House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Labour's Adrian Bailey notes that in recent months the foreign secretary has said the EU could "whistle for divorce payments" and that the international trade secretary has accused the EU of blackmailing the UK.

How helpful has he found these comments, he asks.

"It just goes to show how lucky it is that I'm such an amiable person", replies David Davis.

House of Commons
Parliament

Conservative Peter Bone suggests that the "European elite" wants to delay negotiations in the hope that the British people will change their mind about leaving the EU.

He seeks assurance that, come the end of March 2019, there will be no extension to negotiations.

David Davis replies that a transition arrangement is not the same as extending the negotiations.

He adds that, even if he wanted to prolong the discussions, the rules of Article 50 would prevent him from doing so.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Labour's Kate Hoey says anyone who votes against the EU Withdrawal Bill at second reading is "betraying the will of the British people".

David Davis agrees adding that those who do try to vote the bill down will have to "face their own constituents on that matter".

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

The DUP's MP Sammy Wilson welcomes the government's assurance that there will neither be a border drawn along the Irish Sea nor a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.

He asks if the Brexit secretary is disappointed at negative response from the Irish government.

He expresses the hope that they will not follow the "spiteful advice of Gerry Adams" and block a deal between the UK and the EU.

David Davis says he is confident that there can be a "non-visible border" using the latest technology.

House of Commons
Parliament

Labour chair of the Brexit select committee argues the only way to give stability to business is to remain in the single market and customs union during a transitional deal.

Mr Davis says he's assuming we can't reach a negotiated deal within the period, whereas he believes "it's not technically difficult - it requires political will".

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Conservative former minister Iain Duncan Smith urges David Davis not to listen to Labour as they had a different position on the single market six weeks ago.

The Brexit secretary responds: "I only have to negotiate with Brussels, he [Starmer] has to negotiate with his entire frontbench."

House of Commons
Parliament

The SNP's Europe spokesman Peter Grant accuses the government of being "inflexible to the point of obstinacy" on Article 50 and conducting talks "over the heads of devolved governments".

David Davis tells him that he updated representatives from Holyrood and Cardiff Bay yesterday.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Conservative MP Ken Clarke asks Mr Davis to acknowledge that now we are "modifying our trade agreement" that any agreement involves some pooling of sovreignty, some easing of customs barriers and tariffs - issues which take years to negotiate or modify.

Will Mr Davis accept that we should remain members of the single market and customs union during the transition period? he asks.

Mr Davis says "we start from the position of exact identity on product regulations and other social regulations" and so it's a question of maintaining a similarity, not establishing a similarity.

The implementation period will depend on practicalities, Mr Davis tells MPs.

Those are the government's ability to put in a framework; and companies' and other countries' ability to accommodate changes.

House of Commons
Parliament

David Davis responds that the EU is seeking to use negotiation timetable as "a pressure point" against the UK "to make us pay" and it's in the taxpayer's interest for the UK to negotiate as robustly as possible.

"I don't resile at all from the commitment to get a first-rate trade agreement," he tells MPs.

House of Commons
Parliament

Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer contends that "this slow progress is a real concern" and the negotiating parties are "further apart not closer together" than they were at the beginning of the summer.

"This could have very serious consequences," he warns, "and the prospect of 'no deal' could rise from the ashes."

House of Lords
Parliament

Image source, European Photopress Agency

In the House of Lords peers are debating the European Union Committee's report: Brexit: UK-Irish relations., external

There have been concerns about the implications of Brexit for the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

The committee recommends that the UK and Irish governments draft a bilateral agreement covering maintenance of the current open land border between Northern Ireland.

The report suggests the Northern Ireland executive be able to exercise devolved powers over the movement of EU workers.

House of Commons
Parliament

Mr Davis admits there are "significant differences" with EU negotiators over the Brexit divorce bill.

"The UK has a duty to our tax payers to interrogate that [EU] position... line by line," he emphasises.

House of Commons
Parliament

Mr Davis says the UK and the EU have reached agreement on issues including eligibility for continued rights of EU citizens and pensions for UK citizens in the EU, which he says will make "a tangible difference to people's lives".

There remain some areas of difference, he goes on to say, including family rights and voting rights of UK citizens in the EU.

He tells MPs the UK's approach to negotiations has been "substantially more flexible and pragmatic" than that taken by the EU.

House of Commons
Parliament

Brexit Secretary David Davis is making a statement on the Brexit negotiations which took place in July and August.

He's jeered by MPs as he says the government made "concrete progress" on a number of issues.

It comes after the prime minister said the UK was ready to "intensify" talks rather than stick to its one-week-a-month schedule.

EU officials have warned over the progress of negotiations and said the UK must "start negotiating seriously".