Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-10-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether the Government has set its negotiating position for exiting the EU as being that it will not seek to remain in the single market.

Mr Robin Walker

We are considering carefully all options for future arrangements with the EU following a UK exit. We know that there is no mandate for a deal that involves accepting the existing arrangements governing free movement of people from Europe. However, we do not accept that there is a binary trade-off in terms of border control and access to the single market for goods and services. We are aiming for the best deal on both for Britain. The Prime Minister has been clear that we are going to be ambitious in our negotiation, to negotiate the best deal for the British people and that will include the maximum possible access to the European market for firms to trade with and operate within.