Syed Kamall, on behalf of the ECR Group. – Mr President, when the EU27 adopted the framework for a future relationship with the UK I’m sure there was a sigh of relief on both sides of the negotiating table, for now we can start, stop talking about the past, and focus on the future.

You mentioned, Mr Tusk, how important free trade is. I have one request, and I speak also for the rapporteurs from the other two or three big political groups: we are concerned that while there is a focus on EU-Japan, which is absolutely correct, please do not demote the importance of the EU-Singapore agreement. We should have signed this in the last Parliament but we delayed it on the EU side, and we really owe it to the Singaporeans to get on with that trade agreement.

Let us also focus on a trade agreement between the EU, the world’s largest trade bloc, and the UK, the world’s 5th or 6th largest economy. As Manfred himself has said, as we look at the global challenges there will be occasions when it is in both the EU’s and the UK’s interests to work together.

As the Salisbury attack and the ensuing intervention has shown, let us also resolve to continue cooperating in those important areas of security and intelligence, because many of the challenges we face are not just European challenges but global challenges. My hope is that, as we look to the future, we will see both an outward-looking European Union and a truly global Britain.