In Attorney General questions today, I asked about the legal costs of separating EU law from domestic law

Stephen Kinnock: What his role is in assessing the steps that will be required to separate EU law from domestic law.

The Attorney General: My role in relation to the UK’s withdrawal from the EU is the same as my role in relation to other areas of Government business: I act as the Government’s principal legal adviser. In terms of seeking Law Officer advice in relation to the UK’s exit, the standard rules in the Cabinet manual apply. The Law Officers must be consulted by Ministers or officials before the Government are committed to critical decisions involving legal considerations.

Stephen Kinnock: Have the Government made an estimate of the cost of the vast number of lawyers and trade negotiators that are going to have to be hired to deliver our disentanglement from the European Union? If such an estimate has not yet been made, will the Attorney General please confirm by when he will be able to furnish the House with that information?

The Attorney General: We will undoubtedly need the best advice we can have and the best trade negotiators we can have. Of course, the Government already have ​some of that capacity, but the Department responsible is looking carefully at exactly what additional capacity we will need to gain, and as soon as it is in a position to give that information to the House, I am sure it will do so.