Brexit today: David Davis vows UK will not be plunged into 'Mad Max-style' world after EU exit - as it happened
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Fears that Britain will be plunged into a "Mad Max-style" dystopia after Brexit are baseless, David Davis has told business leaders in Vienna.
In the latest in a series of high-profile speeches on the EU withdrawal, the Brexit Secretary insisted that ministers are not planning to sweep away regulations in a "race to the bottom" on taxes and standards.
As pressure mounts on Theresa May to unite her warring Cabinet, Brexiteers Michael Gove and Liam Fox delivered major speeches, while Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson faced questions from MPs in the Commons.
Oxfam GB chief executive Mark Goldring apologised for appearing to downplay allegations of sexual misconduct by some charity staff in Haiti following a devastating earthquake in 2010.
More than 7,000 people have cancelled regular donations to the charity since the scandal broke, he told MPs on the International Development Committee.
Elsewhere, Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn vowed to strip the City of London of its dominance in a speech accusing the financial sector of having a “pernicious and undemocratic” control over British politics.
As it happened...
David Davis says leaving the EU was "not a rejection of European ideals and values", rather a choice to move away from pooled sovereignty to greater control.
He says the world stands on the brink of the next phase of globalisation, and "we must be ready". The UK wants to pursue a "global race to the top" rather than a race to the bottom.
Brexit Britain is not about "undermining Europe", Davis says.
David Davis outlines the importance of technology in Britain's future and says a robot is currently mowing his lawn in Yorkshire.
Now addressing critics, he says Britain has no intention of pursuing a "Mad Max-style" dystopian future or an "Anglo Saxon race to the bottom".
He offers reassurance from the Government on standards, ranging from Theresa May's commitments on security, Philip Hammond's assurance on financial regulation as well as speeches by Michael Gove and Boris Johnson.
Britain and the EU are starting from a position of "total alignment" with "unprecedented experience" of eachothers regulations and institutions. He urges the EU to trust Britain and asks from mutual recognition in a range of areas.
Stepping away from David Davis for a moment, MPs on the International Development Committee are grilling top bosses from Oxfam over allegations of sexual misconduct after a devastating earthquake in Haiti.
Mark Goldring, Chief Executive of Oxfam GB, has apologised for his comments in The Guardian, where he said: “The intensity and the ferocity of the attack makes you wonder, what did we do? We murdered babies in their cots? Certainly, the scale and the intensity of the attacks feels out of proportion to the level of culpability. I struggle to understand it."
Addressing the committee today, he said: "I do apologise, I was thinking under stress, I had given many interviews…I was thinking about the amazing work I’d seen Oxfam do across the world.
"I should not have said those things, it is not for Oxfam to judge issues of proportionality."
Elsewhere, Environment Secretary Michael Gove is now setting out his vision for agriculture after Brexit at a speech to the National Farmers' Union annual conference in Birmingham.
The speech comes amid concerns that barriers to trade and free movement could hit the £110bn a year agriculture and food sector, for which the EU accounts for 60% of exports and 70% of imports.
There are also fears trade deals with countries including the US could see cheap imports of produce such as chlorinated chicken and hormone-fed beef.
Michael Gove says "for the first time in half a century, the UK is free to make decisions that benefit farmers". He says the food strategy is at the heart of the UK's industrial strategy.
He says there has been "fresh thinking about food across Government", how to use the "power of the public purse" to reward British farmers and food producers.
Gove describes this as a "frozen moment" where Britain can take control. Support for farming and the natural environment comes at a point of global and social change.
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