The Brexit Secretary has swerved a question on whether he thinks the M20 will be turned into a lorry park within six months of Brexit, after answering queries from KentOnline readers.

Stephen Barclay, who backs the Prime Minister's draft EU withdrawal agreement, said he wants a trade deal with Europe where trucks "continue to flow through our ports" in a wide-ranging interview on how leaving the bloc will affect Kent.

He said "we should have more confidence in the ability of this great nation to chart a new course in the world" after Brexit happens in March next year.

He insisted leaving the EU "isn't a mistake" as he answered questions shortly before the Prime Minister announced she was delaying Parliament's meaningful vote on her Brexit deal, which had been scheduled for today, because of the "significant" chance it would be defeated.

He then dodged a question posed by KentOnline in response to other readers' questions, asking how confident he is that Operation Brock would not come into force within a month or six months of Britain leaving the EU in March.

Operation Block is the evolution of Operation Stack proposed by the government, which would see lorries park on the coastbound side of the M20 with a contraflow system set up on the London-bound carriageway if there are problems getting freight across the English Channel.

Mr Barclay claimed he had already answered a question on the topic, although no direct response on the matter was given.

Mr Barclay became Brexit Secretary last month, replacing Dominic Raab who resigned because he was unable to support Theresa May's proposed EU withdrawal agreement.

In July, Mr Raab's predecessor David Davis had resigned in protest to the Prime Minister's Chequers plans, which formed the basis of the deal.

Asked by reader John Cobbit of Hollingbourne whether people living in areas blighted by Operation Brock would be compensated for the disruption, he said there is "no reason our roads would be any different on day one than they are today".

Reader Phil Robinson asked with tongue-in-cheek whether Mr Barclay would sign a legal agreement to buy a house after just looking at it from the street, without seeing inside, reading the surveyor's report or even asking how much it costs.

In response, he said Britain had "had a good look inside - we’ve been negotiating for the best part of two years - and we know exactly what we will be paying for".

Asked whether he believes this country will be safer outside of the EU than in, Mr Barclay replied: "This deal keeps the people of the UK safe - if it didn’t, I couldn’t support it."

The interview in full

How much has been budgeted by the Government to compensate residents blighted by Operation Brock?

John Cobbit in Hollingbourne

Stephen Barclay: "John, there’s no reason our roads would be any different on day one than they are today. There’s a bit of confusion about and that is understandable.

"But I think it is important to distinguish between what the deal does and what could happen if we leave without a deal.

"The deal on the table provides an implementation period, a bridge if you like, where things carry on much as they are today while we prepare for our future relationship with the EU.

"That means lorries continue to go through Dover as they do now. And we’ve agreed with the EU that we want a trade deal that doesn’t throw up unnecessary barriers and red tape - which means trucks continue to flow through our ports.

"Also, my colleagues at the Department for Transport wouldn’t thank me if I didn’t point out that Brock isn’t just a Brexit issue.

"It’s an evolution of something we’ve had in place for years - and continue to refine - as a contingency measure in case of any blockages on the French side.

"A previous example of this was the use of Operation Stack in 2015 to mitigate the impact of an industrial dispute involved cross-Channel ferries from Dover. Stack has been in existence since 1988."

How confident are you that we won't see Operation Brock come into force within a month of us leaving the EU in March? What about six months?

KentOnline

SB: "This was answered in John Cobbit's question, above."

Would you sign a legal agreement to buy a house after just looking at it from the street, without seeing inside, reading the surveyor's report or even asking how much it costs?

Phil Robinson, Kent

SB: "Hi Phil. The scenario you paint isn’t what’s happening in reality. We’ve had a good look inside - we’ve been negotiating for the best part of two years - and we know exactly what we will be paying for.

"The UK will only pay for obligations which actually arise, so we have agreed a methodology rather than a precise figure - which avoids the risk of the UK paying more than is due.

"This is estimated to total £35-39bn - less than half of what some suggested we would pay up front at the beginning of this process.

"And after that we will only pay for the things we choose to take part in and which we think will benefit the UK.

"The political declaration you’ve read about sets out what our future relationship will look like.

"It is not a wish list but a concrete set of commitments that will deliver a new partnership unlike anything the EU has signed before, securing our economic prosperity and keeping the half a billion people who live in the UK and EU safe."

Can we just say a mistake was made and we're going to remain?

Rebecca Dodsworth, Tunbridge Wells

SB: "No - this isn’t a mistake. As someone who campaigned for Brexit, I firmly believe we’ve made the right choice and I am backing the PM’s deal because it delivers on the result of the referendum.

"If we decided to ignore what people asked for, that would destroy their trust in politicians for years to come - and rightly so.

"This was a huge democratic exercise and we need to respect what people chose.

"I would also say we should have more confidence in the ability of this great nation to chart a new course in the world.

"We are one of the biggest economies in the world with a long history of being a major player on the global stage.

"The deal we’ve agreed with the EU gives us the ability to take us on to the next chapter in that story, and that’s why I want everyone to support it."

What are the benefits for any kind of Brexit?

Shaun Gibson, Deal

SB: "This is a fair question Shaun and one I know many people want answered.

"One of the reasons I took the job of Brexit Secretary was because I genuinely believe the Government is delivering a Brexit that works for all of us - Leave and Remain supporters alike.

"I think if you look at the 40-point list of all the benefits our deal will bring it spells out what the clear wins are.

"In the interests of time I won’t go over all of them here, but some of the standout benefits for me are that for the first time in more than 40 years we will make our own laws and run our country without interference or rules imposed on us from another jurisdiction, decide who lives and works in this country and stop paying the EU vast amounts of money every year."

Delivering Brexit in name only (as per May's deal) would shatter your voter base and the public's trust in politics as a whole. Does this not worry you at all?

Aaron Makepeace in Canterbury

SB: "As a Brexiteer myself, I want to reassure you, Aaron, that I wouldn’t have accepted the job as Brexit Secretary if I didn’t support the deal that the Prime Minister has worked hard to negotiate.

"We listened to what people across the country voted for: they wanted free movement to end, vast payments to the EU to end, and for us to make our own laws. In each of these crucial areas, the deal delivers.

"As with any negotiation, there was movement on both sides.

"For example, the EU was opposed to permitting an all-UK customs backstop. Now we have one.

"And on the Withdrawal Agreement, the EU originally demanded jurisdiction over the whole agreement, instead we have agreed that any disputes will be resolved by both the UK and the EU or, when we cannot agree, by an independent arbitration panel.

"Also, this deal is unprecedented because it creates a free trade area for goods with no tariffs or quotas across the board.

"This is the first such agreement between an advanced economy and the EU and something that took tough negotiation.

"And on the implementation period, it makes good sense because it gives us all time to adapt to our long-term future relationship with the EU. Without this deal, we risk the uncertainty from no deal or no Brexit at all."

Given that Brexit is such a complicated matter, why is there such a short timeframe for us to leave a Union which we have been a leading member in for 40-odd years? Surely a sensible approach would be for us to leave with stability and on good terms with our closest neighbours and if that took 10 years or so to make sure there was no friction to our economies/infrastructure/way of life then why are we not pursuing that course of action instead to leave instead of rushing it and settling for a compromise that leaves no one happy?

Shaun Gibson, Dover

SB: "Thanks Shaun. I agree with you that it’s absolutely vital we provide the country the stability we need as we leave the EU.

"That’s why we have negotiated an implementation period - a bridge to the next phase.

"It’s a way of ensuring businesses can carry on trading as they do now, giving them the time to make changes they need. It also gives us time to further discuss with the EU what our future relationship looks like.

"But it’s not forever, and that’s really important too: the country backed Brexit in 2016, and voters expect us to get on and deliver what they voted for."

Some young people are worried Brexit will leave them with fewer opportunities, such as the Erasmus programme. Will leaving the EU provide young people with more educational opportunities than remaining?

Thomas Baldock, chair of Medway Youth Council

SB: "Thanks Thomas. As a father of two children myself, I want the next generation to have the very best educational opportunities possible, and that includes the chance to travel and learn at institutions across the world - not just in the EU, but beyond its borders too.

"We know the Erasmus programme provides all kinds of exciting opportunities for study abroad and we want this kind of opportunity to continue to be available in future.

"Under the deal, the UK will continue to participate in Erasmus in full until the end of the current programme, so students can continue to apply for Erasmus in 2019 and 2020, and participate as normal.

"And looking beyond that, as part of our next phase of talks with the EU, we’ll be exploring continued participation in Erasmus."

How satisfied are you that our hospitals will be able to cope in the event of no deal and an outflow of migrant workers?

KentOnline

SB: "We don’t want or expect no deal. We’ve spent two years carefully negotiating a deal that offers certainty in key areas people care about, such as protecting the rights of EU citizens living in the UK - including the many who serve our NHS so brilliantly.

"Staff from overseas will continue to have a vital role in the NHS long after we leave the EU, and our agreement with the EU supports that by ensuring people already living and working here can continue to do so, and their qualifications will be recognised so bureaucracy won’t get in the way of them continuing to do a sterling job.

"We’ll also be able to set our own immigration policy for the future, which will meet the needs of the UK. At the same time, we’re also boosting the number of UK doctors and nurses through a major expansion in training places."

Do you believe this country will be safer outside of the EU than in?

KentOnline

"This deal keeps the people of the UK safe - if it didn’t, I couldn’t support it.

"Shared security of our citizens is in the EU’s interests as well as our own and the future security partnership in our political declaration gives clear, concrete direction on how we are going to ensure this continues from the day we leave and into the future.

"As Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, said the day we agreed this deal 'we will remain friends until the end of days - and one day longer'.

"Part of that friendship with the rest of Europe is keeping each other safe."