions at noon.

The day begins, though, with questions to Northern Ireland ministers just after 11:30am.

Select Committee
Parliament

Further questions to Liam Fox about the punching power of his department, with Tory Edward Leigh reminiscing about the days when he was a minister and his boss was called the President of the Board of Trade.

Mr Fox says his ministers have been earning their salaries in full, having made 64 visits to 41 different markets since it was established last summer.

The regard in which the department is held is illustrated, he adds, by the fact that 111 people applied to become the department's new top civil servant.

He says claims in a recent article that the department was having to make do with third-rate civil servants was "insulting", pointing out that he had individually hand-picked everyone who was now working in his top team. 

Select Committee
Parliament

Image source, House of Commons

MPs are now questioning Mr Fox about individual export markets.

The cabinet minister says there is great potential in the Middle East but the country with the greatest "mismatch" between resources and potential is the US. That's why three new "trading hubs" have been opened in US cities.

The government, he says, is starting "scoping" discussions with the Trump administration about a post-Brexit future trade deal, with officials due to travel to Washington this week. 

He hopes this will lead to ministerial dialogue within a few weeks although he says this may be delayed until key figures in the US administration are approved by Congress - saying it would "inappropriate" to meet them before they are formally confirmed in office. 

Select Committee
Parliament

Image source, House of Commons

Labour MPs are harrying Mr Fox on the details of the UK's current trade position and how Brexit will affect future targets.

Liam Byrne suggests there is no chance of the UK hitting its target of £1 trillion in exports by 2020, as a way of cutting the current account deficit, and that Brexit has through the nuts and bolts of the UK's trading operations into chaos.

And Chris Leslie says the value of all the free trade deals that Mr Fox is contemplating would add up to about 13% of the UK's total foreign trade, compared with the 40% currently accounted for by the EU. 

He suggests Mr Fox's officials have been releasing over-optimistic press releases about its activities but the minister disagrees - saying the "more good news" that his department can generate the better and is a necessary antidote to the "black propaganda" coming from opponents of Brexit. 

Select Committee
Parliament

"Everything you've said so far has convinced me what a massive risk our country has taken," says Labour's Stephen Kinnock.

In his first of two questions, Mr Kinnock asks how legally binding the UK's liabilities to the EU, and whether the EU would take the UK to court if it refused to pay.

"My expectation is that the lawyers on the two sides of the channel will not agree about the extent and binding-ness of the liabilities," Sir Ivan replies.

Secondly, Mr Kinnock asks how likely is the EU to give the UK a "bespoke interim deal," or if they would say that the European Economic Area is there as a model and the UK "should transfer into that?"

"We don't know. I think the appetite to do a bespoke interim deal will probably be quite limited," Sir Ivan replies.

He adds that he doesn't think there will be appetite from the other side of the table to do lots of different bespoke deals on different sectors.

Select Committee
Parliament

SNP MP Alan Brown asks a question on the timescales of negotiating future free trade agreements with the EU, asking how the UK can keep the EU focused on getting a deal within a short timescale.

There is a lot of common ground with the EU, Sir Ivan says.

However, he warns that the judging what the Trump administration's trade policy will be is still at a very early stage.

Sir Ivan says that if the Americans say that there'll be no deal with a trade block, such as the EU, then this could prove difficult in the future.

The social network is cracking down on "misleading, sensational or spammy" articles after months studying pages sharing fake news.

Select Committee
Parliament

Image source, House of Commons

Liam Fox is asked by Conservative colleague Nigel Evans whether the UK can sign any free trade deals with non-EU countries before Brexit or whether it was restricted to "scoping out" future agreements.

The cabinet minister says there is "no precedent" for a country leaving the EU and the UK will be seeking legal advice on the parameters of what it can do.

Its immediate focus while it remains an EU member was on pressing for further trade liberalisation and the completion of existing EU free trade deals.

While the UK won't be signing any deals before it leaves, he says this does not preclude it having discussions with other countries on future "arrangements".

Pressed to name the countries the UK is talking to, Mr Fox says some of the details are confidential but he has had preliminary engagement with Australia, China, India and the Gulf States. 

Select Committee
Parliament

International Trade Secretary Liam Fox is asked if he agrees with the prime minister's view that no trade deal with the EU after Brexit was better than a bad deal.

The answer is rather a long one - as Mr Fox reflects on the potential implications of reverting to the World Trade Organisation's rules - but the cabinet minister seems to be in general agreement.

He says the UK will have a "full and comprehensive" trade deal with the EU but makes clear that is not the real focus of his activities.

He points out that the EU has current free trade deals with more than 40 other countries and the UK's aim is to adopt all of these.

Select Committee
Parliament

International Trade Secretary Liam Fox is now also giving evidence to MPs in a separate committee hearing.

He is asked by SNP MP Angus McNeil what the point of his international trade department is - the MP cites critical comments by former cabinet secretary Lord O'Donnell - who reportedly suggested it did not have enough work to do.

Mr Fox suggests the ex-mandarin and other critics should visit his department and "share the workload". 

He then goes on to say the former cabinet secretary should apologise to all the hard-working staff under his responsibility both in the UK and abroad given their efforts to promote the British economy and exporters. 

Select Committee
Parliament

Conservative Richard Drax asks how the forthcoming negotiations should be "sequenced".

Sir Ivan says that he's in "no doubt" that the UK will be able to negotiate free trade agreements with other partners outside the EU much faster than with the EU.

He continues by explaining that he thinks the forthcoming negotiations are about five things; disentanglement of the UK from the EU budget, the acquired rights, the "really tedious stuff" of where agencies are located, the question of what happens to international treaties where the EU are signatories, and "the core", which are transitional arrangements.

"You can't really have a proper withdrawal treaty without knowing where you're going."

"I start from the end, where do you want to be?"

BBC News UK

Dear All,

Happy New Year! I hope that you have all had/are still having, a great break, and that you will come back refreshed and ready for an exciting year ahead.

I am writing to you all on the first day back to tell you that I am today resigning as Permanent Representative.

As most of you will know, I started here in November 2013. My four-year tour is therefore due to end in October - although in practice if we had been doing the Presidency my time here would have been extended by a few months.

Read more.

Image source, European Union