House of Commons
Parliament

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The first question comes from Labour MP Dennis Skinner on HS2.

The prime minister responds that the government wants to increase the capacity of railway lines through to the north.

House of Commons
Parliament

The prime minister begins PMQs saying the thoughts of MPs and the UK were with the people of New York, following a terror attack there yesterday.

She moves onto the claims of sexual harassment which have been made in recent days. saying that Leader of the House Andrea Leadsom is working to address the issue.

She says there will be a meeting of party leaders next week on ways to move forward.

Select Committee
Parliament

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"The idea that the United Kingdom would actually agree to a sum of money, before we knew what the end state looked like or what any future potential was, I think is a non starter," Dr Fox tells the committee.

"Doesn't that deadlock the talks?" asks the chair, Angus MacNeil.

"I think it's unreasonable not to want to start the next phase, given that I think substantial progress has been made, on issues like European citizens rights, and basic agreement of positions over Ireland," Dr Fox adds.

"It is not the United Kingdom that is holding these up," says Dr Fox.

House of Commons
Parliament

The frontbenches clash over a question about the government's decision not to electrify the mainline to Swansea.

Labour's Jessica Morden says that even Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies "hasn't given up the ghost" on campaigning for electrification and neither has the opposition in the House of Commons.

Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns tells her "we are using the latest technology with greater capacity and faster trains" on the line from London to Swansea, using "bi-modal trains" which can run on diesel or on electrified lines.

House of Commons
Parliament

Business begins with "a motion for an unopposed return".

This motion, tabled by the home secretary, requires that a report on the Hillsborough disaster be "laid before this House".

Labour are intending to use the same type of motion to call for the release of Brexit impact papers later.

However, the use of such a motion in an Opposition Day debate is unprecedented in the modern House of Commons.

We move to Wales Office questions. Secretary of State Alun Cairns opens the session by paying tribute to those who lost their lives in a house fire in Llangammarch Wells.

A father and several of his children are feared to have died in the fire at a remote farmhouse in Powys. Three children, aged 10, 12 and 13, escaped the blaze.

Select Committee
Parliament

Labour's Chris Leslie asks Liam Fox if the private sector should prepare for a "no-deal" Brexit, as the government is also doing.

"No, because on balance at the present time, I think we are more likely to get a deal," Dr Fox answers, "but I think it would be reasonable for them to develop such plans."

He says the longer we take to get into end state discussions with the EU, the greater the likelihood would be that businesses would want to develop and implement their plans.

He says that this is why it's important to get as far as possible with discussions and negotiations.

Select Committee
Parliament

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Labour's Chris Leslie asks about the role of the Department of International Trade itself.

Dr Fox says that trade agreements with the EU are left to the Department for Exiting the EU, while all other trade agreements come under the International Trade remit.

Questions around a tweet from Lord Price, saying that countries had agreed to "roll over" after Brexit for continuing trade agreements with the UK, is in the limelight.

Dr Fox says we are not likely to get anything to specifically see in the Houses of Parliament library on this. He says there is not likely to be anything written down until we get closer to March 2019.

Dr Fox says that the existing Free Trade Agreements made through the EU will form the basis of new agreements with these countries, but that they cannot be exactly the same.

"We have had initial discussions with them," Dr Fox says, "this is a technical replication of the existing structures."

House of Commons
Parliament

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The main business in the Commons today consists of two Opposition Day debates, on motions tabled by Labour.

The first calls on the government to end the 1% public sector pay cap for the armed forces and give personnel "a fair pay rise".

The second motion calls on ministers to release a series of Brexit impact studies.

The government has confirmed that 58 reports looking at different sectors of the economy have been prepared - but it is resisting calls to publish them, saying to do so would undermine the UK's negotiating position.

House of Commons
Parliament

Business in the House of Commons begins with questions to Wales Office minister at 11:30am.

From noon, Theresa May faces MPs for the weekly joust that is Prime Minister's Questions.

After that, Conservative MP Richard Benyon will introduce a bill to establish a statute of limitations on court proceedings against current and former members of the armed forces.

It follows a report by the Commons Defence Comittee, which recommended that "former British soldiers, who served in Northern Ireland up to the signing of the Belfast Agreement in 1998, should be protected by a statute of limitations preventing further investigation and prosecution of incidents which occurred between almost 20 and almost 50 years ago".

Select Committee
Parliament

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Conservative MP Ranil Jayawardena asks the trade secretary what his department is doing to "educate" consumers about "the benefits of freer trade".

Dr Fox says that they have had conversations with trade bodies and associations recently about this.

"Those who win, don't always notice that they're winning", says Dr Fox.

Select Committee
Parliament

"Is there anything wrong with chlorinated chicken?" asks Nigel Evans.

"Yes!" someone intervenes in the room.

Mr McNeil tells the room that they must let the Secretary of State answer.

"There are no health reasons why you couldn't eat chicken that had been washed in chlorinated water," says Liam Fox. Most salads in supermarkets are washed in chlorinated water, he adds.

"I have no objection to the British public being sold anything that is safe, as long as they know what they are eating, I'm a great believer in giving the British public the choice over what they eat," Dr Fox says.

Select Committee
Parliament

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Conservative Nigel Evans is asking questions on Cabinet splits over Brexit.

Dr Fox says he shares frustrations with many of his colleagues that we aren't allowed to begin negotiations at the present time.

"I had a very constructive meeting with the Chancellor yesterday and it was far from lukewarm," he adds.

Following questioning from the chair, Dr Fox says it is helpful for the UK government to stay away from language that implies that we don't want a deal.

Mr Evans asks a question on whether "being desperate" to do a deal with the US would lead to us having a bad deal.

"If we were offered a deal that we didn't think was to our advantage we wouldn't take it," Dr Fox adds.

Select Committee
Parliament

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Labour's Matt Western is asking questions now. He wants to know what countries are the priorities for trade.

Dr Fox says there are two categories, EU Free Trade Agreements, and non-EU Free Trade Agreements.

He cites the United States as a principal example of the latter. Australia and New Zealand are priorities after the US.

Select Committee
Parliament

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The chair, Anugs McNeil, says that the UK will be leaving the Article 50 process in 18 months time.

Dr Fox says that at the end of March 2019, we will leave the EU, and his department is preparing for this. We will leave in the "legal sense" on that day.

He says the department is moving forward with Free Trade Agreement adoptions so that there will be minimum disruption on day one.

Select Committee
Parliament

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The SNP's Angus McNeil opens the session, and Dr Liam Fox makes an opening statement.

He says the Department for International Trade has made significant progress.

The department has rapidly expanded, 734 people have joined the department since he last spoke to the committee, in February.

He takes time to praise the hard work of civil servants in the department.

Dr Fox states that the newly convened Board of Trade has input from all over the UK, and will make sure it benefits every region.

Select Committee
Parliament

• Dr Liam Fox, external, Secretary of State for International Trade, President of the Board of Trade
• Antonia Romeo, external, Permanent Secretary, Department for International Trade
• Crawford Falconer, external, Second Permanent Secretary, Chief Trade Negotiation Advisor, Department for International Trade