08/02/2017

:02:58. > :03:05.Good morning, welcome to BBC Parliament's live coverage of the

:03:06. > :03:09.Commons. It half an hour, Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn will do battle

:03:10. > :03:14.over the dispatch box at the latest Prime Minister's Question Time. MPs

:03:15. > :03:17.will then move onto another day of discussion on the details of the

:03:18. > :03:22.European Union notification of withdrawal bill, alleges lacing that

:03:23. > :03:27.authorises ministers to trigger the all-important Article 50 starting

:03:28. > :03:31.Britain's divorce from the EU, the bill will reach its final stage of

:03:32. > :03:35.Commons debate this evening called the third reading at around 6pm.

:03:36. > :03:39.Don't forget to join me for the best of the day in both Houses of

:03:40. > :03:46.Parliament at 11 tonight, first, questions to the Cabinet Office

:03:47. > :03:52.Minister, Ben, full of second reading. -- Ben Gummer. Wednesday,

:03:53. > :03:57.22nd of February, thank you. Although, questions to the Minister

:03:58. > :04:04.and... INAUDIBLE Neil Parish...

:04:05. > :04:21.Minor likeness, I beg your pardon! LAUGHTER

:04:22. > :04:25.The government published its review to the response of electoral fraud,

:04:26. > :04:30.on the 27th of December, the response clearly sets out the action

:04:31. > :04:33.that the government intends to take out on each recommendation and

:04:34. > :04:38.proposes a conference programme for reforming the electoral system and

:04:39. > :04:43.making democracy more secure. My apologies to the both of you, I'm

:04:44. > :04:48.not sure who is more offended(!) LAUGHTER

:04:49. > :04:51.In December, 2008, I was an election observer in Bangladesh, because of

:04:52. > :04:55.previous voter fraud, they photographed 80 million people, and

:04:56. > :05:01.it was clearly identifiable when people went to vote map so has the

:05:02. > :05:04.government considered this, because in a democracy we need as many

:05:05. > :05:10.people devote as possible but we don't want theft of identity when

:05:11. > :05:15.people vote? A very good point made around international comparisons,

:05:16. > :05:18.many countries across the world including Canada, Brazil, Austria,

:05:19. > :05:22.that already have photographic ID when it comes to pulling stations

:05:23. > :05:26.including in Northern Ireland, introduced if 2003. The government

:05:27. > :05:31.is taking forward pilots in looking forward at electoral identification,

:05:32. > :05:35.this will take place in local government elections of 2018, we

:05:36. > :05:38.will test various forms of identification, photographic ID,

:05:39. > :05:44.non-photographic ID, to make sure no one is disenfranchised. The

:05:45. > :05:46.government talk of voter fraud is a smoke screen for voter suppression.

:05:47. > :05:59.Macro Barack they are putting obstacles between

:06:00. > :06:02.people and the voting booth, instead of boosting democracy. If it is such

:06:03. > :06:07.a problem, can the Minister report family convictions there have been

:06:08. > :06:10.four voter fraud last year? I'm surprised the honourable gentleman

:06:11. > :06:13.for somehow claiming this was a smoke screen, it was a Labour

:06:14. > :06:16.government which introduced photographic ID in Northern Ireland

:06:17. > :06:21.in 2003, the electoral commission and all other administrators have

:06:22. > :06:25.called for ID in polling stations, when it comes to looking at IDE, we

:06:26. > :06:30.will test this vigorously when it comes to pilots and when it comes to

:06:31. > :06:34.convictions, 481 cases of voter fraud reported to the election

:06:35. > :06:42.commission and 184 additional cases reported to the police. -- when it

:06:43. > :06:47.comes to looking at ID. 30% of the population believe there is an issue

:06:48. > :06:51.with voter fraud when it comes to their local area and it is

:06:52. > :06:56.perception we are looking to tackle. The number of organisations that the

:06:57. > :06:59.Minister has just quoted, plus the organisation for Security and

:07:00. > :07:06.Corporation in Europe warned us that are a voting system is particularly

:07:07. > :07:09.vulnerable to identity theft. Given that all those countries that the

:07:10. > :07:14.Minister said, there is no evidence of any voter suppression, do you

:07:15. > :07:19.think, does the Minister think that those who seek to use these

:07:20. > :07:22.conspiracy theories are in grave risk of becoming apologists for

:07:23. > :07:28.electoral fraud? We are determined to ensure that we have a clear and

:07:29. > :07:34.secure democracy, that voters can have confidence in that system. As a

:07:35. > :07:40.government we have 46.5 million people on the electoral register,

:07:41. > :07:43.Turner increasing to 30.8 million in 2015, we are determined to ensure

:07:44. > :07:47.that we have voter participation but it is right that if there is a

:07:48. > :07:53.public perception that fraud is an issue, perceptions can be as

:07:54. > :07:56.damaging as cases of fraud itself. Has the Minister made any equality

:07:57. > :08:01.impact assessment on recommendations which would ban the use of any

:08:02. > :08:05.language other than English or Welsh in pulling stations? When it comes

:08:06. > :08:09.to the package of measures that we reported back on Sir Eric's report,

:08:10. > :08:13.looking at the issue of language is an important one, it is important

:08:14. > :08:16.that when comes to electoral administrators doing their job and

:08:17. > :08:20.being confident that no one is put under it and you pressure when it

:08:21. > :08:24.comes to voting, that we look at the question of language. When it comes

:08:25. > :08:27.to government announcements, they will be thorough and analysed

:08:28. > :08:29.correctly and we will go through due process to make sure impact

:08:30. > :08:39.assessments are correctly cooperated with. Number two, Mr Speaker. With

:08:40. > :08:43.your permission, I shall answer this question, and question three and

:08:44. > :08:47.five together. In response to the review of electoral fraud by my

:08:48. > :08:52.right honourable friend, we outline the intention to run a number of

:08:53. > :08:57.pilot schemes, at a number of local authority areas in 2018, the purpose

:08:58. > :09:02.of this is to test the impact on elections of asking collectors to

:09:03. > :09:07.present identification. Would my friend agree with me that voting is

:09:08. > :09:13.one of the most important duties of a citizen, and introducing proof of

:09:14. > :09:20.ID would bring voting into line with other everyday transactions like

:09:21. > :09:25.buying a mortgage or renting a car? I agree with my honourable friend,

:09:26. > :09:30.when it comes to voting there cannot be a important transaction that you

:09:31. > :09:34.can make over five years the two elected your counsellor or MP, it is

:09:35. > :09:43.right that that process is respected. -- -- than to elect.

:09:44. > :09:47.Turning up and claiming your name as your identity, does not happen

:09:48. > :09:52.anywhere else and it is time to bring democracy up-to-date. Voter

:09:53. > :09:55.fraud is unacceptable and I welcome any measure to secure democracy.

:09:56. > :10:01.Swindon borough council has repeatedly been commended for good

:10:02. > :10:05.election practice, with the Minister consider us for future pilots? I

:10:06. > :10:10.would like to thank my honourable friend for his question, we have a

:10:11. > :10:12.great deal of interest from local authorities in the pilot process, at

:10:13. > :10:17.the moment we are conducting a review to decide exactly what the

:10:18. > :10:21.form most pilots will take, some will be photographic ID, some will

:10:22. > :10:24.be non-photographic ID, at the same time we are determined to ensure

:10:25. > :10:31.that interested local authorities can come forward in due time to

:10:32. > :10:34.participate. I addressed the Association of electoral

:10:35. > :10:41.administrators at their annual conference on Friday in Brighton,

:10:42. > :10:44.and 40% supported introducing ID in polling stations. My honourable

:10:45. > :10:49.friend is absolutely right, this is common practice in many

:10:50. > :10:51.sophisticated democracies around the world, what best practice has the

:10:52. > :10:58.government been taking on those other countries? One double friend

:10:59. > :11:01.is entirely right, by introducing pilot schemes we will provide

:11:02. > :11:04.invaluable learning for strengthening the electoral system

:11:05. > :11:08.but we also want to learn from international comparisons such as

:11:09. > :11:14.canister, Austria and Brazil which require voter identification. Voters

:11:15. > :11:18.in Northern Ireland, as stated, have had to present identification since

:11:19. > :11:24.1985 and photographic since 2003, further information is available on

:11:25. > :11:29.the report, and we will consider these international comparisons

:11:30. > :11:32.going forward. Thank you Mr Speaker, the government is deluding itself if

:11:33. > :11:36.it thinks that impersonation is the main challenge to the integrity of

:11:37. > :11:41.the democratic system, in fact, a main challenge to its integrity and

:11:42. > :11:44.credibility is the fact that millions of our fellow citizens who

:11:45. > :11:48.are entitled to vote do not do so, would the government not be better

:11:49. > :11:51.to spend time and money on pilot projects designed to increase

:11:52. > :11:55.participation such as a radical overhaul of how we teach democratic

:11:56. > :12:02.rights in schools, pursuing online voting, and most of all, automatic

:12:03. > :12:06.voter registration, so that the ability to vote is not something you

:12:07. > :12:12.have to apply for. I'm grateful for him to raise that point, we have a

:12:13. > :12:16.record 46.5 million people now on the electoral register, Turner at

:12:17. > :12:25.elections is at a record level, what we can and must do more. The idea of

:12:26. > :12:29.a Clare and -- the idea of a clear democracy is important. INAUDIBLE

:12:30. > :12:33.I will be setting out the democratic engagement strategy later in the

:12:34. > :12:37.spring, which will set out further pilots. INAUDIBLE

:12:38. > :12:41.Will the Minister give the assurance that the issue of postal vote

:12:42. > :12:48.applications and proxy vote applications which also can be the

:12:49. > :12:51.subject can be kept under review in terms of identification of the

:12:52. > :12:57.accurate person who is supposed to be applying for the postal vote? I'm

:12:58. > :13:01.very grateful for that point being raised, when we publish the response

:13:02. > :13:04.to Eric Pickles's report, the top line was ID in polling stations but

:13:05. > :13:08.there are an entire package of measures that include looking again

:13:09. > :13:13.at postal vote fraud, and banning harvesting of personal votes by

:13:14. > :13:17.political parties and eliminating the number of postal vote packs that

:13:18. > :13:26.can be handled by family members down to two. The electoral

:13:27. > :13:29.commission tells us 3.5 million genuine legitimate electors do not

:13:30. > :13:34.have valid pieces of photo identification which would be

:13:35. > :13:40.required in the trials and they risk being denied their votes. The motion

:13:41. > :13:44.was recently asked opposing the trial in Kendal, Burnley are

:13:45. > :13:49.considering a similar motion, when will the Minister abandoned his

:13:50. > :13:52.Republican party's playbook on voter suppression and listen to the

:13:53. > :13:57.sensible voice of the good folk of Lancashire? The honourable lady

:13:58. > :14:00.mentions the electoral commission, what she omitted to say was that

:14:01. > :14:03.they have stated the full and considered response from the

:14:04. > :14:09.government and the announcement of the intention to pilot measures, the

:14:10. > :14:12.election commission are in favour of introducing photographic ID when it

:14:13. > :14:16.comes to elections, what we have said, when it comes to the pilots,

:14:17. > :14:20.we want evidence -based policy making, that is why we will have

:14:21. > :14:24.pilots that look at photographic ID, and non-photographic ID, but let me

:14:25. > :14:27.say, when it comes to ensuring people will be able to vote I will

:14:28. > :14:29.not be denying anybody that franchise we are protecting

:14:30. > :14:35.communities that are most vulnerable from actually casting their vote in

:14:36. > :14:37.a secret ballot. We must protect against and you've implements. I'm

:14:38. > :14:41.surprised she does not take this seriously. -- we must protect

:14:42. > :15:02.against undue. INAUDIBLE It is perfectly legal for local

:15:03. > :15:09.authorities to be able to set their own procurement rules, taking into

:15:10. > :15:12.account additional factors such as human rights record and

:15:13. > :15:18.environmental impact? Local authorities must comply with

:15:19. > :15:40.European Union law, they are enshrined in the public contracts.

:15:41. > :15:48.Would my right honourable friend Tommy Hamid a people he has in his

:15:49. > :15:53.departmental staff that run a small businesses and can understand small

:15:54. > :15:59.businesses when they seek to procure public-sector contracts and against

:16:00. > :16:04.bureaucracy? My team of two comprises of one person who has run

:16:05. > :16:11.several small businesses and one who is a sole trader. That is 100%

:16:12. > :16:15.fulfilment on his request. We also have a small enterprise ambassador

:16:16. > :16:23.who worked at the council to make sure we are doing exactly as he

:16:24. > :16:30.wishes. Before he quit a friend of mine empowered Waitrose managers...

:16:31. > :16:35.I'm not blaming him! Empowered Waitrose managers to go out and

:16:36. > :16:43.procure local products. Cover not give similar encouragement to bodies

:16:44. > :16:46.like county and district councils? I commend everything that the

:16:47. > :16:51.honourable gentleman's and has done. I know he will bring that expertise

:16:52. > :16:54.in due course to the people of the West Midlands. What I will say is

:16:55. > :17:00.that although councils and public bodies cannot choose according to

:17:01. > :17:04.geographical criteria, what they can and must do is take into account the

:17:05. > :17:09.social value of the procurement policies and that is why there is

:17:10. > :17:14.latitude for them to have similar approaches to the one that his

:17:15. > :17:19.friend conducted at Waitrose. Ministers have talked a great deal

:17:20. > :17:22.about linking apprenticeships to public procurement contracts, a

:17:23. > :17:33.sensible use of public funds to meet both the schools agenda. The

:17:34. > :17:37.commission confirmed last week that only 10% of new apprenticeships are

:17:38. > :17:43.taken from those from low-income families. Given the Cabinet Office's

:17:44. > :17:49.unique place to promote this agenda, what is the minister doing to tackle

:17:50. > :17:55.this unacceptable situation? The honourable gentleman raises are just

:17:56. > :17:58.point. The whole point behind the apprenticeship programme is to give

:17:59. > :18:03.opportunities to people who would not otherwise have them. That is why

:18:04. > :18:07.the 3 million target we have is important. The public sector will

:18:08. > :18:14.contribute a significant proportion. I'm responsible for the civil

:18:15. > :18:18.service component of that which is successful. We've launched the

:18:19. > :18:21.standards that will surround some of the civil service apprenticeships

:18:22. > :18:32.and a hope in time we will fulfil Philby aspiration we both had that

:18:33. > :18:35.it will help social mobility. The government has identified

:18:36. > :18:40.photographic and non-photographic identification that will test ID on

:18:41. > :18:44.all aspects of election, including turnout. I know the electoral

:18:45. > :18:50.commission on the report in Northern Ireland said that less than 1% of

:18:51. > :18:54.voters were affected by photo ID. That is why we want to look at both

:18:55. > :18:59.to make sure there is no disenfranchisement taking place in

:19:00. > :19:05.our pilot. The Electoral Commission reported in 2016 that 3.5 electors

:19:06. > :19:09.will have no appropriate form of photo IDs. Why is it that the

:19:10. > :19:12.government is ignoring recommendations to have a voluntary

:19:13. > :19:18.voter card which would allow those 2.5 million people to vote? The

:19:19. > :19:22.honourable gentleman is a fine historian. Like me he believes in

:19:23. > :19:26.looking at evidence -based policy making, which is why we have

:19:27. > :19:30.constructed the pilots to make sure there is photographic and

:19:31. > :19:35.non-photographic identification. If there is anyone who has no form of

:19:36. > :19:39.identification, we will make provisions for them. When it comes

:19:40. > :19:42.to the electoral ID card rolling out across the country, it will be

:19:43. > :19:51.expensive and we have no plans to do so. Workforce planning is primarily

:19:52. > :19:56.the responsibility of each individual department, but in answer

:19:57. > :20:08.to her specific question, civil service headcount reduced by 303,090

:20:09. > :20:16.-- 3390. Will he publish the assessment regarding Brexit and the

:20:17. > :20:20.work streams that have been cut. We have worked since July to make sure

:20:21. > :20:24.we have the proper resources in place to make sure our exit from the

:20:25. > :20:28.European Union is done effectively and efficiently. Departmental plans

:20:29. > :20:35.will have the kind of outline she is seeking. As my honourable friend

:20:36. > :20:39.continues to modernise the civil service headcount, will he make sure

:20:40. > :20:47.that apprenticeships will lead towards a more diverse workforce to

:20:48. > :20:52.serve our communities? I will assure my honourable friend precisely that.

:20:53. > :20:57.My predecessor started a programme of understanding better the social

:20:58. > :21:03.and economic make-up of the civil service and we will make sure that

:21:04. > :21:15.there is more social equality and diversity in our civil service.

:21:16. > :21:26.We are seeking to find savings of ?15 billion by 2020. We have

:21:27. > :21:31.achieved the 3p in the last year. As a councillor I have seen how the

:21:32. > :21:34.commissioning of services from one provider by different public sector

:21:35. > :21:41.bodies can drive down costs, providing high-quality services at

:21:42. > :21:48.lower costs. Are there lessons to be learnt from all sectors of

:21:49. > :21:58.government and this programme is evidence that the public sector can

:21:59. > :22:03.deliver more for less. He is right to point out the Cabinet programme,

:22:04. > :22:06.but many of the lessons we can learn is from local government and others

:22:07. > :22:20.in terms of sharing services and cutting costs. Will he ensure that

:22:21. > :22:24.the public services can share data because that will provide

:22:25. > :22:25.efficiency? There is a bill passing through the house that will do just

:22:26. > :22:43.that. We are committed to improving public services with

:22:44. > :22:48.advanced technology. We are doing server using tools such as verified.

:22:49. > :22:52.I would liken to reassure the house and the government that he is doing

:22:53. > :22:57.everything he can to make sure that people can access public services

:22:58. > :23:00.online, particularly for those hard to reach groups, like in my rural

:23:01. > :23:16.constituencies. By ensuring we have good broadband

:23:17. > :23:19.connections are my honourable friend's constituency, we will make

:23:20. > :23:30.sure they can access the information online. The Cabinet Office is the

:23:31. > :23:34.centre of government. The department is responsible for delivering a

:23:35. > :23:38.democracy that works for everyone. We are also driving efficiencies to

:23:39. > :23:45.make government work better. Can the Minister provides an update on any

:23:46. > :23:49.progress with the PM's order to tackle racial disparities, given so

:23:50. > :23:56.much is already known about these disparities. Should not then the

:23:57. > :24:01.government be getting on with doing the great -- a great deal more about

:24:02. > :24:06.them now rather than waiting for an audit. I find that a surprising

:24:07. > :24:10.thing from the honourable lady. It was this government and this Prime

:24:11. > :24:14.Minister that commissioned the racial disparity audit. Her party

:24:15. > :24:21.when in power have 13 years to do it and did not. I'm proud of what the

:24:22. > :24:25.Prime Minister has done, we will be publishing the audit within the next

:24:26. > :24:30.three months and she will be excited by the possibilities of making

:24:31. > :24:45.things better in this country. Safe tech engineering offers security for

:24:46. > :24:55.cyber issues. They need to be licensed by another list company of

:24:56. > :25:05.the MoD. Will businesses be able to access the markets they need? I have

:25:06. > :25:09.a responsibility for small and medium enterprises and I will take

:25:10. > :25:18.forward his concern to make sure they are represented. Since 2010 the

:25:19. > :25:27.has been more than 100,000 civil service jobs gone. The 300 new

:25:28. > :25:32.recruits for the Brexit department, is the Minister really, really

:25:33. > :25:39.serious that the UK are properly prepared to enter the most complex

:25:40. > :25:47.negotiations for generations? The reality is it is an absolute

:25:48. > :25:57.shambles. I am fully confident and I am fully confident that the civil

:25:58. > :26:07.service and the marvellous people who... Last week I met with the

:26:08. > :26:13.Sussex Police to discuss issues including electoral fraud. What

:26:14. > :26:23.steps are being taken to make sure that the government are involved

:26:24. > :26:27.with the returning officers. Last Friday I addressed a conference of

:26:28. > :26:33.the National police chiefs and electoral commission setting out why

:26:34. > :26:36.things need to be done. There have been cases in the past were

:26:37. > :26:41.convictions have not been followed through. It is wrong and I hope that

:26:42. > :26:47.changes in the future. One of the government publish departmental

:26:48. > :26:56.performance regarding its commitment to deliver ever higher levels of UK

:26:57. > :27:00.steel content in procurement policy? My honourable friend knows it was

:27:01. > :27:04.this government that established a far more rigorous understanding of

:27:05. > :27:12.how still content was in public procurement policy. I will update

:27:13. > :27:17.him on the progress we are making. I applaud the government's efforts to

:27:18. > :27:23.give more contracts to small and medium-size enterprises and the use

:27:24. > :27:30.of technologies such as their websites. How many businesses are

:27:31. > :27:35.signed up to this website and how can I get more businesses in Wisbech

:27:36. > :27:44.to sign up? As of yesterday there were 15,007 job and 45 businesses

:27:45. > :27:54.signed up. -- 15700 and 45. It is easy to sign up and the best he can

:27:55. > :27:58.do is to tell them to do so. Will the Minister enhance strength in the

:27:59. > :28:04.Northern Powerhouse to make sure it you'll sure SMEs can take advantage

:28:05. > :28:15.of public procurement contracts? In the methods I have been describing

:28:16. > :28:21.today, I shall. Will my right honourable friend accept that when

:28:22. > :28:27.we are told that it's good to talk, government departments are making it

:28:28. > :28:30.infinitely more difficult for members to contact private offices

:28:31. > :28:35.on behalf of their constituents because of the inaccuracies and the

:28:36. > :28:41.withdrawal of the central register of private office numbers? Can the

:28:42. > :28:46.Minister tell us when the practice of putting the communal number in

:28:47. > :28:54.the register will be stopped and the individual numbers of ministers

:28:55. > :28:58.private offices are stored as it was so began a public communication

:28:59. > :29:06.between ministers officers and members on behalf of other

:29:07. > :29:09.constituents? Mr Speaker, I own members an apology for this. If it

:29:10. > :29:12.is true that some of the telephone numbers in the directory were both

:29:13. > :29:18.inaccurate and some were general numbers. The revision is being made

:29:19. > :29:20.quarterly. The next one is in March and I have instructed all

:29:21. > :29:29.departments to provide private office numbers as members rightly

:29:30. > :29:42.expect. Order. Questions to be Prime Minister. Mr Toby Perkins.

:29:43. > :29:49.In addition to my duties I shall have further such meetings today Mr

:29:50. > :29:54.Speaker, the Government chose to launch the pupil premium at a school

:29:55. > :29:57.in Chesterfield where 70% of people receive free school meals. The

:29:58. > :30:03.headteacher, Dave Shaw was running the Great North Run for a cancer

:30:04. > :30:06.charity. However, her new schools' funding formula means that the

:30:07. > :30:12.junior school now face the biggest cuts in all of Derbyshire. Running

:30:13. > :30:17.for cash is now the only alternative to sacking staff. Will she go to the

:30:18. > :30:24.finish line and tell Dave Shaw how this is a fairer funding formula?

:30:25. > :30:26.Well, I'm pleased to say that in the local authority that covers the

:30:27. > :30:32.honourable gentleman's constituency, we have seen an increase of over

:30:33. > :30:35.17,000 children at good or outstanding schools since 2010.

:30:36. > :30:40.That's down to Government changes and the hard work of teaches and

:30:41. > :30:44.other staff in the schools. For a very long time, it has been the

:30:45. > :30:49.general view - and I have campaigned on this for a long time - that

:30:50. > :30:57.actually we need to see a fair funding formula for schools. What

:30:58. > :31:01.Government has brought forward is a consultation on a fairer funding

:31:02. > :31:05.formula. We look at the results of that fairer funding formula and will

:31:06. > :31:11.bring forward our firm proposals in due course.

:31:12. > :31:16.Over the course of the last 12 months, as part of the Defence

:31:17. > :31:21.Select Committee, I have' had the opportunity to look into the

:31:22. > :31:24.historic Iraq team and how we as a country deal with more historical

:31:25. > :31:30.allegations for our servicemen and women, not only for us who serve but

:31:31. > :31:35.for many members across this House it has been a deeply disturbing

:31:36. > :31:39.experience. I know the Prime Minister gets it but will she double

:31:40. > :31:45.her and her Government's commitments to get a grip on this historical

:31:46. > :31:49.process, so that never again, will our servicemen and women be

:31:50. > :31:53.exposed... I'm sure the whole House will want to join me in praising the

:31:54. > :31:56.bravery and commitment of all those who Seb in our Armed Forces. I would

:31:57. > :32:00.like to thank my honourable friend for the work he is doing on the

:32:01. > :32:04.Defence Committee because of course he brings personal expertise to that

:32:05. > :32:07.work. Those who serve on the front line deserve our support when they

:32:08. > :32:12.get home. I can assure my honourable friend of the Government's

:32:13. > :32:15.commitment to that. All troops facing allegations receive Legal Aid

:32:16. > :32:20.from the Government, with the guarantee that this will not be

:32:21. > :32:25.claimed back. In relation to the issue he has referred to, we are

:32:26. > :32:28.committed to reducing its case load to a small number of credible cases

:32:29. > :32:31.as quickly as possible and I recognise the action that has been

:32:32. > :32:36.taken in relation to the individuals he has referred to, I think it is

:32:37. > :32:41.absolutely appalling when people try to make a business out of chasing

:32:42. > :32:54.after our brave troops. Thank you, Mr Speaker.

:32:55. > :33:00.Mr Speaker, nine out of ten NHS Trusts say their hospitals have been

:33:01. > :33:04.at unsafe levels of overcrowding. One in six Accident Emergency

:33:05. > :33:09.units in England are set to be closed or downgraded. Could the

:33:10. > :33:13.Prime Minister please explain how closing A departments will tackle

:33:14. > :33:19.overcrowding and ever-growing waiting lists? First of all, can I

:33:20. > :33:25.extend my thanks and I'm sure that of the whole House to the

:33:26. > :33:32.hard-working staff in the NHS who do a great job, day-in and day-out,

:33:33. > :33:35.treating patients. Yes we recognise there are heavy priors on the NHS.

:33:36. > :33:41.That's -- pressures on the NHS. That's why, this year we are funding

:33:42. > :33:47.the NHS at 1.3 billion pounds more than the Labour Party promised at

:33:48. > :33:51.the last election. He refers specifically to Accident

:33:52. > :33:57.Emergency. What is your response in Accident Emergency? We see 600

:33:58. > :34:01.more A consultants. 1,500 more A doctors and 2,000 more paramedics.

:34:02. > :34:04.It's not about standing up and making a sound bite and asking a

:34:05. > :34:11.question, it is about delivering results and that's what this

:34:12. > :34:14.Conservative Government is doing. Mr Speaker, congratulating A staff is

:34:15. > :34:23.one thing, paying them properly is another. I hope she managed to see

:34:24. > :34:28.the BBC reports on the royal Blackburn A department which

:34:29. > :34:34.showed that pep had to wait up to 13 hours and 52 minutes to be seen.

:34:35. > :34:40.Shocking. A major cause of the pressure on A is the 4.6 billion

:34:41. > :34:58.cut in the social care budget since 2010. Shocking. Earlier this week,

:34:59. > :35:04.Liverpool's very esteemed adult social care director resigned

:35:05. > :35:11.saying, "Frankly, I can't see social services surviving after two years".

:35:12. > :35:15."That's the maximum." People are suffering and we are really only

:35:16. > :35:20.seeing the tip of the iceberg. Mr Speaker, what advice does the

:35:21. > :35:24.Government have to the people of Liverpool in this situation?

:35:25. > :35:29.SHOUTING THE SPEAKER: Order, order. It is bad

:35:30. > :35:33.enough that when members who are within the curt ledge of the chamber

:35:34. > :35:37.shout. Those who are not, absolutely should not do so. It is a

:35:38. > :35:40.discourtesy to the House of Commons. Nothing more, nothing less. Please

:35:41. > :35:52.don't do it. The Prime Minister. Well, he refers

:35:53. > :35:57.at an early stage in his question to Blackburn oo. Imehappy to say

:35:58. > :36:01.compared to 2010 there are more hospital doctors and more nurses in

:36:02. > :36:04.the Blackburn East Lang kashire Hospital's NHS Trust. He went on to

:36:05. > :36:10.talk about waiting times and waiting times can be an issue. Where is it

:36:11. > :36:15.that you wait a week longer for pneumonia treatment? That you wait a

:36:16. > :36:22.week longer for heart disease treatment? That you wait seven weeks

:36:23. > :36:26.longer for cataract treatment? 11 weeks longer for hernia treatment

:36:27. > :36:30.and 21 weeks longer for a hip operation? It's not in England, it's

:36:31. > :36:44.in Wales. Who is in power in Wales? Labour. Mr Speaker, my question was

:36:45. > :36:48.about the comments from the director of social care in Liverpool and why

:36:49. > :36:51.the people of Liverpool are having to suffer these great cuts.

:36:52. > :36:56.Liverpool has asked to meet the Government on four occasions. The

:36:57. > :37:00.crisis is so bad that until yesterday, Mr Speaker, David Hodge,

:37:01. > :37:04.the Conservative leader of Surrey County Council, planned to hold a

:37:05. > :37:14.referendum for a 15% increase in council tax. And at the last minute

:37:15. > :37:19.it was called off. Can the Prime Minister tell the House whether or

:37:20. > :37:26.not a special deal was done for Surrey? The decision as to whether

:37:27. > :37:30.or not to hold a referendum in Surrey is entirely a matter for the

:37:31. > :37:35.local authority in Surrey. In Surrey County Council. The right honourable

:37:36. > :37:39.gentleman has raised the issue of social care, which we've exchanged

:37:40. > :37:44.on across this Despatch Box before and as I've said before, we do need

:37:45. > :37:47.to find a long-term sustainable solution for social care in this

:37:48. > :37:50.country. So I recognise the short-term pressures. That's why we

:37:51. > :37:57.have enabled local authorities to put more money into social care. We

:37:58. > :38:00.have provided more money over the next two years, ?900 million more

:38:01. > :38:04.will be available for social care. But we also need to look at ensuring

:38:05. > :38:12.that good practice is spread across the whole of the country. We can

:38:13. > :38:17.look at places like Barnsley, North Tyneside, St Helen's, Rutland,

:38:18. > :38:20.towards the end of last year, no delayed discharges attributed to

:38:21. > :38:24.social care in those councils. We need to look long-term and that's

:38:25. > :38:27.why the Cabinet is driving a review w the relevant department, to find a

:38:28. > :38:35.sustainable solution, which the Labour Party ducked for far too

:38:36. > :38:39.long. My question was, whether there had been a special deal done for

:38:40. > :38:42.Surrey. The #4r50eder said they had many conversations with the

:38:43. > :38:49.Government. We know they have because I've been leaked copies of

:38:50. > :38:54.text be send by by the Tory leader intended to somebody called Nick who

:38:55. > :38:58.works for ministers in the Department for Communities and Local

:38:59. > :39:01.Government and this text reads "I'm advised that DCLG officials have

:39:02. > :39:17.been working on a solution and that you will be contacted me to agree a

:39:18. > :39:21.memorandum of understanding." Ah. Will the Government now publish this

:39:22. > :39:29.memorandum of understanding and while they are about it, will all

:39:30. > :39:35.councils be offered the same deal? What we have given all councils is

:39:36. > :39:40.the opportunity to raise a 3% precept on the council tax for that

:39:41. > :39:47.go to go into social care. He talks about understanding. What the Labour

:39:48. > :39:51.Party fails to understand... THE SPEAKER: Order. There is far too

:39:52. > :39:53.much noise. Mr Pound calm yourself, you are supposed to be a senior

:39:54. > :40:06.statesman. Order. And Mr Rotherham, you should

:40:07. > :40:12.reserve your shouting for the stands at Anfield. Prime Minister.

:40:13. > :40:16.As I say, all councils have the opportunity to raise the 3% precept

:40:17. > :40:20.to put that funding into the provision of social care. What the

:40:21. > :40:24.Labour Party fails to understand is that this is not just a question of

:40:25. > :40:26.looking at money, it is a question of looking at spreading best

:40:27. > :40:32.practice and finding a sustainable solution. And I have to say to him,

:40:33. > :40:36.that if we look at social care provision across the entire country,

:40:37. > :40:41.the last thing social care providers need is another one of Labour's

:40:42. > :40:45.bouncing cheques. Mrnchts speaker, I wonder if it is

:40:46. > :40:48.anything to do with the fact that the Chancellor and Health Secretary

:40:49. > :40:58.both represent Surrey constituencies? Mr Speakerers there

:40:59. > :41:04.was a second text from Surrey County Council leader to Nick and in the

:41:05. > :41:09.second text it says "The numbers you indicated are the numbers that I

:41:10. > :41:18.understand are acceptable for me to accept and call off the R." Now I've

:41:19. > :41:22.been reading a bit of John Le Carre, and apparently R means, referendum.

:41:23. > :41:29.It's very subtle, all this. He goes on to say in his text to

:41:30. > :41:36.Nick "If it is possible for that info to be sent to myself, I can

:41:37. > :41:42.then revert back soonest. Really want to kill this off." So, how much

:41:43. > :41:49.did the Government offer Surrey to kill this off? And is the same

:41:50. > :41:57.sweetheart deal on offer to every council facing the social care

:41:58. > :42:00.crisis, created by her Government? I've made clear to the right

:42:01. > :42:04.honourable gentleman what has been made available to every council,

:42:05. > :42:12.which is the ability to raise the precept. And I have to say to him...

:42:13. > :42:17.THE SPEAKER: Order. As colleagues know, I never mind how long Prime

:42:18. > :42:19.Minister's Questions takes. The questions must be heard and the

:42:20. > :42:23.answers must be heard. The Prime Minister. I have to say to

:42:24. > :42:27.him, he comes to the despatch broks making all sorts of claims. Yet

:42:28. > :42:37.again what we get from Labour are alternative facts. -- Despatch Box.

:42:38. > :42:45.What they really need is an alternative leader.

:42:46. > :42:53.Mr Speaker, my question was - what deal has been offered to Surrey that

:42:54. > :42:59.got them to call off a referendum and will the same deal be offered to

:43:00. > :43:04.every other council going through a social care crisis? Mr Speaker,

:43:05. > :43:09.hospital wards are overcrowded. 1 million people aren't getting the

:43:10. > :43:14.care they need. And family members, mostly women, are having to give up

:43:15. > :43:21.work to care for loved ones. Every day that the Prime Minister fails to

:43:22. > :43:25.act, this crisis gets worse. So will she, finally, come clean and provide

:43:26. > :43:30.local authorities with the funding they need to fund social care

:43:31. > :43:35.properly, so that our often elderly and vulnerable people can be treated

:43:36. > :43:42.with the support and dignity that they deserve in a civilised society?

:43:43. > :43:48.The deal that is on offer to all councils is the one I have already

:43:49. > :43:53.set out. Let me just be very clear with the right honourable gentleman,

:43:54. > :43:59.because as ever, he stands up and consistently asks for more spending.

:44:00. > :44:03.More money, more funding. What he always fails to recognise, what he

:44:04. > :44:09.fails to recognise is that you can only spend money on social care and

:44:10. > :44:14.on the National Health Service if off strong economy to deliver the

:44:15. > :44:20.wealth that you need. There is a fundamental difference between us.

:44:21. > :44:25.When I... THE SPEAKER: Order. I'm sorry there is still too much noise

:44:26. > :44:28.in the chamber. People observing our proceedings here and on the outside

:44:29. > :44:30.what the questions heard and the answers heard and they will be.

:44:31. > :44:35.Prime Minister. There is a difference between us,

:44:36. > :44:38.when I talk about half a trillion pounds, that's the money we will be

:44:39. > :44:42.spending on the NHS this Parliament. When Labour talk about half a

:44:43. > :44:45.trillion pounds, tss the money they want to borrow. Conservatives

:44:46. > :44:53.investing in the NHS, Labour bankrupting Britain.

:44:54. > :44:59.Thank you, Mr Speaker, there are significant challenges facing this

:45:00. > :45:02.great nafgs ours, Prime Minister, one of which is tackling mental

:45:03. > :45:07.health, particularly for young people. The pressures of juggling

:45:08. > :45:11.school life, family life and staying safe and feeling valued online are

:45:12. > :45:15.more difficult than ever, would the Prime Minister agree to meet with me

:45:16. > :45:20.and my team to discuss the Mental Health Act that we have been working

:45:21. > :45:22.on and developing, an app to give young people a tool box to help them

:45:23. > :45:32.in the times of crisis? I am interested to hear of this.

:45:33. > :45:36.Mental health is an area where we do need to put more of a focus and make

:45:37. > :45:41.progress. I am pleased to say that something like 1400 more people are

:45:42. > :45:46.accessing mental health services every day. But more needs to be

:45:47. > :45:49.done. We are putting ?68 million into improving mental health care

:45:50. > :45:53.through digital innovation, which sounds as if it fits right into what

:45:54. > :45:57.my honourable friend is looking at. There will be a particular focus on

:45:58. > :45:59.that with children and young people's mental health in mind. He

:46:00. > :46:02.might want to look out for the Department of Health and the

:46:03. > :46:08.Department for Education joint green paper that they will publish in

:46:09. > :46:12.October. Angus Robertson. Last night, parliamentarians from across

:46:13. > :46:17.the chamber and across the parties voted overwhelmingly against the UK

:46:18. > :46:27.Government's Brexit plans in the Scottish Parliament. If the United

:46:28. > :46:30.Kingdom is a partnership of equals, will the Prime Minister compromise

:46:31. > :46:35.like the Scottish Government and reach a negotiated agreement before

:46:36. > :46:46.invoking Article 50, or will she just carry on regardless? As the

:46:47. > :46:49.right honourable gentleman knows, when the UK Government negotiates,

:46:50. > :46:55.it will be negotiating as the government for the whole of the

:46:56. > :46:59.United Kingdom. We have put in place the JNC arrangements through various

:47:00. > :47:02.committees which enable us to work closely with the devolved

:47:03. > :47:09.administrations identify the particular issues that they want to

:47:10. > :47:12.see represented as we put our views together. We have said we will

:47:13. > :47:20.intensify the discussions within that arrangement and that is what

:47:21. > :47:24.we'll do. Angus Robertson. When the Prime Minister was in Edinburgh on

:47:25. > :47:30.the 15th of July last year, she pledged that she would "Not trigger

:47:31. > :47:35.article 50 until she had an agreed UK-wide approach. So given that the

:47:36. > :47:41.Scottish Parliament has voted overwhelmingly against her approach,

:47:42. > :47:46.and all bar one MP representing a Scottish constituency in this House

:47:47. > :47:53.of Commons has voted against her approach, she does not have an

:47:54. > :47:59.agreed UK-wide approach. As the Prime Minister knows, a lot of

:48:00. > :48:02.people in Scotland watch Prime Minister's Questions. So will she

:48:03. > :48:09.tell those viewers in Scotland when she intends to keep her word to

:48:10. > :48:12.Scotland or not? We are ensuring that we are working with the

:48:13. > :48:18.Scottish Government and the other devolved administrations as we take

:48:19. > :48:21.this matter forward. I would just remind the right honourable

:48:22. > :48:24.gentleman of two things. First of all, the Supreme Court was clear

:48:25. > :48:30.that the Scottish parliament does not have a veto on the triggering of

:48:31. > :48:33.article 50. The bill that is going through the House is obviously

:48:34. > :48:38.giving the power to the government to trigger article 50. I would also

:48:39. > :48:43.remind him of this point, because he constantly refers to the interests

:48:44. > :48:52.of Scotland inside the European Union. An independent Scotland would

:48:53. > :48:56.not be in the European Union. Mr Speaker, the people of Rossendale

:48:57. > :48:59.and Darwen warmly welcome Government's housing White Paper.

:49:00. > :49:03.Will my right honourable friend confirm that when it comes to

:49:04. > :49:09.providing more security for renters, building more affordable homes and

:49:10. > :49:13.helping people buy their own home, it is this party, the Conservative

:49:14. > :49:19.Party, that is fixing our broken housing market? Am happy to agree

:49:20. > :49:22.with my honourable friend. Our broken housing market is one of the

:49:23. > :49:28.greatest barriers to progress in Britain today and the housing White

:49:29. > :49:31.Paper brought out by my right honourable friend II for communities

:49:32. > :49:35.and local government sets out the steps we will take to fix it and my

:49:36. > :49:38.honourable friend is right. It is the Conservatives who are going to

:49:39. > :49:42.support local authorities to deliver more of the right homes in the right

:49:43. > :49:46.places to encourage faster build-up of developments. I'm sure everybody

:49:47. > :49:50.recognised the problem of planning permission that are given and then

:49:51. > :49:54.not built out, and create the conditions for a more competitive

:49:55. > :49:57.and diverse housing market. We are setting out the response abilities

:49:58. > :50:06.of all parties in building the homes that Britain needs. Does the Prime

:50:07. > :50:09.Minister agree that in a 21st century parliament, the rules should

:50:10. > :50:12.not able any member to speak for longer than 58 minutes in a

:50:13. > :50:16.three-hour debate? Does she agree that the rules of the House should

:50:17. > :50:19.be changed to prevent filibustering and French other members from all

:50:20. > :50:26.sides of the House get that our share of the time available? I have

:50:27. > :50:30.to say, I find that a rather curious question from the honourable

:50:31. > :50:37.gentleman. Last night, as it happens, I was out of the House

:50:38. > :50:41.between the two votes. I switched on the BBC Parliament channel and I saw

:50:42. > :50:52.the honourable gentleman speaking. I turned over to something else. I

:50:53. > :50:59.switched back. I saw the honourable gentleman still speaking! I switched

:51:00. > :51:03.over to something else. I switched back and the honourable gentleman

:51:04. > :51:09.was still speaking. He is the last person to complain about

:51:10. > :51:18.filibustering in this House. Mrs Theresa Villiers. Mr Speaker,...

:51:19. > :51:23.Order! Mr Hughes, you seem to be in a state of permanent overexcitement.

:51:24. > :51:28.Calm yourself, man, take some sort of medication and it will soothe

:51:29. > :51:31.you. We must hear Mrs Williams. As we prepare in this House to take

:51:32. > :51:37.back control over our laws on agriculture, was she agree to use

:51:38. > :51:41.Brexit as an opportunity to strengthen, not weaken the rules

:51:42. > :51:47.which safeguard the welfare of animals? My right honourable friend

:51:48. > :51:52.raises an important point which is of concern are many people in this

:51:53. > :51:57.house and outside. We should be proud in the UK that we have some of

:51:58. > :52:01.the highest animal welfare standards in the world. Indeed, one of the

:52:02. > :52:04.highest scores for animal protection in the world. Leaving the EU will

:52:05. > :52:09.not change this. I can assure my right honourable friend that we are

:52:10. > :52:13.committed to maintaining and where possible, improving standards of

:52:14. > :52:22.welfare in the UK while ensuring that our industry is not put at a

:52:23. > :52:27.competitive disadvantage. Last week, the Russian Duma decriminalised

:52:28. > :52:31.violence against women and children. I trust the government will

:52:32. > :52:33.encourage Russia to rethink this aggressive approach which could

:52:34. > :52:37.realise a domestic violence. Does she agree that ratify the Convention

:52:38. > :52:43.would send a message to Russia and the world of the priority that

:52:44. > :52:47.should be placed on ending gender-based violence? I am proud

:52:48. > :52:50.that in this country, we have strengthened the law on domestic

:52:51. > :52:54.violence and violence against women and girls. We see this as a

:52:55. > :52:56.retrograde step by the Russian government, repealing existing

:52:57. > :53:01.legislation sends out absolutely the wrong message on what is a global

:53:02. > :53:09.problem. We have joined others in both the Council of Europe and the

:53:10. > :53:17.OSCE in criticising this decision. Each year, the NHS reportedly spends

:53:18. > :53:20.?80 million more than it needs to on prescriptions for basic painkillers

:53:21. > :53:23.that can be sourced much more cheaply. Yet at the same time,

:53:24. > :53:31.secondary breast cancer patients face being denied life extending

:53:32. > :53:35.drugs. May I ask my right honourable friend to review this poor

:53:36. > :53:40.allocation of resources and give breast cancer sufferers the hope

:53:41. > :53:44.that they deserve? This is obviously an important issue that my

:53:45. > :53:48.honourable friend has raised. I understand that on the point of

:53:49. > :53:50.basic medication, it is in the fact that the NHS pays more for basic

:53:51. > :53:57.painkillers than on the high street. In fact, their prices are lower. In

:53:58. > :54:01.the case of the drug, it is right that difficult decisions are made on

:54:02. > :54:03.the basis of clinical evidence. I understand that Nice is undertaking

:54:04. > :54:08.a comprehensive assessment before making a final recommendation and in

:54:09. > :54:15.the meantime, the drug is still available to patients. Last month, a

:54:16. > :54:21.report was published on historical institutional abuse in Northern

:54:22. > :54:24.Ireland. Given the uncertain political institutions in Northern

:54:25. > :54:29.Ireland, if the executive is not up and running within a month, will the

:54:30. > :54:33.Prime Minister commit to implementing a report on historical

:54:34. > :54:38.institutional abuse in full? This was obviously an important review

:54:39. > :54:45.and of course we have our inquiry into historic child abuse taking

:54:46. > :54:49.place in England and Wales. I recognise the point the honourable

:54:50. > :54:53.gentleman makes about looking ahead to the future. We obviously have the

:54:54. > :54:59.elections on the 2nd of March. There were then be a period of time for an

:55:00. > :55:02.executive to be put together. I would encourage all parties to work

:55:03. > :55:05.to ensure that an executive can be put together in Northern Ireland to

:55:06. > :55:10.maintain the devolved institutions. I don't want to see the benefits

:55:11. > :55:15.that have come of progress being undone at this stage. I am sure that

:55:16. > :55:19.looking ahead, whatever is necessary will be done to ensure that the

:55:20. > :55:26.findings of that report are taken into account and acted on. The Prime

:55:27. > :55:32.Minister has been clear in her negotiating objectives as we prepare

:55:33. > :55:37.to leave the European Union. But with the Prime Minister agree with

:55:38. > :55:42.me that regions like the West Midlands, part of which I represent,

:55:43. > :55:47.needs a voice in those negotiations to ensure that we take the

:55:48. > :55:51.opportunities presented by Brexit to raise investment in education,

:55:52. > :55:54.skills and infrastructure in the region to ensure that her vision of

:55:55. > :55:58.a global Britain represents the interests of all the regions of

:55:59. > :56:05.England as well as the broader United Kingdom? I agree with my

:56:06. > :56:08.honourable friend. When we negotiate as a United Kingdom, we will be

:56:09. > :56:12.negotiating for the whole of the United Kingdom and taking account of

:56:13. > :56:16.all parts of the United Kingdom. We have ambition in terms of making the

:56:17. > :56:20.Midlands and engine for growth. It is about growing the region's

:56:21. > :56:23.economy and more jobs. That is why money has been put into funding the

:56:24. > :56:27.Birmingham rail hub, for example. Of course, the West Midlands will be

:56:28. > :56:33.getting a strong voice nationally with a directed irate elected mayor

:56:34. > :56:38.in May. I believe Andy Street will be a very good mayor for the West

:56:39. > :56:40.Midlands. In welcoming the honourable gentleman back again to

:56:41. > :56:52.the chamber, I call Mr Ronnie Campbell. Looking pretty slim as

:56:53. > :56:59.well, Mr Speaker! Mr Speaker, I had five months under the health service

:57:00. > :57:07.in Newcastle, under the auspices of Professor Griffiths, a marvellous

:57:08. > :57:11.surgeon. He just about saved my life. But there was a flip side.

:57:12. > :57:15.That is the best side of the national health and it has been

:57:16. > :57:22.wonderful, the service I got. But there is a flip side, which is what

:57:23. > :57:25.we are seeing today. We now have dedicated nurses who are called

:57:26. > :57:31.corridor nurses. They are in the corridor, looking after patients on

:57:32. > :57:36.trolleys. That is not the way we want our health service to run. Get

:57:37. > :57:42.your purse open and give them the money they want. As the Speaker

:57:43. > :57:49.said, I welcome the honourable gentleman to his place again in this

:57:50. > :57:52.chamber. And I commend the surgeon and all those who have treated him

:57:53. > :57:58.in the National Health Service that has enabled him to be here today and

:57:59. > :58:02.to continue his duties. As we know, there are surgeons, doctors, nurses

:58:03. > :58:05.and other staff up and down the NHS day in and day out, saving lives. We

:58:06. > :58:11.should commend them for all that they do. The north-east is a good

:58:12. > :58:15.example of some of the really good practice that we see in the National

:58:16. > :58:21.Health Service. I want to see that good practice being spread across

:58:22. > :58:24.the NHS across the whole country. Dr Sarah Wollaston. I am not alone in

:58:25. > :58:28.hearing from family 's long settled here in Britain who are deeply

:58:29. > :58:32.worried that they could be separated after we leave the European Union. I

:58:33. > :58:37.know that the Prime Minister will not want that to happen, and I

:58:38. > :58:40.wonder if today, she could reassure all our constituents that those who

:58:41. > :58:43.were born elsewhere in the European Union but settled here in the UK are

:58:44. > :58:51.married or in partnerships with British citizens, will have the

:58:52. > :58:54.right to remain? My honourable friend raises an issue that is of

:58:55. > :58:59.concern to members across this House. As she says, it is of concern

:59:00. > :59:03.to many individuals outside of this House who will want reassurance

:59:04. > :59:08.about their future. I want to be able to give that reassurance, but I

:59:09. > :59:15.do want to see the same reassurance for UK citizens living in the EU.

:59:16. > :59:19.But when I trigger article 50, I intend to make it clear that I want

:59:20. > :59:22.this to be a priority for an early stage of the negotiations so that we

:59:23. > :59:35.can address this issue and reassure the people concerned. Just two weeks

:59:36. > :59:41.ago, a 15-year-old left school and was stabbed four times and died.

:59:42. > :59:49.Three days earlier, a 19-year-old was stabbed to death in Wembley. And

:59:50. > :59:52.just a few months earlier, two of my young constituents were killed and

:59:53. > :59:59.the police said it was a case of mistaken identity. They were

:00:00. > :00:03.22-year-old and a 27-year-old. Next week, I am eating the deputy Mayor

:00:04. > :00:07.of London to discuss this issue and other issues. The Prime Minister

:00:08. > :00:12.meet with me, fellow MPs and my borough commander to talk about this

:00:13. > :00:13.issue and the sycamore project which we would like to see rolled out in

:00:14. > :00:24.London and beyond? Can I express obviously the

:00:25. > :00:27.condolences of the whole House to the familiar lanes friends to all of

:00:28. > :00:31.those she referred to in her question who of been so brutally

:00:32. > :00:33.stabbed and attacked and suffered from knife attacks she refers to.

:00:34. > :00:37.Obviously this is an important issue. It is a particularly

:00:38. > :00:42.important issue for London but it is one that we want to see addressed. A

:00:43. > :00:46.lot of good work that has been done. I'm in the aware of the sycamore

:00:47. > :00:50.project she has referred to but would be happy to hear more details

:00:51. > :00:59.of it. From medics at Kingston Hospital to

:01:00. > :01:03.researchers at Kingston university, and staff at growing electronics

:01:04. > :01:07.businesses, Kingston's workforce is enriched by highly-skilled workers

:01:08. > :01:12.from abroad so. Can my honourable friend refirm after we leave the EU

:01:13. > :01:14.we'll continue to welcome highly-skilled worksers from the EU

:01:15. > :01:18.and beyond. I thank my honourable friend for his question. We are very

:01:19. > :01:22.clear that we dop want to bring the numbers of net migration down but we

:01:23. > :01:25.also want to ensure that the brightest and best are still welcome

:01:26. > :01:29.here in the United Kingdom. And that's why I think people want to

:01:30. > :01:31.see the UK Government making decisions about people who are

:01:32. > :01:36.coming here from the European Union, but we are very clear about the

:01:37. > :01:39.importance, as I said in my speech in Lancaster House, there will still

:01:40. > :01:43.be immigration from the European Union into the UK and we want to

:01:44. > :01:47.ensure that the brightest and best are able to come here.

:01:48. > :01:51.Yesterday the Brexit minister claimed that Parliament will have a

:01:52. > :01:56.meaningful vote on the final EU deal. But account Prime Minister

:01:57. > :02:00.confirm that under her plans Parliament will either have to

:02:01. > :02:05.accept what the Government offers or fall back on WTO rules? And in the

:02:06. > :02:14.event there's no deal, there'll be no vote at all? Isn't the reality

:02:15. > :02:24.this is just take it or leave it and it is not a meaningful concession,

:02:25. > :02:28.it's a con? We have been very clear. I said in my Lancaster House speech

:02:29. > :02:32.that there would be a vote on the final deal. There were a number of

:02:33. > :02:36.questions on what exactly that meant. We will bring forward o

:02:37. > :02:39.motion on the final agreement for approval by both Houses of

:02:40. > :02:42.Parliament and before the final agreement is concluded. We do

:02:43. > :02:47.expect. I know this has been an issue for a number of honourable and

:02:48. > :02:50.right honourable members. We do expect and intend that will happen

:02:51. > :02:57.before the European Parliament debate before it votes and debates

:02:58. > :02:59.on the final agreement. As the Prime Minister knows,

:03:00. > :03:06.Trafford Schools are the best in the country. But they are also in one of

:03:07. > :03:10.the F40 worst-funded areas but perversely the draft funding formula

:03:11. > :03:14.would actually cut funding to are Trafford Schools not increase T when

:03:15. > :03:19.she reviews the draft proposals l she look, please for a new formula

:03:20. > :03:25.that guarantees that all of the worst-funded areas are increased in

:03:26. > :03:28.funding, not cut? My honourable friend raises, again, an important

:03:29. > :03:33.point that I know is a matter which is on the minds of a number of

:03:34. > :03:36.honourable and right honourable friends. As I said earlier, I think

:03:37. > :03:40.the current system of funding is unfair, it is not transparent. I

:03:41. > :03:43.think it is out of date. I want to see a session at the that does

:03:44. > :03:48.support our aspiration to ensure that every child has a good school

:03:49. > :03:51.place. But, in looking at these reforms I can assure my honourable

:03:52. > :03:54.friend that we want to get this right. It is why we are consulting

:03:55. > :04:01.and why we will look very closely at the responses to that consultation.

:04:02. > :04:05.Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. Npower have announced a 9.8%

:04:06. > :04:11.increase on dual fuel bills which even the former boss, the former

:04:12. > :04:15.tsar has described as shocking. EDS announced a 8.4% electricity hike

:04:16. > :04:20.and it is reported that British Gas is preparing its 11 million customs

:04:21. > :04:24.tomorrow Merse for a 9% increase. Ofgem has moved to protect those on

:04:25. > :04:28.prepayment ministers with a cap on energy bills. I ask the Prime

:04:29. > :04:33.Minister why doesn't she demand similar protection for the majority

:04:34. > :04:40.of customs Merse who are being ripped off as the CMA has said to

:04:41. > :04:44.the sum of ?1.4 billion. The Right Honourable lady might have missed

:04:45. > :04:49.the fact that where we have said that markets aren't working we will

:04:50. > :04:57.look at the measures needed and the energy market is one we are looking

:04:58. > :05:02.at at the moment. In the spirit of neutrality. The Prime Minister's

:05:03. > :05:05.Lancaster House was a call to put the divisions behind us. Does my

:05:06. > :05:10.right honourable friend agree that this is a vision that everyone in

:05:11. > :05:18.the House should support, that the more united we are, the stronger our

:05:19. > :05:23.negotiating position will be. THE SPEAKER: The honourable gentleman

:05:24. > :05:27.must be concerned. Does she share my surprise that certain members

:05:28. > :05:30.opposite that disagreeing with their current party leader, can cause

:05:31. > :05:38.headaches, that some may not have learned.

:05:39. > :05:43.Can I say to my honourable friend, he is absolutely right that I think

:05:44. > :05:46.the country wants us, in this House, and everybody in the country, wants

:05:47. > :05:50.to unite behind the Government's work to ensure that we get the

:05:51. > :05:54.best-possible deal for the UK, as we leave the European Union, and I

:05:55. > :05:57.believe that we can get a deal that actually is going to be in the

:05:58. > :06:01.interests both of the UK and of the European Union. I had hoped that I

:06:02. > :06:04.was going to be able to welcome the Shadow Home Secretary to the front

:06:05. > :06:07.bench in time for the vote that's going to take place later tonight.

:06:08. > :06:13.Perhaps members of the Labour Party are starting to realise the only

:06:14. > :06:23.real headache is their leader. Thank you, very much, Mr Speaker.

:06:24. > :06:26.Does the Prime Minister agree with the Director-General of the World

:06:27. > :06:34.Trade Organisation that if Britain were to leave the EU on WTO terms,

:06:35. > :06:39.it would cost ?9 billion in lost trade each year? What we want to do

:06:40. > :06:45.is to ensure that we negotiate a deal with the European Union that

:06:46. > :06:49.enables us to have the best-possible deal in trading with and operating

:06:50. > :06:53.within the European Union single market in goods and services. I

:06:54. > :06:56.believe that's possible, precisely because, as I have just said n

:06:57. > :07:01.response to my honourable friend the member for Lincoln, I believe that

:07:02. > :07:07.is a deal that is good, not just for but for the EU as well.

:07:08. > :07:13.The Prime Minister rightly argues for true parity of esteem between

:07:14. > :07:17.mental and physical health but parent in York have been sold that

:07:18. > :07:22.their children must wait up to a year for an assessment by the child,

:07:23. > :07:24.now adolescent mentalhealth services. As the Department of

:07:25. > :07:28.Health actually does not currently record these figures, would the

:07:29. > :07:31.Prime Minister consider making the monitoring fted waiting times a

:07:32. > :07:37.requirement? My honourable friend has raised an important point. As I

:07:38. > :07:41.set out a few weeks ago, the Government will be reviewing the

:07:42. > :07:44.separation of CAMs services across the country because I recognise some

:07:45. > :07:48.of the concerns that honourable members have made. We want to ensure

:07:49. > :07:50.that children and young people have easy access at the right time to

:07:51. > :07:53.mental health because of the evidence that a significant

:07:54. > :08:00.proportion of mental health problems that arise later in life actually

:08:01. > :08:04.sta of children and adolescents. We have made more money available to

:08:05. > :08:09.support transformation in children and young peep's mental health but

:08:10. > :08:15.the Shadow Health Secretary - sorry, the Health Secretary... -- young

:08:16. > :08:21.people's mental health. He is in his place as well.

:08:22. > :08:26.I haute Shadow Health Secretary will agree with me we need to review CAM

:08:27. > :08:30.services and are giving the right support to children and young

:08:31. > :08:34.people, adolescents with mental health problems and we'll look at

:08:35. > :08:37.the issue my honourable friend has raised.

:08:38. > :08:41.Many honourable members in this House have recently made the long

:08:42. > :08:46.journey up to West Cumbria for the by-election and we've all

:08:47. > :08:50.experienced the states of our roads and local railways. It's taken a

:08:51. > :08:56.by-election for transport ministers to look seriously and show any real

:08:57. > :09:00.interest in this. Can I is ask, is the Prime Minister planning a trip

:09:01. > :09:04.herself, so she too can experience why we need proper investment from

:09:05. > :09:07.this Government into our transport infrastructure in West Cumbria? We

:09:08. > :09:09.are putting more money, the Government is putting more money

:09:10. > :09:13.into infrastructure investment across the country but you have to

:09:14. > :09:17.say to her, the Labour Party had 13 years to improve transport in West

:09:18. > :09:28.Cumbria and didn't do anything about it. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I

:09:29. > :09:31.recently visited a world class coach-building manufacture based in

:09:32. > :09:35.my constituent and heard about their exciting plans for the future. With

:09:36. > :09:38.my right honourable friend join me in emphasising the importance of

:09:39. > :09:43.skills and manufacturing for our economy, especially as we look to

:09:44. > :09:50.leave the European Union? Can I thank my honourable friend for

:09:51. > :09:54.drawing our attention to the example of Woodall Nicholson and say how

:09:55. > :09:58.pleased we are to hear they have good plans for the future. Can I say

:09:59. > :10:02.he is right, as we leave the EU we will be doing that from a position

:10:03. > :10:04.of strength. He is right that skills and manufacturing are an important

:10:05. > :10:07.of our economy for the future that's why in the industrial strategy we

:10:08. > :10:10.are looking at how we can develop the excellence we already have in

:10:11. > :10:18.the UK, for the prosperous, growing economy for the future.

:10:19. > :10:22.Thank you, Mr Speaker. The Prime Minister's right honourable friend,

:10:23. > :10:28.the member for Rushcliffe last week pointed out that her aspiration to

:10:29. > :10:32.achieve barrier-free tariff-free trade with the single market,

:10:33. > :10:38.getting all the benefits but paying none of the cost, was actually akin

:10:39. > :10:43.to disappearing down the rabbit hole to wonderland. Mr Speaker, I think

:10:44. > :10:50.she makes a very interesting choice for Alice. But, if she doesn't

:10:51. > :10:56.manage to achieve that Higham Biggs, would she produce an analysis of

:10:57. > :11:03.what trading on WTO rules would actually mean for our economy, so we

:11:04. > :11:06.can make a proper choice? Can I say I commend my right honourable friend

:11:07. > :11:11.the member for Rushcliffe for the significant service he has given to

:11:12. > :11:16.this House and his constituents over the years. He and I have have worked

:11:17. > :11:19.well over a number of years although I have to say when I was Home

:11:20. > :11:24.Secretary and he was Justice Secretary, I used to say that I

:11:25. > :11:29.locked him up and he let them out. Can I say to the Right Honourable

:11:30. > :11:33.lady, as far as this Government is concerned, we believe it is possible

:11:34. > :11:37.within the two-year time frame to get the agreement, not just for our

:11:38. > :11:41.withdrawal from the European Union, but also the trade arrangements that

:11:42. > :11:42.will ensure that we have a strong, strategic partnership with the

:11:43. > :11:56.European Union in the future. In my right honourable friend's

:11:57. > :12:00.meeting with Binyamin Netanyahu this week, did she press the only way to

:12:01. > :12:05.get a lasting peace settlement is for young Palestinians and Israelis

:12:06. > :12:08.to look Ford to a job, a sharing prosperity and a life without fear,

:12:09. > :12:13.does she agree the only way to achieve this is face-to-face

:12:14. > :12:17.negotiations? And will she join the Israeli Prime Minister in pressing

:12:18. > :12:22.the Prime Minister of the Palestinian authorities for

:12:23. > :12:26.face-to-face negotiations? My right honourable friend does make a very

:12:27. > :12:29.important point about this. We continue as a Government a

:12:30. > :12:34.Conservative Government in the UK to believe that the two-state solution

:12:35. > :12:39.is a right one. That means a viable Palestinian state but also a safe

:12:40. > :12:43.and secure Israel. And, of course, it is for the parties to negotiate.

:12:44. > :12:47.Obviously there are others on the international arena who are doing

:12:48. > :12:51.their work to facilitate an agreement in the Middle East. But,

:12:52. > :12:53.ultimately it is for the two parties to agree a way forward. THE SPEAKER:

:12:54. > :14:15.Order. Ten minute rule motion. Liz

:14:16. > :14:19.Saville-Roberts. I beg to move that leave be given for me to bring in a

:14:20. > :14:22.bill, to make provision for the circumstances in which the sexual

:14:23. > :14:35.history of a victim of rate or attempted rape may be given into a

:14:36. > :14:38.trial. To extend the range of serious offences which may be

:14:39. > :14:42.referred to the Court of Appeal on the grounds of undue leniency of a

:14:43. > :14:45.sentence. To amend the requirements for ground rules hearings, to make

:14:46. > :14:49.provision for the issuing in certain circumstances of guidance on

:14:50. > :14:54.safeguarding to schools, to make provision for training about serious

:14:55. > :14:57.sexual offences, to place a duty on the Secretary of State to provide

:14:58. > :15:01.guidelines for the courts in dealing with cases of serious sexual

:15:02. > :15:05.offences, to require the Secretary of State to report annually on the

:15:06. > :15:14.operation of the act and for connected purposes.

:15:15. > :15:22.I will not take ten minutes of the House's time. I hope ministers will

:15:23. > :15:29.agree to meet with me and others to discuss how matters in this bill

:15:30. > :15:35.could be resolved. The bill was drafted with the assistance of the

:15:36. > :15:44.police and victims support groups. There has been wide consultation.

:15:45. > :15:51.There has been a dossier of harrowing experiences from victims.

:15:52. > :15:54.They face the possibility of being humiliated and their credibility

:15:55. > :16:03.being undermined by defence lawyers asking questions about sexual

:16:04. > :16:06.partners, clothing and appearance. The law protects victims in

:16:07. > :16:18.Australia, Canada and most of the United States. This rape shield

:16:19. > :16:32.ensures that previous sexual history is not used in court. The evidence

:16:33. > :16:36.of April is curious woman is mythically believed to be less

:16:37. > :16:43.credible by some. This affects confidence to come forward. The

:16:44. > :16:57.Police Commissioner for Northumbria has said that fear that complainants

:16:58. > :17:02.would be accused of sexual behaviour with other men has historically been

:17:03. > :17:12.a major deterrent in what men reporting rape. Failure to report is

:17:13. > :17:22.compelled by failure to prosecute. Just 2689, or a, resulted in

:17:23. > :17:30.convictions. 90% of rape victims are women, 10% are male. In court, one

:17:31. > :17:41.woman faced questions she was promiscuous. Emma was followed by a

:17:42. > :17:48.stranger who tried to rape her. Off-duty police officers heard her

:17:49. > :17:56.screams. The trial fixated on why she chose to wear a red dress that

:17:57. > :18:05.evening. Questioning about prior sexual conduct has been recorded.

:18:06. > :18:14.Applications were made on the morning of the trial in many cases.

:18:15. > :18:19.The humiliation of victims of sexual assault by irrelevant matters cannot

:18:20. > :18:23.be allowed to continue. The present law was intended to do this, but it

:18:24. > :18:28.is no longer serving its original purpose. The second major step

:18:29. > :18:34.brought forward by this bill will be to stop the disclosure of the name

:18:35. > :18:41.of the victim of rape or attempted rape to an alleged perpetrator by

:18:42. > :18:47.the police. She was terrified her attacker would find her. She changed

:18:48. > :18:52.her name. Another victim said, I am scared every day that he might find

:18:53. > :19:04.me. I would have been much safer had I not reported. Myra was told by the

:19:05. > :19:10.police that the disclosure of names is left to officer discretion. This

:19:11. > :19:20.law will mean that names are not disclosed unless a judge agrees. It

:19:21. > :19:25.follows a referral to voice her victims on Christmas Eve. A teenage

:19:26. > :19:34.girl was raped by a fellow student at a party. He was arrested and

:19:35. > :19:39.bailed with agreement of no content. On returning to school, she was

:19:40. > :19:46.placed in the same class as the attacker. The bill allows the

:19:47. > :19:53.Attorney-General to introduce safeguards for rape victims and to

:19:54. > :19:59.provide guidance for criminal Justice star. These reforms will

:20:00. > :20:03.have limited impact unless accompanied by proper cleaning. The

:20:04. > :20:06.Secretary of State will provide a strategy for high-quality training

:20:07. > :20:10.and advice for all relevant star. The provisions of this bill are

:20:11. > :20:16.based on the distressing experience of victims of serious sexual crimes.

:20:17. > :20:19.These measures, I hope, will help restore a victims faith in the

:20:20. > :20:22.criminal justice system and allow the criminal justice system to

:20:23. > :20:30.function more effectively. Who could argue that victims of rape should be

:20:31. > :20:34.re-victimised by the very system through which they seek redress. I

:20:35. > :20:39.commend this bill to the House. The question is if the honourable member

:20:40. > :20:47.has leave to bring in the Bill. As many were of the opinion say I. The

:20:48. > :21:00.eyes mac have it. Who will prepare and bring in the Bill? Graham Allen,

:21:01. > :21:08.Carolyn Harris, Alison shoeless, Margaret Ritchie, Tim Loughton,

:21:09. > :21:46.Alistair Carmichael and myself. Liz Saville Roberts.

:21:47. > :22:00.Second reading, what day? 24 March 2017.

:22:01. > :22:08.clerk will now proceed to read the orders of the day. European Union

:22:09. > :22:36.notification of withdrawal bill, committee. Order!

:22:37. > :22:53.Order. European Union notification of withdrawal bill. We begin with

:22:54. > :23:03.the new clause two, for consideration not only... Point of

:23:04. > :23:11.order. I spent a lot of time last night studying the amendments. I

:23:12. > :23:14.have to confess to be concerned as the admissibility of a large number

:23:15. > :23:21.of them. It's my understanding that amendments are not admissible to our

:23:22. > :23:24.bill if they are vague or unintelligible without further

:23:25. > :23:30.amendment. For example, I'd like to bring to your attention some of the

:23:31. > :23:37.primary amendments to this debate. At the moment, MC2 appears to be

:23:38. > :23:41.very vague. It implies the Prime Minister shall give some kind of

:23:42. > :23:48.undertaking to have regard to the public interest... Order. I

:23:49. > :23:54.understand the point of the honourable gentleman is making. But

:23:55. > :24:00.the matter is that he is raising is a matter for debate. The fact is

:24:01. > :24:06.that some new clauses and amendments would have been tabled have been

:24:07. > :24:12.considered to be in order and have been selected for debate. Some are

:24:13. > :24:18.not in order and I therefore ineligible for selection, for

:24:19. > :24:23.debate. It is not a matter of opinion, it's a matter of fact. I

:24:24. > :24:29.can assure the honourable gentleman though I have no obligation sold to

:24:30. > :24:33.do, that the matter has been very carefully considered. New clause to

:24:34. > :24:38.is perfectly in order. The honourable gentleman may well

:24:39. > :24:43.disagree with the points which are raised in new clause to. Indeed, I

:24:44. > :24:48.would expect him to. And I would expect him to make his disagreement

:24:49. > :24:52.known to the House in due course. But for the moment I can assure the

:24:53. > :25:04.honourable gentleman and a house that new clause to is perfectly in

:25:05. > :25:10.order and it will be debated. Point of order? I'm sure the honourable

:25:11. > :25:17.gentleman would not wish to question the judgment of the chair. I'm just

:25:18. > :25:25.asking for an explanation... The honourable gentleman will resume his

:25:26. > :25:31.seat, please. I thank the honourable members. I'm perfectly capable of

:25:32. > :25:35.dealing with the matter. It is not in order for the honourable

:25:36. > :25:45.gentleman to ask for an explanation. That would be questioning the

:25:46. > :25:54.judgment of the chair. A matter with which... A matter up with which I

:25:55. > :25:56.should not put. We will debate new clause two, which will now be moved

:25:57. > :26:18.by Mr Paul Blomfield. These new clauses have been judged

:26:19. > :26:23.to be in order. Over the last two days, we have had a series of

:26:24. > :26:29.important debates, primarily on the process that we face over a long

:26:30. > :26:33.period ahead of us know. Today, we move on to amendments on the

:26:34. > :26:38.substance of the government's negotiations. The debate on process

:26:39. > :26:43.was important precisely because it is about enabling the people of this

:26:44. > :26:47.country through this elected parliament to hold the government to

:26:48. > :26:54.account on the issues that matter to them. Jobs, conditions under which

:26:55. > :26:59.our businesses operate, how we keep our country safe and secure. How we

:27:00. > :27:03.protect the environment for future generations. How we ensure we remain

:27:04. > :27:09.at the cutting edge of science and research. And that we have an

:27:10. > :27:16.economy that enables us to fund our NHS and services so vital for social

:27:17. > :27:21.fabric. In the foreword to the White Paper, the Prime Minister claims

:27:22. > :27:37.that the country is coming together. But we are not there yet. Frankly,

:27:38. > :27:42.some are talking about those with a different opinion as attempting to

:27:43. > :27:53.prevent the will of the British people. That does not help. This new

:27:54. > :27:58.clause concerns the 48% and also many of the 52%. Those who voted to

:27:59. > :28:10.come out but did not vote to lose out. It is a man festival for the

:28:11. > :28:14.100%. -- a manifesto. By having trading arrangements with the

:28:15. > :28:19.European Union for goods and services that are free of tariff. On

:28:20. > :28:23.the side of the House, we have been clear that in these negotiations it

:28:24. > :28:29.is the economy and jobs that should come first. The government has

:28:30. > :28:32.decided otherwise. And is taking a reckless gamble with People's jobs

:28:33. > :28:41.and living standards, walking away from the single market and the

:28:42. > :28:49.customs union. Thank you. I'm grateful to him for giving way. He

:28:50. > :28:53.is putting his case clearly. It is Labour's position that the economy

:28:54. > :28:59.is at the heart of the negotiations and if, for instance, you couldn't

:29:00. > :29:03.get rid of free movement, so be it, because the economy is more

:29:04. > :29:09.important? That's not what I said. What I said was the economy is at

:29:10. > :29:13.the heart of our negotiations and that the advantages of the single

:29:14. > :29:21.market, as the Prime Minister pointed out before 23 June, are

:29:22. > :29:23.significant. Our view is that we should have reasonable management of

:29:24. > :29:31.migration through the application of fair rules. And grateful to him.

:29:32. > :29:35.Does he accept that it is completely agreed on all sides of this House

:29:36. > :29:38.that we want maximum possible access to the single market for our

:29:39. > :29:43.exporters and we will offer them maximum possible access to our

:29:44. > :29:49.market? Is he further accent that we don't need an argument about it, but

:29:50. > :29:53.the answer to whether we get that or most favoured nation WTO lies in the

:29:54. > :29:58.hands of the other 27 states and not in the hands of this Parliament?

:29:59. > :30:04.The honourable member is wrong, not for the first time, we have made it

:30:05. > :30:08.clear that the economy comes first, the Prime Minister has said that her

:30:09. > :30:15.red lines of a court of justice and immigration. Let me move on to

:30:16. > :30:19.issues on immigration. I will. I thank my honourable friend for

:30:20. > :30:23.giving way, I know he takes a big interest in science and technology

:30:24. > :30:27.in the universities, will he agree with me that it is very important

:30:28. > :30:32.for Coventry and the West Midlands economy that we get agreement on

:30:33. > :30:35.this in relation to the single market and government's only

:30:36. > :30:41.guaranteed resources up to 2020 should we pull out? I do indeed

:30:42. > :30:44.think that is a very important point, the honourable member will

:30:45. > :30:52.have noted it is one of the points highlighted in new clause two, I

:30:53. > :30:57.will... No... I will... Well, as it is the right honourable member, I

:30:58. > :30:59.will. I don't wish to delay him, but I listened very carefully to what

:31:00. > :31:07.the honourable gentleman said concerning his new clause. He said

:31:08. > :31:14.that when pressed, it was a Labour Party's view that control of

:31:15. > :31:18.migration was an important issue, sustainable in whatever arrangements

:31:19. > :31:22.there are, but I note from this what is missing from this new clause is

:31:23. > :31:27.any reference whatsoever to that being an important matter. Whether

:31:28. > :31:30.it is as important as the economy or of secondary importance, he knows

:31:31. > :31:37.that when the balance of negotiation comes down, it remains an important

:31:38. > :31:43.issue. What is his position, why has he left out the issue of migration

:31:44. > :31:50.control from this to make a balanced new clause, which otherwise makes no

:31:51. > :31:57.sense? The right honourable member is misrepresenting my observations,

:31:58. > :32:02.but I know that the Leave campaign were strongly supportive of

:32:03. > :32:15.alternative facts...! Can I move on specifically... Can I move on to the

:32:16. > :32:18.issue that he raises, of... As it's you. This really is rather

:32:19. > :32:25.important, could he confirm that the Labour Party no longer supports the

:32:26. > :32:32.principle of free movement? Yes, or no? We have said time and again that

:32:33. > :32:37.we believe in the reasonable management of migration through the

:32:38. > :32:40.application of fair rules. I will come to the specific issue if

:32:41. > :32:46.honourable and right honourable members will give me an opportunity.

:32:47. > :32:50.I probably have been a little bit unbalanced, so I should give way to

:32:51. > :32:54.somebody on my own site. I'm very grateful to my friend, would he

:32:55. > :33:03.confirm the easiest way to cut migration would be to crash the

:33:04. > :33:07.economy? LAUGHTER My honourable friend should wait and

:33:08. > :33:13.hear what I am about to say on the issue of migration. I think I should

:33:14. > :33:16.make some progress, I will not give way, I am conscious there is a

:33:17. > :33:20.number of amendments and a number of people who would like to speak.

:33:21. > :33:24.Certainly on this site we accept the concerns of migration were a

:33:25. > :33:31.significant factor in the referendum. Probably a critical

:33:32. > :33:36.factor. Leave campaign is, not paying attention at the moment,

:33:37. > :33:43.talked it up relentlessly... Still not listening... Leave campaign is

:33:44. > :33:47.talked of migration relentlessly, as has the Prime Minister, both in this

:33:48. > :33:55.and in her previous job. Creating huge expectations. Expectations

:33:56. > :33:59.which the White Paper then begins to talk down. On this central issue,

:34:00. > :34:03.the Home Secretary told the home affairs select committee last week

:34:04. > :34:09.that she had not been consulted on this part of the White Paper. One of

:34:10. > :34:14.the main red lines defining the government's approach and the

:34:15. > :34:21.minister responsible was not consulted, absolutely extraordinary.

:34:22. > :34:26.For months, echoing the Leave campaign, the government has talked

:34:27. > :34:31.about control, but where it has had control over non-EU migration for

:34:32. > :34:39.six years, the White Paper reveals the real facts: no significant

:34:40. > :34:43.change since 2010. I will. I'm grateful to him for giving way,

:34:44. > :34:46.would he accept that tree movement has massively benefited our country,

:34:47. > :34:50.economically and socially, governments may well have failed to

:34:51. > :34:53.ensure that those benefits have been shared equally, we should not be

:34:54. > :34:58.sacrificing our economy to anti-immigration ideology, and

:34:59. > :35:02.securing the free movement of people should be a priority for

:35:03. > :35:09.negotiations. The White Paper makes the point about the benefits of

:35:10. > :35:15.migration. No, I will make... I will... I will make some progress. I

:35:16. > :35:26.think the right honourable member has had more than his fair share of

:35:27. > :35:29.speaking time in this debate. Let me continue, non-EU migration, there

:35:30. > :35:35.has been no real change since 2010, for good reasons, and when the

:35:36. > :35:42.government starts to desegregate the AA numbers, what will they find?

:35:43. > :35:48.Doctors, nurses, academics, care workers, students. -- EA. Those

:35:49. > :35:52.bringing key skills to business and industry and then in lower skilled

:35:53. > :35:56.jobs, ministers have already made it clear, for example, to employers

:35:57. > :36:05.that agricultural workers will be still free to come. I will make some

:36:06. > :36:07.progress. The only real way of substantially reducing numbers is,

:36:08. > :36:14.as my honourable friend pointed out, to crash the economy, it will be the

:36:15. > :36:21.effect of the government's negotiations but assuming that is

:36:22. > :36:24.not their plans, then... Not at this moment, in a moment... They now need

:36:25. > :36:28.to come clean with the British people, as the right honourable

:36:29. > :36:34.member for Meriden argued last week, and the right honourable member for

:36:35. > :36:38.Pembrokeshire argued over the weekend, they need to come clean

:36:39. > :36:45.with the British people on this red line, what is their plan? If taking

:36:46. > :36:49.control of immigration is what is defining this government's approach

:36:50. > :36:53.to "Brexit", the minister, in his closing remarks, needs to make clear

:36:54. > :37:00.what are the government's intentions? I think the Shadow

:37:01. > :37:08.Minister for giving way, will he agree with me that both discussions

:37:09. > :37:16.by UK trade delegations to China and to India has made it clear that any

:37:17. > :37:21.future trade deal with those countries will almost certainly

:37:22. > :37:26.involve a relaxation of the current regime, and therefore, all we are

:37:27. > :37:32.doing is displacing migration, not cutting it down? My honourable

:37:33. > :37:36.friend is absolutely right, I think the Prime Minister was shocked to

:37:37. > :37:40.discover, when she went to India, seeking a trade deal, that one of

:37:41. > :37:45.the first things they want to put on the table was access to our labour

:37:46. > :37:50.markets and access for students. He is also right to cite other

:37:51. > :37:54.countries that he missed off the list, Australia, much heralded as a

:37:55. > :38:00.future trade deal, who also want to make the movement of people part of

:38:01. > :38:03.any settlement. I'm grateful for giving way, making an important

:38:04. > :38:08.point about the value of migrant workers and others who come here.

:38:09. > :38:14.Does he recognise, in oral areas in particular, local jobs are also Jean

:38:15. > :38:18.anchored by the ability of people to come in, public services and local

:38:19. > :38:21.businesses, the jobs of the indigenous population depend upon

:38:22. > :38:24.the freedom of movement which is such an important part of single

:38:25. > :38:31.market membership. -- local jobs also anchored by the ability for

:38:32. > :38:34.people to come in. Is one of the reasons why the government White

:38:35. > :38:40.Paper is so much more nuanced and caveat it and realistic than some of

:38:41. > :38:44.the rhetoric that we have seen. As I said, I think the right honourable

:38:45. > :38:52.member has had lots of time during this debate. SHOUTING

:38:53. > :38:56.And I want to move on to a different topic, and I'm sure that he will be

:38:57. > :39:06.wanting to get in later. Order, order. He rightly wishes to speed up

:39:07. > :39:10.his introduction of the new clause, the whole house will be pleased

:39:11. > :39:14.about when we come to the end of the debate and they have not had a

:39:15. > :39:25.chance to speak. INAUDIBLE LAUGHTER

:39:26. > :39:30.Our approach is different, to put the economy and the jobs of the

:39:31. > :39:35.British people first and get the right trading relationship with the,

:39:36. > :39:43.there may be lots of graphs in the White Paper but little clarity in

:39:44. > :39:47.their execution. The Secretary of State for exiting the European Union

:39:48. > :39:54.was much clearer a couple of years -- a couple of weeks ago, when he

:39:55. > :39:57.told the house, " what we have come up with is the idea of a free-trade

:39:58. > :40:02.agreement and and a comprehensive customs agreement that will deliver

:40:03. > :40:08.the exact same benefits as we have all stopped I'm delighted that he

:40:09. > :40:14.has joined us at this point. He is promising us the exact same benefits

:40:15. > :40:19.as we have inside the single market, that is a benchmark that he has set

:40:20. > :40:27.for these negotiations, and it is a benchmark against which we will

:40:28. > :40:31.measure his success. And so to help in a very positive and collaborative

:40:32. > :40:44.way, to help Secretary of State, we have tried to embed that into

:40:45. > :40:48.paragraph B of New Clause two because livelihoods depend upon it.

:40:49. > :40:51.Does my honourable friend agree with me that tried to get the same access

:40:52. > :40:57.to the single market without paying any of the costs is like

:40:58. > :41:03.disappearing down the rabbit hole to Alice's wonderland, and it is

:41:04. > :41:09.important that we have an assessment of what WTO rules would cost if we

:41:10. > :41:13.had to fall back on those? Good idea! My honourable friend makes an

:41:14. > :41:18.important point, precisely why we have been pushing for proper

:41:19. > :41:23.economic assessments and I acknowledge that it is an ambitious

:41:24. > :41:28.target for the negotiations full of but it is the one that the Secretary

:41:29. > :41:33.of State has set and the one against which his performance will be

:41:34. > :41:37.measured. It's all very well to speculate on trade deals that might

:41:38. > :41:41.or might not come to pass, while the White Paper tells us that the United

:41:42. > :41:49.States are interested in an early trade agreement with the UK, there

:41:50. > :41:52.is no indication of how America's first protectionism is going to give

:41:53. > :41:56.better market access for UK manufactured goods. With this

:41:57. > :42:01.uncertainty, the government needs to do all that it can to secure the

:42:02. > :42:03.jobs that depend upon trading with our biggest and our closest partner,

:42:04. > :42:13.the European Union. Listening to his remarks very

:42:14. > :42:16.carefully, why does he think the European Union would not be seeking

:42:17. > :42:26.a free-trade arrangement with the United Kingdom given the balance of

:42:27. > :42:30.trade we have with the EU? The trade agreement we are seeking is one that

:42:31. > :42:36.I am sure they will be interested in securing, whether they can secure it

:42:37. > :42:38.on the terms, the ambitious terms the secretary of State has set

:42:39. > :42:44.himself is the question to be looked at all stop can I... No, I have

:42:45. > :42:55.already made it clear... The right honourable member has had plenty of

:42:56. > :43:02.floor time. Can I then press on... In terms of... In terms of the trade

:43:03. > :43:06.deal, it really did not help for the Prime Minister to threaten our

:43:07. > :43:09.friends and neighbours that if she did not get her way, she would turn

:43:10. > :43:17.this country into an offshore tax haven. Well... Honourable members

:43:18. > :43:24.opposite may not like it but that was the very clear threat. It is not

:43:25. > :43:28.a threat against the European Union, it is a threat against the British

:43:29. > :43:32.people, because those voting to leave the EU did so on the

:43:33. > :43:38.understanding that the NHS was going to receive more money. That is not

:43:39. > :43:42.possible if we slash taxes, and this house should not allow it, which is

:43:43. > :43:47.the purpose of the new clause, seven. I'm going to make some

:43:48. > :43:54.progress, I am minded of the comments made by misses Lang. This

:43:55. > :43:57.is the purpose of new clause seven, it should command support across the

:43:58. > :44:03.house because this government has been working with partners in the

:44:04. > :44:07.OECD on efforts to avoid a race to the bottom on corporation tax. --

:44:08. > :44:12.Mrs Laing. That is what this clause in doses. In avoiding that race to

:44:13. > :44:15.the bottom, new clause two would commit the government to maintaining

:44:16. > :44:20.all existing social economic consumer and workers' rights, as

:44:21. > :44:23.well as continuing to collaborate upon environmental protection. The

:44:24. > :44:28.government has paid lip service to these things but I think that they

:44:29. > :44:32.might understand people's scepticism over their intentions, the White

:44:33. > :44:36.Paper boast of increasing enforcement budgets for the national

:44:37. > :44:39.minimum wage compliance, but it fails to mention the appalling low

:44:40. > :44:44.numbers of prosecutions for nonpayment of the national minimum

:44:45. > :44:55.wage, or rice of youths in the care sector, of which the government is

:44:56. > :45:10.aware but has failed to act. -- of abuse in the care sector.

:45:11. > :45:17.What is it about the impact of our carbon emissions that is specific?

:45:18. > :45:21.So specific that addressing it cannot better be done through

:45:22. > :45:28.continued collaboration with the European Union? I've been listening

:45:29. > :45:34.with great interest for 20 minutes. Could he tell the House, what is

:45:35. > :45:43.what he is saying got to do with Article 50? I guess the right

:45:44. > :45:47.honourable member had spotted that triggering Article 50 will signal

:45:48. > :46:14.our departure from the European Union. And the implications of that

:46:15. > :46:22.put at risk the many benefits... The former Chief Whip knows better than

:46:23. > :46:35.anyone how business is conducted in the size. He asks me to tell the

:46:36. > :46:41.House. There is no need. That will clearly have implications for the

:46:42. > :46:45.many environmental, employment and consumer rights that have been one

:46:46. > :46:51.of the last 42 years. Does he not agree that the government which has

:46:52. > :46:59.been dragged to court on three occasions for failing on air quality

:47:00. > :47:03.and is negotiating behind the scenes to try to drop standards, it is

:47:04. > :47:12.really important we try to talk about environmental standards? I do

:47:13. > :47:31.indeed. That's why it is embedded within our new clause to. I will try

:47:32. > :47:46.to make some progress. New clause two also seeks to make progress in

:47:47. > :47:51.preventing serious and organised crime. The Prime Minister talks

:47:52. > :48:01.about this, but will she commit? Let me take one example. The basis of

:48:02. > :48:08.new clause 192. Tucked away in the explanatory notes is the revelation

:48:09. > :48:17.that it will trigger our exit from the European atomic energy agency.

:48:18. > :48:24.I'm pretty confident that the British people on 23 June did not

:48:25. > :48:26.vote against our leading role in nuclear energy safety and research.

:48:27. > :48:37.It certainly wasn't on the ballot paper. It is a distinct treaty. And

:48:38. > :48:42.it would fly in the face of common sense to throw away membership for

:48:43. > :48:47.an organisation which brings such unequivocal benefit. Get the White

:48:48. > :48:52.Paper is as ambiguous as the Secretary of State was last week on

:48:53. > :49:03.the government's intention. Talking simply of leaving your tone. I don't

:49:04. > :49:12.know whether he yesterday attended the all-party Parliamentary group on

:49:13. > :49:19.medical research. He will know it was made clear that we need to

:49:20. > :49:27.maintain the closest possible ties with the EU regarding funding and

:49:28. > :49:32.free movement of people. Does he not agree the government need to listen

:49:33. > :49:37.if we are to preserve our wonderful scientific research base in this

:49:38. > :49:44.country. I was at a meeting of medical research charities on

:49:45. > :49:49.Monday, at which they made precisely that point. And indeed ensuring that

:49:50. > :49:55.we had the right relationship starting ideally with membership of

:49:56. > :50:05.the European medicines agency. Thank you. He has been generous. He

:50:06. > :50:08.probably knows I have the colour fusion Centre in my constituency,

:50:09. > :50:15.which is very concerned about this issue. I have had conversations with

:50:16. > :50:21.them. The conversations said that the amendments that are in this bill

:50:22. > :50:26.are not helpful. That is their decision on this. They are much

:50:27. > :50:33.better dealing with ministers and putting pressure on the Treasury to

:50:34. > :50:41.achieve their objectives. I thank the honourable member for his point.

:50:42. > :50:48.But I think a very effective way of putting pressure to save the jet

:50:49. > :50:56.centre that he is referring to, which is a hugely important

:50:57. > :51:05.facility, is bypassing amendment -- new clause 192. The Minister is

:51:06. > :51:10.making an important point. These hugely important research projects

:51:11. > :51:18.in nuclear have long leading ties. If we are to trigger knotting to

:51:19. > :51:23.leave the European Union, one of the concerns is no agreement will be put

:51:24. > :51:33.in place at the end of the two years. Does he agree with me that

:51:34. > :51:37.there should be a transitional arrangement? He makes an important

:51:38. > :51:44.point and I agree. I would press ministers to give greater clarity on

:51:45. > :51:50.their intentions. As I say, the Secretary of State so far has been

:51:51. > :52:00.ambiguous. I think I should respond to the appeal that we make some

:52:01. > :52:04.progress. It has been suggested that the government's reservations about

:52:05. > :52:09.Euroton is because the Court of justice of the EU is the regulatory

:52:10. > :52:17.body for the treaty. If that is the case, then obsessional opposition to

:52:18. > :52:28.the Court of justice leads them to one to tear up an organisation which

:52:29. > :52:35.supports a critical industry. Membership which, as the honourable

:52:36. > :52:41.member has pointed out, led us to hosting the biggest nuclear fusion

:52:42. > :52:46.programme in the world. And going to make some progress. And on which

:52:47. > :52:59.nuclear safety is important. I will finish this point. Before the

:53:00. > :53:02.Secretary of State leaves, I think it would be helpful for the

:53:03. > :53:10.government to explain their intentions. The people in this

:53:11. > :53:14.country deserve to know on Euroton. People voting in Copeland in a

:53:15. > :53:19.couple of weeks will want to know, their jobs are on the line. I will

:53:20. > :53:25.give the Secretary of State or indeed the Minister the opportunity

:53:26. > :53:32.to intervene to give an an ambiguous statement it is the government's

:53:33. > :53:39.intention to remain in Euroton. I was providing the opportunity to

:53:40. > :53:46.give way to those who can make a useful commitment. Otherwise, I

:53:47. > :53:52.think their silence says everything. There clearly is much more to be

:53:53. > :53:56.said about our future relationship. There are many poor people who wish

:53:57. > :54:11.to see it and done many more amendments. I will draw my remarks

:54:12. > :54:15.to a clause. Order. The House must allow the shadow minister to draw

:54:16. > :54:21.his remarks to a close or no one else will have an opportunity to

:54:22. > :54:27.speak and it will not be my fault. I will draw my remarks to a close with

:54:28. > :54:34.a simple wish. If we are to bring people together around plans that

:54:35. > :54:39.address the concerns of the 100%, our new clause is provide a basis

:54:40. > :54:50.for doing so. And supporting them would be a good first step. The

:54:51. > :54:57.question is that new clause two be read a second time. Mr John Redwood.

:54:58. > :55:00.I find myself in agreement with new clause two. I think it makes

:55:01. > :55:10.perfectly sensible statements about what our negotiating aims should be.

:55:11. > :55:19.I think it is a statement of the White Paper policy. We wish to

:55:20. > :55:24.maintain a strong and growing economy, as we have done ever since

:55:25. > :55:29.the Brexit fault. Of course we want to maintain peace in Northern

:55:30. > :55:33.Ireland, and have excellent trading agreements with those in Europe. Of

:55:34. > :55:40.course we want to have lots of cooperative activity with European

:55:41. > :55:44.states. And of course we wish to maintain the important rights and

:55:45. > :55:47.legal protections which are in European law. The government has

:55:48. > :55:50.made it crystal clear in the White Paper and in many statements and

:55:51. > :55:54.answers to questions and debates from the front bench that all those

:55:55. > :56:05.things are fundamental to the negotiating aims of the government.

:56:06. > :56:09.I just need to explain why, having exciting them with my agreement, I

:56:10. > :56:20.will not vote in favour of it. As it is agreed, I will agree with the

:56:21. > :56:24.front bench. Although the words did not explicitly say this is what has

:56:25. > :56:27.to be delivered, if it's embedded in legislation, the indication is that

:56:28. > :56:31.all these things have to be delivered and some of them are not

:56:32. > :56:36.in the gift of this government or this Parliament. I return to this

:56:37. > :56:41.point that the opposition never seems to grasp. We are all united in

:56:42. > :56:45.the aims of our trade being tariff free, but it will be decided by the

:56:46. > :56:54.other 27, not by this Parliament or ministers. Given that the list in

:56:55. > :56:57.new clause two does indeed exactly match some of the things in White

:56:58. > :57:00.Paper, so therefore is pointless because they are all covered in a

:57:01. > :57:05.White Paper, isn't it interesting that the two areas it doesn't

:57:06. > :57:11.mention our immigration and strengthening the United Kingdom. I

:57:12. > :57:18.think those missions are very significant. A powerful point. I

:57:19. > :57:22.would add others. It's a shame it doesn't talk about fishing. It

:57:23. > :57:26.doesn't talk about immigration policy. We still don't seem to

:57:27. > :57:29.understand that you have to remove the jurisdiction of the European

:57:30. > :57:33.Court of Justice if this Parliament is in future going to be free to

:57:34. > :57:37.have a fishing policy that helps restore the fishing grounds of

:57:38. > :57:46.Scotland and England, that has a policy that makes sense to have some

:57:47. > :57:54.limit on the numbers of people coming to this country. The wish

:57:55. > :58:00.list is encapsulated in two words. Single market. He hasn't been

:58:01. > :58:05.listening to what I been saying. The whole point about the single market

:58:06. > :58:14.is it does not allow you to have a sensible fishing policy or borders

:58:15. > :58:19.policy. I wonder if the honourable gentleman would like to reconsider

:58:20. > :58:28.what he has just said. He just said the single market does not allow you

:58:29. > :58:36.to have a sensible fishing policy. But Norway has such a policy, as is

:58:37. > :58:43.mentioned in this document, Scotland's place in Europe. What we

:58:44. > :58:47.want, and I think what is agreed across this House, even by some

:58:48. > :58:51.members of the SNP, is we want maximum tariff free barrier free

:58:52. > :58:57.access to their internal market, but it is not on offer from the other 27

:58:58. > :59:02.for us to stay in the single market but not comply with all the other

:59:03. > :59:06.things we have to comply with as a member of the EU. There is no

:59:07. > :59:09.separate think all the single market. It's a series of laws going

:59:10. > :59:14.over all sorts of boundaries and barriers. If you withdraw from the

:59:15. > :59:19.EU, you withdraw from the single market. His example was on fishing

:59:20. > :59:24.policy. Does he agree as a point of fact that normally is in the single

:59:25. > :59:30.market but pursues its own independent fishing policy? Yes or

:59:31. > :59:34.no? Normally decided to sacrifice control over borders in order to get

:59:35. > :59:38.certain other things from a different kind of relationship from

:59:39. > :59:40.the EU, but we don't wish to join the EEA because we don't wish to

:59:41. > :59:50.sacrifice control over our borders. Norway was part of the Nordic free

:59:51. > :59:56.movement area with Sweden, Finland and Denmark way before the European

:59:57. > :59:58.Union was even invented, the honourable gentleman is absolutely

:59:59. > :00:04.wrong! Now it is far bigger than that, that was part of their deal,

:00:05. > :00:08.they have to pay a lot of money in, which rarely we do not wish to pay,

:00:09. > :00:11.why would we want to do that? My right honourable friend, does he

:00:12. > :00:15.agree with me that if members opposite are really serious about

:00:16. > :00:19.the flourishing of the economy, 80% of which is services, they should

:00:20. > :00:23.accept that we need to be able to do trade deals on services and that

:00:24. > :00:29.means we need to leave the day, so we can negotiate about regulation.

:00:30. > :00:32.-- EEA. That is quite right, they nor the rest of the whole of the

:00:33. > :00:36.world, we have a profitable balanced trade with the rest of the world,

:00:37. > :00:41.the often end in surplus with the rest of the world, massive deficit

:00:42. > :00:45.on goods with the EU alone, and there is much more scope for road in

:00:46. > :00:50.our trade with the rest of the world than there is with the EU, partly

:00:51. > :00:53.because the rest of the world is growing much faster overall, and

:00:54. > :00:57.partly because we have a chance to have a much bigger proportion of the

:00:58. > :01:02.market there, then we carry me have, obviously right now we have advanced

:01:03. > :01:09.trade with EE you, which is probably in decline because of the obvious

:01:10. > :01:16.economic problems in the euro area. -- EU. Does he know that while the

:01:17. > :01:20.Shadow Minister made known mention of the importance of controlling

:01:21. > :01:25.immigration, in use new clause two, there is mention of deserving peace

:01:26. > :01:28.in Northern Ireland though he never mentions one. Does the member not

:01:29. > :01:35.accept that this is perhaps because he understands that Brexit has no

:01:36. > :01:39.implications for peace in Northern Ireland, it is not a cause for

:01:40. > :01:44.increased terrorism and indeed the terrorists never fought to stay in

:01:45. > :01:47.the EU, they fought to get out of Britain. The honourable gentleman

:01:48. > :01:55.has made his own point, we always Northern Ireland well. There is

:01:56. > :02:00.nothing on the face of new clause to that is remotely objectionable, as

:02:01. > :02:05.an objective for the country, in the forthcoming negotiations, to either

:02:06. > :02:11.leave is all remain as, but does he accept that it is desirable to have

:02:12. > :02:17.tariff free access to the single market, it is not possible to have

:02:18. > :02:21.access to any market if you don't accept and is to the regulations in

:02:22. > :02:25.that market, otherwise it regulates barriers, and you need to have some

:02:26. > :02:29.dispute procedure. If you start rejecting the European court of

:02:30. > :02:33.justice and saying all the regulations have got to be British

:02:34. > :02:38.regulations, and we are free to alter them when we feel like it, you

:02:39. > :02:43.are actually not pursuing the objectives in new clause two, to

:02:44. > :02:47.which he expresses otherwise complete agreement. Of course when

:02:48. > :02:51.you enter free-trade agreement or other trade arrangement, there is a

:02:52. > :02:56.dispute resolution procedure, a clear one in the WTO, the way that I

:02:57. > :03:01.see it happening, we will register the best deal we can get with the EU

:03:02. > :03:05.under our WTO membership and it will be governed by normal WTO resolution

:03:06. > :03:09.procedures, which we have no problem with. The problem with the EEC J is

:03:10. > :03:14.it presumes to strike down the wishes of the British people and

:03:15. > :03:18.good statute made by this House of Commons over a wide range of issues,

:03:19. > :03:24.which means we are no longer sovereign all of the time we are in

:03:25. > :03:29.it. He has argued that membership of the EU inhibits our ability to train

:03:30. > :03:36.with the expanding economies of the rest of the world. Could he explain

:03:37. > :03:40.if this is so, why Germany exports almost four times as much as we do

:03:41. > :03:47.to China, and exceeds our exports to both India and Brazil, the other

:03:48. > :03:52.fast-growing economies, and France also exports more to China and

:03:53. > :04:00.Brazil than we do? What is it that they do within the EU that we will

:04:01. > :04:03.do when we come out? It is quite of years Germany will export more at

:04:04. > :04:07.the early stages of development in an emerging market economy because

:04:08. > :04:11.they tend to export capital equipment of the kind you need to

:04:12. > :04:15.industrialise, which is what China bought in the last decade, now China

:04:16. > :04:20.is a much richer country, she is going on to have massive expansion

:04:21. > :04:24.of services and that is where we have an advantage, with the right

:04:25. > :04:28.kind of arrangement with China we can accelerate growth of our

:04:29. > :04:32.exports, which they will now want rather more rapidly. The honourable

:04:33. > :04:36.gentleman should understand, the EU imposes massive and I think

:04:37. > :04:40.dangerous barriers against the emerging market world for its

:04:41. > :04:43.agricultural Rogers, the kind of deals that we can offer to an

:04:44. > :04:47.emerging market country is to say that we will buy their much cheaper

:04:48. > :04:52.food by taking the tariff barriers of the products, in return for

:04:53. > :04:55.having much better access to the service industrial goods markets,

:04:56. > :04:59.where a rehab products they might like to buy, my honourable friend,

:05:00. > :05:03.worried about British farmers, British farmers will have a subsidy

:05:04. > :05:11.regime based on environmental factors, which we would want to

:05:12. > :05:16.continue. What impact will that have on Welsh agriculture and the rural

:05:17. > :05:21.economy? I just explained, it should boost it, I am sure, first of all,

:05:22. > :05:26.more market opportunities will open up for large farmers, but we will

:05:27. > :05:32.also debate in this house have with a support regime, I hope it is one

:05:33. > :05:35.which does not only reward environmental objectives but is

:05:36. > :05:40.friendly to promoting the greater efficiencies that can come from more

:05:41. > :05:43.farm mechanisation and farm enlargement, which will be a very

:05:44. > :05:47.important part of the journey to eliminate some of that massive

:05:48. > :05:51.deficit we currently run in food with the rest of the EU, whilst

:05:52. > :05:55.being more decent to the emerging world, the poor countries, whom we

:05:56. > :06:02.deliberately deny access to our markets. Can I take it from what he

:06:03. > :06:08.has just said it that in any free-trade deal with New Zealand, in

:06:09. > :06:11.the interests of getting good access to the New Zealand market for

:06:12. > :06:17.financial services and he will continue to ensure that sheep

:06:18. > :06:22.farmers in this country are not sacrificed in any such free-trade

:06:23. > :06:25.agreement? I am sure that would be a very appropriate part of our

:06:26. > :06:30.discussions when our country holds it with New Zealand and Australia, I

:06:31. > :06:33.broadly take the view, as I thought the party opposite was taking the

:06:34. > :06:37.view, getting rid of tariffs is a good idea, they have spent six

:06:38. > :06:40.months saying how we should not have tariffs on trade with Europe, now I

:06:41. > :06:44.discover they want tariffs on trade with everywhere else in the world,

:06:45. > :06:51.so I think they are arguing a big contradiction. Does he not agree

:06:52. > :06:57.with me that it is a truly remarkable thing that Germany makes

:06:58. > :07:00.three times as much money on coffee than developing countries because of

:07:01. > :07:06.tariffs, does he not also agree with me that at the moment we are

:07:07. > :07:10.noticing a problem with out of season fruit and vegetables in

:07:11. > :07:16.supermarkets, in part because of the pressures that applied to producers

:07:17. > :07:22.in North Africa, it is no good colleagues opposite having a go at

:07:23. > :07:26.those who are concerned about international development

:07:27. > :07:30.assistance, if they are prepared to tolerate tariff barriers of that

:07:31. > :07:34.sort, that act against the interests of developing countries. We have

:07:35. > :07:40.teased out something important in this debate, we have teased out that

:07:41. > :07:42.they want no barriers against very ferocious competition from

:07:43. > :07:45.agriculture on the continent, undoubtedly damaged an awful lot of

:07:46. > :07:50.Welsh and Scottish and English farms, but want maximum tariff

:07:51. > :07:54.barriers on trade with the rest of the world so we still need to buy

:07:55. > :08:01.food, dear food, that does not seem to be a very appealing package. On

:08:02. > :08:05.the land issue, just last week I visited Randall Park foods in my

:08:06. > :08:10.constituency, who slaughter and process several hundred thousand

:08:11. > :08:14.Welsh lambs every single year, and are salivating at the chance of

:08:15. > :08:18.opening up in particular the US market, where Welsh lamb is

:08:19. > :08:25.underrepresented, and there is huge potential for export more than we

:08:26. > :08:29.already do. I think there are some great English, Welsh, Scottish and

:08:30. > :08:32.Northern Ireland is agricultural products and with the right tariff

:08:33. > :08:36.system for the rest of the world we can do considerably better with

:08:37. > :08:41.quality products. I congratulate my right honourable friend on his great

:08:42. > :08:44.speech here, if I may say, but I would like to ask one question which

:08:45. > :08:51.goes for the merits of this particular clause, the new clause,

:08:52. > :08:54.the Prime Minister shall give an undertaking, which is clearly a

:08:55. > :09:00.mandatory requirement under statute, which itself calls for judicial

:09:01. > :09:04.review if somebody decides to do so but to preserve peace in Northern

:09:05. > :09:08.Ireland...? As a matter of public interest, as a matter of judicial

:09:09. > :09:13.review, I have never ever seen, in all my experience, a clause which is

:09:14. > :09:20.so unbelievably unworkable, and completely contrary to all the

:09:21. > :09:23.assumptions that one would rely upon for a decent... INAUDIBLE

:09:24. > :09:28.I am grateful for you draw in me back onto the central point of my

:09:29. > :09:32.speech, kindly said I'd made a good speech, I think I just responded to

:09:33. > :09:35.everybody else making their own speeches and riding their own

:09:36. > :09:39.hobbyhorses, I hope they have enjoyed giving their hobbyhorses a

:09:40. > :09:45.good ride on this occasion. To summarise my briefcase, it is this:

:09:46. > :09:48.the aims are fine, they happen to be agreed by the government, they are

:09:49. > :09:52.disappointing because they leave out some very important aims that matter

:09:53. > :09:56.to the British people, taking back control of our borders and laws and

:09:57. > :10:02.dealing with certain problems, there are many others, they leave out, as

:10:03. > :10:06.they always do, the huge opportunities to have so much better

:10:07. > :10:09.policies in areas like farming and fishing, which would be better for

:10:10. > :10:13.our own industry and better for consumers. They have now revealed

:10:14. > :10:16.this fundamental contradiction in wanting tariff free trade in Europe,

:10:17. > :10:22.with massive tariff barriers everywhere else, and don't seem to

:10:23. > :10:25.think through the logic of it. My conclusion, nothing wrong with the

:10:26. > :10:28.aims, we need the extra aims that the government has spelt out, it

:10:29. > :10:33.would be quite silly to incorporate negotiating names in a piece of

:10:34. > :10:37.legislation. I believe in the government's good-faith, we are

:10:38. > :10:41.mercifully united in wanting tariff free barrier free trade with the

:10:42. > :10:45.rest of Europe, it is not in this house's gift let alone ministers

:10:46. > :10:49.gift to deliver that but if they are sensible on the continent, they will

:10:50. > :10:53.want it because they get much more out of this trade than we do and

:10:54. > :10:58.they must understand that if we put in, most-favoured-nation tariffs,

:10:59. > :11:02.they are low or nonexistent on the things we sell to them but they can

:11:03. > :11:08.be penal on the things where they are being particularly successful at

:11:09. > :11:16.selling to us. Great idea, the aims, but the silly idea, to put it into

:11:17. > :11:23.law. Joanna Cherry. Today's debate is about on amendments about

:11:24. > :11:27.priorities for negotiation, the UK priorities for the negotiations of

:11:28. > :11:33.withdrawal from the European Union. I want to talk about Scotland's

:11:34. > :11:38.priorities. We also have the SNP put forward some amendments about the

:11:39. > :11:45.situation of Gibraltar. Found at amendment number 54. We deal with

:11:46. > :11:51.the fact that this bill has omitted to include Gibraltar within its

:11:52. > :11:55.remit. Rather curious, given the great love and affection that

:11:56. > :11:59.members opposite have for Gibraltar, and those of us who remembers of the

:12:00. > :12:02.select committee, will have been very impressed with the evidence

:12:03. > :12:08.that the Chief minister for Gibraltar gave to us a couple of

:12:09. > :12:16.weeks ago, Fabian Picardo, the main concern is to preserve sovereignty.

:12:17. > :12:21.And he was very happy to be part of the red white and blue "Brexit" that

:12:22. > :12:27.has been spoken about. It is important that we take into account

:12:28. > :12:32.Gibraltar, the honourable member for Ilford South, that has a long and

:12:33. > :12:38.admirable commitment to the people of Gibraltar, and its interests, has

:12:39. > :12:42.laid amendments, in particular number 29, which I'm sure he's going

:12:43. > :12:45.to tell us about in detail in due course, which would put upon the

:12:46. > :12:51.British government a requirement to consult with Gibraltar before

:12:52. > :12:55.triggering Article 50. I'm not going to make a speech now, I hope to be

:12:56. > :12:59.called later, I would like to emphasise that there is a very

:13:00. > :13:08.important need to protect the interests of Gibraltar. Whereas, as

:13:09. > :13:13.she said, we are not referring to Gibraltar in this spirit, a it was

:13:14. > :13:18.specifically mentioned by an amendment when the legislation was

:13:19. > :13:22.agreed to hold the referendum, the people of Gibraltar voted in that

:13:23. > :13:26.referendum. Surely we should have an amendments to the Bill which accepts

:13:27. > :13:35.that Gibraltar's interests are also considered. Absolutely, and I have

:13:36. > :13:39.here from a -- have here a letter from the deputy chief minister, he

:13:40. > :13:42.says that it would be politically useful to Gibraltar to have

:13:43. > :13:46.confirmation and it would follow logically from the original consent

:13:47. > :13:50.that Gibraltar already gave to the extension of the actual UK

:13:51. > :13:56.referendum act to Gibraltar. But I will come back to that in more

:13:57. > :14:01.detail... It's important to back up the member for Ilford South, the

:14:02. > :14:07.connection that Gibraltar shows to the United Kingdom and to British

:14:08. > :14:12.Gibraltar should be reflected in a sense, members should take this very

:14:13. > :14:16.seriously, about supporting the amendment from the member for Ilford

:14:17. > :14:20.South, it would send a signal to Gibraltar that they are

:14:21. > :14:23.respectively, members on both sides of the house respect Gibraltar.

:14:24. > :14:28.Please, listen to the member for Ilford South in the speech. I

:14:29. > :14:33.totally agree with my honourable friend, again, reading from the

:14:34. > :14:37.letter, from the deputy chief minister of Gibraltar, he says he

:14:38. > :14:41.understands that our amendments mirror a number of others which have

:14:42. > :14:44.been tabled, seeking to make clear the application of the act of

:14:45. > :14:47.Gibraltar, and this would strengthen Gibraltar's case to be mentioned in

:14:48. > :14:52.the Article 50 letter. Scotland shares with Gibraltar a desire to be

:14:53. > :14:56.mentioned in the Article 50 letter, and the big priority for Scotland is

:14:57. > :15:00.that the British government take into account the Scottish

:15:01. > :15:05.Government's request for a differentiated deal for Scotland. We

:15:06. > :15:11.had a new clause about this new clause 145, which would require the

:15:12. > :15:17.British government to commit to such a differentiated deal, before

:15:18. > :15:21.triggering Article 50, that has been held over until today, but we will

:15:22. > :15:25.not put it to a vote because we are prepared to give the UK Government

:15:26. > :15:29.one last chance to respond to this document, Scotland's place in

:15:30. > :15:32.Europe, laid before the British government before Christmas, some

:15:33. > :15:37.seven weeks ago... I will in a moment, some seven weeks ago, and to

:15:38. > :15:46.which no formal response has yet been received.

:15:47. > :15:55.We are to tell the morning from the Scottish Government's minister for

:15:56. > :15:58.negotiations with the United Kingdom about this document. Far more

:15:59. > :16:03.detailed document in its proposals than anything the British Government

:16:04. > :16:16.has prepared so far. I give way. Thank you. I don't disagree with her

:16:17. > :16:21.when it comes to Gibraltar and also maybe even Scotland. But we are

:16:22. > :16:27.acting on behalf of the whole of the UK. Either any other places that if

:16:28. > :16:32.there was to be a list, such as the Isle of Man or jersey, would she

:16:33. > :16:37.like to see a long list of places listed in the letter? The

:16:38. > :16:45.arrangements for the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are different

:16:46. > :16:47.and they are not in the European Union. Perhaps you would like to

:16:48. > :16:53.read this document which will explain that to him. Within the

:16:54. > :16:58.wider UK and Crown dependencies, there are in fact some

:16:59. > :17:02.differentiated agreements. Going back to the case of Gibraltar, it is

:17:03. > :17:10.in the European Union but not in the customs union. Al return to

:17:11. > :17:17.Gibraltar in due course. There was a direct quote from the Daily

:17:18. > :17:25.Telegraph. Theresa May has indicated the formal process will not be

:17:26. > :17:32.triggered until there is an agreed approach backed by Scotland. Shirley

:17:33. > :17:44.the honourable members opposite are not intending for the Prime Minister

:17:45. > :17:50.to break her word? We are not asking for a veto. This is a compromise.

:17:51. > :18:01.Whereby Scotland could remain in the single market while the rest of the

:18:02. > :18:05.UK exits the single market. Members opposite are shaking their heads.

:18:06. > :18:13.Look up the difference between a veto and a compromise. It's rather a

:18:14. > :18:18.radical difference. I'm going to make some progress, Mrs Laing. Make

:18:19. > :18:22.some progress and then I will take some more interventions perhaps from

:18:23. > :18:30.people who have not yet spoken in this debate. The Scottish

:18:31. > :18:34.Government, as I said, have put forward a proposal and we are

:18:35. > :18:39.waiting for that proposal to be taken seriously. Now, the signs that

:18:40. > :18:43.the positional Scotland, the compromise we have put forward, are

:18:44. > :18:48.going to be taken seriously by the government and this House have not

:18:49. > :18:53.been promising so far. Not a single amendment has been passed to this

:18:54. > :18:58.bill, despite the numerous amendments tabled by all sorts of

:18:59. > :19:02.different groupings within this House. Many with significant

:19:03. > :19:08.cross-party support. And even yesterday when the government was

:19:09. > :19:10.forced into announcing a significant concession, they were

:19:11. > :19:17.extraordinarily reluctant to commit that concession to writing. We'll

:19:18. > :19:23.know by. They have fought tooth and nail through the courts and in this

:19:24. > :19:29.House to avoid the sort of scrutiny that those of them who sought to

:19:30. > :19:35.leave the European Union have been trumpeting for years, telling us how

:19:36. > :19:41.fantastic this sovereign mother of Parliaments is. Yet we are the rated

:19:42. > :19:48.for having the effrontery for attempting to amend bill. I will not

:19:49. > :19:55.give way. We heard ample from the honourable gentleman the other day.

:19:56. > :20:01.I will not give way. This bill, Mrs Lang, is being railroaded through

:20:02. > :20:05.this House, with scant regard for democratic process. Here's an

:20:06. > :20:16.example. On Monday, when we debated the amendments which concerned

:20:17. > :20:21.devolved parliaments, only one of my honourable members got to speak.

:20:22. > :20:31.When I attempted to double that, I was told to sit down, shut up and

:20:32. > :20:36.know my place. Mrs Lang, I don't mind being insulted and affronted in

:20:37. > :20:41.this House. But what people need to remember is that it's not just me,

:20:42. > :20:45.it's the people who elected me that are being insulted and affronted,

:20:46. > :20:53.when I am prevented from speaking about amendments on which my name

:20:54. > :20:56.appears. The honourable members opposite are extraordinarily relaxed

:20:57. > :21:01.about the effect this sort of thing has on Scottish public opinion. I

:21:02. > :21:05.don't like the take the Herald newspaper. It's rather difficult to

:21:06. > :21:11.get hold of in the House of Commons, but if they do, they will see the

:21:12. > :21:19.headline. Support for independence surges on hard Brexit VAIO. Are

:21:20. > :21:23.backing for a yes vote in another independence referendum has risen to

:21:24. > :21:34.49% on the back of the hard Brexit value. Make no mistake, and it gives

:21:35. > :21:37.me great pleasure to see this, that the barracking of honourable members

:21:38. > :21:43.opposite and the preventing of SNP MPs from speaking in this House

:21:44. > :21:54.plays right into our hands and results in headlines like this.

:21:55. > :22:01.Support for independence surges. Point of order. On Monday, when we

:22:02. > :22:07.were debating the amendments on devolution and the arrangements, I

:22:08. > :22:12.spoke about the amendments that were on the paper. I seem to remember I

:22:13. > :22:17.took many interventions, including from the right honourable and

:22:18. > :22:23.learnable lady. She was not therefore prevented from speaking

:22:24. > :22:35.and in I seem to remember Mrs Lang, that the person in the chair at the

:22:36. > :22:42.time made great efforts to facilitate the honourable and

:22:43. > :22:47.learnable lady making a speech, there was then a kerfuffle

:22:48. > :22:53.afterwards when she objected to the amount of time she got. She had a

:22:54. > :23:00.fair opportunity on Monday. The honourable gentleman doesn't need to

:23:01. > :23:11.put the record straight because it's a matter of record. I have myself

:23:12. > :23:15.looked in Hansard and by the simple use of my arithmetical powers, I

:23:16. > :23:20.have worked out how many people manage to speak for how long, what

:23:21. > :23:26.contributions they made and the honourable Lady is asserting she was

:23:27. > :23:31.prevented from speaking. Because there was a time limit on the

:23:32. > :23:36.debate. The honourable Lady came quite late in the debate. There was

:23:37. > :23:42.not an awful lot of time left in which she could speak. But in saying

:23:43. > :23:49.that she was prevented from speaking, I think the honourable

:23:50. > :23:53.Lady is making a rhetorical point rather than an arithmetical point.

:23:54. > :23:59.Because the honourable Lady's contribution to the debate has been

:24:00. > :24:04.considerable, and she will note that she has been given the opportunity

:24:05. > :24:08.very early in today's proceedings to speak. And I look forward to hearing

:24:09. > :24:12.the honourable Lady speak to the amendments to which she has put her

:24:13. > :24:19.name. And that is what we should stick to. I am grateful for your

:24:20. > :24:26.clarification and indeed I am speaking today because I am leading

:24:27. > :24:31.for the third party in this House, as is my right to speak in the

:24:32. > :24:36.debate. The honourable gentleman opposite is terribly anxious to make

:24:37. > :24:42.an intervention. In order to put him out of his misery, I'd like to hear

:24:43. > :24:48.what he has to say no. And grateful. The point I was going to make in her

:24:49. > :24:53.remarks was on Gibraltar, when she was waxing lyrical about the

:24:54. > :24:58.importance party had to Gibraltar, when I was listening to the evidence

:24:59. > :25:02.to the chief minister of Gibraltar, he was rather more committed to the

:25:03. > :25:10.continuance of the United Kingdom than the Scottish Nationalist Party.

:25:11. > :25:15.That's called democracy. The people of Gibraltar vote for parties that

:25:16. > :25:23.wish to remain part of the UK. The people of Scotland vote for parties

:25:24. > :25:31.that wish to be independent. I'm happy to endorse Gibraltar's right

:25:32. > :25:38.to self-determination, as I am indeed for Scotland or other

:25:39. > :25:41.nations. Gibraltar is not in the United Kingdom. It wants an

:25:42. > :25:47.association with Britain, which is different. The United Kingdom dates

:25:48. > :25:51.from December 1922. Gibraltar does not have a member in this parliament

:25:52. > :25:58.because it is not in the United Kingdom. It is independent of the

:25:59. > :26:09.UK. That is something I would quite like. British but not in the UK.

:26:10. > :26:18.Thank you. I will come back to Gibraltar in a moment. Continuing

:26:19. > :26:20.with the priority in these negotiations from the Scottish

:26:21. > :26:27.prospective. The document I'm holding here is a highly considered

:26:28. > :26:32.and detailed case which has been put forward for the British Government.

:26:33. > :26:36.We're still waiting for any kind of considered or detailed response.

:26:37. > :26:44.This morning, the exiting the EU committee heard from legal experts.

:26:45. > :26:47.We were told the proposals in this document are credible and merit

:26:48. > :26:51.examination. What the Scottish Government is asking for from the

:26:52. > :26:55.British Government is now more than the British Government is asking for

:26:56. > :27:00.from the other 27 member states in the EU, and that is for

:27:01. > :27:04.consideration in negotiations on our position. Our position is somewhat

:27:05. > :27:09.less substantial than the position that the British Government won't

:27:10. > :27:16.put forward in Europe. I will make some progress, then I will give way.

:27:17. > :27:20.The Scottish Government is looking for a response to this document and

:27:21. > :27:26.that's why we're not going to push new clause 145. There is a meeting

:27:27. > :27:29.taking place this afternoon of the joint ministerial committee and we

:27:30. > :27:33.are still prepared to put faith for the time being in the promised the

:27:34. > :27:39.Prime Minister made, which my right honourable friend has just reminded

:27:40. > :27:46.us of, about Scotland's wishes being taken into account. Make no mistake,

:27:47. > :27:51.we will expect the Prime Minister to deliver on that promise. We will

:27:52. > :27:55.expect to have our position, just as Gibraltar what's its position put

:27:56. > :27:58.forward in the Article 50 letter, and if that doesn't happen, the

:27:59. > :28:11.Prime Minister breaks promise and we will hold another independence

:28:12. > :28:26.referendum as we are nearly 50% and not a word has been uttered in the

:28:27. > :28:30.campaign. She referenced the evidence session from this morning.

:28:31. > :28:34.Would you agree with me is that there were a number of unanswered

:28:35. > :28:39.questions that came through in that committee, including what

:28:40. > :28:45.regulations Scotland may be subject to if it were to be in the EEA, what

:28:46. > :28:48.the impact might be on the trade relationship with the rest of the

:28:49. > :28:55.UK, what controls at the border might be or not, if Scotland had

:28:56. > :29:02.free movement but the rest of the UK did not? And what payment would need

:29:03. > :29:08.to be made by Scotland and where it would come from. I don't agree. The

:29:09. > :29:19.transcript will be available shortly. When honourable members

:29:20. > :29:22.read a transcript, they will see that the answers to the questions

:29:23. > :29:27.they were asking bring this document. At least one member

:29:28. > :29:36.admitted they had not read the document. As it is to be hoped, that

:29:37. > :29:47.the British Government are studying this document... Thank you. She very

:29:48. > :29:50.touchingly says her document is compromised, but doesn't she and her

:29:51. > :29:58.party understand that a compromise document is one that she and I agree

:29:59. > :30:05.and I don't agree with her document. I've got some news for the

:30:06. > :30:12.honourable gentleman. When the United Kingdom government goes to

:30:13. > :30:17.negotiate with the European Union, 27 member states, about exiting the

:30:18. > :30:20.EU, then the UK Government will be looking for a compromise. At the

:30:21. > :30:28.moment, it's looking for things the EU member states are not willing to

:30:29. > :30:34.give. But that's how negotiations work. If he had read the document,

:30:35. > :30:38.he would know that although normally is in the single market, it's not in

:30:39. > :30:46.the Common fisheries policy. Scotland is looking for an

:30:47. > :30:50.arrangement similar to that of Norway, and the Norwegians seem to

:30:51. > :30:58.be doing pretty well. It looks like a successful country. I give way.

:30:59. > :31:03.I would expect the right honourable member to have kept his pledge if he

:31:04. > :31:08.had made the same one as the Prime Minister. I hope the example today

:31:09. > :31:15.of Liechtenstein and Switzerland. Switzerland is in the European

:31:16. > :31:23.economic area, Switzerland is not -- Liechtenstein is not. They have a

:31:24. > :31:27.frictionless border. Indeed. Many of the questions that honourable

:31:28. > :31:31.members in this house raise with the Scottish National Party about how

:31:32. > :31:36.these matters might be managed are rancid in this document, which is

:31:37. > :31:40.the product of research and consultation that has been going on

:31:41. > :31:43.while the British government has been going around in circles trying

:31:44. > :31:46.to decide whether it wants to be in the single market or the customs

:31:47. > :31:51.union. The Scottish Government has been looking at a considered

:31:52. > :31:54.compromise and answer to the dilemma in which we find ourselves, where

:31:55. > :31:57.the majority of Scotland wish to remain part of the European Union,

:31:58. > :32:02.but the rest of the UK wishes to exit. My honourable friend made an

:32:03. > :32:06.important point a few minutes ago about Norway and the benefits that

:32:07. > :32:10.could accrue particularly to my constituency with a Norwegian style

:32:11. > :32:15.deal that would indeed help our fishing interests, but would also

:32:16. > :32:20.help our fish processors and all who depend on export markets, most of

:32:21. > :32:23.which go into the European Union at present. Indeed. It is no secret

:32:24. > :32:26.that of the minority of people who voted to leave the European Union

:32:27. > :32:31.union in Scotland, a significant proportion were made up of people

:32:32. > :32:35.working in the fishing industry, both because they have received such

:32:36. > :32:39.a bad deal over the years as a result of inept negotiated by the

:32:40. > :32:42.British government, which Scottish Government ministers have been kept

:32:43. > :32:45.out of on the common fisheries policy. The advantage of this

:32:46. > :32:48.compromise proposal for fishermen is that at the same time of coming out

:32:49. > :32:53.of the Common fisheries policy, they would still have access to the

:32:54. > :32:56.single market. I was in Norway recently and I saw a presentation

:32:57. > :33:01.about how the Norwegian fishing industry is progressing on the back

:33:02. > :33:05.of such an arrangement, and it is doing significantly better than the

:33:06. > :33:11.Scottish fishing industry. I am grateful to the honourable lady for

:33:12. > :33:15.giving way. Isn't the more fundamental difficulty with the

:33:16. > :33:18.proposal in the document she has been referring to about Scotland

:33:19. > :33:28.remaining in the single market that there is no evidence that I have

:33:29. > :33:33.seen that any of the other 27 member states, never mind what the British

:33:34. > :33:36.government view is, that any of the 27 member states have indicated that

:33:37. > :33:42.they would consent to such an arrangement, given that all of the

:33:43. > :33:48.other parallels relate to countries, and that is not the case in relation

:33:49. > :33:54.to this proposal? This issue highlights the reason why I am

:33:55. > :33:57.belabouring this point. For Scotland to get the compromise deal we are

:33:58. > :34:01.proposing, the United Kingdom government would first have to

:34:02. > :34:07.accept it as something they would then put forward to the other 27

:34:08. > :34:09.member states. The other member states are waiting for the United

:34:10. > :34:14.Kingdom to put its money where its mouth is and to come to the table

:34:15. > :34:19.and negotiate. They need us to put our own house in order before we do

:34:20. > :34:26.that. The honourable gentleman opposite may not like it, but the

:34:27. > :34:32.Prime Minister made a promise to involve Scotland in negotiations and

:34:33. > :34:36.to look at options for Scotland. We are withholding our right to force

:34:37. > :34:41.our amendment to a vote today in the hope that the Prime Minister will be

:34:42. > :34:46.good to her word. People in Scotland are watching and waiting. This

:34:47. > :34:49.document has widespread support. It has the merit of uniting levers and

:34:50. > :34:59.remainders, because it has a compromise that appeals to both.

:35:00. > :35:03.Wouldn't she agree that in the event that Scotland was in the single

:35:04. > :35:10.market and England, Wales and Northern Ireland were not, industry

:35:11. > :35:13.would move from England and Wales to Scotland with tariff free access to

:35:14. > :35:16.the single market, and industry would move from Northern Ireland to

:35:17. > :35:22.southern Ireland, ripping open the peace process which has been denied

:35:23. > :35:26.earlier? I think the SNP's position on the peace process has been made

:35:27. > :35:30.clear in this House. We would want to do everything to support it. We

:35:31. > :35:34.don't wish to see the rest of the UK suffer as a result of coming out of

:35:35. > :35:36.the single market. That is why the principal suggestion in this

:35:37. > :35:41.document was that the whole of the UK should remain in the single

:35:42. > :35:45.market. I am sorry for members representing English and Welsh

:35:46. > :35:48.constituencies that the Prime Minister has now ruled that of the

:35:49. > :35:53.table, but I am sure those members will understand why we representing

:35:54. > :36:01.Scotland must try and see if we can get a compromise deal for Scotland.

:36:02. > :36:03.Further to the previous intervention, does the honourable

:36:04. > :36:07.lady recognise that if the government did accept that they

:36:08. > :36:12.could negotiate a separate place for Scotland within the single market,

:36:13. > :36:16.that could equally read across in respect of Northern Ireland and

:36:17. > :36:20.would be particularly compatible in terms of upholding the Good Friday

:36:21. > :36:26.agreement in many important ways and would go to the heart of upholding

:36:27. > :36:29.the peace, not upsetting it? Indeed. The honourable gentleman makes his

:36:30. > :36:36.point as usual with great force and clarity. The difficulty is that this

:36:37. > :36:39.morning, we heard in the committee for exiting the European Union from

:36:40. > :36:44.experts who have been observing the process of negotiation between the

:36:45. > :36:49.British government and the devolved nations and the joint ministerial

:36:50. > :36:53.committee. These negotiations lack transparency and they have not made

:36:54. > :36:57.significant progress. That is a matter of regret not just for

:36:58. > :37:04.Scotland, but the Northern Ireland and Wales. If my honourable friend

:37:05. > :37:07.as surprised as I am that there seems to be a suggestion that it

:37:08. > :37:11.would be to Scotland's economic advantage to be in the single market

:37:12. > :37:14.when we seem to be debating leaving the EU in the first phase? Surely

:37:15. > :37:19.what is good for Scotland would be good for the whole of the UK.

:37:20. > :37:23.Indeed, and we made it clear in this document that we felt it would be to

:37:24. > :37:27.the advantage of the whole of the UK to remain in the singer Martin.

:37:28. > :37:31.Unfortunately, the Prime Minister, in what my right honourable friend

:37:32. > :37:34.has described as a foolish negotiating tactic, has ruled that

:37:35. > :37:38.out from the outset. I am going to make some progress now, because I am

:37:39. > :37:42.conscious that a lot of other people wish to speak. And I did say there

:37:43. > :37:45.was going to move on to deal with our amendments on the topic of

:37:46. > :37:53.Gibraltar. As the honourable member for Ilford South pointed out earlier

:37:54. > :37:58.in relation to Gibraltar, it was of course covered by the EU referendum

:37:59. > :38:03.act. If members look back to section 12 one of the EU referendum act, it

:38:04. > :38:06.extended to the United Kingdom and Gibraltar. And there was an

:38:07. > :38:09.overwhelming vote in Gibraltar to remain, but when the chief minister

:38:10. > :38:14.of Gibraltar came to give evidence to the exiting the EU select

:38:15. > :38:17.committee, he explained that they already have a differential

:38:18. > :38:21.agreement for Gibraltar whereby they are in the EU, but not in the

:38:22. > :38:25.customs union. This has worked well for them and they would like to be

:38:26. > :38:29.involved in a Brexit deal that would guarantee continued access to the

:38:30. > :38:36.single market. But they don't want to be forgotten. In the letter I

:38:37. > :38:38.quoted from earlier, the Gibraltarian government support

:38:39. > :38:42.these amendments is to get Gibraltar brought within the ambit of this

:38:43. > :38:47.bill so that Gibraltar's interests can be taken into account in the

:38:48. > :38:50.triggering of Article 50. One question I have for the minister

:38:51. > :38:58.when he sums up is, why has Gibraltar been omitted? Was it, God

:38:59. > :39:01.forbid, an oversight? And if it was, now they have the opportunity to

:39:02. > :39:09.correct that with the assistance of the SNP. Or was it a deliberate

:39:10. > :39:12.omission? If so, how does that omission of Gibraltar from the ambit

:39:13. > :39:18.of this bill sit with the assurances that the British government has

:39:19. > :39:22.given Gibraltar that its interests will be protected? I am sure the

:39:23. > :39:30.honourable gentleman will speak with greater knowledge than I can about

:39:31. > :39:34.Gibraltar. The purpose behind these amendments is to make sure that

:39:35. > :39:37.Gibraltar is not forgotten about. We feel there may have been an

:39:38. > :39:41.oversight, so we are attempting to assist. If there hasn't been an

:39:42. > :39:44.oversight and the omission is deliberate, we need to know why and

:39:45. > :39:50.honourable members need to consider whether it would be appropriate to

:39:51. > :39:54.rectify that omission. There are a number of other amendments today

:39:55. > :39:58.which I think would ameliorate this bill. The honourable gentleman from

:39:59. > :40:03.the Labour front bench spoke very ably about new clause two and some

:40:04. > :40:09.of the other amendments. New clause two, I find slightly disappointing,

:40:10. > :40:13.because it doesn't innumerate the interests of Scotland as a

:40:14. > :40:17.particular consideration to take into account. But we are not going

:40:18. > :40:21.to push our amendment on that two of, because we hope there might be

:40:22. > :40:27.some fruitful outcome from the joint Mr Rutte committee taking this

:40:28. > :40:33.today. -- the joint ministerial committee. The comments of the Prime

:40:34. > :40:36.Minister on the 15th of July, I hope will have greater gravity than the

:40:37. > :40:38.previous comments of the previous Prime Minister in September when an

:40:39. > :40:44.Channel 4 News, David Cameron said that if Scotland voted to remain in

:40:45. > :40:49.the UK, all forms of devolution were possible. Yet if it came to the

:40:50. > :40:53.Scotland Bill, my learned friend was a member of Parliament and we had

:40:54. > :40:56.the Scotland Bill and none of the amendments were taken, ensuring that

:40:57. > :41:00.none of the forms of devolution were possible. We have had one broken

:41:01. > :41:04.prime ministerial promise from one Prime Minister. Let's hope this

:41:05. > :41:08.Prime Minister can keep her word. Order. I give the honourable

:41:09. > :41:13.gentleman a lot of leeway, but we are discussing this bill right now.

:41:14. > :41:21.We can't go on to previous prime ministers and previous bills. But I

:41:22. > :41:25.am sure the honourable lady, whose legal expertise is the best in the

:41:26. > :41:33.House, will find a way of saying what she wants to say. I am bringing

:41:34. > :41:37.my remarks to a conclusion as I am very conscious that people want to

:41:38. > :41:40.speak. The SNP welcomes many of the other amendments that have been

:41:41. > :41:45.tabled this afternoon, for example new clause 100 supporting amendment

:41:46. > :41:50.aimed at securing women's rights and equality. We believe the EU is about

:41:51. > :41:56.more than just a single trading market. It is also about the social

:41:57. > :42:04.ties that bind us and the social protections that the EU has

:42:05. > :42:07.guaranteed. On that matter of quality and protections for our

:42:08. > :42:10.people, does the honourable lady agree that what we have seen thus

:42:11. > :42:14.far since we were elected to this place does not fill us with any hope

:42:15. > :42:18.that this government, when it has its great power grab, will uphold

:42:19. > :42:24.the protections that the EU has brought and will fight for Citizens'

:42:25. > :42:29.writes? I agree that it is a real concern held by many parties in this

:42:30. > :42:35.house. So we support any amendments that seek to underline the social

:42:36. > :42:41.aspects of the EU, for example clause 166, which makes the point

:42:42. > :42:45.about the rights of young people and the importance of young people's

:42:46. > :42:50.ability to live, work, travel and study across Europe being of such

:42:51. > :42:54.benefits to them. This party fought to 16 and 17-year-olds to get the

:42:55. > :43:01.vote in the referendum, but that was not to be. Perhaps the result might

:43:02. > :43:04.have been different if that had been allowed. Later today, we will also

:43:05. > :43:10.be voting on some amendments that were carried over from earlier in

:43:11. > :43:14.the week including new clause 27, an SNP and about protecting the rights

:43:15. > :43:18.of EU nationals. In conclusion, I would like to say something about

:43:19. > :43:24.that. I think it is a view shared across this House that we ought not

:43:25. > :43:27.to trigger article 50 until we have given some reassurance to EU

:43:28. > :43:34.nationals living in the UK about their rights. Furthermore, we have

:43:35. > :43:38.evidence in the exiting the European Union committee from representatives

:43:39. > :43:41.of not only EU nationals in the UK, but more importantly for some

:43:42. > :43:46.members of this House, UK nationals living abroad who said that a

:43:47. > :43:52.unilateral declaration of goodwill from the British government, who

:43:53. > :43:56.after all have caused the problem by holding the referendum and allowing

:43:57. > :43:59.the Leave vote to happen, a unilateral undertaking to guarantee

:44:00. > :44:05.the rights of EU nationals in the United Kingdom and the feeling of

:44:06. > :44:08.the witnesses was that that would be met with a reciprocal undertaking

:44:09. > :44:17.from other member states rather than using individual human beings as

:44:18. > :44:22.bargaining chips. If the honourable gentleman wants to make an

:44:23. > :44:29.intervention, I am happy to take it. He obviously just wants to shout at

:44:30. > :44:35.me from a sedentary position. If finally, before the second reading

:44:36. > :44:39.of this bill, I raised the point of order about the statement that the

:44:40. > :44:42.Secretary of State made under section 901A of the Human Rights Act

:44:43. > :44:47.saying that in his view the prisons of this bill are compatible with

:44:48. > :44:50.convention rights. I was not normally in the habit of giving out

:44:51. > :44:54.free legal advice, but I am happy to do so on this occasion, which is

:44:55. > :44:57.that if this bill proceeds and if we trigger article 50 without taking

:44:58. > :45:03.any steps to protect the rights of EU nationals living in the UK, the

:45:04. > :45:05.British government could find itself faced with a challenge under the

:45:06. > :45:11.Human Rights Act to the compatibility of this act with

:45:12. > :45:15.Article eight and article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights

:45:16. > :45:19.and possibly claims. I know many honourable members opposite don't

:45:20. > :45:23.hold any great affection for the European Convention on Human Rights,

:45:24. > :45:25.but for the time being, even when we exit the European Union, we will

:45:26. > :45:29.still be signatories to it and the British courts will still be bound

:45:30. > :45:33.by it. So I am offering a helpful word of warning to the government

:45:34. > :45:37.that if they want to save some taxpayers' money, they might want to

:45:38. > :45:38.think carefully about addressing this issue before they are met with

:45:39. > :45:51.a slew of legal claims. I thank her for giving way. One of

:45:52. > :45:59.the key workers in our society, both in research and industry, are EU

:46:00. > :46:04.nationals in science and research. World-class researchers. We should

:46:05. > :46:09.be begging them to stay. Instead of using them as bargaining chips. What

:46:10. > :46:20.we are damaging here is goodwill and how they feel valued in our society.

:46:21. > :46:24.Indeed. I know she takes a great interest in this area. Like me, she

:46:25. > :46:31.will be aware that many Scottish universities including Herriot Watt

:46:32. > :46:34.and Napier University in my own constituency, are extremely

:46:35. > :46:42.concerned about the brain drain which could happen resulting in the

:46:43. > :46:51.failure to reassure EU nationals in their rights. With that, I move

:46:52. > :46:55.amendment 54 and new clause 154, on behalf of the Scottish National

:46:56. > :46:59.Party. And grateful for the chance to speak briefly on some of the

:47:00. > :47:12.clause is. It's a great pleasure to speak after the honourable and learn

:47:13. > :47:19.a lady I gather has not had the opportunity to make her case, but

:47:20. > :47:25.now having 10% of the time, she has made her case very eloquently. I

:47:26. > :47:29.want to make some cases very quickly. There's a lot of noise

:47:30. > :47:39.coming, so it's hard to think or speak. I will plough on. I want a

:47:40. > :47:45.dog about the rights of EU nationals living in the UK. I had a meeting on

:47:46. > :47:50.Friday to discuss Brexit with 150 people. Lots of people from

:47:51. > :47:55.different European countries. My constituency has a great deal of

:47:56. > :48:04.scientific research. These are people who contribute. I know people

:48:05. > :48:09.talk about the economic contributions, but I deeply values

:48:10. > :48:12.are social contribution as well. These are incredible people who

:48:13. > :48:16.provide not only world-class expertise to many businesses and

:48:17. > :48:22.science, but also a huge contribution to the communities in

:48:23. > :48:29.my constituency. We are obviously devastated by what has happened.

:48:30. > :48:32.They seek reassurance from the government. I won't support any

:48:33. > :48:37.particular amendments to night because I think that would mess up

:48:38. > :48:42.the bill and it wouldn't necessarily achieve what the amendments seek to

:48:43. > :48:47.achieve, and I am also deeply reassured by the Home Secretary's

:48:48. > :48:51.letter circulated earlier. And also by the Prime Minister's repeated

:48:52. > :49:03.comments about how she is going to make it an absolute priority to get

:49:04. > :49:07.clarity for the rights... And grateful to him for giving way. He

:49:08. > :49:14.said there was a letter from the Home Secretary. Is that a letter for

:49:15. > :49:17.Conservative Party members? Now he has referred to it in the House,

:49:18. > :49:29.isn't it is appropriate it should be in the library for all of us. It was

:49:30. > :49:46.addressed dear colleague, it might have just been for me. I give way.

:49:47. > :49:52.Point of order. Is it appropriate for an honourable member to refer to

:49:53. > :49:58.a document which is not available to the whole house? I believe it is

:49:59. > :50:03.appropriate for an Oracle board member to refer to whichever

:50:04. > :50:18.document they might wish to quote. -- honourable member. We all have

:50:19. > :50:26.private correspondence. Point of order. It would be in order that the

:50:27. > :50:34.custom and practice is a ministerial letter about a debate should be

:50:35. > :50:36.circulated amongst members and placed in the library. He is right

:50:37. > :50:53.as ever. As often. If there were a letter or any

:50:54. > :50:57.document produced by a government minister in his or her capacity as a

:50:58. > :51:01.government minister, which was intended for the information of the

:51:02. > :51:11.whole house, it would indeed have to be placed in the library or

:51:12. > :51:16.distributed upon these benches. Hypothetically, if there is a letter

:51:17. > :51:25.addressed privately to an rouble member, then that is a member for

:51:26. > :51:32.that honourable member. And already in lots of trouble from my lips, so

:51:33. > :51:35.I suppose another faux pas won't hurt. I've only been here for 11

:51:36. > :51:44.years, so I'm still learning the ropes. He's only been here as long

:51:45. > :51:51.as I have. I was going to assist him. The Prime Minister has been

:51:52. > :51:56.very clear that she intends to have a very generous approach on this

:51:57. > :52:00.matter. Coming back to the point, part of the roadblock here is that

:52:01. > :52:04.some EU member states won't negotiate with us until we have

:52:05. > :52:10.triggered Article 50. The quicker we get this bill on the statute book,

:52:11. > :52:15.the quicker we can get that arrangement in place and reassure EU

:52:16. > :52:22.nationals and British citizens overseas. An excellent point. A

:52:23. > :52:32.difficult road lies ahead. Some unsavoury compromises are having to

:52:33. > :52:35.be made. Make no mistake, the mood of the House is to move as quickly

:52:36. > :52:42.as possible to provide reassurance to European citizens living in this

:52:43. > :52:47.country and I wanted to use this opportunity before I got mired in

:52:48. > :52:51.procedural quagmire and brought closer to the Chief Whip's

:52:52. > :52:56.tarantula, I want to make it as clear as possible that I stand

:52:57. > :53:01.filled square behind European citizens living in this country and

:53:02. > :53:12.further contribution. I give way. Thank you. We have heard much about

:53:13. > :53:17.this idea of global leadership. Could he explain to me what his

:53:18. > :53:21.definition of global leadership is, if it is not to be a leader and

:53:22. > :53:29.stand up for EU nationals living in this country? She allows me to segue

:53:30. > :53:33.into my next point on free trade. Those of you who were lucky enough

:53:34. > :53:37.to hear me speak at the second reading now that this constant talk

:53:38. > :53:48.about free trade treaties is driving me around the bend. As a minister, I

:53:49. > :53:58.took part in the state visit from the Chinese president. I was in

:53:59. > :54:01.Westminster Hall to hear the address from President Obama. I feel to

:54:02. > :54:11.understand the lack of British influence that seems to have existed

:54:12. > :54:18.since we have been members of the EU. I thought the point about

:54:19. > :54:22.Germany's trade with China was well made. What surprises me about this

:54:23. > :54:27.constant reference to free trade treaties is when it comes to

:54:28. > :54:32.negotiating them, and now we are able to negotiate them in a matter

:54:33. > :54:36.of days of leaving you, it strikes me as not being aware of what

:54:37. > :54:40.happens in the real world to think that our farmers for example I think

:54:41. > :54:46.are the best example will simply sign up without a murmur to free

:54:47. > :54:50.trade treaties to countries like the United States, who have different

:54:51. > :54:56.welfare standards two hours. I understand the arguments of people

:54:57. > :55:00.who support free trade. We could open our markets to developing

:55:01. > :55:04.nations and perhaps support our farmers in different ways. I think

:55:05. > :55:08.our farmers would have severe concerns and we would have do wonder

:55:09. > :55:15.whether some developing nations have the same welfare standards as ours.

:55:16. > :55:21.I entirely agree and support him on the first point he made. On the

:55:22. > :55:27.second point, will he agree with me that there are many people in this

:55:28. > :55:31.House it whilst wishing the very best for us, worry that the sort of

:55:32. > :55:35.deals and transactions will take a very long time to fulfil,

:55:36. > :55:50.particularly in the case of farmers and there is a great danger of limbo

:55:51. > :55:54.land. That does worry me. This is obviously mean morning as I wanted

:55:55. > :56:06.to remain. It strikes me as bizarre that we have given up extraordinary

:56:07. > :56:12.influence over our market of 500 million people. I see a former Trade

:56:13. > :56:17.Minister who is going to correct me. I would ask him whether he was

:56:18. > :56:29.concerned when we appeared to be going to stay in the EU, about the

:56:30. > :56:37.terms of the agreement with America or Canada? Is your only concerned

:56:38. > :56:46.when it feeds his remaining and morning tendencies? I didn't receive

:56:47. > :56:56.any representations for my farmers about the impact of TTIP on their

:56:57. > :57:00.proposals. I was concerned about the French putting in cultural

:57:01. > :57:06.protections which concerned me. But I felt we were getting close to a

:57:07. > :57:16.free trade agreement thanks to the negotiating power of the European

:57:17. > :57:21.union. I give way. I wonder if the logical extension of the argument is

:57:22. > :57:24.that we should withdraw from the World Trade Organisation? Is it for

:57:25. > :57:33.example fear that textile workers of Leicester were exposed to the

:57:34. > :57:38.textiles industry in China which is largely meant a transfer of that

:57:39. > :57:43.industry to that country? It will be difficult to negotiate free-trade.

:57:44. > :57:48.It is an unhelpful argument because it doesn't take us very far for me

:57:49. > :57:52.to put that argument. It's more therapy on my part because I feel so

:57:53. > :57:59.frustrated. Part of the reason I feel so frustrated is the whole town

:58:00. > :58:05.of the debate since the referendum has been so awful and unpleasant and

:58:06. > :58:10.we are forgetting that 48% of the country voted to stay in the EU. And

:58:11. > :58:14.the inability to build a consensus about the way forward. The remain

:58:15. > :58:18.part of this House and the country has by and large accepted that this

:58:19. > :58:24.is a clear and decisive referendum result which will take us out of the

:58:25. > :58:31.EU. We want to work constructively to make that happen, despite my

:58:32. > :58:34.earlier remarks, and what we urging from all sides is a realistic

:58:35. > :58:44.assessment of how difficult this is going to be to work together in the

:58:45. > :58:50.national interest. I shall give way briefly. He has been very generous

:58:51. > :58:57.with his time. I agree with his point about trying to reach an area

:58:58. > :59:07.of consensus for the whole country. Is he concerned, as I am, about

:59:08. > :59:13.international trade and the issue of protectionism of other countries, as

:59:14. > :59:18.my constituents have experienced with the change of leadership in

:59:19. > :59:23.Nigeria, where they brought a list of imports that they were no longer

:59:24. > :59:27.going to accept on a whim, which cut off all existing trade with UK

:59:28. > :59:32.companies, including one in my constituency that was exporting to

:59:33. > :59:37.Nigeria? And the dangers that presents to us as a country going

:59:38. > :59:40.forward? I'm grateful for that example which reinforces my belief

:59:41. > :59:45.that these free-trade deals are not going to be as easy to negotiate as

:59:46. > :59:57.possible. What I'm really saying is there is a great deal of anxiety on

:59:58. > :00:07.the people who voted to remain. There is a realisation we are not

:00:08. > :00:15.going to wave a magic wand. I give way.

:00:16. > :00:19.I just want to cheer my honourable friend up. I apologise because I

:00:20. > :00:23.might have inadvertently failed to invite him to meet the special trade

:00:24. > :00:30.commissioners who visited Parliament on Monday. The Mexican trade

:00:31. > :00:34.Commissioner explained to us that there is a danger that Nafta might

:00:35. > :00:40.need a major renegotiation on under President Trump and we were talking

:00:41. > :00:44.about the need to get the substance right. Sounded like it was going to

:00:45. > :00:50.take a terribly long time, but they think it could be concluded by

:00:51. > :00:57.October 20 18. So the experience of actual trade negotiators who have

:00:58. > :01:04.negotiated these agreements... First of all, I am going to visit my and's

:01:05. > :01:10.constituency in April, so we can discuss this at length as I turn

:01:11. > :01:17.this Leave association into a Remain Association. The chap who has become

:01:18. > :01:20.flavour of the month because of his Lord of trade deals was at school

:01:21. > :01:28.with me, which automatically makes him a dangerous member of the

:01:29. > :01:33.liberal metropolitan elite! So it is important that we are aware that one

:01:34. > :01:37.of the great Brexiteer champions is a member of the dangerous liberal

:01:38. > :01:41.metropolitan elite, talking of which, my very old friend and former

:01:42. > :01:46.BBC presenter, I will take an intervention from him. Villa would

:01:47. > :01:50.the the ayes to the right -- the right honourable gentleman agree

:01:51. > :01:53.that we would be caught between a rock and a hard place if our farmers

:01:54. > :01:58.lower their standards to compete with American imports in a

:01:59. > :02:02.free-trade? There is a danger that the standards are then too low for

:02:03. > :02:06.the foodstuffs to be admitted to the European Union. It is a difficult

:02:07. > :02:11.list to be. This is one of the many factors. But I have really indulged

:02:12. > :02:17.the patience of the House with my wisecracks and I want to talk about

:02:18. > :02:23.the main issue, which is actually very serious and it directly affects

:02:24. > :02:25.my constituency. This is the withdrawal from Euratom. My

:02:26. > :02:29.honourable friend the member for Henley, who is no longer in his

:02:30. > :02:34.place but intervened earlier, if the member responsible for the Kalam

:02:35. > :02:39.centre for fusion energy. This is where the main research into nuclear

:02:40. > :02:43.fusion, the holy grail of sustainable energy, is taking place.

:02:44. > :02:51.In 2014, we signed an almost 300 million euros contract to run what

:02:52. > :02:54.is known as the joint European site until 2018 and we are now

:02:55. > :02:59.negotiating to take that programme forward. That joint European site is

:03:00. > :03:05.based in Oxfordshire and accounts for a quarter of the European fusion

:03:06. > :03:15.programme budget. Of course, there was the money, not just coming from

:03:16. > :03:17.the joint European company. For example, a project in France still

:03:18. > :03:22.provides financial support for British projects. For example, 400

:03:23. > :03:31.million euros worth of remote handling equipment awarded to the UK

:03:32. > :03:44.AEA in Oxfordshire. Coming out of Euratom presents a series of

:03:45. > :03:51.difficult issues for us. We would want to maintain our access to

:03:52. > :03:56.nuclear technologies. Road -- removing the requirement for the UK

:03:57. > :03:59.to comply with Euratom safety regimes would cause further delays

:04:00. > :04:05.and costs to the nuclear new-build programme which I know my honourable

:04:06. > :04:09.friend may speak about shortly. Although I am actually unhappy that

:04:10. > :04:15.this bill takes us out of Euratom and I was also unhappy with the way

:04:16. > :04:21.there was no warning, I must say that I am grateful to ministers,

:04:22. > :04:24.some of whom are sitting on the front bench during this debate, for

:04:25. > :04:28.the way they have reacted to this issue. I have been able to have

:04:29. > :04:34.discussions with ministers from both the Brexit department and the

:04:35. > :04:39.department for business. I am extremely grateful to the science

:04:40. > :04:46.minister, who has personally met with the chief executive and to the

:04:47. > :04:50.Secretary of State four bays, who has also spoken to the chief

:04:51. > :04:57.executive. I am also delighted that the honourable friend for Hereford

:04:58. > :05:03.is also due to meet with Kalam and every effort is being made to ensure

:05:04. > :05:14.that at an all staff meeting tomorrow, proper reassurances are

:05:15. > :05:17.given. On that point, does he feel that all these conversations he has

:05:18. > :05:22.had our equal to the 300 million European subsidy to Oxfordshire? As

:05:23. > :05:26.far as I understand it, that subsidy is not going away at the science

:05:27. > :05:31.minister, early after the referendum, guaranteed science

:05:32. > :05:36.funding up to 2020. I am sure the going forward, we will find some way

:05:37. > :05:40.to be a member of Euratom and to benefit polymer because British and

:05:41. > :05:48.European scientists working there are vital this project. It is

:05:49. > :05:50.welcome to hear that ministers have been so heavily engaged with my

:05:51. > :05:54.honourable friend following the concerns he raised in the second

:05:55. > :05:58.reading debate on this matter. Does he agree that Euratom is so closely

:05:59. > :06:05.linked with the whole European Union that it would be difficult for the

:06:06. > :06:08.UK to continue to be a member of Euratom while leaving the European

:06:09. > :06:14.Union? If my honourable friend will forgive me, I will answer by saying

:06:15. > :06:17.that if the government's position. I also I understand that the

:06:18. > :06:24.government feels that if there is any doubt at all that could expose

:06:25. > :06:33.this bill to further legal challenge, they should act to

:06:34. > :06:38.minimise that challenge. I would also say that I will reiterate that

:06:39. > :06:41.I cannot fault ministers for their response since I raised this issue

:06:42. > :06:46.in second reading in terms of engaging personally with me and also

:06:47. > :06:52.engaging with Culham. I don't know whether I am walking into a point of

:06:53. > :06:56.order quagmire, but I hope ministers will, as soon as they are able to

:06:57. > :07:02.Tom publish a document that would take us forward and explain the

:07:03. > :07:07.strategy for taking forward Euratom. The key point to get across is that

:07:08. > :07:11.there is no attempt by this government to walk away from Euratom

:07:12. > :07:16.because somehow, there is a disagreement with the principle of

:07:17. > :07:19.Euratom's existence or the work that Euratom does. Although it sounds

:07:20. > :07:24.rather trite when talking about peoples futures, this is a technical

:07:25. > :07:31.withdrawal issue and I have been incredibly impressed by the energy

:07:32. > :07:38.of ministers in engaging with this issue. I have had a constituent who

:07:39. > :07:42.is an employee of the national nuclear laboratory getting in touch

:07:43. > :07:45.with me because he's so concerned that an exit from Euratom would

:07:46. > :07:48.impair his ability to collaborate with leading scientists and

:07:49. > :07:51.engineers across Europe, and that would be to the judgment of science

:07:52. > :07:55.and technology in this country. Does the honourable member agree with

:07:56. > :07:59.that? The honourable lady makes exactly the point about why people

:08:00. > :08:08.are concerned. But as I hope I have clear, it is also clear to me, I am

:08:09. > :08:11.full of terrible puns here, but ministers are putting in a great

:08:12. > :08:14.deal of energy into ensuring that our technical withdrawal from

:08:15. > :08:21.Euratom, the implications are minimised and we can restore de

:08:22. > :08:26.facto our membership in coming months. Has the honourable member

:08:27. > :08:32.considered the possibility that if this bill passes unamended, his

:08:33. > :08:39.point of influence will pass with it? It may have been better to have

:08:40. > :08:46.something in writing in the bill, as opposed to accepting all these warm

:08:47. > :08:53.words, cups of tea and assurances. I hear what the right honourable

:08:54. > :08:59.gentleman says, but having known the Secretary of State for business and

:09:00. > :09:04.shared many a warm cup of tea with him, I can assure him that I accept

:09:05. > :09:12.his warm words and I expect him to be in his post for a number of years

:09:13. > :09:16.in order to take forward this. I wonder if my right honourable friend

:09:17. > :09:20.has considered the alternative situation, or if he is at all

:09:21. > :09:23.concerned about Euratom given that in the last funding round, Euratom

:09:24. > :09:28.have to fight very hard to maintain its funding, a position it is

:09:29. > :09:32.unlikely to be able to maintain in the future, and the fact that the

:09:33. > :09:36.largest single contributor, the Germans, have decided to phase out

:09:37. > :09:40.the nucleus of a programme altogether. Is he not concerned that

:09:41. > :09:43.over the next couple of decades, continued membership of Euratom

:09:44. > :09:48.might expose us to diminishing research funding rather than giving

:09:49. > :09:55.us the opportunity to partner bilaterally with other countries, as

:09:56. > :09:58.we do already with India and South Korea, exposing ourselves to wider

:09:59. > :10:04.pool of research? My honourable friend makes an point. In answering

:10:05. > :10:08.you, I may slightly contradict my earlier rant, because although I

:10:09. > :10:18.have concerns that our exit from the European Union could damage British

:10:19. > :10:20.science, I have to set as well that scientists in my constituency have

:10:21. > :10:24.pointed out that there is a danger that we had become too inward

:10:25. > :10:30.looking in terms of only seeking European collaboration. Whatever

:10:31. > :10:35.people think of other issues, China has become a much more important

:10:36. > :10:38.player in terms of scientific research. So there may be a silver

:10:39. > :10:41.money to withdraw from Euratom and he is right to point out that

:10:42. > :10:46.securing funding for nuclear fusion is no easy task, because in some

:10:47. > :10:48.respects, nuclear fusion is always the gold at the end of the rainbow.

:10:49. > :10:55.Nevertheless, it is important research and I 100% support its not

:10:56. > :11:00.just in general, but also in the impact on my constituency. Mr

:11:01. > :11:05.Howarth, I have taken so long that Mrs Lang has turned into Mr Howarth

:11:06. > :11:10.and having made a gentle jibe earlier at the honourable lady from

:11:11. > :11:14.the Scottish National Party, I see that I have taken up an inordinate

:11:15. > :11:18.amount of time of the House, so I will sit down, but I would simply

:11:19. > :11:23.reiterate that I stand. Where behind it uses and is living in our

:11:24. > :11:27.country. Please don't keep banging on about how easy free trade is

:11:28. > :11:33.going to be, and please secure as far as possible our nuclear

:11:34. > :11:39.relationships. Order. I have now to announce the result of today's seven

:11:40. > :11:47.deferred divisions. Bear with me. In respect of the question relating to

:11:48. > :12:00.trade unions and education, the ayes with three to seven and the noes

:12:01. > :12:06.worth less, so the ayes habit. -- the eyes have it. In respect of the

:12:07. > :12:11.question relating to trade unions and health, the ayes were three to

:12:12. > :12:16.three, the noes were 263, so the ayes habit. In respect of the

:12:17. > :12:22.question relating to trade unions and border security, the ayes were

:12:23. > :12:28.three to three, the noes were 263, so the ayes habit. In respect of the

:12:29. > :12:34.question relating to trade unions and fire, the ayes were three to

:12:35. > :12:39.three, the noes were 262, so the ayes habit. In respect of the

:12:40. > :12:43.question relating to trade union political funds, the ayes were three

:12:44. > :12:51.to two, the noes were to Fab four, so the ayes habit. Finally, in

:12:52. > :12:55.respect of the question relating to the comprehensive economic trade

:12:56. > :13:08.agreement between the EU and Canada, the ayes were 409, the noes were one

:13:09. > :13:14.to six, so the ayes have it, the ayes habit. It is a pleasure to

:13:15. > :13:23.speak with you in the chair. I don't want to go on too long, but I have

:13:24. > :13:29.nine amendments in my name which are selected today. I am not going to

:13:30. > :13:36.speak to all of them, but just to say that I agree strongly with what

:13:37. > :13:39.the honourable member for Wantage said and the concerns expressed

:13:40. > :13:46.about the implications of leaving Euratom. One of the amendments I

:13:47. > :13:57.have relates to that issue, which is amendment 31. He also talked about

:13:58. > :14:01.implications of the decision to leave the European Union for British

:14:02. > :14:07.citizens overseas. I have to declare an interest. I am the honorary

:14:08. > :14:11.president of Labour international, which represents the interests of

:14:12. > :14:20.Labour Party members who live in other countries, many of whom were

:14:21. > :14:24.able to vote in the referendum. But those living in the European Union

:14:25. > :14:28.longer than 15 years, even though many of them still have close

:14:29. > :14:35.connections to this country, did not have a vote in the referendum. It

:14:36. > :14:40.was a disgrace, but we are not dealing with the issue in this

:14:41. > :14:44.debate. I wish to place on record the concerns and messages that I

:14:45. > :14:49.have been sent by people living in other EU countries who remain very

:14:50. > :14:55.worried about their access to health care, their access to educational

:14:56. > :15:00.services, their access to support within the communities where they

:15:01. > :15:10.live, whether in Spain, France, Bulgaria, we saw many other places.

:15:11. > :15:17.Is, this issue should have been resolved already. By the government

:15:18. > :15:30.has chosen to use them as a bargaining chip. Frankly, that is

:15:31. > :15:34.unacceptable. I'm happy to give way. Thank you. Does he not also accept,

:15:35. > :15:44.and I myself have raised this issue, about the importance of securing the

:15:45. > :15:47.rights of EU citizens living here. I've had assurances from the Prime

:15:48. > :15:52.Minister this will be top of her lowest. Does he not also accept in

:15:53. > :15:58.good faith the fact that this issue could be easily resolved if the EU

:15:59. > :16:02.itself actually reciprocated our intention of guaranteeing those

:16:03. > :16:06.rights? This issue could be put to the side very quickly if they could

:16:07. > :16:15.guarantee the rights of British citizens living in the EU. The

:16:16. > :16:18.negotiation will start after the triggering of Article 50. The

:16:19. > :16:28.reality is that the British Government could have provided

:16:29. > :16:33.reassurance to British families in this country, perhaps with one

:16:34. > :16:37.British parent and one French parent, with children born in this

:16:38. > :16:43.country, uncertain about long-term futures because one of the members

:16:44. > :16:47.of the family retains citizenship and nationality of another EU

:16:48. > :16:51.country. That frankly should be resolved in the interests of those

:16:52. > :16:57.families in this country today and not delayed until negotiation. In

:16:58. > :17:02.our own interests as a country of value, a country of high morals, a

:17:03. > :17:07.country that does justice and fairness by our people, we should do

:17:08. > :17:17.something about this. I need to make progress.

:17:18. > :17:29.I think the honourable member is indicating that he does not wish to

:17:30. > :17:38.give way. I'm sure at some point he might signal if he wants to give

:17:39. > :17:43.way. I was referring to my nine amendments. Two of them are minor

:17:44. > :17:51.and drafted amendments, but one says that we should notify by 31 March

:17:52. > :17:55.2017. I was surprised there was no date in this bill, given that the

:17:56. > :18:03.commitment by the Prime Minister was to trigger by 31 March. I would have

:18:04. > :18:06.thought that everyone on the government benches should be

:18:07. > :18:12.prepared to support such an amendment, given that it is entirely

:18:13. > :18:15.in line with what the Prime Minister herself has said. But for some

:18:16. > :18:19.reason it doesn't seem to be acceptable to have this in the Bill.

:18:20. > :18:26.I don't know why. Perhaps a minister could explain later. There is also

:18:27. > :18:35.the question of the Euroton amendment which I referred to and

:18:36. > :18:41.amendment number 30 which refers to the European defence agency. Defence

:18:42. > :18:47.cooperation within the EU is vital. There are a large number of major

:18:48. > :18:50.defence projects which have a component arrangement, whereby parts

:18:51. > :18:58.come from one country, are assembled in another and there is a

:18:59. > :19:03.collaborative arrangement. We've known about this for many years.

:19:04. > :19:07.Frankly, the British defence industry alone is unable to compete

:19:08. > :19:14.without being involved internationally. Some companies have

:19:15. > :19:18.gone offshore, in the sense they have moved across the Atlantic. And

:19:19. > :19:27.other countries are joint collaborative arrangements in this

:19:28. > :19:33.country. A French country is very much a British defence manufacturer

:19:34. > :19:38.now. On the other side, we know there are many reasons why, if we

:19:39. > :19:43.are to be competitive as a defence industry, providing the jobs for

:19:44. > :19:48.tens of thousands of highly skilled people in this country, we have got

:19:49. > :19:56.to make sure we keep that defence industrial base. And that will only

:19:57. > :20:00.be possible by joint collaboration, otherwise European manufacturers

:20:01. > :20:04.will be swept aside from the United States or from other parts of the

:20:05. > :20:12.world. We've seen that already with the way in which industries have

:20:13. > :20:16.shifted to Asia. Anybody who wants to see the whole manufacturing

:20:17. > :20:25.process of motor vehicle has to go to South Korea where they have the

:20:26. > :20:33.pressing of the steel, the paint shops, the engine plants and the

:20:34. > :20:40.fitting out of vehicles. In the 1960s, I visited Ford in Dagenham. I

:20:41. > :20:44.was struck by the noise and the smell of paint. I was 17. I had

:20:45. > :20:51.never been in a place like it. At that point, I realised that making

:20:52. > :20:58.cars was a very large, massive, complex process. The only time I saw

:20:59. > :21:05.plays like that subsequently was when I went to hire Di motors in

:21:06. > :21:15.Korea, where I saw the sheets of steel to be press. The Ford plant in

:21:16. > :21:21.Dagenham now, or you can see is men in white coats adjusting things,

:21:22. > :21:25.lots of robots and diesel engines. That's the contrast. This is

:21:26. > :21:31.something we need to think about for the future. If we leave, when we

:21:32. > :21:36.leave the European Union, we have to make sure our manufacturing industry

:21:37. > :21:43.and the defence sector is maintained and strengthened. I want take too

:21:44. > :21:49.many interventions because unconscious other people wish to

:21:50. > :21:52.speak. He's making an interesting point. Would he accept that our

:21:53. > :22:00.membership of the EU has seen the transfer of industries from the UK

:22:01. > :22:10.to eastern Europe and other parts of the EU, not least Cadburys.

:22:11. > :22:19.Globalisation and the expansion of the wealth of the world led by

:22:20. > :22:22.regional trading blocs like the European Union has led to a

:22:23. > :22:26.significant change in the types of industries that are located in

:22:27. > :22:32.particular countries. Hundreds of millions of people have been taken

:22:33. > :22:38.out of poverty because of the industrialisation process in China.

:22:39. > :22:42.And the same thing is happening in Vietnam, in the Philippines, in

:22:43. > :22:48.India. Globalisation is affecting everyone. He refers to eastern

:22:49. > :22:53.Europe. Yes, the days when the polluting tribally cars were made in

:22:54. > :23:01.the GDR and the days when Skoda vehicles were regarded as a joke

:23:02. > :23:04.have gone. There is no high quality manufacturing in many countries

:23:05. > :23:10.throughout Europe. Of those companies often have integrated

:23:11. > :23:15.supply chains, which is why Ford is at Dagenham make diesel engines for

:23:16. > :23:21.cars which are also manufactured in Belgium and Spain and other European

:23:22. > :23:25.countries. This is the nature of modern capitalism. It is the nature

:23:26. > :23:34.of the global world that we live in. And the danger of us leaving the EU

:23:35. > :23:36.is that we may actually make those industries in this country less

:23:37. > :23:42.successful than they would otherwise have been and 410,000 is brash and

:23:43. > :23:47.put tens of thousands of jobs at risk. I will give way it once more,

:23:48. > :23:54.then I will make progress. I have some good news for him. Courtesy of

:23:55. > :23:59.us leaving the EU, sterling has fallen and manufacturing in this

:24:00. > :24:03.country is having a field day, as he can see from export orders and

:24:04. > :24:09.factory output orders. Does he agree it has been a boon to manufacturing

:24:10. > :24:15.industries in the North? Sterling has fallen as a result, foreign

:24:16. > :24:22.holidays are more expensive, Marmite is more expensive, chocolate bars

:24:23. > :24:31.are getting smaller, there are all kinds of consequences. I will make

:24:32. > :24:37.some progress. I refer to my nine amendments. Number 34 relates to the

:24:38. > :24:43.Common foreign and Security policy. I have to say, the European Union

:24:44. > :24:53.does not do enough on defence. It needs to do far more, particularly

:24:54. > :25:00.given, as president disc -- president Donald Tusk pointed out,

:25:01. > :25:07.threats from outside the EU, Daesh terrorism, Russia and its

:25:08. > :25:12.territorial grabs in eastern Europe, and the uncertainties from the other

:25:13. > :25:17.President Donald, Donald Trump, and what might happen to the future of

:25:18. > :25:24.Nato. We need to recognise that Britain with France is the backbone

:25:25. > :25:32.of the European pillar of Nato. And the cooperation on defence policy

:25:33. > :25:37.which we have established so far needs to be sustained, whether or

:25:38. > :25:42.not we are in the European Union. It would be very foolish if in the

:25:43. > :25:47.leaving the EU we weaken the defence cooperation arrangements that date

:25:48. > :25:52.back to the Sam Maher low agreement with France or the cooperation that

:25:53. > :25:59.we have which is limited but nevertheless important on common

:26:00. > :26:03.peacekeeping missions and security and policing issues with our

:26:04. > :26:06.European Union partners. I believe that is something we would make a

:26:07. > :26:12.big contribution and some people have said it could be used as an

:26:13. > :26:18.asset in the bargaining process. I think that's the wrong approach

:26:19. > :26:24.because regardless of what happens to agriculture, regardless of what

:26:25. > :26:28.happens on financial contributions, it is in our national defence and

:26:29. > :26:32.security interest to have excellent relations with our French

:26:33. > :26:37.neighbours, our Dutch neighbours, German neighbours, on defence and

:26:38. > :26:41.security of this country. If we did the opposite, we would be cutting

:26:42. > :26:48.off our nose to spite our face and that is not very sensible. I give

:26:49. > :26:59.way. He is making an excellent speech. Would you not agree that in

:27:00. > :27:07.fact we should go further. The opportunity is now for a con Federal

:27:08. > :27:10.project. When we strengthen cooperation on science,

:27:11. > :27:13.international development and climate change. The Prime Minister

:27:14. > :27:16.says we might be leaving the EU but not Europe. Let's see the plan for

:27:17. > :27:22.strengthening relationships across our whole area of work across the

:27:23. > :27:29.continent. He makes an excellent point and I hope he gets the chance

:27:30. > :27:40.to enlarge on that later. I also have another couple of amendments.

:27:41. > :27:50.The honourable member for the SNP, the Member for Edinburgh South West,

:27:51. > :27:55.referred to my amendment 29. I also have amendment 35. The both refer to

:27:56. > :28:06.Gibraltar. Anybody who has seen, as I have, the attempts occasionally by

:28:07. > :28:15.the authorities in Madrid to cause trouble in Gibraltar will now that

:28:16. > :28:24.at a few moments notice, suddenly the border between Gibraltar and

:28:25. > :28:32.Spain has got hundreds of vehicles. Dozens of people queueing to go in.

:28:33. > :28:38.As the special police sent down from Madrid impose a rigorous check on

:28:39. > :28:43.everyone going in. A few hours later, there is no queue. And then

:28:44. > :28:54.it can come back again. Between ten and 14,000 people living in southern

:28:55. > :29:02.Spain, in Andalusia, each day go across the border to work in

:29:03. > :29:08.Gibraltar. Gibraltar has about 32,000 people, as far as I

:29:09. > :29:14.understand. Many of those children. Of the population of Gibraltar as a

:29:15. > :29:21.whole, there is an economic base now in Gibraltar which cannot be

:29:22. > :29:26.sustained simply by employing residents of Gibraltar. The also

:29:27. > :29:36.don't have enough land to house the number of workers that they need.

:29:37. > :29:42.Solely dependent on 10,000 or more daily workers going across to work

:29:43. > :29:43.in Gibraltar. It's about 40% of the total workforce within the Gibraltar

:29:44. > :29:54.economy. I give way. The honourable gentleman made an

:29:55. > :29:59.important point about Gibraltar. Going back to the member for Wantage

:30:00. > :30:07.whose book just before, he said he was afraid that amendment would mess

:30:08. > :30:10.up the bill. I fail to see what the addition of clause 193 after

:30:11. > :30:13.consultation with the government of Gibraltar, how could mess up the

:30:14. > :30:21.bill. This is a sensible amendment that the whole House should support.

:30:22. > :30:27.The honourable member must be a mind reader, because I was going to come

:30:28. > :30:31.on to that point. The government, when they proposed their Referendum

:30:32. > :30:40.Bill in 2015 after the general election, did not initially have a

:30:41. > :30:46.wording that relates to Gibraltar. That only came in because of the

:30:47. > :30:53.strenuous efforts of a number of Conservative backbenchers including

:30:54. > :30:58.my neighbour, the member for Romford, who is very active in the

:30:59. > :31:03.British Overseas Territories all-party parliamentary group. And

:31:04. > :31:08.other conservative and Labour MPs and other party MPs who were

:31:09. > :31:14.concerned that Gibraltar had to be referred to in the bill that

:31:15. > :31:27.Gibraltar's citizens, even though are not part of the UK, they are

:31:28. > :31:29.part of the European Union and have votes in the European Parliament

:31:30. > :31:38.elections and should also have a vote in the referendum. It is

:31:39. > :31:41.therefore strange that although the bill to set up the referendum which

:31:42. > :31:53.has triggered this process for leaving the European Union mentions

:31:54. > :31:55.explicitly Gibraltar, the rights of Gibraltarians and votes for

:31:56. > :32:05.Gibraltarians, there is no reference in the bill to trigger Article 50

:32:06. > :32:16.two Gibraltar at all. I understand that after the referendum, a day

:32:17. > :32:22.after the referendum in June the 24th, 2015, the then Foreign

:32:23. > :32:27.Minister of Spain, who was fortunately no longer Foreign

:32:28. > :32:33.Minister at this moment and things went smoother as a result, made some

:32:34. > :32:38.very inflammatory remarks about how Spain would have Gibraltar because

:32:39. > :32:47.of the referendum result. As the honourable member said, the chief

:32:48. > :32:51.minister of Gibraltar, when he spoke before the committee that was

:32:52. > :33:01.looking at this issue, the Brexit committee, on the 25th of January,

:33:02. > :33:06.made clear that Gibraltar had not just voted overwhelmingly to remain,

:33:07. > :33:16.but it had also voted by an even bigger margin, by 98% as opposed to

:33:17. > :33:22.93%, to be British. And in terms of the self-determination of the people

:33:23. > :33:27.of Gibraltar, who come culturally from people who have Spanish,

:33:28. > :33:39.Italian, Moroccan, Genoese and British blood and many other roots,

:33:40. > :33:43.they are British and remained British. That is not in question.

:33:44. > :33:48.But as I said earlier, the day-to-day relationship between

:33:49. > :33:55.Gibraltar and Spain can, at the whim of some official or some politician

:33:56. > :34:02.in Madrid, be made difficult. The people who suffer most from this

:34:03. > :34:05.other people in the trade unions and workers in the Andalusia region who

:34:06. > :34:13.are working in Gibraltar. I have met them here in the House of Commons.

:34:14. > :34:16.Interestingly, there are Socialist led authorities in the south of

:34:17. > :34:26.Spain. They want excellent relations between Andalusia and Gibraltar. But

:34:27. > :34:32.while we are in the EU, our government can ensure that no funny

:34:33. > :34:40.business can go on as regards what might come out of some draft

:34:41. > :34:50.document produced somewhere relating to waters or environmental issues or

:34:51. > :34:55.maybe flights and trade matters. As soon as we leave the EU, we no

:34:56. > :35:02.longer have the ability to argue that case and block it if a

:35:03. > :35:08.particular government in Madrid decides to upping the ante to make

:35:09. > :35:17.life more difficult. So because of the importance of this issue, it is

:35:18. > :35:21.surely necessary to the people of Gibraltar are, through the elected

:35:22. > :35:30.government of Gibraltar, aware of these matters as we leave the EU.

:35:31. > :35:36.Therefore, to be consistent with what the bill said when we voted in

:35:37. > :35:44.this House to have a referendum, Gibraltar should also be mentioned

:35:45. > :35:52.on the face of the bill. That is why I will be pressing for amendment 29

:35:53. > :35:54.to be put to a vote. I hope members on all sides, particularly those

:35:55. > :36:04.with an interest in British Overseas Territories and who believe strongly

:36:05. > :36:07.that Gibraltar should remain British, will consult their

:36:08. > :36:13.consciences and in voting history and support such an amendment. And

:36:14. > :36:32.finally... I just want to say that it is

:36:33. > :36:35.unfortunate that there are so many members wishing to speak and so

:36:36. > :36:41.little time for them. This whole process has been a disgrace. The

:36:42. > :36:50.three days set aside for the committee stage is a disgrace. There

:36:51. > :36:55.has clearly been a stitch up, as my honourable friend says, which John

:36:56. > :37:00.Smith certainly did not agree to when I first came into this House in

:37:01. > :37:08.1992. I had many happy hours and late nights debating the Maastricht

:37:09. > :37:11.Treaty. And I can recall, because some of the faces on the other side

:37:12. > :37:15.are still there, taking interventions from seven or eight

:37:16. > :37:26.members on the other side late at night on that bill. On that bill, we

:37:27. > :37:29.had six or seven times as much in committee. Eight times as much, my

:37:30. > :37:37.friend says, that we are having today. Does that not make it even

:37:38. > :37:40.more important that the House of Lords takes its time to consider

:37:41. > :37:46.everything that we have not been able to discuss here, and indeed,

:37:47. > :37:50.much of what we have? I don't wish to give advice to the other place.

:37:51. > :37:58.You can get into trouble if you do that. But I would simply say that it

:37:59. > :38:01.is fortunate for democracy and accountability that there is an

:38:02. > :38:08.opportunity for the other place to give more considered time to these

:38:09. > :38:15.matters, and they are not subjected to programme motions in the same way

:38:16. > :38:20.that we are. I therefore get back to the point of this debate. I am

:38:21. > :38:24.grateful for the opportunity to speak on these amendments. I will be

:38:25. > :38:32.supporting new clause two and a number of other amendments,

:38:33. > :38:35.particularly amendment 20 nine. It is a great pleasure to follow the

:38:36. > :38:37.honourable gentleman for Ilford South and in particular to hear the

:38:38. > :38:46.intervention from the right honourable gentleman four until.

:38:47. > :38:49.That is the spirit -- Hodge Hill. Firstly, I offer my apologies to you

:38:50. > :38:53.to the previous incumbent of the chair for having the temerity to

:38:54. > :38:56.challenge the opening of the debate. We have seen the infallibility of

:38:57. > :39:00.the chair in this House on display over the last few days and I was

:39:01. > :39:06.mistaken to think that I should join the chorus of doubts about the

:39:07. > :39:09.decisions of the chair. I have listened to the debate over the last

:39:10. > :39:14.two and a half days both within the chamber and sitting in my office

:39:15. > :39:21.watching the television. Sadly, what I have heard broadly is a three-day

:39:22. > :39:29.ovulation by those who voted to remain about what is to come. We

:39:30. > :39:34.seem to have lost track of the fact that we are trying to make law in

:39:35. > :39:37.the chamber rather than debate the merits of the decision taken on the

:39:38. > :39:44.23rd of June. That seems to have resulted in some very poor drafting

:39:45. > :39:47.of amendments. A huge number of amendments has been put this very

:39:48. > :39:51.simple bill and I wanted to expand upon my of order earlier to explain

:39:52. > :40:01.why I can't support the majority of them. First of all, in the

:40:02. > :40:11.amendments put down in the name of the Leader of the Opposition and

:40:12. > :40:17.various other members of the Labour Party, it has become a shopping list

:40:18. > :40:21.of things they would like the Prime Minister to take into account. There

:40:22. > :40:24.are some missions that honourable members have included, but there are

:40:25. > :40:28.some things they have missed. They seem to have forgotten to compel the

:40:29. > :40:33.Prime Minister to breathe or keep her eyes open. When you add up the

:40:34. > :40:37.list of demands of things that the Prime Minister has to take into

:40:38. > :40:42.account during her negotiations with our European friends, her scope is

:40:43. > :40:46.becoming extremely limited if we were to pass any of these

:40:47. > :40:51.amendments. My main opposition to them is their vagueness. If you

:40:52. > :40:57.take, for instance, the primary clause that we are debating today,

:40:58. > :41:01.there are lots of things in this clause which gave me reason for

:41:02. > :41:07.thought. For instance, when it is the Prime Minister shall give an

:41:08. > :41:14.undertaking, an undertaking to whom? Visit to her husband, to the House?

:41:15. > :41:21.Very imprecise. It also doesn't say in what form that undertaking should

:41:22. > :41:25.be, on the back of an envelope? We are writing legislation in this

:41:26. > :41:27.House and it is incumbent upon us to be precise. The reason that I raised

:41:28. > :41:31.the point of order about these amendments being vague and therefore

:41:32. > :41:40.out of order is because that is what they are. The honourable member

:41:41. > :41:43.previously made a point of order that these amendments were out of

:41:44. > :41:46.order and was ruled out of order. Now he is speaking about this

:41:47. > :41:58.previous point of order and how it is in order, so I just suggest that

:41:59. > :42:02.he is out of order! Order. The honourable member's point of order,

:42:03. > :42:11.although very entertaining, was not a point of order. Thank you. To be

:42:12. > :42:14.honest, the previous incumbent of the chair corrected me and said the

:42:15. > :42:19.point of order I was raising is a matter for debate in the chamber and

:42:20. > :42:26.not a point of order. That is therefore what I am attempting to

:42:27. > :42:31.do. The honourable gentleman said he couldn't support the vast majority

:42:32. > :42:37.of amendments. Therefore, he presumably can support some of them.

:42:38. > :42:42.Could he support amendment 29? It is a Labour led amendment supported by

:42:43. > :42:45.the SNP. After consultation with the government of Gibraltar, will he

:42:46. > :42:50.stand with the people of Gibraltar or will he not? I did say the

:42:51. > :42:54.majority. I should have said until I have managed to read them all. I

:42:55. > :42:57.confess that even my enormous stamina started to wane at one in

:42:58. > :43:02.the morning as I was two thirds of the way through. I haven't had a

:43:03. > :43:05.look at them all, which is why I am sitting here and listening. I will

:43:06. > :43:09.have to mull over that decision over the next few hours. We don't know

:43:10. > :43:12.what the form of the undertaking is. We don't know to whom it is be made

:43:13. > :43:19.and critically, we don't know what the sanctions. If the Prime Minister

:43:20. > :43:27.says no, what do we do? Are we to send her to the tower? Is she not to

:43:28. > :43:32.participate in the elections? My reading of the new clause is that

:43:33. > :43:34.the sanction is that until she has given the undertaking, she can't

:43:35. > :43:43.proceed in giving notice under Article 50, which I suspect is the

:43:44. > :43:46.intention of those tabling the new clause. These new clause are

:43:47. > :43:49.festooned with mechanisms for her not giving notice under article 50,

:43:50. > :43:55.which is the purpose of the bill. The right honourable gentleman is, I

:43:56. > :43:58.think, being generous. As far as I can see, the huge number of

:43:59. > :44:04.amendments is designed purely to waste time and delay and to give

:44:05. > :44:10.political signals rather than try and achieve anything. The honourable

:44:11. > :44:15.member for Ilford South complained about the programme motion. If the

:44:16. > :44:19.opponents of this bill had actually focused on three or four critical

:44:20. > :44:22.things they wanted to see changed in the bill, they might have made

:44:23. > :44:27.progress instead of throwing a lot of flak in the air and causing the

:44:28. > :44:30.problem that they have. My honourable friend is making a lot of

:44:31. > :44:35.good points, but isn't vagueness is a virtue in this case so far as the

:44:36. > :44:41.amendments are concerned, since it would turn a simple 1-page bill into

:44:42. > :44:46.an absolute monster that will be subject to a lawyers' beanfeast at

:44:47. > :44:52.every turn, thus kicking this into the long grass?

:44:53. > :44:58.I agree, the word I would use is implicitly. With simplicity comes

:44:59. > :45:02.clarity and the Prime Minister needs clarity as she goes into these

:45:03. > :45:05.negotiations about the motivation of this house and the support this

:45:06. > :45:11.house for her. The other reason I object to this clause is that it

:45:12. > :45:14.abrogates the Prime Minister's decisions, which will rightly become

:45:15. > :45:19.the decision of this house in the future, so subsection D of the

:45:20. > :45:25.clause says that she should now regard to maintaining all existing

:45:26. > :45:29.social, economic, consumer and workers' right. Apart from that, I

:45:30. > :45:33.am not sure what my social or economic rights are. They are

:45:34. > :45:35.undefined as part of this Bill. Those will presumably become

:45:36. > :45:42.decisions of this house in future. If there are to be any changes to

:45:43. > :45:44.those rights as undefined as they are, that will have to be the

:45:45. > :45:51.subject of primary legislation in this house. I wish that before he

:45:52. > :45:54.makes his points he would inform himself because we already know from

:45:55. > :45:58.the White Paper that the government has said that plenty of this

:45:59. > :46:01.legislation will be able to be reformed in secondary legislation,

:46:02. > :46:04.in other words, we will not have Parliamentary scrutiny for it. He

:46:05. > :46:09.might not care about his own economic, social rights, but we, on

:46:10. > :46:12.this side, have constituents who do care and we trying to do our job

:46:13. > :46:28.properly. It is a pity he is not. As I understand it, even secondary

:46:29. > :46:33.legislation can be forced onto debates on the floor of this house

:46:34. > :46:40.by the opposition parties. They can put down motions, we can have back

:46:41. > :46:45.bench debates. In fact, there are ways that the opposition can strike

:46:46. > :46:52.down secondary legislation. So, it is not that we are without powers in

:46:53. > :46:55.this situation. To help the honourable lady, it is very clear in

:46:56. > :46:59.the White Paper, which is an undertaking that the Prime Minister

:47:00. > :47:03.has already given to the House, that any significant policy changes will

:47:04. > :47:06.be underpinned by primary legislation, which means the House

:47:07. > :47:09.can have a full opportunity to debate them. It is clear that

:47:10. > :47:13.secondary legislation under the reform Bill is only going to be used

:47:14. > :47:18.to address deficiencies, which will relate to the fact that we will not

:47:19. > :47:25.be able to use EU instituted. That is very clear and preserve the

:47:26. > :47:33.rights and privileges of this how is -- house. If I could move on to New

:47:34. > :47:37.Clause 77. Is he not puzzled why members like the member for Brighton

:47:38. > :47:42.and others now want to be able to vote on and control legislation for

:47:43. > :47:48.which the last 40 years they have been content to having no vote, no

:47:49. > :47:53.vote before negotiations, no boats during negotiations, no vote at the

:47:54. > :47:57.end of negotiations and no power, even if every member of this house

:47:58. > :48:03.voted against an EU regulation to destroy it. My right honourable

:48:04. > :48:11.friend points out the fundamental power that sits at the base of all

:48:12. > :48:18.the Maynard. At clause 77 we have reached complete nonsense. Complete

:48:19. > :48:25.nonsense. New Clause 77 in the name of the Right Honourable member for

:48:26. > :48:30.Nottingham East seeks to, says, that the Prime Minister should in

:48:31. > :48:35.negotiating an agreement in accordance of Article 50, the

:48:36. > :48:38.Minister must have regard to the desirability of attaining full

:48:39. > :48:42.participation in the making of all rules affecting trade, goods and

:48:43. > :48:46.services in the European Union. That effectively means remaining members

:48:47. > :48:50.of the commission, members of Parliament and members the Council

:48:51. > :48:58.of ministers. Otherwise, not leaving the EU. This is, as far as I can

:48:59. > :49:08.see, complete nonsense. Yet again and legislation and bad law. If I

:49:09. > :49:13.could point out New Clause 179. He should maybe just take another

:49:14. > :49:19.little work at the New Clause 77. It is actually making the point about

:49:20. > :49:25.the need for the UK to retain its role around the table as a rule

:49:26. > :49:30.maker in our tariff arrangements to deal with trade. There are some

:49:31. > :49:33.serious issues to do with our position in the customs union and so

:49:34. > :49:39.forth and I was suggesting that Britain should retain its role

:49:40. > :49:45.around the table. Does he disagree? No, that is not what it says. If he

:49:46. > :49:54.reads the members backs planetary statement to his amendments, on

:49:55. > :49:57.agreeing all rules affecting trade in goods and services in the

:49:58. > :50:01.European Union. In my understanding, those rules are made by the

:50:02. > :50:06.commission, agreed by the Council of ministers, so we would have to stay

:50:07. > :50:09.around all the those tables. I was wondering if he could explain to me

:50:10. > :50:15.whether acts of Parliament, should we pass, whether that act of

:50:16. > :50:21.Parliament would be binding on the other 27 members. Therefore will we

:50:22. > :50:23.be forced to accept our presence at their tables, despite having left

:50:24. > :50:30.the organisation. Does he think this is in every way fallacious to even

:50:31. > :50:38.debated? He quite rightly points out that even if we do, there is nothing

:50:39. > :50:42.to be done. We would have to turn our back and ask the member for

:50:43. > :50:46.Nottingham East what we are supposed to do next if we are not allowed, if

:50:47. > :50:51.we cannot manage to comply with his amendment. Every is nonsense. I know

:50:52. > :50:54.the right honourable member has ambitions within his party but if

:50:55. > :51:01.he's going to produce stuff like that he's going to have to do a

:51:02. > :51:05.little bit better. Again, New Clause 179, protecting current levels of

:51:06. > :51:09.funding. In negotiating and including an agreement in accordance

:51:10. > :51:12.with Article 50 of the Treaty of European Union, ministers of the

:51:13. > :51:16.Crown must have regard to the desirability of protecting current

:51:17. > :51:20.funding from the European Union. Funding to whom? All funding? The

:51:21. > :51:26.funding that we send? Funding that comes back funding to other

:51:27. > :51:34.countries? The vagueness is extraordinary. New Clause 183,

:51:35. > :51:39.membership of the single market including EU wide reform. Subsection

:51:40. > :51:43.eight, provisions governing the free movements of people. This will allow

:51:44. > :51:49.for controls over the movement of people... It is all very vague.

:51:50. > :51:52.Maintain the highest possible level of European integration. What is the

:51:53. > :51:57.highest possible level of integration? Perhaps it means

:51:58. > :52:01.membership? I think he is being a little bit uncharitable. I think he

:52:02. > :52:06.seems to be assuming that these are without purpose but as he recently

:52:07. > :52:09.pointed out, they have a purpose and stop were they to be passed, it

:52:10. > :52:15.would be impossible for the government to proceed with Article

:52:16. > :52:19.50. It would be in the courts for certainly years, possibly decades

:52:20. > :52:22.and maybe even centuries. It a conscious policy that is being

:52:23. > :52:31.followed of great intelligence. He underestimated the ingenuity of

:52:32. > :52:39.opposition. He may well be right. Perhaps... Whilst he is perfectly

:52:40. > :52:43.entitled to debate the quality or other right of any amendments and

:52:44. > :52:46.new clauses, I think needs to acknowledge that the chair has

:52:47. > :52:49.deemed all of them to be within the scope, so whatever the purpose or

:52:50. > :52:56.otherwise behind them, they are within the scope of the Bill. I am

:52:57. > :53:00.grateful to you for that direction but the previous incumbent of your

:53:01. > :53:03.chair said to me that was a matter for debate on the floor of this

:53:04. > :53:13.house and we were allowed to debate the merits. That is exactly what I

:53:14. > :53:21.have just said. I come to the end of migration on that particular point.

:53:22. > :53:26.I have a couple of other points. -- my oration. A number of these are

:53:27. > :53:36.nonsensical and cannot be supported. I can see there are substantive ones

:53:37. > :53:38.in this pot pouri that has been thrown in the air to create

:53:39. > :53:42.difficulties for the beautiful stop at the moment I am not able to

:53:43. > :53:48.support the vast majority of them and albeit I haven't read every

:53:49. > :53:54.single one yet. Two more points I want to make. First of all, just to

:53:55. > :54:00.reiterate what I said earlier about your Tom -- Euratom and the nuclear

:54:01. > :54:03.industry. The nuclear industry is incredibly important to the UK and

:54:04. > :54:08.the rest of the world. UK this serious nuclear power. There is deep

:54:09. > :54:11.research going on here into the future of weekly fusion and fission.

:54:12. > :54:19.But we have to recognise things are changing in the EU landscape around

:54:20. > :54:26.nuclear research and be aware of those decisions and take into

:54:27. > :54:32.account while the -- we consider our relationship with Euratom. There is

:54:33. > :54:38.only one serious other nuclear power in the EU, which is France. Germany

:54:39. > :54:48.has withdrawn and tell Jim is the only one -- and Belgian has a number

:54:49. > :54:52.of reactors but France has over 50. We have a bilateral nuclear

:54:53. > :54:56.collaboration agreement with France. I would ask him to think again about

:54:57. > :55:01.his comment. Sheffield is the heart of research into nuclear technology

:55:02. > :55:06.in this country, so I think he ought to think again about that statement.

:55:07. > :55:11.I am not quite sure what she thinks I said but I said there were two

:55:12. > :55:16.serious nuclear powers in the EU at the moment, the UK and France. We

:55:17. > :55:21.are fortunate in having a bilateral agreement signed in 2010 with the

:55:22. > :55:28.French to deepen and widen our collaboration on nuclear research.

:55:29. > :55:33.Our exit from Euratom, which looks like it will happen, will not affect

:55:34. > :55:37.that at all. Those bilateral relations will continue in that

:55:38. > :55:43.research and in particular, our participation in the reactor project

:55:44. > :55:47.in southern France can continue, not least because there are a number of

:55:48. > :55:52.non-union-macro members in that fantastic materials testing

:55:53. > :56:01.programme at the moment. -- non-EU members. Will he share my concern,

:56:02. > :56:06.the threat to our nuclear industry in the UK is not this Bill, it is

:56:07. > :56:09.actually the fact that the Leader of the Opposition wants to shut down

:56:10. > :56:14.the nuclear industry in this country, including Sellafield. A

:56:15. > :56:17.very good point, which will no doubt be taken into account in the good

:56:18. > :56:21.voters of Copeland in the next couple of weeks. I am that he

:56:22. > :56:25.mentioned the voters of Copeland because they will be looking at the

:56:26. > :56:29.nuclear workers whose pensions are under impact from his government but

:56:30. > :56:34.on the issue of Euratom, that agreement he talks about between

:56:35. > :56:39.France and Britain comes under the umbrella of this agency and the

:56:40. > :56:44.people who know, the academics and the industry want us to maintain

:56:45. > :56:52.that link. I am sure that he is right legally. It may well be for

:56:53. > :56:54.ministers, but I understand it is an intergovernmental treaty between the

:56:55. > :56:57.two countries and will not necessarily be affected. But of

:56:58. > :57:04.course we also have bilateral treaties with the other countries,

:57:05. > :57:08.so we just before Christmas signed an agreement with the Japanese do

:57:09. > :57:12.deepen our research into civil nuclear programme. With India we

:57:13. > :57:15.have a bilateral arrangement, with South Korea we have a bilateral

:57:16. > :57:20.arrangement and this is really where the innovations are happening in

:57:21. > :57:23.nuclear research and so the idea that somehow by coming out of

:57:24. > :57:26.Euratom we are going to close ourselves off to the rest of the

:57:27. > :57:32.world is answering. If anything, it might free us to do more work across

:57:33. > :57:36.the rest of the globe in developing what I think is going to be the

:57:37. > :57:42.future of British energy. Finally, I want to say a word on EU National.

:57:43. > :57:45.As members will know, I have expressed my doubts about the

:57:46. > :57:48.government's approach to EU nationals in the last few months. I

:57:49. > :57:52.am of the belief that we should give those people some reassurance, but I

:57:53. > :57:55.am willing to give the Prime Minister the space she needs in a

:57:56. > :57:59.negotiation to go and make sure she can secure the fate of the shisha

:58:00. > :58:09.National 's overseas and on the Asus -- the fate of British nationals.

:58:10. > :58:14.Requiring legislation, I will be voting with the government on this

:58:15. > :58:17.motion, as I know a lot of other people will be for exactly the same

:58:18. > :58:23.reason and I would encourage members of the House to look at these

:58:24. > :58:28.amendments, decide whether they are actually good, whether we are

:58:29. > :58:35.putting good, enforceable, possible law into the statue book. Most of

:58:36. > :58:42.the ones I have seen we are not, and I hope they vote for the government.

:58:43. > :58:44.It is a pleasure to serve under your stewardship this afternoon. I

:58:45. > :58:49.listened very carefully to the contribution from the member for

:58:50. > :58:53.North West Hampshire. It seems to me that part of what our job is in the

:58:54. > :58:58.House of Commons is to raise questions about such an important

:58:59. > :59:01.decision affecting all of our lives and through the use of amendments

:59:02. > :59:05.and other means to open up the discussion and seeks answers run the

:59:06. > :59:11.government of the day and I think that is absolutely important to the

:59:12. > :59:15.debates we will have today and going forward, because it does seem to be

:59:16. > :59:20.that so far whilst the government has refused on numerous occasions to

:59:21. > :59:24.accept some of the contributions from my own front bench and others,

:59:25. > :59:30.they have then gone away and thought about and thought maybe is something

:59:31. > :59:33.in that. If anything comes out of today's debate, we are pushing at

:59:34. > :59:36.the government, who do not want to accept some of the amendments, some

:59:37. > :59:40.of which I have put my name to, but part of the debate in this public

:59:41. > :59:44.arena is to hold the government to account and make them look again at

:59:45. > :59:48.some of the important subjects that are being raised today but have also

:59:49. > :59:51.been raised before. I have no doubt will also be raised over the next

:59:52. > :59:58.two years and beyond. I would also just like to add that I was

:59:59. > :00:06.absolutely delighted to read in the Brexit White Paper that the Prime

:00:07. > :00:11.Minister who set one of her 12 objectives is to enhance employees'

:00:12. > :00:15.rights and maintained EU protections, on page 32 the grass

:00:16. > :00:27.suggests we will have 14 weeks statutory paid holiday. -- the graph

:00:28. > :00:31.suggests we will have 14 weeks' statutory paid holiday. As we go

:00:32. > :00:35.forward, I know my honourable friend's amendments in terms of

:00:36. > :00:38.protecting workers' rights will not be drawn but we will take heart from

:00:39. > :00:42.that and maybe hold her to account on that particular issue.

:00:43. > :00:49.I want to challenge the government on a number of aspects of this

:00:50. > :00:53.process, and I do so as an MP who believes the decision is made.

:00:54. > :00:57.Whatever the falsehoods, the exaggerations or the unpleasantness

:00:58. > :01:01.that surfaced in the referendum, none of them invalidate the UK's

:01:02. > :01:07.decision. It is important that the House makes clear that we respect

:01:08. > :01:09.the outcome of the 23rd of June. And I do commend my own front bench's

:01:10. > :01:15.approach on this, particularly the work of my honourable friend the

:01:16. > :01:19.member for Holborn and St Pancras. It is thanks to his efforts that the

:01:20. > :01:25.government has accepted a number of Labour's demands, the demand for a

:01:26. > :01:29.vote in this House prior to withdraw has been a concession. The

:01:30. > :01:32.government has accepted that that vote has to include our future

:01:33. > :01:36.proposed relationship with the EU after we leave. The government has

:01:37. > :01:38.accepted that the vote must take place on a draft withdrawal

:01:39. > :01:43.agreement and we will do so before the European Council decide on that

:01:44. > :01:46.draft agreement. I think in accepting these Labour arguments,

:01:47. > :01:52.the government is asserting that the UK Parliament does not play second

:01:53. > :01:54.fiddle to our colleagues in the EU Parliament and that this House

:01:55. > :02:00.asserts some measure of control over the withdrawal process. It is

:02:01. > :02:04.important that this is not seen as a debate just for the Prime Minister

:02:05. > :02:14.and her ministers, but through this House, everyone is able to air their

:02:15. > :02:17.views and influence the discussion. In the prime minister's Lancaster

:02:18. > :02:22.house speech, she pledged that the UK will keep workers' rights after

:02:23. > :02:25.Brexit. She also pledged to avoid a cliff edge by seeking a period of

:02:26. > :02:30.stability after we leave while our trading arrangements with the EU

:02:31. > :02:34.single market gets sorted out. She pledged to seek good access to the

:02:35. > :02:37.single market with no extra tariffs or bureaucracy. I know I may have

:02:38. > :02:41.disagreements on my own side about what the shape of that should look

:02:42. > :02:45.like, but none of us should be in any doubt about the importance of

:02:46. > :02:49.our trade arrangements not only in terms of what we export outwards,

:02:50. > :02:53.but what comes into this country. But it is not just about our cities,

:02:54. > :02:56.it is about places like Doncaster and many of the towns and

:02:57. > :03:01.communities around the country who know that this is vital for their

:03:02. > :03:04.jobs. When I did a survey of my constituents after the referendum

:03:05. > :03:09.campaign, I asked them, what do you think should be the priority is?

:03:10. > :03:14.Jobs and investment came first. Tackling immigration came second,

:03:15. > :03:17.and there was discussion about this in yesterday's debate, the ?350

:03:18. > :03:23.million a week that was apparently going to come back to the NHS. I am

:03:24. > :03:29.not sure what I can do about that, but on the first two, they will get

:03:30. > :03:34.my attention. I believe we do have to look at freedom of movement, and

:03:35. > :03:37.I have said for many years that immigration has not been attended to

:03:38. > :03:43.by my party or other parties in the way it should. But the Prime

:03:44. > :03:45.Minister has said she wants the negotiations to guarantee that EU

:03:46. > :03:51.workers currently living here can stay. I agree with that. For many of

:03:52. > :03:55.my constituents, they have particular issues about freedom of

:03:56. > :04:00.movement that they want to receive attention in a way they have not.

:04:01. > :04:04.But on this particular issue around EU nationals, the Prime Minister

:04:05. > :04:07.could lead her MPs through the lobbies today and vote to guarantee

:04:08. > :04:11.those rights for EU nationals working here. She could make clear,

:04:12. > :04:15.as others have said, that they will not be used as a bargaining chip and

:04:16. > :04:21.it would end their uncertainty today. Likewise, we also want to

:04:22. > :04:27.safeguard the rights for Brits living in Europe, but I believe that

:04:28. > :04:32.by adopting a positive approach today, we make it more likely that

:04:33. > :04:40.Brits living in the EU will be treated fairly. The honourable lady

:04:41. > :04:45.touches on EU nationals. Something has been misunderstood a few times

:04:46. > :04:49.in this House in the call that Europe should make this the first.

:04:50. > :04:53.Which European state should make the move first, Bulgaria, Sweden,

:04:54. > :04:57.Portugal? The reality is that the UK are making the moves on Brexit and

:04:58. > :05:02.the UK should be leading and showing goodwill toward citizens of all

:05:03. > :05:10.European countries. We are talking about the UK and 27 other countries.

:05:11. > :05:14.I think the tone of this debate as we all move forward is crucial to