It was very clear that the Prime Minister was not only fully engaged but had an intimate understanding of the issues and the need to strike the balance between protecting consumers and the market access our exporters depend upon.
From reports in the last 24 hours, it appears many issues we have flagged could be resolved including ensuring goods available to consumers in Southampton are available in Strabane, TRQs, VAT, State Aid, tariff reimbursement, consumer parcels and huge reduction in bureaucracy for all traders.
Whilst we didn’t discuss the detail of any deal nor the timing, the Prime Minister clearly understood the issues and that he was committed to finding agreement with the EU.
Many stressed a dual regulatory regime works very well for consumer facing industries but for most producers that it simply does not work and risks the collapse of critical industries.
The Prime Minister was impressed with the detailed and pragmatic contribution which business has made and wished to ensure that business and others would have a role in mechanisms to resolve issues in to the future should they emerge.