Ben Coleman

I am immensely surprised to hear that intervention—almost as surprised as I was to see Liberal Democrat Members put forward the customs union idea the other day! We struck a deal with the EU in May. We need to implement that deal. We need to see through the deal we are negotiating on food and drink. We need to talk about youth experience and a whole range of other things. Let us do those. Let us deliver on what we promised. Let us implement what we promised. Let us build the trust. I sat down the other day with about a dozen ambassadors from EU countries, and let me tell the House, there is very little appetite for Britain going into a customs union until we have shown that we can be trusted and have delivered what we are already promising to deliver. Yes, that sort of comment might arouse the interest of some, but at this stage it is not the best thing for Britain to plough forward in that direction. Let us deliver on the deals we have, not throw them aside, reject them or say they are pointless. They will deliver jobs and lower prices for British people and that is what we need in the aftermath of Brexit. As this Government seek every opportunity to enhance trade and economic growth, ensuring that UK Export Finance has the resources it needs to underpin export growth is the right way forward. The winners will be businesses in every part of our country.