Thank you for contacting me about the Internal Market Act.

I have always respected the result of the 2016 referendum and have always wanted to leave the European Union with a deal. I consistently voted to support the Withdrawal Agreement and continue to support the Government as it negotiates a new Free Trade Agreement with our European friends and partners.

I voted for the Second Reading of the Internal Market Bill in order to give the Government a strong negotiating position to secure a deal which is in the interests of both parties.

In my opinion, the EU was behaving unreasonably, in particular, concerning the ongoing negotiations on food standards. It was not consenting to the UK having third country status, and the EU alleged that it does not know what food standards we will follow. Since all our food standards are completely in line with EU rules, this third country status should be granted automatically. In the highly unlikely event that we would ever wish to lower our food standards, we would be required to notify the World Trade Organisation and all our trading partners long in advance.

In any negotiation, you need to be able to walk away when the other side is making unreasonable demands. I decided that supporting a Second Reading of the Internal Markets Bill makes a deal by October 15th 2020 more likely.

Thank you for sharing your views on this important matter.