House of Commons
Parliament

Attorney General Geoffrey Cox says the legal advice "can only inform a political decision" and that this is "not a question of the lawfulness of the government's actions, but the prudence as a matter of the policy and political judgement of entering into an international agreement on the terms proposed".

He says it is "impossible to have considered each of the matters of law which come into play in a complicated 589 pages of text", but he has "objectively and impartially" reflected on some of the most debated issues.

• Brexit: Jargon-busting guide to the key terms - BBC News
• Q&A: The Irish border Brexit backstop - BBC News

Geoffrey Cox says the backstop would come into force at end of 2020 unless EU and UK agree to a one or two year extension, and would continue to apply in international law until it was superseded by the subsequent agreement which protects the Belfast Agreement.

"There is no unilateral right for either party to terminate each arrangement," he says, "so if no superseded agreement can be reached in the agreed period, the protocol would be activated in international law even if negotiations have broken down."

He says the likeliness of this happening is "a political question".

Geoffrey Cox adds that a Northern Ireland business would enjoy free circulation of goods in both the EU single market and the UK market.

Select Committee
Parliament

Conservative Jeremy Lefroy says there will be an "enormous amount of work" in terms of a future trade agreement with the EU.

He asks if the UK can take the initiative.

Stephen Barclay says it is important that the governance in Whitehall is right and that phase 2 will be different as the UK will be out of the EU institutions.

Mr Lefroy asks if in three to five years time will the UK "look like" it has left the EU.

"It is very important...democratically," says the Brexit secretary.

He mentions a skills-based immigration policy, EU payments, trade agreements, farming and fishing. He adds that it is "a time to bring the country back together" and that the UK "will still be apart of Europe".

The Brexit secretary gives his final answers and the session comes to a close.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Attorney General Geoffrey Cox is now giving a statement on legal advice given to the government on Brexit.

He says the statement is intended to inform MPs ahead of the meaningful vote on the Brexit deal next week. The statement is accompanied by a legal commentary, he says, adding that there is "no want of other sources of other commentary available". Minsters receive advice from departmental lawyers, he explains.

He says he has a "solemn and constitutional duty" to the House of Commons to advise them impartially and objectively.

House of Commons
Parliament

Tory MP Chris Philp says the Norway + model which many MPs advocate "would prevent free trade deals, would allow unlimited free movement and would result in a bad choice for the UK".

He asks the prime minister if she will join him in condemning this model.

Theresa May says the Norway + model "would be a bad deal" as the UK would continue having to pay money into the EU and would have to accept free movement.

"What we have negotiated for the United Kingdom is a deal that is right for the United Kingdom," she concludes.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Conservative MP Daniel Kawczynski asks about Brazilian President-elect Jair Bolsonaro, whose comments about homosexuals during his election campaign he says were "unacceptable and unconducive to ongoing relations with the United Kingdom".

Theresa May says the government will continue to be clear to all countries around the world the importance the UK attaches to equal rights and human rights.

Select Committee
Parliament

Labour MP Seema Malhotra says that is is "unarguable" that trade continues to have an "overwhelming positive impact on prosperity".

Will we do better in trade around the world after Brexit? she asks.

"Yes," replies the Brexit secretary. He adds "there is an appetite from partners".

Ms Malhotra asks about UK businesses and current EU trade agreements.

There are 40 international trade agreements covering 70 countries, says the Brexit secretary.

Mr Robbins adds that during the implementation period, the parties have agreed that third countries should be informed the trade agreements still apply to the UK.

"Is that a guarantee?" asks the Labour MP.

The Prime Minister's Europe Adviser says it is "confirmation" that the EU alongside the UK intends to inform third countries they "ought to interpret" that trade agreements apply to the UK during the implementation period.

House of Commons
Parliament

Conservative MP Anne Main asks what the status of negotiated trade deals would be if the UK goes into the backstop arrangement.

Theresa May says "there are some restrictions that the backstop would require, notably that we would be applying the common external tariff."

She adds that the process would also "give us some freedom to strike international trade deals" and reiterates that deals can be negotiated and brought in before the end of the implementation period.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

SNP MP Alison Thewliss says the Yemen Data Project report that in 10 days, 42 Saudi-coalition airstrikes took place in Yemen, with 62% of them hitting civilian targets.

She asks whether the PM discussed with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman how the weapons sold by the UK to Saudi Arabia will be used in the coming month.

Theresa May says she discussed the need to find a political solution to the conflict, with talks due to take in Stockholm soon.

"The way to resolve the issue in Yemen is through a long term political solution," she says.

House of Commons
Parliament

Tory MP Sir Nicholas Soames asks what action was agreed by G20 members to be taken against Russia "despite condemning their actions" for what were "blatant...unacceptable actions".

On 25 November, Russian border guards intercepted and seized three Ukrainian navy boats off Crimea in a major escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Theresa May says the G20 was clear in the condemnation of this action, and the question of sanctions will be taken in another forum as President Putin was at this summit.

She says the UK have been the the leading caller for sanctions to be placed on Russia "and will continue to be so".

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Lib Dem leader Sir Vince Cable asks whether the PM will use her role as "candid friend" to Saudi Arabia to make the case for the 12 men facing imminent execution, after torture, just for practicing another religion.

The prime minister says the government regularly raises individual cases with the Saudi Arabian government, and she raises human rights issue every time she meets with the Crown Prince.

The Foreign Office will be looking more specifically at the issues he has raised, she says.

Select Committee
Parliament

Will the joint committee be answerable to Parliament? asks Hywel Williams

The joint committee would be established by the Withdrawal Agreement and would be responsible for its implementation. It would comprise of representative from both the EU and the UK.

Europe Adviser Olly Robbins replies that the committee will be formed from the executive and its accountability will be through ministers "in the normal way".

The Plaid Cymru MP asks where devolved governments "fit in".

The joint committee is a UK-EU body, says Mr Robbins, but that "doesn't preclude" ministers from taking the "full range" of views into the meetings.

The Brexit secretary says there is a "balance" between sharing information with the devolved institutions and the UK Parliament.

House of Commons
Parliament

The SNP's Westminster Leader Ian Blackford says it is "pleasing" that the prime minister had potential trade deal discussions at the G20, but asks if Theresa May "could provide some detail of those discussions".

Mr Blackford says more information about the commitment to WTO reform is also needed, as "it is unclear what reform in this area would entail".

He says given this week marks the 80th anniversary of the Kindertransport, "it is shocking that we do not share the same generosity towards refugees today."

Mr Blackford said he endorses discussions about the importance of tackling climate change, but asks if there was any acknowledgement by other leaders that "her Brexit deal is a lame duck".

He questions why the prime minister was having trade deal discussions "when she can't form any deals until after the implementation period".

Theresa May says the reform of the WTO will be around how "slow they have been to develop e-commerce".

She says that it is "not correct" to say the UK cannot create trade deals during the implementation period as "the UK can strike trade deals during this time".

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Father of the House Tory MP Ken Clarke raises the discussions between the prime minister and President Trump, asking whether there were any areas of the American market that President Trump might open up to the UK.

Did she explain the UK's unwillingness to accept lower food standards to import US food, he asks, and did he recognise that the UK cannot forfeit other overseas markets just for a trade deal with the US?

Theresa May says it's a question for everyone in the UK as to what kind of agricultural standards we continue to have in the future. The working group between the UK and US is looking closely at the opening up of US markets to the UK, she adds.

House of Commons
Parliament

The prime minister reiterates that "we have been robust and clear with Saudi Arabia on the murder of Jamal Khasoggi."

Theresa May says she spoke to President Trump at the G20 and "was clear with him that we can do a trade deal with America".

She says she discussed trade with numerous leaders at the G20, including a positive conversation with the Japanese President Shinzō Abe who said he "looks forward in being able to discuss further".

Theresa May says Mr Corbyn "used to want to do trade deals with other countries" as it was in the party's manifesto, "but just last week he said he didn't want to do trade deals at all".

"This government is aware that deals around the rest of the world are important to the economy of the UK in the future," she says.

House of Commons
Parliament

Leader of the Opposition Jeremy Corbyn says 10 years after the financial crash, G20 countries have been too slow to move from the neo-liberal policies that led to the crash in the first place.

He says the prime minister offered "just warm words" when she met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, despite his country's action in Yemen and the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Leaders should back up their words with action, he says, pointing out that many have stopped arm sales to Saudi Arabia.

He asks whether she spoke to President Trump at the G20, as he's rejected the Brexit proposals, whilst the government's ability to sign "ambitious trade deals" is under question, with no legal guarantee of being able to end the backstop.

The previous chancellor cut corporation tax, but failed to see a promised growth in investment, Mr Corbyn says. He asks whether the PM spoke to other leaders about what they have done differently, achieving investment without cutting corporate taxes.

He welcomes sustainable development as the theme of the summit and asks why the government rejected sustainable development goals being added as a reference point in the Trade Bill when it was put forward by Labour.

"Climate change is the biggest issue facing our world," he says. "It is imperative that a sustainable economic trade model is put forward that puts people before profit."

Too much of the G20 have failed to learn the lessons from the crash, he says.

House of Commons
Parliament

Theresa May says that she stressed to Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince, the importance of a "full transparent and credible investigation" in relation to the killing of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

She says she informed Mohammed bin Salman that "those responsible must be held to account", a matter which she also discussed with Turkey's leader, President Erodgan.

She says she also reiterated the need for an urgent end to the conflict in Yemen, and for "relief for those suffering from starvation", saying the issue "is of grave concern".

The prime minister says she also discussed the situation in Ukraine and says "the UK condemns Russian aggression in the Black Sea" and calls for the release of the Ukrainian personnel who are detained.

House of Lords
Parliament

Image source, HoL

Peers are now considering the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Bill at report stage, beginning with amendments 1 and 2.

The bill seeks to strengthen existing counter-terrorism offences, with particular focus on the downloading of terrorist material and the ability of ministers to designate areas in foreign countries as in effect no-go areas for British citizens, because of terrorism-related activities.

Speaking for the first of her amendments, Green peer Baroness Jones of Moulsecombe says there are concerns that the bill is currently too broad and too vague, with the "bogeyman of terrorism" being used to restrict human rights.

The government is demonstrating its tendency to overreach, she says.

Labour spokesman Lord Judge disagrees, arguing that the bill does seek the right balance and therefore they will not be supporting the amendments. Home Office Minister Baroness Williams of Trafford says the government also will not be supporting the amendments.

She says the amendments would allow obviously wrong behavior to go unchallenged.