A few days ago in Parliament the MP for Bexhill, Huw Merriman asked a perfectly reasonable and sensible question of the Government. The answer however which may have been a simple slip of the tongue implies ignorance in the Department that is  responsible for working out our departure from the European Union or might suggest that the reason we are leaving the whole of the EU is because of some of the states that are members. The person who answered Huws question is Robin Walker MP who as well as being the MP for Worcester is also The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union.

HM: Yesterday, I had the pleasure of meeting the chamber of commerce from Portugal. While, of course, it was sorry to see us leaving the European Union, its biggest concern with regard to the customs union was how long it was taking for the entire process to be put together—I hasten to add that we then had a potted history about how Parliament works, sadly. Can I ask the Minister to ensure that, whatever comes through this, we send a message to the Portuguese that they are absolutely with us and trading with us in the future?

RW: Absolutely. My hon. Friend makes an important point. Portugal is our oldest ally in the world—in fact, I think the longest-standing alliance in the world is between England and Portugal—and we want to ensure that the trade between us can continue to flourish, as we do with the trade between the UK and many other EU member states.

So the question is which EU member states does Robin and his department wish us to not have a trading relationship with? Alternatively if this is not what he means, perhaps someone could explain to Robin that despite his Degree in Modern History from Balliol College Oxford, that the reason why the EU is so significant and why we are going to pay such a huge price for leaving it, is that if we ‘can trade’ with one EU state, that we can trade with all of them. It is a package relationship. However if our Government is wanting to limit the states we are allowed to trade with, perhaps they can let us know that now so we prepare for such an arrangement!