31/01/2017

:00:00. > :00:00.apparent with the passage of time, the national interest is that we

:00:00. > :00:12.should work together to get the best possible outcome for our country. As

:00:13. > :00:18.ever, a makes cogent points, I completely agree with him that the

:00:19. > :00:23.government must lay out a process where the government begins to have

:00:24. > :00:34.a say on this process and a final deal.

:00:35. > :00:40.I do not believe we will be reversing this decision but I will

:00:41. > :00:43.not be supporting it. Not because I do not recognise the result of the

:00:44. > :00:49.referendum but I cannot walk blindly through a lobby to give a trigger to

:00:50. > :00:53.a process without a shred of detail from the government. There has been

:00:54. > :00:58.much talk of the Prime Minister's speech. Maybe not in this House but

:00:59. > :01:04.elsewhere. No White Paper, no detail and after seven months, it is really

:01:05. > :01:09.shocking that the government can come to this House and say so little

:01:10. > :01:13.today. There is still no real guarantee a parliamentary oversight.

:01:14. > :01:18.While there was a vote to leave, there is a lot of detail below that

:01:19. > :01:24.simple decision that this House has a constitutional role in delivering.

:01:25. > :01:30.There is no certainty for business as we stand here now, many are

:01:31. > :01:39.concerned about their future. Not a word of sucker for -- circle for EU

:01:40. > :01:43.residents, and no answer on the many regulations that will need to be

:01:44. > :01:49.transposed into our law will take place. I suspect we will seek an

:01:50. > :01:54.explosion at speed of line goes from the same government that wanted the

:01:55. > :02:01.bonfire of the quangos. I want to my focus on EU citizens in the UK. In

:02:02. > :02:07.my constituency, at the last census in 2011. 10% of my constituents were

:02:08. > :02:11.born in other EU countries. 27,000 across the borough of Hackney as a

:02:12. > :02:16.whole. It is a similar percentage across London as a whole. 841,000

:02:17. > :02:24.people born in other EU countries. If we look at student numbers,

:02:25. > :02:31.31,000 students from the EU were accept it in 2016. Up 22% from 2010.

:02:32. > :02:35.A significant bunch of people contributing to our economy. If you

:02:36. > :02:40.look at our public services, we cannot get figures for everywhere

:02:41. > :02:53.but in the health service, 5% of NHS staff are from other EU member

:02:54. > :02:59.states. But staff joining in 2015, 16, it is 27%. That is up from

:03:00. > :03:04.really 7% in 2012-13. This demonstrates a big gap in our skills

:03:05. > :03:08.and the skills and talents we need in this country to fill those jobs.

:03:09. > :03:21.If you look at the technology sector, in Shoreditch, we have a

:03:22. > :03:26.burgeoning technology sector. There are already many issues in this

:03:27. > :03:30.sector with visas because it is such an emerging industry that there are

:03:31. > :03:37.often jobs that don't have titles that don't exist in official terms.

:03:38. > :03:40.Cutting off the stream overnight of EU citizens overnight who may be

:03:41. > :03:45.asked to leave this country is a real issue. Overall, 3 million EU

:03:46. > :03:51.citizens currently living and working in the UK. These people pay

:03:52. > :03:55.more in tax than they withdraw in benefits and contribute at least ?2

:03:56. > :04:01.billion annually to the economy. A recent poll issued today showed a

:04:02. > :04:06.majority of UK residents, citizens, believe that EU citizens rights

:04:07. > :04:11.should be guaranteed with 58% agreeing to that position. 28

:04:12. > :04:16.disagreeing and 14% don't know. My honourable friend from the front

:04:17. > :04:21.bench talked about the human misery. I have had people ringing my office

:04:22. > :04:24.in tears worried about their future. When I am talking to constituents,

:04:25. > :04:29.they can't hold back their emotions for they are fearful for what it

:04:30. > :04:32.means. A woman wrote to me recently, Dutch with a British partner and

:04:33. > :04:37.British children, 20 years in this country but not knowing her future.

:04:38. > :04:41.Another woman, freelance, worried that because she is freelance, that

:04:42. > :04:45.she will not be allowed to stay in the UK. Change to this does not

:04:46. > :04:49.require an amendment to this bill, it is something the government could

:04:50. > :04:56.agree with straightaway. We should be wary on turning on followers --

:04:57. > :04:59.foreigners in our midst. We should allow the citizens to stay and

:05:00. > :05:04.continue to contribute to our country and set in train the process

:05:05. > :05:09.they need to do that. If we do not do that, we should look closely at

:05:10. > :05:13.what our tolerance is in this country. She is making a very

:05:14. > :05:18.powerful point and I think it is tantamount to torture to not tell

:05:19. > :05:22.people who are from the EU living and working here that they cannot

:05:23. > :05:25.stay as it is for British people weaving and working in the European

:05:26. > :05:29.Union. Does she not believe that both sides ought to get together as

:05:30. > :05:32.quickly as possible and put people out of their misery and tell them

:05:33. > :05:37.they are allowed to stay, live and work in the countries where they

:05:38. > :05:42.currently are? Mr Speaker, I agree with that position and I think the

:05:43. > :05:46.government could make a unilateral declaration. They are friends,

:05:47. > :05:50.neighbours, they work in the public services and they are contributing

:05:51. > :05:53.to our economy. People exercising their treaty rights today should be

:05:54. > :05:57.allowed to stay. They have made their lives here with every

:05:58. > :06:05.expectation it would be a permanent position. It would be magnanimous of

:06:06. > :06:11.the government to give way now. Thank you Mr Speaker. In my opinion,

:06:12. > :06:21.the people have decided and I am going to vote accordingly.

:06:22. > :06:29.Well Mr Speaker, I thought I had and myself a reputation for brevity but

:06:30. > :06:40.I think I have just been resolutely beaten to this. Congratulations. You

:06:41. > :06:44.can sit down now? Tempting as an invitation it may be I will not take

:06:45. > :06:50.it up. I think this is an historic debate, not just because of what we

:06:51. > :06:54.as members of Parliament will do. But historic because of what the

:06:55. > :07:01.people did on the 23rd of June and they have now given us the task to

:07:02. > :07:05.implement that decision. To avoid any argument over the position of

:07:06. > :07:16.figures, let's just say the bill is fewer than 150,000 words. And we are

:07:17. > :07:21.now charged to say the people voted for us to leave. There were

:07:22. > :07:24.principles behind that. The first one is, parliamentary sovereignty

:07:25. > :07:29.does not mean to be sovereign over the people. It is a relationship

:07:30. > :07:32.between the sovereign and Parliament. In a parliamentary

:07:33. > :07:38.democracy where we used to be representatives, we decide to have a

:07:39. > :07:41.direct mandate then it is our duty to implement that direct mandate. I

:07:42. > :07:51.would not attend for one moment that it is easy but it is our challenge.

:07:52. > :07:59.The second one is that we had a 70 point -- 70 2.2% turnout. It is true

:08:00. > :08:04.that 16.1 -- just over 16 million voted to remain, more people voted

:08:05. > :08:08.to leave and it is now duty to do two things. Implement the decision

:08:09. > :08:13.of the majority and immediately after that focus on representing the

:08:14. > :08:21.people as a whole. I chaired the official leave campaign and what can

:08:22. > :08:26.be said, what the campaign was clear about what is that it was about

:08:27. > :08:31.taking back control of our borders. That meant we wanted an immigration

:08:32. > :08:36.policy not based on geography but on skills and economic need. We wanted

:08:37. > :08:41.to take back control of our laws and control of our trade negotiations. I

:08:42. > :08:45.also happened to think that the election pledge was made that the

:08:46. > :08:48.least ?100 million per week that we saved by not making direct

:08:49. > :08:53.contributions to the EU should go to the NHS is something the government

:08:54. > :08:58.should actually honour. The NHS is short of money. That takes me to

:08:59. > :09:05.Article 50 and this is where history is important. I was the draughtsman

:09:06. > :09:13.of the original article that led to Article 50 as part of the European

:09:14. > :09:18.constitution. It said any country could be asked to leave within two

:09:19. > :09:22.years. The nature of the European Union, everything on the drawing

:09:23. > :09:27.board is never allowed to go away. It became a leaving close, hence the

:09:28. > :09:30.two years. But no one seriously thought through how it should be

:09:31. > :09:38.implemented. Hence the challenge for us is to do that which was an

:09:39. > :09:42.imagined. All current judges have been for countries to increasingly

:09:43. > :09:46.entered the European Union, not leaving. We are leaving. One of the

:09:47. > :09:51.reasons the United Kingdom is in a unique position, numerous speakers

:09:52. > :09:59.have talked about nationalism. The British Isles, George the first

:10:00. > :10:02.developed the concept of super nationalism. Someone like me, who

:10:03. > :10:09.was born in Munich can with great comfort say I am British but I will

:10:10. > :10:12.never be English. Hence that need to overcome the darker side of

:10:13. > :10:22.nationalism by super nationalism is something the British people have

:10:23. > :10:25.never felt. At the same time, we have not mentioned one thing that

:10:26. > :10:31.made the whole European Union debate different. We had various people

:10:32. > :10:36.reliving their youth but when the euro was introduced, the whole

:10:37. > :10:42.dynamics of the European Union and its relationship to those countries

:10:43. > :10:47.changed. I regard the outcome of this referendum is a logical

:10:48. > :10:54.conclusion of Maastricht. We said we would not join the single currency

:10:55. > :11:00.and we said we would not join the Schengen treaty. I now chair

:11:01. > :11:05.something called change Britain which we set up after the referendum

:11:06. > :11:08.because the important thing now, irrespective of how you voted, we

:11:09. > :11:14.need to bring people together. Another principles we have been

:11:15. > :11:18.working on, of them, and I welcome what the government has said from

:11:19. > :11:22.the front bench, is to enshrine workers' rights. I think it is

:11:23. > :11:26.equally important to enshrine environmental rights and make sure

:11:27. > :11:30.communities are protected. It is extremely important for us on the

:11:31. > :11:34.Labour side to realise that we now have the fight to defend those

:11:35. > :11:39.Labour heartlands. Which of never recovered from the 1980s. It is

:11:40. > :11:45.extremely important to protect the rights of EU citizens. 2.8 million

:11:46. > :11:48.of them head, something like 1.8 have already established their right

:11:49. > :11:50.to be here. It is the one to have been here for fewer than five years

:11:51. > :12:02.who we really have to protect. At the moment the only obstacle to

:12:03. > :12:10.guaranteeing reciprocal rights is our European partners have insisted

:12:11. > :12:14.on no negotiation. There is a rational case for what the

:12:15. > :12:18.honourable gentleman says. But I think this is the one area where

:12:19. > :12:23.unilateral decisions on our part would set the tone for negotiations

:12:24. > :12:30.which would serve EU citizens and UK citizens living in the European

:12:31. > :12:38.Union. I'd take a different view from people who think that trade

:12:39. > :12:46.should be above... The honourable lady is waiting for a moment of

:12:47. > :12:50.silence. I take a different view. I do not think that it is economic

:12:51. > :12:56.success and peas which delivers you liberal democracies. I will not

:12:57. > :13:03.trade liberal democratic structures for anything else. I think it is

:13:04. > :13:09.liberal democratic structures which deliver economic success and peas

:13:10. > :13:12.and therefore I think a new, modern 21st-century, economic, liberal

:13:13. > :13:18.democratic structure would give us that democracy and peas and that is

:13:19. > :13:23.why I hope everyone in this house will vote for triggering Article 50.

:13:24. > :13:34.Can I begin by paying tribute to the member for Birmingham. As one of the

:13:35. > :13:38.founding MPs for vote lead she played a great role in getting the

:13:39. > :13:46.vote to leave in the referendum and it was a brave thing to do. My

:13:47. > :13:51.neighbour for decades has been reviled and mocked for his views,

:13:52. > :13:55.but not withstanding he has kept his ducks in a row and today must be

:13:56. > :14:01.very proud day for him. I would like to take those who intend to vote

:14:02. > :14:06.tomorrow against the motion to remind them this is a result of a

:14:07. > :14:11.very clearly marked out process. David Cameron made it clear

:14:12. > :14:15.commitment in his Bloomberg speech that if the Conservatives won the

:14:16. > :14:18.election, there would be a referendum. It was a manifesto

:14:19. > :14:22.commitment and we did win the referendum. There was then a

:14:23. > :14:30.referendum bill put through this house by a massive majority of 491.

:14:31. > :14:37.544-53. And then we had the referendum. I have the hugest

:14:38. > :14:41.admiration for my honourable and learning friend for Rushcliffe, I do

:14:42. > :14:50.think he is unwise to have said the referendum was just an opinion poll.

:14:51. > :14:55.It was very clearly stated in the document that cost taxpayers ?9

:14:56. > :15:02.million that this is your decision. The government will implement what

:15:03. > :15:10.you decide. If that was not clear, the Prime Minister at the time,

:15:11. > :15:13.David Cameron, on many occasions and in June on early Sunday said what

:15:14. > :15:22.the British public will be voting for is to leave the EU and lead the

:15:23. > :15:25.single market. That was also helpfully endorsed by one of the

:15:26. > :15:33.predecessors of the right honourable member for Sheffield Hallam, the

:15:34. > :15:39.noble lord Lord Ashdown who said, I will forgive no one who does not

:15:40. > :15:43.respect the sovereign voice of the British people want it is spoken,

:15:44. > :15:53.whether it is a majority of 1% or 20%. Well, it was a big vote, 17

:15:54. > :16:00.million, 410,000 voted to leave. The most votes for any issue or party in

:16:01. > :16:06.our history and the highest percentage turnout since the 1992

:16:07. > :16:12.general election. So I thought the member for Saint pancreas' comments

:16:13. > :16:17.were very wise and thoughtful and he recognised that we are now facing,

:16:18. > :16:24.the establishment is facing, a real conundrum. We have had referendums,

:16:25. > :16:30.we had won in 1975, we had a referendum on Wales, Scotland,

:16:31. > :16:35.Northern Ireland, AV. Every time the popular vote of the referendum

:16:36. > :16:42.delivered what the establishment wanted. This is a unique moment in

:16:43. > :16:46.our history. We have had this massive vote and the establishment

:16:47. > :16:52.does not want it. What I would say to those who are going to vote

:16:53. > :16:56.against tomorrow night, just think of the shattering, catastrophic

:16:57. > :17:03.damage to the integrity of the political establishment, the media

:17:04. > :17:06.establishment and following the judgment last week, the judicial

:17:07. > :17:12.establishment, if this is not delivered. What I am quite clear

:17:13. > :17:16.about, having travelled all over the country during the referendum,

:17:17. > :17:20.having campaigned for this since my earliest days in Parliament and by

:17:21. > :17:26.European credentials are good, I was in business for 20 years, I rose to

:17:27. > :17:34.become president of the European trade association, you do not have

:17:35. > :17:37.to stand, I chaired meetings in French and retranslated for the

:17:38. > :17:41.Germans when they could not keep up, but I saw at the time the

:17:42. > :17:47.extraordinary growth of young economies elsewhere in the world and

:17:48. > :17:51.I saw us being held back. What is tragic now is to see how Europe is

:17:52. > :17:58.falling behind. Everyone bangs on about the single market, our sales

:17:59. > :18:06.were worth 1600% in 1999 and they are now at 43%, so there are

:18:07. > :18:12.wonderful opportunities out there. The three responsibilities I have

:18:13. > :18:16.had, I bitterly resent the comments about Northern Ireland, this being

:18:17. > :18:20.damaging to the peace process. We have the very best relations with

:18:21. > :18:24.the Republic of Ireland and we will respect the Common travel area and

:18:25. > :18:29.all that is good. We need to revive the economy in Northern Ireland. It

:18:30. > :18:34.is hard to think of two areas of activity most damaged by the

:18:35. > :18:39.European government and the Common agricultural policy and the Common

:18:40. > :18:43.Fisheries Policy. We will now get these back to the person standing at

:18:44. > :18:49.that dispatch box who we can hold responsible. As a deputy secretary I

:18:50. > :18:54.would come here and I would say we were outvoted. From now on we will

:18:55. > :19:04.have elected persons responsible to this Parliament. Will my honourable

:19:05. > :19:06.friend confirm that he has heard the fishing industry complaining about

:19:07. > :19:14.the disadvantage they faced under the Common Fisheries Policy over the

:19:15. > :19:17.last 40 years? My honourable friend is absolutely right and she invited

:19:18. > :19:25.me to Cornwall in the summer. I think in a hotly fought contest the

:19:26. > :19:31.Common Fisheries Policy is the most dreadful, the most shatteringly bad

:19:32. > :19:34.act of misgovernment. It is a biological, environmental, economic

:19:35. > :19:41.and social disaster. It cannot be reformed. We give power back to

:19:42. > :19:46.ministers sitting at that dispatch box, we can hold them to account and

:19:47. > :19:53.we can learn all the lessons, I have travelled all over Norway, and down

:19:54. > :19:59.to the Falklands, and we can bring in modern technology and we can get

:20:00. > :20:03.away from the disgusting relic of the quota system which ensures a

:20:04. > :20:10.quarter of fish are thrown back dead and it can be 1 million tonnes in

:20:11. > :20:12.some years, nobody knows, worth 1.6 billion annually. There are real

:20:13. > :20:20.advantages to the environment because we are proud signatories to

:20:21. > :20:23.conventions which should not be reinterpreted at the European level,

:20:24. > :20:29.they should be reinterpreted specifically for our own

:20:30. > :20:32.environment, so we will gain in agriculture, fisheries, the

:20:33. > :20:41.environment, and I will be voting tonight and tomorrow for this bill.

:20:42. > :20:45.Mr Speaker, the Supreme Court remind us that we live in a Parliamentary

:20:46. > :20:50.democracy and yes, it is true that Parliament decided we should have a

:20:51. > :20:56.referendum and for myself I find it very difficult not to respect the

:20:57. > :21:01.outcome of the referendum. But Parliament did not cut itself out of

:21:02. > :21:05.this whole issue altogether. Parliament did not divest itself of

:21:06. > :21:10.its involvement in determining what should happen when the UK withdraws

:21:11. > :21:15.from the European Union, because that is the bill we are discussing

:21:16. > :21:20.today. We are discussing the UK's withdrawal from the European Union,

:21:21. > :21:25.not the Maastricht Treaty, which by the way had 23 days to debate the

:21:26. > :21:30.issues in committee, or the Lisbon Treaty, or the Amsterdam Treaty, or

:21:31. > :21:34.the single European act, this bill is more important than all of those

:21:35. > :21:41.wrapped together and multiplied by a large factor. In a moment. That is

:21:42. > :21:48.why we should look very carefully at what this bill says. This bill says

:21:49. > :21:52.begrudgingly that ministers while they come and get permission from

:21:53. > :21:58.Parliament for the notification, they then yank it back to the Prime

:21:59. > :22:01.Minister, entirely 100% back into the hands of ministers alone to

:22:02. > :22:08.determine our fate outside the European Union. That is why I cannot

:22:09. > :22:14.bring myself to vote in favour of this particular legislation because

:22:15. > :22:16.there are so many issues, so many ramifications, so many questions

:22:17. > :22:20.surrounding our withdrawal from the European Union that it is our duty,

:22:21. > :22:26.it is what the Supreme Court insisted what we do, to have due

:22:27. > :22:30.diligence to look at all the issues surrounding this particular

:22:31. > :22:35.question. That is why I have decided to table a few very judicious

:22:36. > :22:40.amendments to this bill to try and cover a few corners of the questions

:22:41. > :22:45.that I think this bill needs to address. What happens, for example,

:22:46. > :22:50.in terms of our relationship with the single market? What are we doing

:22:51. > :22:56.in potential tariff free access and frictionless trade across the rest

:22:57. > :23:00.of Europe? Will we be able to have such advantages again? These are the

:23:01. > :23:08.questions that were not on the ballot paper. It simply stated

:23:09. > :23:13.should we remain to leave? The ballot paper did not go into those

:23:14. > :23:17.details and those details are for Parliament to determine and for us

:23:18. > :23:21.as members of Parliament to do our duty and to make sure we give a

:23:22. > :23:26.steer to ministers, that we give them their instructions on how we

:23:27. > :23:29.should be negotiating our withdrawal from the European Union. I

:23:30. > :23:35.personally do not have faith in the Prime Minister's vision for a hard

:23:36. > :23:40.Brexit because it is a hard Brexit. We may be falling very gently

:23:41. > :23:45.through the air currently, like the skydiver who has jumped out of the

:23:46. > :23:50.aeroplane. We are floating around. But I worry about the impact and the

:23:51. > :23:55.hitting the ground and the effect not just on our democracy, but on

:23:56. > :23:59.our constituents, on their jobs, on the growth we ought to be enjoying

:24:00. > :24:05.in this economy to keep pace with our competitors. I thank my

:24:06. > :24:10.honourable friend, he is giving an excellent speech. Would he confirm

:24:11. > :24:17.the view held quite widely on this side of the House that is absolutely

:24:18. > :24:25.critical to a successful Brexit will be membership of the single market?

:24:26. > :24:30.Absolutely and we are not being given the opportunity to debate that

:24:31. > :24:33.in this legislative process, a process that the government is so

:24:34. > :24:40.afraid to go into that they have given it a measly three days at

:24:41. > :24:45.committee stage. The Maastricht Treaty had so much more time to

:24:46. > :24:48.discuss it. If they were not so frightened, they would allow the

:24:49. > :24:54.House to go through all these questions. What happens to EU

:24:55. > :24:58.nationals? Will they have rights to stay? It should be for Parliament to

:24:59. > :25:01.determine these things. Are we going to have a transitional arrangement

:25:02. > :25:10.so we do not fall off the cliff edge? All of these questions, Visa

:25:11. > :25:13.free travel, what happens to their financial services trades? They may

:25:14. > :25:17.face a ban on trading altogether in various areas. For the Prime

:25:18. > :25:24.Minister to have already accepted the red lines of the other European

:25:25. > :25:29.Union 27 countries, for her to have thrown in the towel on single market

:25:30. > :25:34.membership without even trying to adapt free movement and find a

:25:35. > :25:39.consensus, which I think would be available, is a failure of her

:25:40. > :25:45.approach. For the Prime Minister to accept the red line that we are not

:25:46. > :25:49.allowed to have parallel discussions and negotiations, we must only do

:25:50. > :25:56.the divorce proceedings in these two years and then maybe we can talk

:25:57. > :26:00.about the relationship. Would he not agree with me that the Prime

:26:01. > :26:04.Minister showed great reality in her speech a few weeks ago when she made

:26:05. > :26:09.it clear that if we do not accept free movement, as indeed she has

:26:10. > :26:15.made clear, then we cannot be a member of the single market. That is

:26:16. > :26:20.just a reality. I respect very much the honourable lady's contribution,

:26:21. > :26:24.she is an independent thinker on these things. But I think we should

:26:25. > :26:30.have at least asked, we should have tried. That is what a negotiation

:26:31. > :26:36.is. You do not just accept the red line laid down, you go in and try

:26:37. > :26:39.and adjust it. Do not tell me that Germany, Greece and other countries

:26:40. > :26:43.are not facing issues where they might want more managed migration

:26:44. > :26:48.systems. It could have been possible. I believe we should have

:26:49. > :26:53.had a bit more fight in this particular process to salvage some

:26:54. > :26:59.of the advantages that we need for our future generations, let alone

:27:00. > :27:02.today's economy. I would like to see more fight from all members of

:27:03. > :27:07.parliament and from our own leadership in the Labour Party. This

:27:08. > :27:13.is one of the most important pieces of legislation for a generation and

:27:14. > :27:18.future generations will look back on this and say, what did you do to try

:27:19. > :27:24.and nudge the Prime Minister off that hard Brexit course? What did

:27:25. > :27:27.you do to try and steer the course of the government negotiations away

:27:28. > :27:33.from the rocks and away from falling over that cliff edge? I cannot bring

:27:34. > :27:38.myself to back this legislation, but I will not be dissuaded from doing

:27:39. > :27:43.my duty, trying to amend the bill and trying to improve the process so

:27:44. > :27:47.we get the right deal for Britain. I would urge all parliamentarians to

:27:48. > :27:53.use this legislation widely in that respect. It may look like an

:27:54. > :27:57.innocuous sentence, a simple clause in the legislation, but it has a

:27:58. > :28:02.phenomenal ramifications and if we do not try our best to come together

:28:03. > :28:06.across the parties to save some of those elements of the single market

:28:07. > :28:11.and salvage some of those benefits like tariff free trade for all of

:28:12. > :28:13.our businesses and constituents, we will have massively failed in our

:28:14. > :28:24.duty as parliamentarians. After more than three hours of

:28:25. > :28:29.debate, a lot has been said, I will not repeat all of that. Like the

:28:30. > :28:33.right Honourable member for Rushdie, I voted to remain. Unlike him, I

:28:34. > :28:38.voted to promote the referendum and played some part in bringing the

:28:39. > :28:44.Conservative Party towards having a referendum so I will be voting in

:28:45. > :28:49.favour of triggering article 50. I shall vote in the succeeding week

:28:50. > :28:52.against each and every attempt through amendments whatever kind to

:28:53. > :28:58.the government in any way administratively or legally. Because

:28:59. > :29:04.the government has to have the ability to negotiate flexibly in the

:29:05. > :29:09.nation 's interest. I would add one point that I don't think has come

:29:10. > :29:13.out so far in this debate. The question of what it is we are doing,

:29:14. > :29:17.if I suspect tomorrow night we do vote to trigger article 50. There

:29:18. > :29:23.has been some suggestion in speeches that somehow this vote is not

:29:24. > :29:27.irrevocable and is not final and there will become a time where

:29:28. > :29:30.Parliament can decide whether it likes to deal the government has

:29:31. > :29:35.negotiated or whether it prefers instead to go back to the position

:29:36. > :29:40.of remaining in the EU. That is clearly contrary to what the Prime

:29:41. > :29:43.Minister set out in her speech. She made it perfectly clear that in her

:29:44. > :29:47.view what Parliament would be deciding is to accept the deal or

:29:48. > :29:51.not to accept the deal in which case we would have to fall back on the

:29:52. > :29:55.WTO and other arrangements because we would in any case leave. I want

:29:56. > :29:58.to say why I think she was right about that on three points of view.

:29:59. > :30:03.The first is the question of legal fact. None of us is qualified to

:30:04. > :30:08.make a judgment about the law in that respect but we have a piece of

:30:09. > :30:12.luck. The Supreme Court has made a judgment about that. In the High

:30:13. > :30:17.Court, and rather unusual High Court as it was composed, judgment. It was

:30:18. > :30:21.not totally clear but in the Supreme Court judgment which is totally

:30:22. > :30:28.clear, that the presumption of the Supreme Court that not only the

:30:29. > :30:30.majority that this was an irrevocable act. And the whole

:30:31. > :30:35.foundation of the legal case was that. He is making a powerful speech

:30:36. > :30:41.but wasn't it agreed in the High Court that both sides accepted it

:30:42. > :30:45.was irrevocable and therefore the Supreme Court did not look at that

:30:46. > :30:48.question? He makes an interesting point. The difference between the

:30:49. > :30:54.judgments is that the Supreme Court made it clear that in an irrevocable

:30:55. > :30:58.at, what in their view was happening was a fundamental change in our

:30:59. > :31:02.Constitution. That is a different character of argument than in the

:31:03. > :31:05.High Court judgment and is conclusive. It means the Supreme

:31:06. > :31:11.Court has ruled that in its view, this is an irrevocable act. That is

:31:12. > :31:15.somewhat irrelevant to us because we are in parliament and not a group of

:31:16. > :31:18.lawyers. Next we come to the democratic mandate. Is there a

:31:19. > :31:24.democratic mandate that when article 50 is triggered, the result,

:31:25. > :31:28.whatever it may be, at acceptable or unacceptable, should be that this

:31:29. > :31:33.country leaves. I must say my right honourable friend, the member for

:31:34. > :31:38.Chesham and Amersham were right and I know they were right because I am

:31:39. > :31:43.one of the guilty men. I know that in the referendum campaign, I made

:31:44. > :31:47.it perfectly clear to the many audiences I address that in my view,

:31:48. > :31:52.and this is why I voted to remain. That it would be an inevitable

:31:53. > :31:56.consequence of leaving that we would leave the single market and reassert

:31:57. > :32:01.our control of the borders was incompatible with the single market.

:32:02. > :32:06.We would have do leave the customs union and I made it perfectly clear

:32:07. > :32:10.to them that we might find ourselves in a position where we were unable

:32:11. > :32:17.to negotiate a free trade agreement because that takes two sides.

:32:18. > :32:21.Therefore we might have the fallback on the WTO which I thought was a

:32:22. > :32:25.great it seems as a matter of aquatic mandate that the people who

:32:26. > :32:29.voted to leave were voting with their eyes wide open and that it

:32:30. > :32:32.might have the consequence that we fell back on the WTO. The league

:32:33. > :32:37.campaign made that perfectly clear as well, at least the more

:32:38. > :32:41.responsible and more sensible people in the leave campaign when they

:32:42. > :32:45.spoke about it. Both as a matter of legal fact and aquatic mandate,

:32:46. > :32:48.there is an extraordinarily strong argument that in this vote tomorrow

:32:49. > :32:53.night we are actually taking an irrevocable step that should not

:32:54. > :32:58.lead Parliament to have any illusion that at a later date, it can go back

:32:59. > :33:02.if it doesn't like the deal. Coming to the third and seemingly

:33:03. > :33:06.overwhelming point in my view, what matters most is the fate of our

:33:07. > :33:10.country. All of these arguments are just arguments. The fate of our

:33:11. > :33:14.country is a real thing, affecting the men and women in it. The truth

:33:15. > :33:18.is the negotiating hand that our government has will greatly

:33:19. > :33:21.determine whether in the outcome we get the copper hence a free trade

:33:22. > :33:28.deal of the kind the Prime Minister rightly seeks. And I know of no fact

:33:29. > :33:36.more certain than that if this House were to suggest to our counterparts

:33:37. > :33:39.in the EU 27 that we might decide at a later date that if the deal

:33:40. > :33:44.offered to us was bad enough that we would to remain, that the

:33:45. > :33:47.consequence would be that they would offer us the worst eel they could

:33:48. > :33:52.think of. It is an inevitable consequence of wanting to keep us

:33:53. > :33:55.in. Many of our EU 27 want to keep as in, I am not sure why. They would

:33:56. > :34:00.best achieve that by offering the worst eel they could if they knew

:34:01. > :34:04.that what Harlem at might do as a consequence is to vote to remain.

:34:05. > :34:09.Therefore I think we have a solemn duty in this House to make it

:34:10. > :34:14.abundantly clear, not just to the people of this country but to the EU

:34:15. > :34:18.27 that this is an irrevocable act tomorrow night. That we are taking a

:34:19. > :34:22.step we cannot go back from. That if we want a proper deal in the mutual

:34:23. > :34:27.interest, they should offer it. And if we dared get it, we will leave

:34:28. > :34:31.because we have triggered article 50 and we are out. Then we will have to

:34:32. > :34:34.deal with the consequences of that thereafter. That makes tomorrow

:34:35. > :34:37.night 's vote one of the most important we will ever take in this

:34:38. > :34:41.House and I take it with some doubt and hesitation. But I take it

:34:42. > :34:51.because I believe the will of the people in the end has been

:34:52. > :34:54.expressed. Mr Speaker, I find myself in the position of having agreed

:34:55. > :34:58.with everything the right honourable member for Rushcliffe has said,

:34:59. > :35:03.virtually. And Birchley everything said by my honourable friends on

:35:04. > :35:07.this side who are intending to vote against the second reading tomorrow

:35:08. > :35:11.evening. I differ in one aspect only. In that identikit is possible

:35:12. > :35:19.as a democratically elected member of Parliament, that entered into the

:35:20. > :35:22.referendum having accepted that we were going to have that referendum

:35:23. > :35:28.and then saying to the public that somehow I know better and I'm not

:35:29. > :35:32.going to honour the outcome of that referendum. I will vote in favour of

:35:33. > :35:40.triggering article 50 tomorrow night. But I will do so because I

:35:41. > :35:43.don't want the party opposite, every time I challenge them over the

:35:44. > :35:48.process and every time I challenge them to come back to this House to

:35:49. > :35:52.be accountable for what they are negotiating on behalf of this

:35:53. > :35:57.country, to turn round and say that somehow I am looking to second-guess

:35:58. > :36:08.outcome of the referendum. They must be accountable for what they are

:36:09. > :36:11.doing to this House. There are some questions about whether the

:36:12. > :36:16.government is acting in the best interests. We had the spat with the

:36:17. > :36:19.Italian economic Minister over whether Italy would be hurt by

:36:20. > :36:27.selling less per second to the UK. He said that we may sell a little

:36:28. > :36:30.bit less press code but he would be doing that to one country and you

:36:31. > :36:37.would be selling less to 27 countries. We had a big comments of

:36:38. > :36:41.the Foreign Secretary over freedom of movement as a founding principle

:36:42. > :36:45.of the European Union. He used a rather unfortunate word in any

:36:46. > :36:49.interview with a cheque newspaper but calls it a total myth and

:36:50. > :36:54.nonsense to call it a founding principle. He may believe that is

:36:55. > :36:57.true but that is not the way to go about negotiating with people who

:36:58. > :37:03.are going to have an important say over future trade agreements for

:37:04. > :37:08.this country. And when it came to the meeting about the outcome of the

:37:09. > :37:12.election, the American presidential election. He said he spoke down to

:37:13. > :37:19.the people that were attending a meeting convened to discuss that

:37:20. > :37:22.saying "I would respectfully say to my European colleagues, what kind of

:37:23. > :37:27.language is that to use when you are talking down to the very people you

:37:28. > :37:32.want to be cooperating with you in future negotiations. He also went on

:37:33. > :37:38.to describe the Donald Trump is a liberal guy from New York. He may

:37:39. > :37:41.well be rethinking that one. The government has clearly shown that it

:37:42. > :37:44.is not to be trusted with these negotiations without having

:37:45. > :37:50.oversight from this House of Commons. We have to do have a say in

:37:51. > :38:04.this process. I will be voting to trigger Article 50 and the benches

:38:05. > :38:10.opposite, speeches and said that they want a say in Parliament. I

:38:11. > :38:14.hope we will see them voting on amendments to ensure that actually

:38:15. > :38:19.takes place in the debates we have over the three days next week. I

:38:20. > :38:24.have heard all the talk about the brave new world that is going to

:38:25. > :38:27.open up for us under the World Trade Organisation. People don't seem to

:38:28. > :38:32.be respecting the fact that there are rules and regulations and

:38:33. > :38:36.tariffs to be negotiated with the World Trade Organisation. It is

:38:37. > :38:39.highly likely that our easiest way into the World Trade Organisation is

:38:40. > :38:43.to take as a package the agreements we have under the EU and adopt them

:38:44. > :38:49.under the World Trade Organisation. It is the uses way to avoid all

:38:50. > :38:52.kinds of challenges to the UK. Which incidentally, we don't have the

:38:53. > :38:56.teams of lawyers and accountants that are used to dealing with these

:38:57. > :39:00.sorts of negotiations to act on our behalf. We are opening up all of

:39:01. > :39:05.these negotiations without having the expertise in place. The question

:39:06. > :39:09.asked several times of the government about building up these

:39:10. > :39:13.departments and the expertise. Where are the experts that are used to

:39:14. > :39:17.negotiating on behalf of the UK? They are all in Europe, they have

:39:18. > :39:23.been doing it on a European level, they are not here. We will have to

:39:24. > :39:27.do that at several levels. Trade agreements through the WTO, what is

:39:28. > :39:32.going to happen with those countries who have vested interests like

:39:33. > :39:37.Spain? They might want to use this vulnerability of the UK to open up

:39:38. > :39:41.negotiations about Gibraltar. What if we go into the World Trade

:39:42. > :39:45.Organisation, would Argentina start to challenge agreements with the UK

:39:46. > :39:50.in order to open up negotiations about the future of the Falkland

:39:51. > :39:53.Islands. This is the reality of international trade agreements. This

:39:54. > :39:58.is the real world we are going to be moving into. The idea that we can

:39:59. > :40:03.just fall out of Europe and into the World Trade Organisation, without

:40:04. > :40:09.consequences, is folly. That is why this House of Commons has to have a

:40:10. > :40:12.say over the process and it has got to scrutinise in detail what this

:40:13. > :40:18.government is doing on behalf of this country. We as members of

:40:19. > :40:21.Parliament have a duty to do that. The government should not stand in

:40:22. > :40:26.the way of democratic accountability in this House by joint to

:40:27. > :40:32.renegotiate the outcome of the referendum. That is not true but

:40:33. > :40:35.that means that they can't avoid accountability. I hope the

:40:36. > :40:38.government will accept an amendment on that basis so we bring

:40:39. > :40:46.sovereignty back here to this House of Commons. Michael Gove. Can I

:40:47. > :40:50.begin by saying how grateful I am and many other members of the House

:40:51. > :40:54.are to both the High Court and the Supreme Court for their rulings

:40:55. > :41:01.which ensure this legislation comes in fact of the House of Commons

:41:02. > :41:04.today. As has been pointed out by judges, the original European

:41:05. > :41:10.Community 's act of 1972 was a constitutional statute of such

:41:11. > :41:15.significance that it and its provisions can only be changed by

:41:16. > :41:19.legislation. I am glad the government is bringing forward this

:41:20. > :41:24.bill. The 1972 European Community 's act is significant because it allows

:41:25. > :41:32.laws made outside this House to have direct affect in the law of this

:41:33. > :41:37.land. -- Fx. Laws which are framed, designed and shaped by individuals

:41:38. > :41:43.whom we have never elected and whom we cannot remove have a sovereign

:41:44. > :41:49.ability to dictate what is legal and what is illegal in this House? I

:41:50. > :41:54.listen with respect and interest, like the honourable gentleman just

:41:55. > :41:58.by Koo stressed the importance of parliamentary scrutiny. Where were

:41:59. > :42:01.they between 1972 and now when literally thousands of laws were

:42:02. > :42:06.imposed on the people of this country, not just without scrutiny

:42:07. > :42:07.but without debate, vote or the possibility of amendment or

:42:08. > :42:12.rejection? They are pretty late coming to the

:42:13. > :42:32.Democratic party now. I thought it was instructive that

:42:33. > :42:38.the leader, the former leader of the Liberal Democrats, the member for

:42:39. > :42:44.Sheffield Hallam, was dismissive of the result and the debate during the

:42:45. > :42:49.course of the referendum. A previous leader of the Liberal Democrats said

:42:50. > :42:52.on referendum night, when the British people vote, you do what

:42:53. > :42:59.they demand, when democracy speaks, we obey. Any people who retreat

:43:00. > :43:04.into, we are coming back for a second one, they do not believe in

:43:05. > :43:09.democracy. It is a tragedy that the party that calls itself Liberal

:43:10. > :43:13.Democrats is scarcely liberal and now anti-democratic. It would be

:43:14. > :43:22.harmful for our democracy at a time when all of us are concerned about

:43:23. > :43:28.the rise of rockers populism... I know the response from the SNP who

:43:29. > :43:33.are the prime traders in rockers populism. If we were now to reject a

:43:34. > :43:41.considered decision of 74 million of our fellow citizens, we would only

:43:42. > :43:45.be feeding the dissatisfaction with the democratic process. That is why

:43:46. > :43:51.we should respect the result and honour the mandate. There are a

:43:52. > :43:55.number of people who ask for white papers and scrutiny and greater

:43:56. > :44:00.clarity. We have had a promise of a white paper, we have had a 6000 word

:44:01. > :44:05.speech from our Prime Minister and clarity on all these issues. They

:44:06. > :44:10.are people who will not take yes for an answer and they are seeking

:44:11. > :44:17.obfuscation, delay and a dilution of a democratic mandate from the

:44:18. > :44:23.British people. Rubbish! Firstly, can I say that a 6000 word speech

:44:24. > :44:28.would be a very short speech if he were to give it, but can I challenge

:44:29. > :44:33.him on the issue of a white paper. He and many others who voted to

:44:34. > :44:36.campaign to leave want to take that controlled to rest in the sovereign

:44:37. > :44:42.parliament. Does he not agree that it is right, that the government's

:44:43. > :44:45.terms that they want to start negotiations with are presented in a

:44:46. > :44:49.white paper to this parliament and not just in a speech at Lancaster

:44:50. > :44:56.House? The Prime Minister has already agreed a white paper will be

:44:57. > :45:00.published. The Secretary of State said it will come as soon as

:45:01. > :45:04.possible. I have enormous respect for my right honourable friend and I

:45:05. > :45:08.will return to an argument she made outside displays in a second. So

:45:09. > :45:13.many of those who call for a white paper is so very rarely actually

:45:14. > :45:19.outline what they think the right course is. It is so very rare that

:45:20. > :45:23.we have had a positive case put. What we have repeatedly is an

:45:24. > :45:27.attempt to rewrite what happened in the referendum debate. The

:45:28. > :45:35.honourable member for Derby South tried to present the referendum

:45:36. > :45:38.debate as if it was inconclusive. As the right honourable member for

:45:39. > :45:43.Dorset West pointed out, we could not have been clearer that we were

:45:44. > :45:46.leaving the single market and it was also perfectly clear we could not

:45:47. > :45:52.have the trade deals of the future without leaving the customs union.

:45:53. > :46:01.Could he therefore please assure us that he still would be true to his

:46:02. > :46:07.claim as the leader of the leave campaign that ?350 million will now

:46:08. > :46:11.be going into our NHS? Or does he agree with others that actually that

:46:12. > :46:20.figure was always false and it was a lie? I have no idea whether or not

:46:21. > :46:24.the word lie is not Parliamentary, but what I do know is as somebody

:46:25. > :46:31.not in the government I cannot quibble with these psalms. But I can

:46:32. > :46:35.consistently argue that when we take back control of the money we

:46:36. > :46:39.currently give to the European Union, we can invest that money in

:46:40. > :46:44.the NHS. It was the consistent campaign of believe campaign that we

:46:45. > :46:51.should wish to give some of the money we take that to use to spend

:46:52. > :46:55.on supporting science and to make sure we could get rid of VAT on

:46:56. > :47:02.fuel, something we cannot do while we are still members of the European

:47:03. > :47:06.Union. He may not be in the government and able to make the

:47:07. > :47:12.decision, but surely he will be lobbying his Prime Minister hard for

:47:13. > :47:18.the ?350 million by the NHS. Will he confirm that? When we leave the

:47:19. > :47:24.European Union we will ensure that money is spent on our NHS and other

:47:25. > :47:28.vital public services. This comes to the heart of the challenge that was

:47:29. > :47:33.issued by the member for Leeds Central and by the opposition

:47:34. > :47:40.spokesperson for Cockburn and St Pancras. How do we ensure that the

:47:41. > :47:46.views of the 52% and the views of the 48% who did not vote to leave

:47:47. > :47:50.the European Union are respected? My challenge to the 48%, and they are

:47:51. > :47:55.represented at the highest levels of the government, we have a Prime

:47:56. > :47:59.Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer, who voted to remain in

:48:00. > :48:05.the European Union, so it is not as though those views are ignored or

:48:06. > :48:10.marginal. But can we ensure that the Brexit we embrace is liberal, open

:48:11. > :48:14.and democratic? That means more money for the NHS and embracing the

:48:15. > :48:18.principles outlined by my right honourable friend, the member for

:48:19. > :48:25.Loughborough, which means giving an absolute unilateral guaranteed to EU

:48:26. > :48:30.citizens they should stay here. It means having a free-trade policy

:48:31. > :48:39.which liberated from the common external tariff allows us to help

:48:40. > :48:45.the third World fans and means exercising a leadership role on the

:48:46. > :48:48.world stage at a time when in Europe European Union politicians are

:48:49. > :48:52.increasingly naive or appeasing in their attitude towards Vladimir

:48:53. > :48:57.Putin. We can stand tall as the Prime Minister did in making the

:48:58. > :49:02.case for collective Western security and Nato. These are all

:49:03. > :49:05.opportunities available to us as we leave the European Union. The

:49:06. > :49:12.challenge to the other side and the opportunity for us is to ensure we

:49:13. > :49:14.make that positive case. Within the Borough Wandsworth which houses my

:49:15. > :49:19.constituency of tooting, small businesses have been booming. The

:49:20. > :49:27.previous Prime Minister and a member of the government's Treasury team...

:49:28. > :49:31.Sorry? Last year, the Prime Minister said that businesses were booming

:49:32. > :49:37.due to access to the single market. Do you deny this point? I do. Since

:49:38. > :49:44.we have left the European Union we have seen... Can I appeal to members

:49:45. > :49:50.to have some regard for the conventions of the place. If one

:49:51. > :49:53.intervenes on a member, I realise the honourable lady is very new to

:49:54. > :49:57.the House, but if one intervenes, one must do so with some regards to

:49:58. > :50:08.their moral entitlement to have time to reply, which he did not. I

:50:09. > :50:14.certainly remember that campaign bus that promised ?350 million a week to

:50:15. > :50:20.the NHS. That is something we saw on our TV screens night in and night

:50:21. > :50:26.out. But I digress by following the honourable member. I campaigned to

:50:27. > :50:31.remain in the EU, but I accept the result and I will be voting for this

:50:32. > :50:37.build tomorrow evening. The leader of the Liberal Democrats calls this

:50:38. > :50:42.cowardly. I'd call it democracy. We held a national referendum, those of

:50:43. > :50:47.us on the remain site might not like the result, but we have to accept

:50:48. > :50:53.it. The result was close, but it was clear and it was also clear in my

:50:54. > :50:58.own constituency. In a minute. That does not mean the government gets a

:50:59. > :51:04.free pass. That does not mean if I strive to hold them to account that

:51:05. > :51:07.I am an enemy of the people. The government is accountable to this

:51:08. > :51:12.place and has already made some major errors, not just on the

:51:13. > :51:17.substance of the negotiations, but also on the tone. I believe it is

:51:18. > :51:22.the height of irresponsibility that the Foreign Secretary has chosen to

:51:23. > :51:26.pick needless fights with our EU counterparts when we are about to

:51:27. > :51:31.embark on one of the most complicated and sensitive

:51:32. > :51:35.negotiations in our history. His focus should be on securing the best

:51:36. > :51:42.deal for the UK and the rest of the EU. For me today's debate is not

:51:43. > :51:46.about whether we leave the EU or not, it is about how this households

:51:47. > :51:51.the government to account at every stage of this process and makes sure

:51:52. > :51:55.it secures the best deal for the UK. After all, a bad deal or no Deal

:51:56. > :52:01.could have catastrophic results for our economy, jobs, investment and

:52:02. > :52:10.the living standards of the people we represent. I want to make three

:52:11. > :52:17.brief points. I will. She mentioned the vote and to paraphrase the

:52:18. > :52:23.member from New Forest East, the people of my nation voted to remain

:52:24. > :52:28.and I will vote accordingly. The referendum held a couple of years

:52:29. > :52:33.ago in Scotland was lost by the SNP and we are one country and it was a

:52:34. > :52:39.national referendum. The first point I wanted to make is that we must

:52:40. > :52:46.have meaningful, Parliamentary scrutiny of this process. We are

:52:47. > :52:51.only debating this build today because the Supreme Court upheld

:52:52. > :52:54.Parliamentary sovereignty that Eurosceptics throughout the decade

:52:55. > :53:00.have lectured us about, but seemed to think we could give it up on this

:53:01. > :53:04.issue. Giving MPs the opportunity to vote and scrutinise the government's

:53:05. > :53:09.plans is not good enough at the very start and at the very end of this

:53:10. > :53:16.process. We are not here simply to rubber-stamp the government's plans,

:53:17. > :53:21.we are not passive bystanders in this, we should be active

:53:22. > :53:24.participants in this process. Our parliament represents every corner

:53:25. > :53:31.of our country and this government does not. The Secretary of State for

:53:32. > :53:36.Exiting the EU, who used to be a great champion of Parliamentary

:53:37. > :53:40.sovereignty, said on the 24th of January, I quote, the simple truth

:53:41. > :53:45.is there will be any number of votes, too many to count in the next

:53:46. > :53:49.two years on a whole range of issues. On that day I asked him

:53:50. > :53:52.whether members of this house would get a vote either before or at the

:53:53. > :53:56.same time as the European Parliament. He claimed he had not

:53:57. > :54:01.thought about it and agreed to write to me and I am still waiting for his

:54:02. > :54:06.letter. The right honourable member for Beaconsfield in his speech today

:54:07. > :54:10.made this point very forcefully. We cannot just have a vote at the end

:54:11. > :54:17.of this process when we could be left with a choice of no Deal or

:54:18. > :54:21.leaving. I would like the minister in winding up tomorrow to tell us,

:54:22. > :54:25.and I hope one of the amendments to this effect will go through, whether

:54:26. > :54:32.this house will have a vote prior to the European Parliament voting on

:54:33. > :54:36.that stage of the negotiation. Second, the government must deliver

:54:37. > :54:40.the best economic deal and be clear about what that means and level with

:54:41. > :54:47.the British people about the risks to our economy. I understand the

:54:48. > :54:50.government has ruled out membership of the single market and the Prime

:54:51. > :54:56.Minister says her priority is tariff free trade. But the benefits of the

:54:57. > :55:01.single market go way beyond traditional free-trade agreement.

:55:02. > :55:06.The single market is a vast factory floor with integrated supply chains

:55:07. > :55:11.and goods and services moving seamlessly across borders. As the

:55:12. > :55:15.right honourable member said earlier, regulatory barriers matter

:55:16. > :55:21.more than tariffs in the modern world, especially in advanced

:55:22. > :55:24.economies like our own. That is why business organisations are calling

:55:25. > :55:30.for regulatory stability. But I would like to hear more from the

:55:31. > :55:33.government about this. One of the most alarming prospects the Prime

:55:34. > :55:38.Minister raised in her Lancaster House speech is she said she was

:55:39. > :55:45.prepared to settle for no Deal. But I do not understand what is a worse

:55:46. > :55:52.deal than no Deal? I am struggling to understand why we would want to

:55:53. > :55:56.choose to full-back on tariffs. As my right honourable friend said so

:55:57. > :56:00.elegantly, this would be catastrophic and bring huge risks to

:56:01. > :56:08.jobs, investment and prosperity for our constituents. Third and finally,

:56:09. > :56:11.Mr Speaker, I agree with those honourable members who said the

:56:12. > :56:17.government should unilaterally guarantee the rights of EU

:56:18. > :56:21.nationals. I think that would create goodwill in the negotiations and

:56:22. > :56:26.make sure that our nationals in other EU member states get the same

:56:27. > :56:30.treatment. But I also believe the government should put forward a

:56:31. > :56:35.preferential and managed migration system within these negotiations. I

:56:36. > :56:39.think the government is wrong to assume that free-trade deals are

:56:40. > :56:44.just about trade. When the Prime Minister went to India, what did the

:56:45. > :56:47.Indian government want to talk about? They wanted to talk about

:56:48. > :56:53.visas for their business people and their students. To secure the best

:56:54. > :56:57.possible economic deal, the government must put forward

:56:58. > :57:00.proposals which give EU workers preference, but I also believe we

:57:01. > :57:05.should have a system that controls the numbers and that is why myself

:57:06. > :57:11.and my honourable friend for Aberavon have put forward a two tier

:57:12. > :57:14.system which will retain movement for highly skilled workers and put

:57:15. > :57:25.in controls for lower and semiskilled workers. I suspect and

:57:26. > :57:31.feared the process we are about to vote on will close a lengthy chapter

:57:32. > :57:35.in our history, which has included support of enlargement and has seen

:57:36. > :57:39.our economy grow, which has seen our country become more liberal, which

:57:40. > :57:45.has seen us more active on the international field. I think that is

:57:46. > :57:50.a problem we will have to deal with and historians will ask the question

:57:51. > :57:54.why did we do it in years to come. But we have to make sure we

:57:55. > :57:55.understand the gravity of the situation and the seriousness of our

:57:56. > :58:12.decision. I did say that this was a decision

:58:13. > :58:18.that mattered. I feel duty bound to recognise that I have the support

:58:19. > :58:24.Article 15 this week. I do so with a very heavy heart. I wanted say

:58:25. > :58:28.something about trade. There seems to be this idea that because we are

:58:29. > :58:36.in the European Union that we cannot trade elsewhere. Wrong, Germany

:58:37. > :58:40.does, Italy, Poland, Spain. And they all export to the rest of the world

:58:41. > :58:43.precisely because they are in the European Union and precisely because

:58:44. > :58:48.we have free trade agreements with the rest of the world. All of that

:58:49. > :58:55.will have to be remade and repeated by us. Let us make that point clear.

:58:56. > :58:59.As he supposes, the European Union has been so successful in trade

:59:00. > :59:02.deals, how is it that Switzerland is able to set many more trade deals

:59:03. > :59:08.than the European Union has managed over the years? It is worth bearing

:59:09. > :59:13.in mind that the European Union right now accounts for almost a

:59:14. > :59:17.quarter of the world's 's domestic product and a huge amount of trade

:59:18. > :59:21.with it. That is a signal of just why it is important for us to bear

:59:22. > :59:29.in mind what the European Union has done for us. What I want to go on to

:59:30. > :59:33.is the 48%. It is crucial that the 48% are properly represented in this

:59:34. > :59:36.process. When we have a general election and an elected government,

:59:37. > :59:41.we doubt expect that government to govern for one part of the country

:59:42. > :59:47.but for the whole of the country. Every aspect of national life. That

:59:48. > :59:51.is what I do in my own constituency. I don't ask if they vote for me

:59:52. > :59:54.before I start dealing with them. They are one of my constituents

:59:55. > :00:01.whoever they voted for. That is how we have to deal with Brexit.

:00:02. > :00:06.Recognise the 48% has a say and should be in clue did. That is how

:00:07. > :00:16.we are going to bring this together. We need to open it up and make sure

:00:17. > :00:20.we reach out to them and to the others. When we look at the great

:00:21. > :00:23.repeal Bill. Remember what happened to the Conservative Party when they

:00:24. > :00:28.looked at the great reform act. We will discover one or two things

:00:29. > :00:32.about our national life which is quite important. That we are not

:00:33. > :00:36.being told by the European Union all the time to do things we don't want

:00:37. > :00:41.to do. I am looking forward to the opportunity of exposing those facts

:00:42. > :00:45.when we go along that process of the debate. I think Brexit supporters

:00:46. > :00:49.will be disappointed to discover that quite a lot of things that we

:00:50. > :00:57.are supposedly wanting to repeal are things we might want to retain. On

:00:58. > :01:01.that point, was he astonished by the speech by the member for East Antrim

:01:02. > :01:03.who is not here at the moment, the feeling in the Northern Ireland was

:01:04. > :01:07.that the EU was telling them what to do but now they are being told to

:01:08. > :01:12.leave the EU by the UK, that seems to be OK. On the idea of telling who

:01:13. > :01:17.is telling who to do what seems to be a shape shifting idea? I usually

:01:18. > :01:20.find when I tell someone to do something that I don't want to do, I

:01:21. > :01:24.get the blame and something they want to do, it was their idea in the

:01:25. > :01:29.first place. I think that is how we should remember this. When we look

:01:30. > :01:34.back on how history, we will see that is absolutely right with the

:01:35. > :01:37.European Union. When I talk about events, Harold Macmillan was a great

:01:38. > :01:41.one for events. We have two years of important events to face. Some of

:01:42. > :01:44.those are going to be unpleasant and some are going to be quite

:01:45. > :01:49.surprising. I can't predict what they are going to be but what I

:01:50. > :01:53.think is that the government has to react carefully to those events

:01:54. > :01:58.because they will include changes in economic moods. They will include

:01:59. > :02:02.situations in international policy which require a response above and

:02:03. > :02:08.beyond what we are focusing on in terms of Brexit. Remember events,

:02:09. > :02:14.remember they are opportunities for a more sensible view about how we

:02:15. > :02:21.direct negotiations and our sense of purpose towards Brexit. That is why

:02:22. > :02:25.this parliament must have a significant say in how we operate.

:02:26. > :02:32.Those events will affect this country and will affect our judgment

:02:33. > :02:38.and the negotiations and they will effect the will of the people.

:02:39. > :02:41.Parliament is the place to have those properly debated, not press

:02:42. > :02:47.releases or anything else we might imagine. Parliament is the national

:02:48. > :02:51.place for those decisions. I want to mention something else which I think

:02:52. > :02:57.is really critical. We cannot leave Europe in terms of geography. We are

:02:58. > :03:03.only a few miles away from the European Union on the continent. We

:03:04. > :03:07.are always going to have to have good relationships with the

:03:08. > :03:11.continent. With the 27 nation states. I would urge the government

:03:12. > :03:17.and all of us in the next two years to make sure those relationships are

:03:18. > :03:20.actually built on and strengthened. We do not wish Madam Deputy Speaker

:03:21. > :03:26.to find ourselves in a situation where we do not have that friendship

:03:27. > :03:31.or those alliances. Because Europe itself will change. We want to be

:03:32. > :03:36.part of that change, driving it forward to it even better things.

:03:37. > :03:44.But that will offer us the opportunity if we play our cards

:03:45. > :03:48.right. Just speculation, associate membership, we must not turn our

:03:49. > :03:53.backs on the opportunities that might present themselves in the

:03:54. > :03:57.future. That is why I am very keen that Parliament has a strong role in

:03:58. > :04:01.this. That in the next two years we think of those events and

:04:02. > :04:05.opportunities and retain and strengthened those relationships. Of

:04:06. > :04:11.course, it is essential for Parliament to have some final say on

:04:12. > :04:17.these matters when we get to the endgame, if we actually do get to

:04:18. > :04:22.that endgame. It is why it is important to not just talk about

:04:23. > :04:29.voting on Deal or no Deal but have a view about where we go if such a

:04:30. > :04:33.deal does not emerge which is satisfactory or a deal does not

:04:34. > :04:39.emerge at all. We must have a contribution to make. It is not

:04:40. > :04:46.correct to say the European Union is hell-bent on making life a misery

:04:47. > :04:50.for us. Everyone knows that we are interdependent, we all know that and

:04:51. > :04:54.it is important to accept that as a Parliament and as a country. A

:04:55. > :05:00.constituent of mine had a very good phrase which I will borrow. He said"

:05:01. > :05:03.you shouldn't jump out of an aeroplane without checking the

:05:04. > :05:10.parachute is working." That is what we have to consider when we head

:05:11. > :05:13.towards the final moment in two years. I summarise by saying this,

:05:14. > :05:20.consider how we will incorporate this whole decision around not just

:05:21. > :05:25.the 52 but the 48. Ink about the opportunities through the events as

:05:26. > :05:29.they arise. Or the threats arising from those events. Maintain good

:05:30. > :05:33.relationships and above all recognise this Parliament is

:05:34. > :05:35.sovereign. It always has been and that is what we have to recognise

:05:36. > :05:49.and salute. I pleasure to follow a thoughtful

:05:50. > :05:53.contribution. A government that was confident in what it was doing and

:05:54. > :05:59.confident it was pursuing the right ends would have had no difficulty in

:06:00. > :06:03.engaging with Parliament. It would have welcomed the opportunity. What

:06:04. > :06:06.we saw instead was a government and Prime Minister hiding from

:06:07. > :06:11.Parliament. And from the democratic processes in which good governance

:06:12. > :06:13.is ill. They were forced into coming here and doing the right thing

:06:14. > :06:20.because they were dragged before the courts and defeated and defeated

:06:21. > :06:24.again by campaigners holding up the principle of parliamentary democracy

:06:25. > :06:27.as to something the government should bow to. I would also like to

:06:28. > :06:33.thank those democracy campaigners and single out Gena Miller in

:06:34. > :06:36.particular for the contributions they have made. It will have

:06:37. > :06:45.long-lasting effects on these issues and others. This few paragraphs,

:06:46. > :06:49.this poor excuse for legislation has been wrung out of the government and

:06:50. > :06:55.its brevity is childish and disrespectful to this place. And to

:06:56. > :07:01.the people whose representatives come here on their Baja. The

:07:02. > :07:04.government should be ashamed. It suggests there was no preparation

:07:05. > :07:09.done by the government in advance of the court judgment. Even when it was

:07:10. > :07:13.going back to appeal without much chance of success. That would smack

:07:14. > :07:17.of the same kind of arrogant laziness that marked the approach of

:07:18. > :07:25.David Cameron's government to the referendum. No preparation, just

:07:26. > :07:28.wing it and hope. The other side do not seem to think that people should

:07:29. > :07:34.be entitled to know what the plan is. In Scotland, we debated the

:07:35. > :07:37.details, people mention the independence referendum, for two

:07:38. > :07:42.years. In this place, the government still doesn't know what the details

:07:43. > :07:45.are, two months before kick-off. A clear indication of the lack of

:07:46. > :07:50.preparation is the attitude the government has struck towards

:07:51. > :07:53.devolved administrations. Promising consultation and open dialogue but

:07:54. > :07:56.delivering little and has said almost nothing. The Scottish

:07:57. > :08:04.Government which has put some thought in how to proceed offered

:08:05. > :08:08.constructive advice but heard nothing other than that the

:08:09. > :08:13.paperwork would be red. No offer to discuss the negotiations as they go

:08:14. > :08:15.along. No offer of a seat at the negotiating table for Scottish

:08:16. > :08:19.leaders. That is what a United Kingdom government would offer if it

:08:20. > :08:25.was serious about taking the devolved administrations with it. If

:08:26. > :08:29.it was confident of its ground. In Scotland we have reason to be

:08:30. > :08:34.anxious about what the UK Government is doing in Europe. But Northern

:08:35. > :08:39.Ireland has more reason than most to worry. The prospect of a return to a

:08:40. > :08:42.hard border is horrendous for communities and businesses in

:08:43. > :08:46.Northern Ireland and any threat to the Common travel area are extremely

:08:47. > :08:48.serious. The government attitude seems to be an approach that

:08:49. > :08:52.everything will be fine and that Northern Ireland has a ways been

:08:53. > :08:56.treated as a special case by the EU and will be treated so again. That

:08:57. > :09:02.ignores the fact that it was treated as a special case of it was part of

:09:03. > :09:05.the EU. There are no guarantees that any EU institution or member state

:09:06. > :09:09.will feel like giving special dispensation to Northern Ireland. If

:09:10. > :09:13.there is a case to be made, it may only be by the grace and good will

:09:14. > :09:18.of the Irish government that it is made. The UK is approaching Brexit

:09:19. > :09:24.in the same way this bill was made with hope, arrogance, and frankly

:09:25. > :09:27.nothing in its substance. There is nothing on offer to our European

:09:28. > :09:32.partners because the arrogant assumption of this government and of

:09:33. > :09:38.the exit campaigners was that the EU need the UK more than the UK needs

:09:39. > :09:43.the EU. But London is the epicentre of world trade and so the EU's

:09:44. > :09:48.financial institutions will come begging rather than firms move staff

:09:49. > :09:52.into the EU. I thank her for giving way. She is absolutely right to

:09:53. > :09:57.raise the prospect of the issue of the Irish border. I was living in

:09:58. > :10:00.the Irish whip, if I was, I would be worried that my single largest

:10:01. > :10:05.trading partner the USA is not in the EU and pretty soon, my other

:10:06. > :10:08.single largest trading partner, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and

:10:09. > :10:17.Northern Ireland Whidbey in the EU either. They should be getting out

:10:18. > :10:20.along with us. I think maintaining a close trading relationship with

:10:21. > :10:21.Northern Ireland would of course be the best interests of the UK it is

:10:22. > :10:34.in Europe or not. The financial institutions coming

:10:35. > :10:39.begging rather than moving staff to the EU. That is how it appears and

:10:40. > :10:44.how it will continue to appear because this legislation will

:10:45. > :10:47.perhaps be the most important constitutional legislation

:10:48. > :10:52.considered by this House in 40 years and it has come without a White

:10:53. > :10:55.Paper or an intelligible government position. It has come without a

:10:56. > :11:00.manifesto commitment and without preparation. This bill cannot be

:11:01. > :11:04.entrusted to carry the intent of this House because this House does

:11:05. > :11:08.not know the intent of the government in leading negotiations

:11:09. > :11:13.with the 27 other EU states. What does the trading agreement it seeks

:11:14. > :11:17.look like? Does it give us full access to the market? What about the

:11:18. > :11:20.movement between countries, we hear a constant barrage about taking back

:11:21. > :11:25.control of immigration but nothing about how those controls will be

:11:26. > :11:30.exercised. We know neither the starting position nor the hoped-for

:11:31. > :11:33.end effects of the triggering of article 50. We saw a 12 point plan

:11:34. > :11:39.recently that frankly looked more like a wish list. In the great field

:11:40. > :11:46.of evidence -based policy making, this bill does not figure. It has

:11:47. > :11:51.been operating without this has knowing what the government is

:11:52. > :11:56.looking for or hampered by the UK Government. I would be astonished

:11:57. > :12:00.that the government will seek to take the UK out of the EU with this

:12:01. > :12:06.pitiful excuse for a dog eating its homework. And shock that most of the

:12:07. > :12:17.loyal opposition is not opposing it. But I am not. We have come nothing

:12:18. > :12:20.-- we have become used to this fratricidal position. The SNP will

:12:21. > :12:24.not support triggering article 50, we believe Scotland's place is in

:12:25. > :12:28.the EU and we will speak up for Scotland. I hope enough members on

:12:29. > :12:33.the government benches and on the Labour benches have the character to

:12:34. > :12:41.join us but I am not holding my breath.

:12:42. > :12:49.This is an historic day. I participated in the campaign and I

:12:50. > :13:00.fought hard for us to leave the European Union. I was too young to

:13:01. > :13:08.vote in the first referendum in 19. Mac. Mac my birth certificate will

:13:09. > :13:14.be available for views later. I was too young. This was the first

:13:15. > :13:21.referendum that I had an opportunity to voting 43 years after the first

:13:22. > :13:24.referendum. The honourable gentleman for Stroud has said that when you

:13:25. > :13:31.are jumping out of an aeroplane you make sure that your parachute is

:13:32. > :13:39.working. I preferred to add that if at first you do not succeed,

:13:40. > :13:43.skydiving is not for you. On this occasion the British people knew

:13:44. > :13:47.exactly what they were doing because it was a hard-fought campaign. We

:13:48. > :13:55.heard all the arguments for remaining in, which were

:13:56. > :14:00.characterised as project fear. I am really pleased to say that the vast

:14:01. > :14:06.majority of what was predicted simply has not happened. I will give

:14:07. > :14:09.way. He says the British people knew exactly what they were doing and I

:14:10. > :14:14.have great respect for the honourable member, but we have had

:14:15. > :14:19.committee after committee in this house trying to work out what all

:14:20. > :14:24.this means. I am bemused that before everybody knew what it all meant,

:14:25. > :14:28.but now we have committee after committee trying to work out what it

:14:29. > :14:34.all means and that is incongruous. There were a number of things that

:14:35. > :14:39.were said that would happen on our departure from the European Union. I

:14:40. > :14:42.suspect the reality was that some people were surprised that the

:14:43. > :14:47.British people had the guts despite the fact that what we were told was

:14:48. > :14:51.going to happen and they still decided to vote to leave the

:14:52. > :14:57.European Union. I remember the Prime Minister appearing on TV and saying

:14:58. > :15:03.if we voted to leave, we would be leaving the single market. I said

:15:04. > :15:09.that on the Andrew Marr programme prior to the vote taking place on

:15:10. > :15:13.June the 23rd. When the Prime Minister said that, we needed to

:15:14. > :15:23.take heed and people knew that. The reason he said it was to frighten

:15:24. > :15:29.people not to vote for leaving the European Union. I will make more

:15:30. > :15:33.progress. Despite all those threats the British people, in their

:15:34. > :15:39.considered opinion, decided to vote to leave the European Union. In my

:15:40. > :15:43.own constituency it was about 57% who voted to leave. In all the

:15:44. > :15:52.constituencies in Lancashire they voted to leave the European Union.

:15:53. > :15:59.In the north-west of England on a 70% turnout, so it was not a thin

:16:00. > :16:03.turnout, it was 54% who decided to vote to leave. It reminds me of the

:16:04. > :16:17.referendum we had on Welsh devolution. The turnout was 50.1%.

:16:18. > :16:26.Of that 50.1%, 49.7% said no, 50.3% said yes. And what did we do? We did

:16:27. > :16:35.not shout for a second referendum. We did not even call for a recount.

:16:36. > :16:43.Is it too late? But the fact is we accepted the result on a very thin

:16:44. > :16:49.turnout and a very close result. And that is what is expected of us on

:16:50. > :16:54.this occasion. I from this very position condemn that pamphlet that

:16:55. > :16:59.cost ?9.3 million that got sent to every household. I was one of the

:17:00. > :17:05.people who did not send it back to Downing Street, I have kept it as a

:17:06. > :17:09.souvenir. On the back of it it did say, this is your decision, the

:17:10. > :17:15.government will implement what you decide. Therefore I think the onus

:17:16. > :17:23.is on us. If we believe on democracy we have to accept the verdict of the

:17:24. > :17:27.British people on a 52% versus 48% basis and give the Prime Minister

:17:28. > :17:32.the power to trigger Article 50. I want to mention one other thing,

:17:33. > :17:36.which is the European Union citizens living and working in this country.

:17:37. > :17:43.I recognise fully the trauma that many must feel as if they will be

:17:44. > :17:48.asked to leave. I think the idea that we are going to round up EU

:17:49. > :17:55.nationals and put them on the next Ryanair or easyJet back to whichever

:17:56. > :18:00.country they came from as being bonkers, as being something that

:18:01. > :18:03.would be quite despicable, and something which we ought to clarify

:18:04. > :18:10.as quickly as possible that this is not going to be asked of them. EU

:18:11. > :18:14.citizens are vital part of our community, they work in our

:18:15. > :18:18.communities, many of us are married to them, they are friends, families

:18:19. > :18:23.and colleagues. Would my honourable friend agree that we should give

:18:24. > :18:28.these people who have contributed so much legal certainty as soon as

:18:29. > :18:32.possible? I totally agree with the honourable lady and I also have

:18:33. > :18:36.cognizance of the British people who live in the south of Spain and

:18:37. > :18:40.worked and lived in Madrid, Frankfurt and in various other parts

:18:41. > :18:46.of the EU. They are going through the same trauma that EU citizens

:18:47. > :18:52.are. I am time-limited. They are going through the exact same trauma

:18:53. > :18:56.that EU citizens are going to hear. As I understand it, the British

:18:57. > :19:01.Prime Minister has already made it clear that as soon as the rest of

:19:02. > :19:07.the EU says yes, whoever makes this particular decision, then she has

:19:08. > :19:14.already said that is exactly what will happen with EU citizens living

:19:15. > :19:19.here. I think it is cruel for the commission to say they will not

:19:20. > :19:23.clarify the position until we trigger Article 50 and the

:19:24. > :19:30.negotiations begin, as if these citizens, these human beings, should

:19:31. > :19:34.That is cruel and inhumane. What I That is cruel and inhumane. What I

:19:35. > :19:40.would ask of my own government is if they keep up this position, that at

:19:41. > :19:45.least this is the first thing we negotiate as part of the negotiation

:19:46. > :19:50.process and that as soon as an agreement comes, which has got to be

:19:51. > :19:54.a humane thing to do, that we announce it straightaway and we do

:19:55. > :20:03.not wait until the two-year process is finished. We let them know that

:20:04. > :20:06.is exactly what we intend to do. The prospect of Germany, who has taken

:20:07. > :20:13.in 1 million refugees from the Middle East actually rounding up

:20:14. > :20:18.British citizens and sending them home seems a remarkable sight and

:20:19. > :20:23.thing to think. This must be clarified as quickly as possible.

:20:24. > :20:29.The last thing I would like to say in conclusion is this. I do believe

:20:30. > :20:34.in democracy and I actually love Europe. I love my European

:20:35. > :20:40.neighbours, I am a member of the Council of Europe and I visit on a

:20:41. > :20:46.regular basis. Last week I was in Strasbourg at one of their sessions.

:20:47. > :20:50.But the British people have voted to leave the European Union. All I

:20:51. > :20:56.would say is, the simple choice is for those who are going to deny that

:20:57. > :21:00.verdict of the British people would appear to love the EU more than they

:21:01. > :21:08.love democracy and I think that is a dangerous thing. I quite enjoyed the

:21:09. > :21:14.honourable gentleman's speech until that last bit. Today we debate not

:21:15. > :21:20.just the shortest of short bills, but our intention to set in train

:21:21. > :21:24.enormous constitutional, legal, political, social and economic

:21:25. > :21:29.changes to our country and yet this was a debate the government did not

:21:30. > :21:32.want us to have. It had to be dragged kicking and screaming to the

:21:33. > :21:39.highest court in the land and ordered to give this sovereign

:21:40. > :21:45.Parliament to have a say. Now a woman is receiving death threats for

:21:46. > :21:50.her travel. The government tried to use the royal prerogative, and abuse

:21:51. > :21:53.the Civil War was fought to eliminate. Everything we have

:21:54. > :22:03.legislated for in the last 40 years through the EU is now up for grabs,

:22:04. > :22:10.writes at Worth, -- rights at work, health and safety, trading rules...

:22:11. > :22:18.This list of all the rights that we will lose, can't we make all these

:22:19. > :22:23.decisions in this place for our country for the benefit of our

:22:24. > :22:29.people? We do not need other people to make our rules. When we joined

:22:30. > :22:35.the European Union we pooled parts of our sovereignty so we could have

:22:36. > :22:39.a bigger bang for our buck that we spent, particularly on issues like

:22:40. > :22:44.the environment. I do not know whether the honourable gentleman has

:22:45. > :22:48.noticed, but pollution does not stop at national borders. The most loose

:22:49. > :22:54.in a tree of Eurosceptic nostalgics in the Tory party dream of a divorce

:22:55. > :23:00.with no real consequences, economic or otherwise, a trade deal swiftly

:23:01. > :23:06.down which grants the UK all the benefits of EU membership with none

:23:07. > :23:08.of the costs. Some of them even imagine a new British Empire,

:23:09. > :23:16.forgetting times have almost certainly moved on. They are content

:23:17. > :23:21.to gamble with 50% of our trade and 100% of our prosperity. I argued

:23:22. > :23:27.passionately against the isolationist league side in the

:23:28. > :23:31.referendum to full-back against the magical thinking that underlay many

:23:32. > :23:37.of the arguments put forward by the other side. I disapproved of the

:23:38. > :23:41.downright lies on the NHS, cynically perpetrated by the leading lights of

:23:42. > :23:47.the league campaign and repudiated by them the day after their victory.

:23:48. > :23:52.Who will ever forget that bus, now a byword for cynical manipulation? The

:23:53. > :23:57.Wirral voted narrowly in favour of remaining, a tribute to its good

:23:58. > :24:02.judgment, along with its record of returning a full deck of Labour MPs

:24:03. > :24:06.at the last election. We are where we are and it is undoubtedly the

:24:07. > :24:14.case of the country as a whole voted 52-48 to leave. This referendum

:24:15. > :24:17.split the country down the middle and a government interested in

:24:18. > :24:22.building a decent future for our country would have sought to bring

:24:23. > :24:27.us together. But this government has done the opposite. It has chosen to

:24:28. > :24:32.interpret the results of the referendum as a victory for Nigel

:24:33. > :24:36.Farage's very own version of Little Britain. First there were the

:24:37. > :24:41.xenophobic speeches at Tory conference announcing the creation

:24:42. > :24:45.of lists of foreign workers. There were months of confusion about the

:24:46. > :24:52.nature of the government's plan. Then there was the Prime Minister's

:24:53. > :24:58.speech and a promise of us and an yet unpublished white paper. They

:24:59. > :25:03.have threatened to create a low regulation Britain with fewer civil

:25:04. > :25:07.and workers' rights guaranteed in law, I'm doing decades of social

:25:08. > :25:13.progress. That is unacceptable on these benches and I believe it is

:25:14. > :25:17.unacceptable to the British public. The narrow majority of British

:25:18. > :25:24.voters that cast their ballots for Britain to leave the EU did not have

:25:25. > :25:28.in their mind's by a libertarian, fantasy state as their end goal.

:25:29. > :25:33.They were told they could expect more money for crucial services and

:25:34. > :25:38.for sensible controls on immigration. In reality they

:25:39. > :25:44.continue to get massive cuts to the NHS, policing, local services and

:25:45. > :25:50.schools, as this government's a very cuts continue to decimate our public

:25:51. > :25:54.services and care for the elderly. I endorse the amendments tabled in the

:25:55. > :25:58.name of my right honourable friend the Leader of the Opposition. They

:25:59. > :26:03.will make the best of this difficult situation. I know that opposition

:26:04. > :26:08.amendments, no matter how sensible, rarely get accepted by the

:26:09. > :26:12.government, especially this one that seems obsessed with bringing about

:26:13. > :26:19.the most extreme Brexit possible. Labour will fight to get the best

:26:20. > :26:21.possible Brexit deal. I survey members in Wallasey this weekend and

:26:22. > :26:27.received responses from a substantial number of them. To the

:26:28. > :26:31.hundreds that responded I say, thank you for shaving my approach to this

:26:32. > :26:36.most difficult of votes. A huge majority thought this bill would

:26:37. > :26:49.make them and their families worse off. Over half. We should be aware

:26:50. > :26:53.of the government's motives. As Democratic politicians we have to

:26:54. > :26:56.recognise the result of the referendum, but that does not give

:26:57. > :27:03.this government carte blanche for an extreme Brexit. It does not give the

:27:04. > :27:05.government permission to destroy the social settlement and make our

:27:06. > :27:12.society poor and even more precarious. Labour's amendments

:27:13. > :27:15.guaranteeing rights at work," equality rights and environmental

:27:16. > :27:20.standards that we take for granted now are crucial if this bill is to

:27:21. > :27:25.be unacceptable and to help bring our divided country together. Rather

:27:26. > :27:30.than presenting this has with the most perfunctory bill possible, I

:27:31. > :27:32.wish we had a government that wanted to engage in Parliament in what will

:27:33. > :27:53.be one of the most crucial Madam Deputy Speaker, we swap the

:27:54. > :28:00.known for the unknown in one of the most volatile political eras I have

:28:01. > :28:03.experienced in my lifetime. We throw away established relationships,

:28:04. > :28:07.economic connections, including deeply integrated European Supply

:28:08. > :28:12.chains and cultural affinities. We alienate our closest allies in

:28:13. > :28:17.perilous times. We have a divided and angry country. Social injustice

:28:18. > :28:22.and poverty is soaring. Many regions are being neglected. It's them I am

:28:23. > :28:32.in politics to defend. Defend them I will. George Freeman. This time last

:28:33. > :28:36.year I voted for the EU referendum on the basis I would be bound by the

:28:37. > :28:42.result. Despite watching over many years with a heaviness of heart the

:28:43. > :28:44.growing failure of the EU to create an entrepreneurial economy, on

:28:45. > :28:51.balance I thought we were better off staying in to fight for a reformed

:28:52. > :28:55.21st-century EU. As life science Minister for a ?225 million sector,

:28:56. > :29:00.I felt I had to speak for their interests. I campaigned along with

:29:01. > :29:02.many colleagues for remain. In my constituency I offered constituents

:29:03. > :29:09.the choice and actively gave them the choice, inviting the honourable

:29:10. > :29:16.friend forward Tim and Clapton up to offer their side of the debate. We

:29:17. > :29:20.put the debate, and I lost it. Our constituents voted to leave the

:29:21. > :29:23.European Union. My constituents voted and this country voted in one

:29:24. > :29:28.of the biggest acts of democracy we have seen for centuries. As my

:29:29. > :29:32.honourable friend the member for Brookstone said earlier, we are not

:29:33. > :29:38.delegates, as Edmund Burke said, we are not slaves to our constituents,

:29:39. > :29:41.but I believe the one thing parliamentarians should never give

:29:42. > :29:44.away is the sovereignty invested in us by the people we serve and the

:29:45. > :29:47.truth is that successive parliaments in recent decades have done that,

:29:48. > :29:51.not least in the Maastricht and Lisbon Treaty 's, fuelling public

:29:52. > :29:56.anger and disillusionment in political elites and giving away

:29:57. > :29:59.powers that were never there in the first place. I believe we were right

:30:00. > :30:02.to give the people there say, and we'll have to recognise the

:30:03. > :30:08.importance of the vote and the anger expressed. I hope he won't mind me

:30:09. > :30:12.saying that he fought with great nobility and grace and was eloquent

:30:13. > :30:16.at all times. If only both sides of the campaign, and I do mean both

:30:17. > :30:20.sides, had conducted themselves in the way he did, it would have been a

:30:21. > :30:26.far happier referendum campaign. I thank you for that gracious

:30:27. > :30:29.intervention. By winning back the sovereignty of this house, we must

:30:30. > :30:32.use it and show the house is worthy of that sovereignty and we are

:30:33. > :30:36.capable of acting in the interests of all the people we all serve.

:30:37. > :30:40.Churchill said once, courage is what it takes to stand up and speak, and

:30:41. > :30:44.courage is also what it takes sometimes to sit down and listen. In

:30:45. > :30:48.the referendum we all stood up and spoke passionately for our

:30:49. > :30:50.respective sides. Now it's time to do the other courageous thing and

:30:51. > :30:56.listen to the will of the British people. We have to make Brexit work.

:30:57. > :31:01.For the 48 as well as the 52%, for London as well as the north. For the

:31:02. > :31:05.white and blue-collar workers, for Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales

:31:06. > :31:11.and England. We need to deliver a British exit, one that respects the

:31:12. > :31:16.European neighbours and wants us to be a good neighbour, and once, as

:31:17. > :31:22.the Prime Minister made clear in a recent speech, asked BA active

:31:23. > :31:27.European ally and collaborator outside the political institutions

:31:28. > :31:30.of the EU, but members of the European community of nations and

:31:31. > :31:35.neighbours. Proper Democrats must not say the Brexit vote was

:31:36. > :31:41.illegitimate. The Brexit voters were ignorant or unqualified. How

:31:42. > :31:47.condescending! Do we say that when a voter Labour or Ukip? No. Week all

:31:48. > :31:52.accept the result, as we should now. Although the EU referendum was, in

:31:53. > :31:57.my opinion, a low point in political discourse, remember that included

:31:58. > :32:00.the appalling murder of one of our colleagues by a deranged neo-Nazi,

:32:01. > :32:04.the core underlying mandate from the British people was crystal clear. To

:32:05. > :32:09.the extent it wasn't crystal clear, it is our job is elected Democrats

:32:10. > :32:14.to bring the crystal clarity to that in our debates in this house. All we

:32:15. > :32:18.are doing today is giving the Prime Minister and her government the

:32:19. > :32:22.authority to start the negotiation on the terms on which we leave the

:32:23. > :32:26.European Union. In many ways, the real debate is not this afternoon,

:32:27. > :32:29.is when we discuss the terms of that negotiation in this house over the

:32:30. > :32:37.next two years and ultimately in discussing the package she brings

:32:38. > :32:42.back to us. Scotland is an equal partner in this United Kingdom of

:32:43. > :32:48.nations, to quote the former Prime Minister. Howard, a massive vote in

:32:49. > :32:53.Scotland to remain and a narrow vote in England to leave results in

:32:54. > :32:57.Scotland leaving on England's terms? One of the most interesting

:32:58. > :33:02.judgments of the Supreme Court is one the media haven't picked up, is

:33:03. > :33:07.that Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales are bound by this sovereign

:33:08. > :33:12.house in which they participate in. The truth is, the real challenge now

:33:13. > :33:16.falls to our new Prime Minister Theresa May who has stepped in to

:33:17. > :33:23.lead a government, committed to Brexit, and also to tackle domestic

:33:24. > :33:29.policies which have fuelled... Order, order, I must protect the

:33:30. > :33:33.honourable gentleman. Mr Freeman. Thank you. Our Prime Minister has

:33:34. > :33:37.stepped in to lead a government committed to Brexit and also to

:33:38. > :33:40.tackle domestic policies which have fuelled the wider disillusionment

:33:41. > :33:45.that vote signified and it's my privilege to work with that team. It

:33:46. > :33:50.now faces an extraordinary political challenge, to negotiate Brexit and

:33:51. > :33:53.the most important political deal in a hundred years. To negotiate new

:33:54. > :33:57.trade deals with countries around the world and to continue the urgent

:33:58. > :34:00.task of social economic and domestic reform to tackle the structural

:34:01. > :34:07.deficit and shape our old-fashioned public services and tackle the

:34:08. > :34:13.social and economic exclusion. The Brexit negotiations ahead are

:34:14. > :34:18.perhaps the greatest test of British peacetime negotiations in a century.

:34:19. > :34:21.The burden on the respective secretaries of state is heavy. To

:34:22. > :34:24.succeed we must put aside many of the difference is that divide the

:34:25. > :34:28.house and instead work together to make sure we get the best deal for

:34:29. > :34:32.the country we all serve, and our interests are not served by

:34:33. > :34:35.requesting that negotiation be carried out on Twitter. At a time

:34:36. > :34:39.when trust in politics has never been so low, we have an opportunity

:34:40. > :34:46.to restore public trust in mainstream politics, not to score

:34:47. > :34:49.easy points, but to show we are worthy invested in us. And in the

:34:50. > :34:53.name of which the Brexiteers have campaigned. The Brexit deal must be

:34:54. > :34:58.ambitious for Britain. A Brexit where we can once again control our

:34:59. > :35:02.own laws, strengthen the union, protect workers' rights and strike

:35:03. > :35:06.new trade deals around the world. For Scotland's too. To do this we

:35:07. > :35:10.must continue to engage with the world and cherish British values. As

:35:11. > :35:14.the Prime Minister made clear in her electrifying recent speech, which I

:35:15. > :35:21.would encourage the honourable member opposite chuntering from a

:35:22. > :35:27.sedentary position to read, bridging the gap between the UK and the US

:35:28. > :35:30.will be one of the key tasks of international relations for many

:35:31. > :35:33.decades to come. I believe our Prime Minister has set out to do for

:35:34. > :35:37.markets and the West what the great Lady Thatcher did for defence of the

:35:38. > :35:43.West. Last week she showed she is more than up to leading that. It

:35:44. > :35:49.might not always be easy, but it's for the best. I work she's made an

:35:50. > :35:54.encouraging start with President Trump. He has also been elected.

:35:55. > :35:58.While he campaigned on America first, the signals are that in terms

:35:59. > :36:03.of foreign policy, for Americans it is now Britain first and we should

:36:04. > :36:07.welcome that. When the Prime Minister this week refused three

:36:08. > :36:12.times to condemn an obvious breach, not just of this country's values,

:36:13. > :36:16.but of any liberal democracy's values, what part of great British

:36:17. > :36:21.values was she standing up for? I think the people in this country

:36:22. > :36:25.come in the way they rewarded the Prime Minister, by the opinion

:36:26. > :36:31.polls, know the answer to that question. We need a Brexit that

:36:32. > :36:34.works for the UK, the EU and the USA because the west faces major tests

:36:35. > :36:39.and it's in all our interests to make it work. It's not just a

:36:40. > :36:47.cultural debate, it's a hard-headed economic negotiation. Our

:36:48. > :36:52.diplomatic, military power in the West is built on economic success. I

:36:53. > :36:57.am looking forward to the future for this country. Britain as a crucible

:36:58. > :37:01.of the deregulated innovation economy leading the world in the

:37:02. > :37:09.challenges of the 21st-century. Blake Green. Thank you very much,

:37:10. > :37:12.Madam Deputy Speaker. Other speeches today have been eloquent,

:37:13. > :37:17.passionate, constitutionally well-informed. This one will not be

:37:18. > :37:23.that. I want this speech to be about and addressed directly to my

:37:24. > :37:28.constituents. Residents of Trafford voted to remain in the European

:37:29. > :37:35.Union, reflecting, I believe, our long and proud industrial history of

:37:36. > :37:39.trade, export and innovation. Trafford Park in my constituency was

:37:40. > :37:45.the first, and I think remains the largest industrial estate in Europe,

:37:46. > :37:47.home to many domestic, European and international businesses, some of

:37:48. > :37:54.whom have been based their many decades. We welcome your Mac and

:37:55. > :37:58.international businesses and manufacturers who have established

:37:59. > :38:03.sizeable operations elsewhere in the constituency. They make a

:38:04. > :38:08.significant contribution, nationally and locally, to the economy and to

:38:09. > :38:12.employment. They are successful, thriving, and many have been very

:38:13. > :38:16.clear with me that our leaving the European Union will make doing

:38:17. > :38:24.business more complex, uncertain and difficult. They highlight the

:38:25. > :38:29.importance of access to the EU market, and skilled EU workers, of

:38:30. > :38:35.consistent regulatory standards, of avoiding tariff barriers. They are

:38:36. > :38:41.also adaptable, however. I don't say that on leaving the European Union,

:38:42. > :38:45.their businesses will fail or will be unable to adapt to new

:38:46. > :38:52.circumstances. But what they do look for, as far as possible, is

:38:53. > :38:56.continuity and certainty. And what they say to me today is that neither

:38:57. > :39:03.of those appears as a result of this bill. What we know is not what we

:39:04. > :39:09.will have, but what we will not have. Single market access is out.

:39:10. > :39:14.So is full membership of the customs union. In their place come vague

:39:15. > :39:19.aspirations of new deals and arrangements with the EU and other

:39:20. > :39:24.countries. But they completely fail to recognise our aspirations might

:39:25. > :39:29.not match those of our other partners. On the 17th of January

:39:30. > :39:32.when the secretary of state came to this house to make a statement on

:39:33. > :39:36.the Prime Minister's speech, I asked what he thought would happen in the

:39:37. > :39:40.gap between current trading arrangements ending and new ones

:39:41. > :39:46.being negotiated. He suggested there would be no such gap. Madam Deputy

:39:47. > :39:52.Speaker, I think that's fanciful. It's a head in the sand attitude to

:39:53. > :39:58.negotiations. We have to recognise that leaving the EU will create gaps

:39:59. > :40:04.and shocks in our economy. Shocks can be managed, but not by outright

:40:05. > :40:11.denial of their existence. With this bill we are being asked to buy a pig

:40:12. > :40:14.in a poke, being asked to vote to trigger the Brexit process with no

:40:15. > :40:19.evidence at all that there is a plan in place to protect our economy and

:40:20. > :40:25.our constituents. Important protections and standards all remain

:40:26. > :40:31.to be secured, whether that's in relation to our economy, trading

:40:32. > :40:36.relationships, or security. To be asked now to endorse an exit process

:40:37. > :40:41.of any answers to those important questions are still so vague doesn't

:40:42. > :40:46.bode well for the outcome. In fact, the position with this bill is so

:40:47. > :40:51.uncertain, that I find it impossible today to vote for it. I will be

:40:52. > :40:55.abstaining on the vote tomorrow, and if the government cannot allay my

:40:56. > :40:58.concerns during the remainder of this bill's passage through

:40:59. > :41:03.Parliament such that I can be sure my constituents' interests are

:41:04. > :41:10.detected, at the final vote I will oppose it. In saying that, and in

:41:11. > :41:14.concluding, I want to address the argument about respecting the result

:41:15. > :41:19.of the referendum. I have thought really deeply about this, as I seek

:41:20. > :41:24.to balance the wishes of voters in Trafford with the national result in

:41:25. > :41:29.a referendum for which I freely acknowledge I voted. Some of my

:41:30. > :41:33.constituents who voted to remain in the European Union have told me they

:41:34. > :41:38.now feel we have no choice but to accept the result. Others do not

:41:39. > :41:44.think that. And I think that I was sent here by my constituents to

:41:45. > :41:49.represent their interests as I see best, and I am falling back, Madam

:41:50. > :41:52.Deputy Speaker, on my conscience. Everything I have done in politics

:41:53. > :41:57.and in public policy has been informed by what I believe to be the

:41:58. > :42:01.most important priority, what is in the interests not just of my

:42:02. > :42:08.constituents today, but of future generations. And I do not believe

:42:09. > :42:12.that future generations are well served by Willie aspirations to

:42:13. > :42:17.address the economic, social and security needs of their futures.

:42:18. > :42:22.They are not well served by turning our back on maximum access to the

:42:23. > :42:26.single market. They are not well served by the absence of detail on

:42:27. > :42:30.rights, protections and security. They are not well served by

:42:31. > :42:35.ministers' complacent optimism or lazy promises. The government could

:42:36. > :42:39.make that these deficiencies if it would accept many of the amendments

:42:40. > :42:45.that have been tabled to this bill, but unless that happens, we should

:42:46. > :42:49.not proceed to trigger Article 50. In my view, the Right Honourable

:42:50. > :42:54.member for Sheffield Hallam was right to say that the judgment of

:42:55. > :42:58.future generations is what must guide us in making a decision on

:42:59. > :43:00.this legislation. We will be judged by Ben on the deal that they

:43:01. > :43:12.inherit. Madame Deputy Speaker, it is my real

:43:13. > :43:15.privilege to speak in this historic debate this afternoon. There have

:43:16. > :43:19.been many passionate contributions made in the course of the debate,

:43:20. > :43:24.including that of the Honourable Lady, the member for Stretford and

:43:25. > :43:29.Urmston, who has clearly thought about this issue a lot, who clearly

:43:30. > :43:34.has a principled position. It is one I do not share but I do respect her

:43:35. > :43:38.position. A lot of the contributions we have heard mirror the exact

:43:39. > :43:42.debate we have -- we had in the country last June, where people put

:43:43. > :43:46.their arguments passionately on both sides of the debate. It was a

:43:47. > :43:49.privilege for me to engage with people, to talk to them on both

:43:50. > :43:53.sides, about their concerns, there are reasons for voting to leave,

:43:54. > :43:59.people on the other side of the argument of voting to remain. And so

:44:00. > :44:03.I recognise there are sincerely held points of view, not just in this

:44:04. > :44:07.House but across the country. One word that has been used a love this

:44:08. > :44:13.afternoon has been that of judgment. Lots of references back to Burke in

:44:14. > :44:19.1774. But my judgment is plain to see. I use my judgment in standing

:44:20. > :44:27.on the manifesto that I stood on in 2015. I use my judgment in voting

:44:28. > :44:30.for the referendum. And I use my judgment in advocating that my

:44:31. > :44:34.constituents and people across this great country should vote to leave

:44:35. > :44:40.in the referendum itself. But being a member of Parliament is also... I

:44:41. > :44:45.will give way. I think the member forgiving way. Did you use your

:44:46. > :44:50.judgment when it came to standing on a blank piece of paper and putting

:44:51. > :44:58.that to the people in terms of the Leave vote? I know he doesn't care

:44:59. > :45:04.how he -- I know he doesn't care how I use my judgment. I apologise. I

:45:05. > :45:10.wonder if I can ask the member if he considers it a lack of judgment that

:45:11. > :45:15.the campaign than a blank piece of paper in terms of voting Leave? I am

:45:16. > :45:20.grateful for his intervention but I would argue that has probably

:45:21. > :45:25.detained some of the House's time. We clearly stored on a platform that

:45:26. > :45:29.was clear for all to see. I have no intention of raking over the row. I

:45:30. > :45:35.want to focus on the fact that as members of Parliament I believe we

:45:36. > :45:38.have responsibilities in the order of these things is well-established.

:45:39. > :45:44.We have to put the national interest first. In the interest of balance, I

:45:45. > :45:49.am going to talk about two things said in the course of the debate. I

:45:50. > :45:52.thought the honourable member for Shipley was right when he said that

:45:53. > :45:57.all those members who voted to have this referendum in the first place

:45:58. > :46:01.have a duty to deliver on the verdict. On the Remain side, I

:46:02. > :46:06.thought might right honourable friend from Beaconsfield made a very

:46:07. > :46:11.valid point when he said every member of the House has a duty to

:46:12. > :46:16.end the uncertainty. Let's be clear, the debate was had. The engagement

:46:17. > :46:21.was high. The turnout was the highest we have seen for nearly 25

:46:22. > :46:30.years. And in my own constituency of Corby, the verdict was clear. In

:46:31. > :46:36.Corby, 64.25% voted to leave, in East Northamptonshire, the majority

:46:37. > :46:40.of which I represent, 58.75 voted to leave. Members on both sides of this

:46:41. > :46:47.House have said this motion in train. We used our judgment, not

:46:48. > :46:50.just in voting for the referendum, but in choosing a side and making

:46:51. > :46:55.the arguments. We also judged that we would let the people decide, that

:46:56. > :47:01.we had led the country decide. That is exactly what they did. Now I

:47:02. > :47:05.believe that we have a duty to live up to our responsibilities because

:47:06. > :47:15.we abdicate and tamper with our democratic principles at our peril.

:47:16. > :47:19.Madame Deputy Speaker, how did we get to this point with a motion so

:47:20. > :47:25.-- with the nation so divided? The weekend after the 23rd of July held

:47:26. > :47:29.a -- and advice search -- surgery because there are a lot of European

:47:30. > :47:37.National to live in my constituency. 500 people came to see me to express

:47:38. > :47:40.their distress. That was not just European nationals. I think that

:47:41. > :47:44.said a lot about how many of our communities feel about this

:47:45. > :47:47.question. I'm delighted to have the member for Tottenham next to me

:47:48. > :47:52.because he has taken such a brave stance over the last eight months on

:47:53. > :47:56.this question. If you read his Twitter feed, he has had the most

:47:57. > :48:00.enormous abuse. That has been something which I think has been

:48:01. > :48:05.uncomfortable for those of us we care deeply about race relations,

:48:06. > :48:10.particularly in London and around. I would like also just to talk about

:48:11. > :48:14.the way we have come to this decision-making process. Many of us

:48:15. > :48:18.have come into this House through local got in. As a council leader,

:48:19. > :48:23.if I tried to bring a decision on the basis of a speech and a couple

:48:24. > :48:26.of letters to the local newspaper, my councillors would have handed me

:48:27. > :48:31.out of the council room. And I would have been quite right to tell them

:48:32. > :48:35.that. The chair of my Labour group and secretary would have been

:48:36. > :48:40.hammering me. So I really feel we have not questioned and off both

:48:41. > :48:43.internally, within the major majority party, and I feel that

:48:44. > :48:47.despite our best efforts on the front bench from other parties, we

:48:48. > :48:52.simply haven't had the numbers to hold the government to account on

:48:53. > :48:57.crucial votes. And that is of course a great regret. I want to briefly

:48:58. > :49:04.also talk about the economy. We know that the statistics are not quite

:49:05. > :49:08.there yet. But household debt is up 13%. We also know that our currency

:49:09. > :49:14.is dropping and that the drop of a currency is an outside estimation of

:49:15. > :49:18.our economy. That is a cause for concern. We know when the economy

:49:19. > :49:25.declines, it is not the will of communities who were effected but

:49:26. > :49:30.the poorer ones. -- well off. Mr Farage famously said the social side

:49:31. > :49:35.of the matter was more important than economics. Admitting that being

:49:36. > :49:40.poor could result from leaving the European Union. Somehow I suspect

:49:41. > :49:45.poverty was not apply to Mr Farage, who does not look as if he is

:49:46. > :49:49.getting any poorer. I briefly also wanted to return to an earlier point

:49:50. > :49:55.in the debate, which the member for Chingford and Woodford Green made

:49:56. > :49:59.about Mr Spinelli, who wrote about nationalism and the rise of

:50:00. > :50:03.nationalism. I do believe this is a cause of concern. 100 years ago, my

:50:04. > :50:08.great uncle died at Passchendaele. And when I take my children to see

:50:09. > :50:15.his grave and try to explain why he died and what he died for, I realise

:50:16. > :50:18.that talking about values like liberty and trying to work together

:50:19. > :50:27.with people who you don't get on with, and I think that -- back about

:50:28. > :50:32.the years of prosperity we have had. I think we are in a dangerous place

:50:33. > :50:35.internationally and I worry about our realignment with the US where

:50:36. > :50:40.they are perhaps not as open to free trade as we would like them to be,

:50:41. > :50:45.or to different ideas and different people who make up this incredible

:50:46. > :50:49.globe. I want to express fear and concern that leaving the European

:50:50. > :50:53.Union may also lead to a poorer future, not just for jobs, not just

:50:54. > :50:57.for the economy, not just because the economy is going down, but also

:50:58. > :51:02.because I think we are making this decision for young people. Many of

:51:03. > :51:06.us voted twice on whether 16 to 18-year-olds should have the right

:51:07. > :51:10.to participate in the referendum. Sadly we were defeated twice on that

:51:11. > :51:16.despite the advice from the other place. And I think that's a terrible

:51:17. > :51:23.pity. I feel that they think that we're slamming the door on their

:51:24. > :51:26.future. And furthermore, I am a strong unionist. I feel sad that I

:51:27. > :51:31.think it's going to have a detrimental effect on Scotland,

:51:32. > :51:33.Wales, on Northern Ireland. And I think there are a great many

:51:34. > :51:38.questions that have not been answered. We haven't been given any

:51:39. > :51:41.information. We have not been brought in on that wonderful secret

:51:42. > :51:47.negotiation that is happening. I don't feel quite ready to trust. I

:51:48. > :51:52.think the best power I news is my vote. Tomorrow I will not be voting

:51:53. > :51:55.to support the second reading because I think that's the only way

:51:56. > :52:00.to make the government listen, that these concerns many of us hold, we

:52:01. > :52:04.hold them very dearly. It is not just about jobs and the economy, it

:52:05. > :52:09.is about our children, our grandchildren and about peace and

:52:10. > :52:16.prosperity. It's a great pleasure to follow the

:52:17. > :52:19.honourable lady for Hornsey and Wood Green, who speaks with total

:52:20. > :52:24.sincerity. I obviously do not agree with her analysis of the economy and

:52:25. > :52:29.I obviously do not agree that to vote against Article 50, but they

:52:30. > :52:37.are absolutely respect sincerity in making that decision. And I think

:52:38. > :52:42.that's one of the important parts about today's debate, it is about

:52:43. > :52:48.individual members making up their mind. If you go to a conservative

:52:49. > :52:55.selection, one of the questions you are asked, what would you put first,

:52:56. > :53:00.country, constituency or party? The answer is country first,

:53:01. > :53:05.constituency second, party third. But happily, in most cases, that her

:53:06. > :53:11.lines. It certainly aligns now. And I am very delighted with what the

:53:12. > :53:18.government has done. I think the government was right. I'm going to

:53:19. > :53:24.start again. I think the government was wrong but I understand why they

:53:25. > :53:31.tried to go via the Royal per. They took the view that this house had

:53:32. > :53:36.delegated to the British people the decision of whether we should stay

:53:37. > :53:40.or leave the European Union. Therefore, once that decision was

:53:41. > :53:46.made, they thought they could trigger Article 50 through the Royal

:53:47. > :53:49.per that. In I remember the previous Prime Minister saying he would

:53:50. > :53:57.trigger Article 50 the day after the vote. I argued against that

:53:58. > :54:01.privately. I said we should have a Parliamentary process. We should

:54:02. > :54:06.have a bill in Parliament. And I actually introduced a Private

:54:07. > :54:09.Members' Bill to do exactly that, to trigger Article 50 by the 31st of

:54:10. > :54:17.March. The only reason it did not get a second reading was that the

:54:18. > :54:20.Labour deputy chief whip Badjeck -- objective. I am very pleased now

:54:21. > :54:27.that the Labour Party has taken a much more different line. I thought

:54:28. > :54:33.the Shadow minister who spoke for the Labour Party actually got it

:54:34. > :54:38.rather right. Trigger Article 50 because that's what the British

:54:39. > :54:44.people voted for. Then let's have full Parliamentary scrutiny of the

:54:45. > :54:50.bill. No bill goes through this Parliament, the great repeal act or

:54:51. > :54:54.anything else, will benefit from Parliamentary process. It may well

:54:55. > :55:00.be next week this will benefit from some amendment or other being

:55:01. > :55:05.approved. I do not know. But it benefits from full Parliamentary

:55:06. > :55:08.scrutiny. But what I wanted to talk about, Madame Deputy Speaker, and I

:55:09. > :55:16.apologise for wearing the hideous tie again, it has come out

:55:17. > :55:24.retirement for today, tomorrow and three days next week. Were this

:55:25. > :55:28.House somehow to vote not to trigger Article 50, I would have to wear the

:55:29. > :55:36.tie for a lot longer. That may change some votes on the other side.

:55:37. > :55:39.The honourable lady who spoke before mentioned it was very difficult to

:55:40. > :55:44.get on with some people and work together. As a founding member of

:55:45. > :55:49.go, a cross-party group that campaigned to leave, I know exactly

:55:50. > :55:56.what she means. I had to work with people from the Labour Party, people

:55:57. > :56:01.from the DUP and people from Ukip, and even more difficult, people from

:56:02. > :56:07.my own party, to try and get us all to agree to put party politics to

:56:08. > :56:12.one side. And it was an amazing feat, as we toured pants down the

:56:13. > :56:20.country, to find that people who could not stand each other... That

:56:21. > :56:23.is just the Tory party, as you say! That they could actually work

:56:24. > :56:27.together and produce something in the national interest. I look across

:56:28. > :56:32.the chamber and see the honourable member for a Vauxhall. What an

:56:33. > :56:38.outstanding parliamentarian. She put the country first. And I find it's

:56:39. > :56:43.difficult and of all those years ago to be in the Conservative Party when

:56:44. > :56:47.the Conservative Party was absolutely for the EU and we were

:56:48. > :56:51.idiots to request a referendum. It might be much more difficult to be

:56:52. > :56:54.in the Labour Party and campaign. Congratulations that those people in

:56:55. > :57:01.the Labour Party who put their country first.

:57:02. > :57:08.I also say to Nigel Farage, I think he campaigned for something he

:57:09. > :57:18.believed in passionately, and when I worked with him, he told, if you

:57:19. > :57:22.like, the Go line. Four people decided policy, the Honourable

:57:23. > :57:26.member for Vauxhall, myself, the Honourable member for Corby and

:57:27. > :57:34.Nigel Farage. We all managed, despite different views, to work

:57:35. > :57:38.together in the country's interest. I'm actually rather enjoying his

:57:39. > :57:45.speech, but could he then say, if he and the other members of that

:57:46. > :57:51.campaign supported the shameful and outrageous Breaking Point poster? By

:57:52. > :57:59.the time we actually got to the referendum campaign proper, I'm

:58:00. > :58:06.afraid the Go movement Alliance had broken down. I'm sorry if I'm misled

:58:07. > :58:10.the house. I should have said prior to his designation, the Go

:58:11. > :58:16.organisation was united. After that, there went the different way.

:58:17. > :58:20.Touching on the point of immigration, it was always Go's view

:58:21. > :58:25.that European Union citizens in this country prior to the referendum had

:58:26. > :58:29.the right to stay. I personally would have liked the government to

:58:30. > :58:34.do that unilaterally. I completely understand why they haven't done it,

:58:35. > :58:38.because they want to protect our citizens abroad. Whichever way you

:58:39. > :58:44.look at it, and whichever side of the argument you are on, this was an

:58:45. > :58:52.extraordinary democratic exercise. And the great thing now is the focus

:58:53. > :58:56.of the country is back here in this sovereign parliament, where we can

:58:57. > :59:01.make the decisions. And to the Honourable members on the opposite

:59:02. > :59:05.benches, sometime in the future, you will be on these benches, and you

:59:06. > :59:08.will be able to make the laws, you will be able to push them.

:59:09. > :59:15.Hopefully, that will be a long time in the future. Order, order. Code

:59:16. > :59:22.the Honourable gentlemen please say, they will be able to make the laws.

:59:23. > :59:28.I will change my mind. They will never have the chance to make the

:59:29. > :59:37.laws. LAUGHTER Chose Steve Evans. Thank you, Madam

:59:38. > :59:40.Deputy Speaker. I believe the vote I will cast who will be the most

:59:41. > :59:45.important in my member ship of Parliament. I represent take capital

:59:46. > :59:50.city constituency in Cardiff Central. I campaigned strongly to

:59:51. > :59:55.remain in the EU last year. I voted to remain. My constituents and city

:59:56. > :00:00.overwhelmingly voted to remain too. I have lived in Cardiff for nearly

:00:01. > :00:05.30 years, and the very first person I met when I unloaded my transit van

:00:06. > :00:09.of belongings in 1989 was a French national who had come to Cardiff,

:00:10. > :00:13.lived next door to me, and has become a lifelong friend as well as

:00:14. > :00:18.a successful businessman in my city employing many people. 30 years on I

:00:19. > :00:23.live next door to a German national, a university academic who has made

:00:24. > :00:27.his home in my constituency, married a Welsh woman, and has a young

:00:28. > :00:33.family. He's an expert in his field and is teaching the next generation

:00:34. > :00:37.of experts at one of my three universities in the constituency.

:00:38. > :00:41.Every day in Cardiff Central I meet, speak and listen to residents from

:00:42. > :00:50.Cardiff, across Europe and the globe. Students, doctors, mothers,

:00:51. > :00:54.fathers, children. During the referendum campaign and since, I've

:00:55. > :00:59.had many conversations with worried constituents. They are worried and

:01:00. > :01:03.frightened. Some have been victims of racism and hate crimes. My friend

:01:04. > :01:07.Suzanne came to Cardiff from Germany, and has a young daughter in

:01:08. > :01:13.primary school, who have been spat at and told to go home. They have

:01:14. > :01:18.had bricks and stones thrown at them in the street. This is the climate

:01:19. > :01:23.they and we are living in. I don't believe it's a coincidence of

:01:24. > :01:26.timing. It is a direct consequence of the referendum campaign. The

:01:27. > :01:33.events of the past week in the United States make me more fearful

:01:34. > :01:37.of the rapid developing climate of intolerance in our country. I

:01:38. > :01:40.implore the ministers of the front bench opposite to reassure

:01:41. > :01:44.immediately EU nationals across Britain that they will have their

:01:45. > :01:48.legal status confirmed. But when I look back at the last 12 months

:01:49. > :01:56.leading up to the publication of this bill, one thing stands out for

:01:57. > :02:03.me. That is the reckless for the of the member for Whitney. Where is he

:02:04. > :02:10.now? The -- the former member for Witney. He gambled our country's

:02:11. > :02:12.safety, future prosperity and long-standing European and wider

:02:13. > :02:17.international relationships to save his party and his premiership from

:02:18. > :02:22.imploding. He went to Brussels and miserably failed to negotiate a

:02:23. > :02:27.suitable reform package. He denied 16 and 17-year-olds the right to

:02:28. > :02:32.vote on their future. And then he abandon ship, leaving an almighty

:02:33. > :02:36.mess behind him. I accept the referendum result is to leave, but I

:02:37. > :02:41.do not agree with it. And I certainly do not have to be silent

:02:42. > :02:47.in representing my constituents' views. Just like I accepted at the

:02:48. > :02:51.last general election the benches opposite won a majority, but I do

:02:52. > :02:53.not have to agree with every policy the government seeks to implement

:02:54. > :02:58.and neither will I be silent about that. I will also accept that

:02:59. > :03:03.parliamentary numbers are such that Article 50 will be triggered and

:03:04. > :03:07.Britain will leave the EU, but I believe, and will continue to

:03:08. > :03:11.believe that leaving the EU is a terrible mistake. I cannot reconcile

:03:12. > :03:17.my overwhelming belief that to endorse the step that will make exit

:03:18. > :03:21.inevitable is wrong. I cannot endorse it, particularly when there

:03:22. > :03:25.have been no guarantees before triggering Article 50 about

:03:26. > :03:28.protecting single market access, employment, environmental and

:03:29. > :03:31.consumer rights, security and judicial safeguards and the

:03:32. > :03:35.residential rights of many of my constituents. And no guarantee for

:03:36. > :03:40.the people of Wales, never mind a seat at the negotiating table. So I

:03:41. > :03:45.will not stay silent on the that to speak is to be anti-democratic,

:03:46. > :03:50.while the current Prime Minister leads us to a brutal exit with all

:03:51. > :03:55.the damage that will cause to the people and community I represent.

:03:56. > :03:58.While serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Wales, it reinforced even

:03:59. > :04:01.more strongly to me that what Wales will lose from exiting the EU

:04:02. > :04:08.without the guarantee is that needed. We are net beneficiaries of

:04:09. > :04:13.EU funding to the tune of ?245 million per year. In the last ten

:04:14. > :04:18.years EU funded projects have helped thousands of people into work and

:04:19. > :04:25.gain qualifications. Those projects have helped to create nearly 12,000

:04:26. > :04:31.businesses and 37,000 new jobs. 68% of our exports go to EU countries

:04:32. > :04:35.and parts of our farming and food production sector rely almost

:04:36. > :04:40.exclusively on the EU market. The single market is the lifeline to our

:04:41. > :04:45.manufacturing industry, what is left of it, in steel, automotive and

:04:46. > :04:48.aerospace, as well as to farming and food production sector. The Prime

:04:49. > :04:53.Minister's decision we are leaving the single market is something I

:04:54. > :04:59.cannot accept. The referendum result last year felt like a body blow. The

:05:00. > :05:02.Prime Minister's speech felt like the life-support machine being

:05:03. > :05:06.switched off and triggering Article 50 will for me feel like a funeral.

:05:07. > :05:10.It's a matter of principle and conscience to me. I must represent

:05:11. > :05:17.the majority of my constituents and share their view, and I will not

:05:18. > :05:22.vote for this bill. James Morris. What a pleasure it is to follow the

:05:23. > :05:26.speech of the member for Cardiff Central. She speaks with great

:05:27. > :05:30.passion. I don't agree with her, but she is clearly wrestling with many

:05:31. > :05:36.issues and has spoken passionately. This is a hugely significant moment

:05:37. > :05:41.for the West Midlands region which I represent. And for this house. It

:05:42. > :05:46.seems quite a long time ago that I was one of the 81 conservatives who

:05:47. > :05:53.went into the lobby to vote in favour of a referendum in 2011. It

:05:54. > :05:58.also seems like quite a long time ago that I was sitting behind the

:05:59. > :06:03.front bench in my role as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to

:06:04. > :06:07.the Minister for Europe as the EU referendum bill was steered through

:06:08. > :06:12.Parliament, and I had to spent many long hours in this chamber wearing

:06:13. > :06:15.my tin hat, as it were, as the EU referendum bill went through

:06:16. > :06:18.Parliament. I was a passionate believer in the referendum and I

:06:19. > :06:24.recognise the importance of the result. I was somebody who had

:06:25. > :06:33.concerns about the economic consequences of us leaving the

:06:34. > :06:36.European Union. But the reality was that the West Midlands region, part

:06:37. > :06:39.of which I represent, was one of the strongest regions in the country in

:06:40. > :06:43.terms of voting for leave. I think every single area of the West

:06:44. > :06:46.Midlands voted to leave the European Union, and as a Democrat and

:06:47. > :06:50.somebody who fought for the referendum, I clearly have to

:06:51. > :06:56.respect the result. In the Black Country and West Midlands, we are a

:06:57. > :06:59.very pragmatic people. The West Midlands economy has been performing

:07:00. > :07:07.extremely well over the last few years. Now I think it's incumbent on

:07:08. > :07:10.me and other leaders in the West Midlands to take advantage of the

:07:11. > :07:17.opportunities that leaving the European Union represents to the

:07:18. > :07:23.West Midlands economy. I want to make two broad points, that as we

:07:24. > :07:30.hopefully trigger Article 50, when we vote tomorrow, that need to be

:07:31. > :07:33.taken into consideration in the negotiation. The West Midlands

:07:34. > :07:39.economy has been performing very well. It is currently one of the

:07:40. > :07:44.export powerhouses of the UK economy with very strong exporting, not just

:07:45. > :07:48.to the European Union, but to the United States and China, but

:07:49. > :07:53.actually there are certain countries where the West Midlands is not

:07:54. > :07:57.exporting so strongly. Countries like Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia,

:07:58. > :08:01.where we have negligible export volumes from the West Midlands. I

:08:02. > :08:06.think there's an opportunity when we look at making free trade deals

:08:07. > :08:10.around the world to facilitate further export potential for West

:08:11. > :08:14.Midlands manufacturers, in the transport sector... Of course. Thank

:08:15. > :08:17.you for giving way. Will he recognise that if we don't get a

:08:18. > :08:22.deal, and the Prime Minister has said that's a possibility, we end up

:08:23. > :08:27.with a 10% tariff on cars exported from the UK and that will be very

:08:28. > :08:30.damaging to the West Midlands car industry. I don't for a minute

:08:31. > :08:37.believe that we are not going to get a deal which is not going to be of

:08:38. > :08:43.benefit to UK car manufacturers. It would be inconceivable that we don't

:08:44. > :08:46.get a deal on that. In terms of the West Midlands economy and leaving

:08:47. > :08:49.the European Union, I think it gives us an opportunity to achieve

:08:50. > :08:54.something that has eluded governments over the last 25 or 30

:08:55. > :08:59.years, which is to be very serious about the need to rebalance our

:09:00. > :09:08.economy, and to make sure we lock in the benefits of regional devolution.

:09:09. > :09:10.The West Midlands has benefited from European brands in terms of

:09:11. > :09:18.infrastructure development. I think it's incumbent, as we think about

:09:19. > :09:21.the reintegration process that we go through, the requirement to raise

:09:22. > :09:27.the investment levels and skills in the West Midlands. -- European

:09:28. > :09:30.grants. For example, the West Midlands currently receives 40% less

:09:31. > :09:38.investment in transport than London and Scotland. For a region that's

:09:39. > :09:40.dependent on manufacturing and transportation, there are capacity

:09:41. > :09:45.constraints around the West Midlands economy that need to be addressed.

:09:46. > :09:49.People in the Black Country and West Midlands voted to leave the European

:09:50. > :09:53.Union because they wanted to control immigration. That was one of the

:09:54. > :09:58.principal reasons why they voted to leave the European Union. As we

:09:59. > :10:03.think about negotiating our exit, as we trigger Article 50, one of the

:10:04. > :10:08.most important things is for the government to commit to raising the

:10:09. > :10:13.skill levels in the West Midlands, creating high quality jobs and

:10:14. > :10:17.seeing the West Midlands as a critical component of our national

:10:18. > :10:23.story. The West Midlands needs to have a voice in the negotiation. In

:10:24. > :10:32.May this year we will have a directly elected mayor, I hope it

:10:33. > :10:37.will be Andy Street. In terms of the West Midlands, the region voted most

:10:38. > :10:41.decisively to leave and it must be at the head of the queue in terms of

:10:42. > :10:47.getting the benefits which I believe can accrue from us leaving the

:10:48. > :10:51.European Union. The second point I wanted to make, Madam Deputy

:10:52. > :10:58.Speaker, is a broader point about Britain's place in the world. Even

:10:59. > :11:03.though I have concerns, and did vote for Britain to remain in the

:11:04. > :11:07.European Union, I have never been a fan of the political structures of

:11:08. > :11:13.the European Union. It seems to me we are now on the cusp of an

:11:14. > :11:17.opportunity. For 40 years of our EU membership, we have been spending a

:11:18. > :11:21.lot of our diplomatic resources and a lot of our energy in managing the

:11:22. > :11:27.relationships we have across the European Union. And we now need to

:11:28. > :11:34.change our posture in the world, to be much more outward looking and use

:11:35. > :11:39.our diplomatic reach and our diplomatic resources to change the

:11:40. > :11:41.way that we influence the world. We have great, enormous soft power,

:11:42. > :11:57.which we can deploy in the world. We have hard power. We should be

:11:58. > :12:04.investing more in our hard power. That gives Britain a unique

:12:05. > :12:09.opportunity outside of the European Union to stop expending energy on

:12:10. > :12:14.the European Union and its predelictions and focusing out

:12:15. > :12:17.words. As we embark on this renegotiation, Madame Deputy

:12:18. > :12:22.Speaker, there is a real opportunity, I think, to challenge

:12:23. > :12:27.many of the assumptions which have driven British foreign policy over

:12:28. > :12:31.the last 40 years. And forge a new role for a global Britain, a record

:12:32. > :12:45.locking and working for all the regions of the United Kingdom.

:12:46. > :12:59.Madame Deputy Speaker, could I say at the outset I will not be able to

:13:00. > :13:05.support this bill And I will not be able to support the triggering of

:13:06. > :13:08.Article 50 because, like the Right Honourable member for Rushcliffe, I

:13:09. > :13:12.feel that the whole operation is a bit like following the rabbit into

:13:13. > :13:22.the hole and hoping to emerge in Wonderland. Like my colleagues, many

:13:23. > :13:25.of them on these benches, I don't seek to deny England or Wales their

:13:26. > :13:31.right to exit from the European Union if that is what the people of

:13:32. > :13:35.those nations decide. I may disagree with the Brit -- with the wisdom of

:13:36. > :13:39.that view but that is not why I'm opposing this bill. I have never

:13:40. > :13:45.pretended that the European Union was perfect or that it doesn't need

:13:46. > :13:48.reform. And I admit to even the need for radical reform. But EU has

:13:49. > :13:55.delivered for Northern Ireland, it helped deliver parity of esteem and

:13:56. > :14:00.prosperity for all sides of our community. And it has helped to

:14:01. > :14:04.bring peace in very difficult times. European investment and access to

:14:05. > :14:10.the single market has done so much in the last 25 years to remake my

:14:11. > :14:16.city, Belfast, a world leading city and a city facing the 20th century

:14:17. > :14:21.-- facing the 21st century having had a very difficult 20th century,

:14:22. > :14:25.not least, Madame Devey speaker, because of the hard work done by

:14:26. > :14:29.hundreds of people who have come to Belfast from across Europe to work

:14:30. > :14:34.and contribute positively to our Society and help build a better

:14:35. > :14:41.economy. And in the process, building prosperity. I come here on

:14:42. > :14:48.behalf of the people of south Belfast. They voted 70% to remain on

:14:49. > :14:55.a 70% turnout, something that was very, very clear and without any

:14:56. > :14:58.doubt. And I come here to ask the government not to unnecessarily

:14:59. > :15:02.takeaway membership of the European Union that has already done so much

:15:03. > :15:08.for my constituency, and has the potential to do more. And I want to

:15:09. > :15:12.draw attention to the fact that Queens University in the heart of my

:15:13. > :15:16.constituency is highly dependent for its research and its development on

:15:17. > :15:22.European Union funding. And I have an guarantees, in fact, I have

:15:23. > :15:27.little expectation, that that will be matched by government post

:15:28. > :15:30.Brexit. The Prime Minister row and the Secretary of State have already

:15:31. > :15:35.said that they have no desire to go back to the borders of the past. I'm

:15:36. > :15:41.glad to hear it. And so will the 30,000 people that crossed the Irish

:15:42. > :15:46.border every day for work. But they will need a bit more than warm words

:15:47. > :15:50.of comfort. They need a concrete agreement, a concrete arrangement

:15:51. > :15:53.between Dublin and London and Belfast and Brussels, in order to

:15:54. > :15:59.sustain reasonable access to their livelihoods. But what the government

:16:00. > :16:01.seems to have missed is that our concerns in Northern Ireland go much

:16:02. > :16:10.deeper than just avoiding border posts. Our membership of the EU has

:16:11. > :16:16.written throughout the fabric of the Good Friday Agreement. Our political

:16:17. > :16:21.settlement in 1998, that keeps all of our parties at the table and

:16:22. > :16:25.sustains a peace process, and hopefully a better prosperity

:16:26. > :16:32.process that will follow, albeit slowly as it moves, that fabric, the

:16:33. > :16:36.EU values and rules written into the fabric of that agreement, have

:16:37. > :16:39.helped to maintain the stability. Without the EU, that stability would

:16:40. > :16:43.not have been obtained and maintained. Maintaining that

:16:44. > :16:47.stability requires the principles of the Good Friday Agreement to be

:16:48. > :16:53.underpinned in law through this exit process. Both at the outset and

:16:54. > :16:57.indeed in the final exit deal. And this is without even touching on the

:16:58. > :17:03.wider concerns that other honourable members have raised about the impact

:17:04. > :17:06.of Brexit on our universities, the rights of European citizens already

:17:07. > :17:10.living here, and the rights of our own citizens who wish to study or

:17:11. > :17:16.work across the European Union. So regardless of the Supreme Court's

:17:17. > :17:18.decision over the role of the devolved administrations, which I

:17:19. > :17:23.beg to differ from, it is in the government's on interest to get this

:17:24. > :17:28.right for Northern Ireland and maintain the stability that has been

:17:29. > :17:32.achieved. Indeed it is the government's obligation as

:17:33. > :17:36.co-guarantors of that settlement and that Good Friday Agreement of 1998,

:17:37. > :17:43.to sustain that. It will be much harder to get things right restoring

:17:44. > :17:47.stability in Northern Ireland, while rushing to meet an artificial

:17:48. > :17:51.timetable imposed unnecessarily by government. That is why I call on

:17:52. > :17:55.the government, even at this late stage, not to rush now and regret

:17:56. > :18:00.later. I begged them to take the time to get this right for all of

:18:01. > :18:03.us. Earlier today the Secretary of State told us to trust the wisdom of

:18:04. > :18:07.the people. There is no one I trust more with the future of Northern

:18:08. > :18:12.Ireland than the people of Northern Ireland. And the people of Northern

:18:13. > :18:18.Ireland voted to Remain. Voters in south Belfast, as I reminded you,

:18:19. > :18:21.voted 70% on a 70% turnout to stay in Europe. And I hope I am

:18:22. > :18:26.representing them here today and representing their views. And with

:18:27. > :18:30.no answers, our the very best very foggy answers given on the border,

:18:31. > :18:36.our economy, and protecting parity of esteem, I and my colleagues

:18:37. > :18:44.cannot vote to support the triggering of Article 50.

:18:45. > :18:50.There has been much debate today about the question of whether not

:18:51. > :18:53.only whether the government has sufficient mandate to invoke Article

:18:54. > :18:59.50, but whether it has sufficient mandate to exit the single market

:19:00. > :19:02.and the Customs Union. Many honourable members may know that my

:19:03. > :19:07.involvement in this question didn't build it -- begin when I was elected

:19:08. > :19:13.to this House in 2015. Prior to that I had the privilege of working in

:19:14. > :19:17.Downing Street. And for me, the whole question about our membership

:19:18. > :19:23.of the EU is inextricably rooted in the conflict between control,

:19:24. > :19:26.principally about immigration and also our non-laws on the one hand,

:19:27. > :19:30.and on membership of the single market on the other. In the decade

:19:31. > :19:35.that followed Tony Blair's disastrous decision to allow Eastern

:19:36. > :19:41.European members of the EU to gain full control to the -- access to the

:19:42. > :19:46.labour market without controls, net migration from the EU went from

:19:47. > :19:49.roughly imbalanced to being in the tens of thousands every year. The

:19:50. > :19:59.application of the single market to the field of labour, in facilitating

:20:00. > :20:05.the free movement of labour, this was compounded by the fact that the

:20:06. > :20:08.UK not only had no transition controls, we also have an open,

:20:09. > :20:13.English speaking labour market which is much more conducive to migrants.

:20:14. > :20:19.And latterly, the eurozone crisis meant that when much of Europe

:20:20. > :20:23.stagnated, the United kingdom became a jobs creation engine, sucking

:20:24. > :20:28.labour from stagnant continental countries. Now all of this lead to a

:20:29. > :20:31.growing sense of a loss of control. These were huge changes about which

:20:32. > :20:35.the British people were never asked and to which they never consented.

:20:36. > :20:41.That is why Conservative manifesto is completely -- repeatedly

:20:42. > :20:44.committed us to reducing migration in the tens of thousands. The

:20:45. > :20:46.experience of government demonstrated this could not be

:20:47. > :20:58.achieved... I will give way. The Conservative

:20:59. > :21:04.manifesto committed to stay in the single market? It committed us to

:21:05. > :21:08.having renegotiation followed by an in- out referendum, which is what we

:21:09. > :21:11.delivered. The argument I am making is that the question of EU

:21:12. > :21:15.membership is inextricably linked to the question of the single market.

:21:16. > :21:22.Now the problem with trying to control migration within the EU is

:21:23. > :21:25.that the commission rigidly stuck to the doctrine that free movement of

:21:26. > :21:31.people was one of the immovable pillars of the single market, and

:21:32. > :21:37.that any attempts to favourite EU nationals over... This was despite

:21:38. > :21:41.the fact the reality of its application had changed since we

:21:42. > :21:46.initially agreed to single market membership. And the fact that no

:21:47. > :21:50.such similarly -- similar level of purity applied to the other pillars,

:21:51. > :21:55.particularly services, where the UK stood to be a major beneficiary. For

:21:56. > :22:01.me, this loss of control... I give way. I'm grateful to the honourable

:22:02. > :22:07.gentleman forgiving way. Isn't it the case that several EU countries

:22:08. > :22:11.now have quite deep concerns about the consequences of unfettered free

:22:12. > :22:14.movement? And the collapse of Schengen, albeit for different

:22:15. > :22:18.reasons, is further evidence of that. I thank the honourable

:22:19. > :22:23.gentleman for his intervention. I think that's undoubtedly the case. I

:22:24. > :22:27.think the problem is that the commission and other EU members move

:22:28. > :22:30.that glacial speed. I don't think there is likely to be a significant

:22:31. > :22:34.change in their approach to the single market for some time. This

:22:35. > :22:38.was not the only factor but it certainly added strong impetus to

:22:39. > :22:42.the argument that the only way we can resolve this was through a

:22:43. > :22:49.policy of renegotiation followed by a referendum, which we fought in the

:22:50. > :22:51.2015 election. The experience of the commission was that they

:22:52. > :22:56.dogmatically refused to compromise on its conception of the free

:22:57. > :23:02.movement issue. This was bolstered by Chancellor Merkel's experience

:23:03. > :23:07.growing up as a child of East Germany, who had an innate hostility

:23:08. > :23:10.to any imposition of borders. Going into the referendum we could not

:23:11. > :23:15.credibly say that significant control had been restored. But

:23:16. > :23:21.pitted against this strong argument for leading the European Union was

:23:22. > :23:24.the significant economic risk and dislocation that arose from losing

:23:25. > :23:28.unfettered access to a market of half a billion people, which we

:23:29. > :23:32.achieved through full membership of the single market. The decision was

:23:33. > :23:36.a very difficult balance between control on the one hand and risk on

:23:37. > :23:39.the other. Now that's why I think it was absolutely right to put such a

:23:40. > :23:45.profound question to the British people in the form of a referendum.

:23:46. > :23:50.But we should be quite clear the dilemma of EU membership was

:23:51. > :23:59.precisely the dilemma of our membership of the single market. The

:24:00. > :24:02.benefits of trade against migration. This -- these issues were the

:24:03. > :24:06.essence of the debate. My innate conservatism favoured not taking

:24:07. > :24:09.that risk. But the British peoples of the alternative decision. That

:24:10. > :24:15.was the whole point of asking them in the first place. It absolutely

:24:16. > :24:18.clear now that not only should I respect that decision and votes to

:24:19. > :24:24.invoke Article 50, I should also seek to implemented fully which must

:24:25. > :24:27.mean leaving the single market, but also the Customs Union. Now for

:24:28. > :24:31.people to claim that the government does not have a mandate to do this,

:24:32. > :24:36.is to completely ignore how we got to this situation in the place. But

:24:37. > :24:42.equally, we must be clear in the other choices we have taken. I'm

:24:43. > :24:45.very glad the economy has maintained momentum after the initial political

:24:46. > :24:49.decision to leave. And I'm confident that in the medium to long term we

:24:50. > :24:55.can make a success of the huge liberation that leaving the European

:24:56. > :24:58.Union. We can tailor our on Lotts to meet the economic and trading

:24:59. > :25:05.interests of this country, and the countries with which we choose to

:25:06. > :25:10.enter bilateral deals. We will be inhibited by a 27 member bloc. We

:25:11. > :25:16.are well placed to exploit this. We have the English language, a time

:25:17. > :25:22.zone, political stability, the rule of law, tremendous creativity. But

:25:23. > :25:25.equally, we should not forget the risk we took to leave. I'm quite

:25:26. > :25:29.sure that in the short term sterling depreciation will likely lead to

:25:30. > :25:33.price rises this year, squeezing disposable income and consumer

:25:34. > :25:37.spending. Equally the terms of our access to the single market will be

:25:38. > :25:41.different, causing short-term dislocation. And of course the

:25:42. > :25:47.commission and member states will initially... I give way very

:25:48. > :25:52.briefly. He correctly points out that the fall in sterling will lead

:25:53. > :25:55.to an increase in inflation. This goblin has frozen benefits for the

:25:56. > :26:00.next four years. Is it not the case that by the action we have taken and

:26:01. > :26:03.the fact the Autumn Statement shows growth will be lower, as a

:26:04. > :26:07.consequence of this, a lover people be very much poorer.

:26:08. > :26:11.Two things to the honourable gentleman. The first is that record

:26:12. > :26:15.low unemployment means there is tremendous opportunity for those

:26:16. > :26:21.people. Secondly, wages across the board have not grown rapidly. It is

:26:22. > :26:24.entirely right that constraint is applied to benefits. Of course, the

:26:25. > :26:28.commission and member states will initially resist any deal that is

:26:29. > :26:34.not unambiguously seen as making the UK worse off from exiting the EU. I

:26:35. > :26:40.say this not to fight the battles of the past again, but because we

:26:41. > :26:43.expect these changes, and plan for them, we will be better placed to

:26:44. > :26:47.see them through to the opportunities in the long run. This

:26:48. > :26:51.is the beginning of a process of historic change in our nation. But

:26:52. > :26:56.it's a path we have chosen with our eyes open. And the exercise of our

:26:57. > :27:00.democratic rights. And I believe we have many reasons to be optimistic.

:27:01. > :27:03.We on these benches are on the same side and we should seize the

:27:04. > :27:09.opportunities that this change of direction half-forwards us.

:27:10. > :27:16.It's a pleasure to follow the honourable member for heart smear. I

:27:17. > :27:20.must begin by associating myself with the remarks made by my

:27:21. > :27:24.honourable friend for Cardiff sentry. I wish I wasn't engaged in

:27:25. > :27:28.this debate tonight. I wish you weren't having to clear up this mess

:27:29. > :27:32.and I wish the former Right Honourable member for Whitney had

:27:33. > :27:38.not cut and run, but was here to help dig his way out of this hole.

:27:39. > :27:42.I'm not surprised that he left, because he offered as a political

:27:43. > :27:48.strategy based on all the boxer ethics of the Bullingdon Club. --

:27:49. > :27:52.all the ethos and ethics. Smash the place up, leave some money, at least

:27:53. > :28:01.somebody else to clear up. I'm not sure where the cash is. Because we

:28:02. > :28:05.appear to be... As the honourable member for Peterborough knows, we

:28:06. > :28:12.appear to be half ?1 trillion further in debt than we were in

:28:13. > :28:17.2010. So I wish we weren't starting from here. But the people have

:28:18. > :28:21.spoken, this is a democracy, and I will respect the decision that was

:28:22. > :28:25.taken. But my right honourable friend, the member for Leeds

:28:26. > :28:30.Central, hit the nail absolutely on the head, the people of this country

:28:31. > :28:34.didn't vote for a plan, they didn't vote for a blueprint, they didn't

:28:35. > :28:39.vote to lose their jobs, and they did not vote based on the full truth

:28:40. > :28:43.on the table. Indeed, this was a terrible campaign, the devil do with

:28:44. > :28:48.lies about what money would be saved and what money would be spent. But

:28:49. > :28:53.there was a vote to make Parliament sovereign, and we must start now by

:28:54. > :28:58.making Parliament sovereign over the plan. This is the first debate of

:28:59. > :29:01.many and tonight and in the days to come we will have the first vote of

:29:02. > :29:04.many as we ask the Brexit secretary and his colleagues to come back to

:29:05. > :29:11.their house to check whether they have got the answers right and the

:29:12. > :29:14.strategy sound. I want to make sure there is a sense about those

:29:15. > :29:19.negotiations that there are three things uppermost in his mind. First

:29:20. > :29:24.of all, we have to make sure that those who lose out from Brexit, I

:29:25. > :29:28.helped and supported. We all know there will be those who are battered

:29:29. > :29:32.and bruised by the Brexit process. There is no point pretending

:29:33. > :29:37.otherwise. But let's make sure there's a plan in place to support

:29:38. > :29:42.those people. They are not the rich. They are the poor. And they are

:29:43. > :29:47.people on tax credits. It was argued earlier this afternoon, they are the

:29:48. > :29:52.people whose tax are frozen. As a result of that, and as a result of

:29:53. > :29:58.higher inflation now cursing fuel and food, they will be ?620 per year

:29:59. > :30:03.worse off by the next election. So I say to the government, we need to

:30:04. > :30:10.see a plan for making sure that we don't waste ?1 billion on corporate

:30:11. > :30:13.tax cuts by 2020, let's use this money to unlock the freeze on

:30:14. > :30:17.benefits. I give way to the honourable member. If he can explain

:30:18. > :30:23.why we have been the fastest-growing G-7 economy of the next year with

:30:24. > :30:27.acceleration in the second half White wages and real wages are up,

:30:28. > :30:32.and things are looking good. I know experts are no longer in fashion on

:30:33. > :30:35.that side of the house, but the Office for Budget Responsibility is

:30:36. > :30:38.very clear, because of higher inflation, people on tax credits

:30:39. > :30:44.will be poorer, not richer, in the next couple of years. I genuinely

:30:45. > :30:47.believe the Brexit secretary wants to protect hard-working families,

:30:48. > :30:50.but let's see him put his money where his mouth is and argue with

:30:51. > :30:55.the Chancellor to unfreeze tax credits over the next couple of

:30:56. > :30:59.years. That should be our priority. Second, we need a real plan to

:31:00. > :31:03.protect manufacturing in this country. We have to recognise that

:31:04. > :31:09.manufacturing output has not yet recovered to the level it was before

:31:10. > :31:14.the crash. And yet, if you look at the car industry in regions like

:31:15. > :31:18.mine in the West Midlands, it's employing 49,000 people today. That

:31:19. > :31:25.industry will be destroyed if we have to rely on WTO tariffs at 10%

:31:26. > :31:31.and adding more costs by building a border to check the 60% parts that

:31:32. > :31:36.we import to build cars in this country. Whatever the deal put in

:31:37. > :31:41.place, it has to put manufacturing first. Third, we have to make sure

:31:42. > :31:45.there is no race to the bottom on rights, on workers' rights, social

:31:46. > :31:55.rights, on the rights of minorities. We have already seen the briefing,

:31:56. > :31:58.from a number ten source. There was a proposal to exit the European

:31:59. > :32:03.Convention on human rights, that great European Magna Carta that we

:32:04. > :32:06.helped to draw up after the war that it would stop in check any return to

:32:07. > :32:10.the Holocaust that we march last week. How could we possibly

:32:11. > :32:15.contemplate now leaving that convention and joining the company

:32:16. > :32:19.of Putin's Russia? I hope over the course of these debates we will have

:32:20. > :32:23.the cast-iron guarantee that there will be no exit from the convention

:32:24. > :32:27.on human rights. The final point I would make to the government is that

:32:28. > :32:32.although there are tests for me on how we protect those battered and

:32:33. > :32:36.bruised by Brexit, on how we defend manufacturing and make sure there is

:32:37. > :32:40.no race to the bottom on rights, the spirit of these negotiations is

:32:41. > :32:45.important. I have to accept that we will leave a federal Europe, but I

:32:46. > :32:49.believe now could be the start of a con federal project, where we begin

:32:50. > :32:59.to step up our collaboration with our neighbours on security, where we

:33:00. > :33:00.step up collaboration on jobs, where we step up collaboration on

:33:01. > :33:03.international development. Step up collaboration on science. Step up

:33:04. > :33:08.collaboration on things we can do together in the world. On this

:33:09. > :33:13.debate it is so important now that we do not listen to the Devils and

:33:14. > :33:18.the Demons of division. Now is the time for the government to listen to

:33:19. > :33:26.the better angels of our nature. Claire Perry. It was the country's

:33:27. > :33:32.first Prime Minister, and this might arise the eye up for the member of

:33:33. > :33:36.Sheppey if you were in his place. If you want something talked about ask

:33:37. > :33:40.a man, if you want something done, ask a woman. I'm pleased our current

:33:41. > :33:45.Prime Minister is in place because she's taking on an unbelievable task

:33:46. > :33:49.and delivering it with intellect and grace and clarity. She's made it

:33:50. > :33:52.very clear to this house regardless of how we campaigned voted what the

:33:53. > :33:57.process will be and what the time frame full believe. For that I am

:33:58. > :34:02.great. It has been men and women over many years who have debated

:34:03. > :34:05.endlessly in this place and elsewhere the European question.

:34:06. > :34:09.Something that was a monumental talking point when I came to this

:34:10. > :34:13.place and which rather confused me, I have to say, because it did not

:34:14. > :34:20.seem to talk about the issues that face this country and will continue

:34:21. > :34:23.to face our country. Archer from the European Union. The puzzling and

:34:24. > :34:27.troubling productivity gap in British industry. Our lack of

:34:28. > :34:31.skills, lack of investment in education. A problem with the low

:34:32. > :34:39.savings rate meaning families have little to fall back on. Suddenly on

:34:40. > :34:44.June 23 we all went from talking to doing. And this is not the place, I

:34:45. > :34:47.totally agree with honourable members, to rerun either the

:34:48. > :34:53.referendum or the arguments. People will know I was a remain supportive.

:34:54. > :34:57.But I like so many who have spoken, was appalled by the quality of the

:34:58. > :35:02.debate. And the quality of the conversations that took place. We

:35:03. > :35:09.were asking the country to make a very profound decision on the basis

:35:10. > :35:14.of slogans, to boil down extremely complicated questions and trade-offs

:35:15. > :35:18.into a single yes or no question. It was spiced up with anti-immigration

:35:19. > :35:22.rhetoric. I'm sorry for those honourable members who believe this

:35:23. > :35:26.is not what the league campaign represented, but I thought the

:35:27. > :35:31.poster of people wanting to come to this country, the Breaking Point

:35:32. > :35:39.poster, was a particularly low point in this debate. The conversation was

:35:40. > :35:44.also sullied by misrepresentation overfunding and we have debated

:35:45. > :35:48.today the 350 million. And those conversations about Turkey that was

:35:49. > :35:51.lined up to join the EU, if you listened to many of the members

:35:52. > :35:56.campaigning on certain sites. Equally on the remains side of the

:35:57. > :36:01.equation, project fear, I completely accept we were not giving positive

:36:02. > :36:05.messages to campaign on. What about staying connected and relevant in

:36:06. > :36:10.the world rather than trying to frighten people based on theoretical

:36:11. > :36:14.models that thanks to quantitative easing and an interest rate cut have

:36:15. > :36:17.yet to come true. But since the referendum result we have a

:36:18. > :36:21.government very ably led by our Prime Minister, who has taken a

:36:22. > :36:25.pragmatic approach that we are where we are, and we need strength and

:36:26. > :36:30.leadership. As the Right Honourable member for Leeds Central said

:36:31. > :36:34.earlier today, the major problem facing us and representatives of

:36:35. > :36:38.Western democracies is a crisis of trust in our institutions and

:36:39. > :36:42.politicians. Like others I will be voting with the government tomorrow

:36:43. > :36:52.night to support the triggering of Article 50. We will never be able to

:36:53. > :36:54.prove the counter facts, what would have happened if we had not voted to

:36:55. > :36:56.leave, what would have happened without the depreciation in currency

:36:57. > :37:01.and the change is already happening in the European Union. But I for one

:37:02. > :37:04.feel ill informed about this debate. I was minded to go back and look at

:37:05. > :37:08.the conversations held in this house at the time of joining the EU,

:37:09. > :37:13.conversations that started with the publication of a White Paper in 1967

:37:14. > :37:20.and ended up in a referendum in 1975. I have read the speeches given

:37:21. > :37:23.by my predecessor but one, Charles Morrison, who contributed to the

:37:24. > :37:28.debates and was an arch European, I'm pleased to say. He was given the

:37:29. > :37:33.opportunity in extensive debates over six White papers in the

:37:34. > :37:37.formation for the manifesto of the 1970 election and multiple

:37:38. > :37:40.conversations with Parliament. Indeed the White Paper presented by

:37:41. > :37:43.the Ted Heath government in 1971 reported back on the progress of

:37:44. > :37:48.negotiation that have been made up until that point between the British

:37:49. > :37:55.government and members of the small European Union, and it set out what

:37:56. > :37:59.areas still needed to be discussed. Compared to my predecessor, I have

:38:00. > :38:02.to say that I do not feel I am well-informed about the process and

:38:03. > :38:06.what the trade off is are for the British economy. And I refute

:38:07. > :38:10.wholeheartedly the idea that people voted one way or another in the

:38:11. > :38:14.referendum based on this perfect knowledge of all the facts. I sat

:38:15. > :38:19.through many a hustings in which my opponent said, it's not for us to

:38:20. > :38:23.define what to leave looks like. You are the government, it's your job.

:38:24. > :38:29.We just no way we want to be out. Everybody's view of Brexit is very

:38:30. > :38:34.different. -- we just know that we want to be out. How do we know we

:38:35. > :38:37.are making the right decision? I would urge the government to be as

:38:38. > :38:41.open and transparent as possible and bring forward the White Paper before

:38:42. > :38:45.the committee stage of the current bill. I would ask the government

:38:46. > :38:49.when we get to the end of the process, when we know there will be

:38:50. > :38:54.a binary offer, we are either in some form of relationship with the

:38:55. > :38:58.European Union, all we are not, to say what the economic consequences

:38:59. > :39:04.of those deals look like. We can't possibly sit down and make an

:39:05. > :39:07.assessment on what a free-trade world might look like, or a

:39:08. > :39:10.relationship with the EU, plus or minus any economic contribution we

:39:11. > :39:15.would be asked to make, without understanding the implications for

:39:16. > :39:19.our country. It may be that we have made a good decision for all the

:39:20. > :39:23.wrong reasons, but I do not yet feel we have the right information to

:39:24. > :39:31.justify that to the country. Sarah Olney. In this country we have

:39:32. > :39:35.settled, through a process of trial and error, on a system of

:39:36. > :39:40.parliamentary democracy as the most effective form of government. And

:39:41. > :39:44.the importance of parliamentary role is asserted by the Supreme Court

:39:45. > :39:48.last week. The responsibility of parliamentarians is clear, to take

:39:49. > :39:51.decisions in the best interests of the country with particular regard

:39:52. > :39:57.for the needs of their constituents. I believe that leaving the European

:39:58. > :40:00.Union will be hugely damaging for this country. But the British people

:40:01. > :40:04.narrowly expressed a different view in a referendum. It is now for

:40:05. > :40:07.Parliament to take account of the referendum and decide what's in the

:40:08. > :40:10.best interest for the country. There is no evidence, and none has been

:40:11. > :40:14.presented that the best interests of the country will be served by the

:40:15. > :40:18.immediate triggering of Article 50 and the pursuit of the hardest

:40:19. > :40:22.Brexit possible. It seems to me to be an abdication of responsibility

:40:23. > :40:28.to say that the only factor that can be considered in deciding whether to

:40:29. > :40:31.trigger Article 50 is the result of the referendum. The will of the

:40:32. > :40:34.people cannot be tied down to one single point and be presumed to

:40:35. > :40:38.never change or waver. It should not be assumed that because a narrow

:40:39. > :40:43.majority of people who are willing and entitled to express a view on

:40:44. > :40:46.June 23, decided we should leave the European Union, that they should be

:40:47. > :40:50.the only thing to determine the fate of the whole population for now and

:40:51. > :40:54.many decades into the future. This is not the end of the debate, it's

:40:55. > :40:59.only the beginning. I will give away. The Conservative manifesto on

:41:00. > :41:05.which we won the election asserted we would hold a referendum and

:41:06. > :41:10.uphold the result. It's a promise made and a promise kept. Does she

:41:11. > :41:18.accept that? There has been a lot of talk about the referendum act, the

:41:19. > :41:23.referendum Bill. I wasn't here and I didn't vote for it. I am not bound

:41:24. > :41:29.by it. Your 2015 manifesto also committed us to stay in the single

:41:30. > :41:34.market. If, in three or eight years' time, the people are not happy with

:41:35. > :41:37.the outcome of Brexit, who should they hold accountable? If they want

:41:38. > :41:42.the country to take a different course, how should they vote then?

:41:43. > :41:46.Will all the MPs step back and say they merely implemented the will of

:41:47. > :41:50.the people, and that the outcome of Brexit is not their responsibility?

:41:51. > :41:55.Denying the people the right to hold their representatives accountable is

:41:56. > :42:02.what would be truly undemocratic. I asked a question of the Secretary of

:42:03. > :42:04.State for leaving the European Union last week about what impact

:42:05. > :42:07.assessments had been done to indicate the loss of jobs and skills

:42:08. > :42:10.to the UK as a consequence of leaving the European Union. I was

:42:11. > :42:13.told such information couldn't be released because it would weaken our

:42:14. > :42:18.negotiating hand. I find this extremely worrying for two reasons.

:42:19. > :42:21.Firstly, if this information is available and the minister who

:42:22. > :42:24.responded did not confirm these assessments had been carried out,

:42:25. > :42:28.then it should not be available to the public to consider. Secondly,

:42:29. > :42:32.that our country's future prosperity, our jobs and skilled

:42:33. > :42:38.workers, should now depend so heavily on the outcome of a

:42:39. > :42:41.negotiation. Far from taking back control, we are apparently dependent

:42:42. > :42:46.on what other countries will or will not allow. There is so much we don't

:42:47. > :42:50.know about the consequences of leaving the European Union, either

:42:51. > :42:53.because the government refuses to reveal it, or because it depends on

:42:54. > :42:56.the outcome of negotiations, we have not been given site of the

:42:57. > :43:00.government's White Paper before being asked to consider the bill, so

:43:01. > :43:04.we are effectively asked to jump out of the aeroplane before we know

:43:05. > :43:08.whether we are securely attached to a parachute. I don't think it's a

:43:09. > :43:16.responsible approach to take to the security and prosperity of our

:43:17. > :43:18.citizens. If we make the decision to trigger Article 50, the most

:43:19. > :43:20.immediate and pressing goal will be to advanced negotiations with

:43:21. > :43:23.European partners as quickly as possible to provide security and

:43:24. > :43:27.clarity for citizens. I think it's important not to just settle for any

:43:28. > :43:31.result we can get. We should make a further, active and informed

:43:32. > :43:34.decision that the new Deal is a better alternative than remaining in

:43:35. > :43:38.the European Union, and the choice should be between those two

:43:39. > :43:44.outcomes, having held the initial referendum to ask the public to

:43:45. > :43:47.guide our decision-making, we cannot exclude them from the decision.

:43:48. > :43:51.There needs to be a referendum on the terms so the people can decide

:43:52. > :43:54.for themselves. The decision made in this place in the coming days will

:43:55. > :43:58.shape our future country for generations and we owe it to them to

:43:59. > :44:02.proceed with caution, thoughtfulness and care. My grandparents generation

:44:03. > :44:09.gifted as eight nation free from tyranny. My parents generation

:44:10. > :44:14.gifted a country free with rising prosperity. When I think of this

:44:15. > :44:19.generation, I want to picture a nation free of fear, and inequality.

:44:20. > :44:22.I don't think that's a world we can build by turning our back on our

:44:23. > :44:26.neighbours, closing a door on our friends, turning a blind eye to

:44:27. > :44:31.tyranny, or by walking hand-in-hand with intolerance. I will be voting

:44:32. > :44:35.against this bill tomorrow, not just because I represent a pro-remain

:44:36. > :44:38.party in April remain constituency, and not just because I made this

:44:39. > :44:44.commitment to voters during my recent by-election campaign. I will

:44:45. > :44:47.be voting against this bill because I believe triggering Article 50 is

:44:48. > :44:52.the wrong step for this country did take at this time.

:44:53. > :45:01.Thank you. What a pleasure it is to follow the honourable lady from

:45:02. > :45:05.Richmond Park who assure us that the Liberal Democrats don't believe in

:45:06. > :45:09.democracy, it is incongruous they should be in that position, today is

:45:10. > :45:13.in fact celebrating one of the days that will go down in the annals of

:45:14. > :45:22.British history, there are many years that we can call to mind, be

:45:23. > :45:36.it 1066 or 1215. How many do wow want? 1346, 1485, 1509, 1649. These

:45:37. > :45:43.are great and famous years. But it is very very rare, it is very

:45:44. > :45:49.rare that specific days are commemorated as I think the 23rd

:45:50. > :45:58.June 2016 will commemorated. It is on a par with St Crispin's day 1415

:45:59. > :46:04.and with the 18th June, 1815. Great days in our nation's history. We are

:46:05. > :46:08.here debating this because our constitution has been put back on a

:46:09. > :46:13.proper footing. It has been put back on a proper footing by the wisdom of

:46:14. > :46:19.the British people, but also as it happens, by the Supreme Court, and I

:46:20. > :46:25.am particularly pleased by page 29 of the judgment, that says for these

:46:26. > :46:29.reasons, we disagree with Lloyd LJ's conclusions in Rees-Mogg, in so far

:46:30. > :46:33.as he held that ministers could exercise prerogative powers to

:46:34. > :46:38.withdraw from the EU treaties so the judges that has take an year or two,

:46:39. > :46:43.to finally agree in 1993 my father was right, so there is a virtue in

:46:44. > :46:52.this judicial process, slow and long winded though it may be, but

:46:53. > :46:56.actually it is so important constitutionally because dices

:46:57. > :47:04.constitution has been restored. The Queen in Parliament is the sovereign

:47:05. > :47:09.body of our nation, and that is so important because as Dicey argued it

:47:10. > :47:12.is Parliament that is the defender of the lib ditips of the peopleches

:47:13. > :47:18.of our ancient constitution and freedoms. I give way. Very grateful

:47:19. > :47:22.to my friend for giving way, as our constitutional expert as he is, he

:47:23. > :47:29.will be familiar with the judgment given in the case of McCormack

:47:30. > :47:34.versus the Crown in Scotland. Parliamentary sovereignty is an

:47:35. > :47:38.English concept. Would he agree that the Scottish people can determine

:47:39. > :47:43.their own destiny if we are dragged out of Europe against our will? The

:47:44. > :47:46.honourable gentleman will know that the Westminster Parliaments

:47:47. > :47:51.following the accuse of union is of both Parliaments and the two

:47:52. > :47:57.traditions to some extent merged in 1707. He is very well aware of that

:47:58. > :48:01.point, and that the sovereignty of Parliament now applies to the United

:48:02. > :48:07.Kingdom as, of course I will give way. He is making as ever a

:48:08. > :48:11.fantastic speech. Following on from the intervention from the Scottish

:48:12. > :48:17.National Party member, is it not the case in the judgment they make clear

:48:18. > :48:21.we do not need a legislative concept motion or any consent because

:48:22. > :48:26.dicey's principle that power devolved is power retained means

:48:27. > :48:30.this Parliament is always sovereign. My right honourable friend is right

:48:31. > :48:34.on that. The judgment is clear in relation to the convention it is a

:48:35. > :48:39.political convention which is not within the field of the judiciary to

:48:40. > :48:45.rule upon, they say they are neither the parent nor the Guardian of the

:48:46. > :48:49.convention but they also made clear that by legislation this Parliament

:48:50. > :48:53.can do anything within the United Kingdom on behalf of the British

:48:54. > :48:57.people. And we need to get back to the beginning as to where does this

:48:58. > :49:02.Parliamentary sovereignty come from? Here we are back to the debates of

:49:03. > :49:06.the 17th sent, Parliamentary sovereignty, sovereignty in this

:49:07. > :49:11.country was thought either to come via the king from God, or to

:49:12. > :49:18.Parliament via the people, and that is where referendums come into this

:49:19. > :49:23.so rightly, because these sovereignty ex size is pot in a

:49:24. > :49:28.vacuum. It has not descended from on high. It bills up from underneath.

:49:29. > :49:34.The right of the people of the United Kingdom is to determine how

:49:35. > :49:39.they are governed, and they, on 23rd June, I can't give way again because

:49:40. > :49:45.I don't get any more bonus points, they on the 23rd June, voted that

:49:46. > :49:52.Parliamentary sovereignty would be restored to this House. And as that

:49:53. > :49:56.happened, so the judges, in the Supreme Court decision reinforced

:49:57. > :50:02.it, because they have reversed the clawing of power from this House

:50:03. > :50:07.that has gone to the executive since the 1972 European Communities Act.

:50:08. > :50:13.This Madam Deputy Speaker, is where these shocking outrageous and

:50:14. > :50:19.monstrous hypocrisy clicks into place, none of whom are members of

:50:20. > :50:26.this place, for no members of this place are in any sense ever

:50:27. > :50:31.hypocritical. They cry Parliamentary sovereignty to obstruct the will of

:50:32. > :50:37.the British people when law after law cascaded down from the European

:50:38. > :50:41.Union to a chamber that was empty, to committee rooms that were overin

:50:42. > :50:45.30 minute, no interest in Parliamentary sovereignty when the

:50:46. > :50:50.ratchet was clawing it away from the United Kingdom, but a great cry when

:50:51. > :50:59.the British people asked to have it back for themselves. And so we have

:51:00. > :51:04.a situation where the Supreme Court has recognised that this House is

:51:05. > :51:11.where power must lie in the creating and repealing of laws. This will

:51:12. > :51:14.restore our proper constitutional balance, so that no more will we

:51:15. > :51:20.have talk of interior legislation, the courts have developed a theory

:51:21. > :51:26.from the 1972 act that it was superior law and laws after it were

:51:27. > :51:30.bound by it. This alien to the British constitution. There is no

:51:31. > :51:36.ability for this House to bind itself successors and that principle

:51:37. > :51:40.is being restored by leaving the European Union and repealing

:51:41. > :51:47.ultimately the European Communities Act 1972, once that is done, that

:51:48. > :51:52.thread on which the idea of interior law has been hung is cut, and we are

:51:53. > :51:57.back to a situation where a Parliament of five years can pass

:51:58. > :52:04.any laws for this country, but cannot bind itself successors and

:52:05. > :52:09.its laws can no Norway be overruled by anybody outside the Queen in

:52:10. > :52:13.Parliament, and the great virtue of this constitution, and this is where

:52:14. > :52:19.I agree with the honourable lady, the member for Birmingham Edgbaston,

:52:20. > :52:26.is that it has provided prosperity t peace and security for our nation.

:52:27. > :52:29.Because the economy does not get created out of nowhere, it depends

:52:30. > :52:35.pends on the constitutional structures that you have, that

:52:36. > :52:40.protect the rule of law, that protect the rule of law, allow

:52:41. > :52:46.corruption to be ex potioned by freedom of speech, -- exposed. And

:52:47. > :52:52.ensure that the democratic will ask act as the protect or of what is

:52:53. > :52:57.decided and property rights are respected. We are back to that happy

:52:58. > :53:03.constitutional system that was known in this country until 1972. In the

:53:04. > :53:06.glories of our constitution, and with the great wisdom of our

:53:07. > :53:11.parliamentary draft men we are doing it in one of the shortest bills to

:53:12. > :53:16.pass through this House, because all this bill does, and this is why the

:53:17. > :53:22.amendments are all such flotsam and jet Sam, designed to obstruct the

:53:23. > :53:27.will of the British people, all this will does is implement that noble

:53:28. > :53:34.brave glorious decision the people made on that day of legend and song,

:53:35. > :53:43.the 23rd June n the year of our Lord, 2016. Stephen Times. I am

:53:44. > :53:47.pleased to be following the honourable member for North East

:53:48. > :53:51.Somerset and the constitution a perspective he set out for our

:53:52. > :53:56.edification. And of course, it is the case that there are wholly

:53:57. > :54:00.honourable reasons for wanting to leave the European Union. The

:54:01. > :54:06.problem, however, Madam Deputy Speaker, is that we will pay a heavy

:54:07. > :54:13.economic price for leaving. Too many jobs will be forced out of the UK,

:54:14. > :54:17.and for that reason I shall be opposing the bill at its second

:54:18. > :54:20.reading tomorrow. We were told during the referendum campaign that

:54:21. > :54:24.leaving, yes of course I will give way. The prediction that the

:54:25. > :54:29.honourable gentleman makes that jobs will be lost, follows the prediction

:54:30. > :54:33.made by so many staying outside the single currency would lead to

:54:34. > :54:38.economic decline and the vote on June 23rd would trigger an instant

:54:39. > :54:44.recession, that was wrong then, with respect to his integrity why should

:54:45. > :54:49.we believe that now? I think it is clear there will be a heavy economic

:54:50. > :54:54.price, and within a couple of year, that will be absolutely clear, and

:54:55. > :54:58.my view is that in this House, if we belief this measure is contrary to

:54:59. > :55:03.the national interest, we should vote against it. We have heard a

:55:04. > :55:06.couple of speeches now from members opposite saying in terms they think

:55:07. > :55:11.this bill is contrary to the national interest. Many my view, if

:55:12. > :55:18.that the view we should be voting against the bill. Of course. Can I

:55:19. > :55:21.than thank him for his opening words, can I agree with him I

:55:22. > :55:25.believe it will make our constituents the poorer and that is

:55:26. > :55:31.why I will join him tomorrow, in the lobby, but can I say to him, isn't

:55:32. > :55:35.it a pity that part of the debate was to basically ignore what experts

:55:36. > :55:40.were saying, about the destination of our country should we leave the

:55:41. > :55:44.European Union. My right honourable friend is right. We should take, pay

:55:45. > :55:49.attention to those who know what they are talking about. The reality

:55:50. > :55:52.is our currency has fallen significantly in value, following

:55:53. > :55:57.the referendum. That means that we are poorer than we were before, that

:55:58. > :56:00.has already happened. But the real damage is going to be when jobs

:56:01. > :56:01.start to