13/03/2017

:00:00. > :00:32.ayes to the right, 331, the noes to the left, 232. The ayes to the

:00:33. > :00:42.right, 331, the noes to the left, 102, so the ayes have it, the ayes

:00:43. > :00:51.have it. The clerk will now read the waters for the day. I should inform

:00:52. > :00:56.the house that neither a Lords amendment engages financial

:00:57. > :01:05.privilege. Queens consent is required in respect of the Lords

:01:06. > :01:10.amendment number two, queens consent. We will take the government

:01:11. > :01:14.motion to disagree with Lords amendment number one with which we

:01:15. > :01:18.will consider a Lords amendment number two and a government motion

:01:19. > :01:23.to disagree. To move the motion to disagree with the Lords amendment

:01:24. > :01:29.number one I called the Secretary of State for Exiting the European

:01:30. > :01:33.Union, David Davis. I beg to move that this House disagrees with the

:01:34. > :01:38.Lords amendments one and two. We introduced the most straightforward

:01:39. > :01:42.possible bill necessary to enact the referendum results and respect the

:01:43. > :01:47.Supreme Court's judgment. This bill has a simple purpose, to allow the

:01:48. > :01:52.Prime Minister to notify under article 50 and start the two-year

:01:53. > :01:55.negotiation process. The House of Commons has already accepted this,

:01:56. > :02:01.voting overwhelmingly to pass this bill on end of last month. The house

:02:02. > :02:06.accepted that the majority of people now want the Prime Minister to get

:02:07. > :02:09.on with the job at hand and do so without any strings attached.

:02:10. > :02:12.Despite the simple purpose of this bill it has generated many hours of

:02:13. > :02:19.debate across both houses and quite properly so, I should say. Over the

:02:20. > :02:23.last five weeks we have seen Parliament at its best. Honourable

:02:24. > :02:28.and right honourable members and peers have spoken with passion,

:02:29. > :02:32.sincerity and conviction. However I was disappointed that the House of

:02:33. > :02:36.Lords voted to amend this bill. This bill is just the next step in the

:02:37. > :02:44.long democratic process surrounding our exit from the European Union. It

:02:45. > :02:52.will continue with future legislation, there will be a range

:02:53. > :02:56.of specific bills on immigration and customs arrangements, for example.

:02:57. > :03:02.Parliament will be closely involved with all of these important

:03:03. > :03:06.discussions and decisions. As we embark. IIMACRO1 second. As we

:03:07. > :03:09.embark on the forthcoming negotiations are guiding approach is

:03:10. > :03:15.simple. We will not do anything which will undermine the national

:03:16. > :03:19.interest, and we will not enter the negotiations with our hands tied.

:03:20. > :03:23.This is not to say I don't appreciate the concerns that lie

:03:24. > :03:29.behind these amendments. It is the means we disagree on and I will try

:03:30. > :03:34.to address these individually. The Secretary of State will have heard

:03:35. > :03:39.many members wanting to have a meaningful vote on the government's

:03:40. > :03:43.terms of negotiation which he defined yesterday as either accept

:03:44. > :03:51.the governments terms or WTO terms. When does he expect this vote to

:03:52. > :03:54.come to this place and to all the other parliaments, when roughly

:03:55. > :03:59.within the two-year period, does he expect the house to get the vote

:04:00. > :04:08.open on his terms? I will come to the detail of the answer to that

:04:09. > :04:14.later. In broad terms, the form of words which I crafted before it was

:04:15. > :04:20.we intend and inspected to be before the European Parliaments votes on

:04:21. > :04:25.the same matters. It will fit within the ratification process at the

:04:26. > :04:29.beginning but as soon as we get the negotiation complete. It is too soon

:04:30. > :04:32.to know when that will be. Amendment one that seeks to require the

:04:33. > :04:36.government to act unilaterally to bring forward plans within three

:04:37. > :04:41.months to secure the status of European Union and EEA citizens and

:04:42. > :04:44.family members living in the United Kingdom. On this matter the

:04:45. > :04:49.government has been clear, we want to secure the status of EU citizens

:04:50. > :04:52.already living in Britain and the status of British nationals living

:04:53. > :05:02.in other member states as early as we can. There will be a time limits

:05:03. > :05:07.and many people want to speak so I will limit the number of

:05:08. > :05:13.interventions I take. As somebody who you is married to an EU citizen

:05:14. > :05:17.without a British passport can I say I wholeheartedly support Discover

:05:18. > :05:20.and's approach to it and it is rightly get reciprocity before the

:05:21. > :05:30.go-ahead with any agreement with the rest of the EU. I thank the

:05:31. > :05:36.honourable gentleman both for his intervention and warming the house

:05:37. > :05:40.up. European citizens already resident in the United Kingdom neck

:05:41. > :05:47.a vital contribution to our economy and society. Including working in

:05:48. > :05:52.crucial public services like the national health service. Without

:05:53. > :05:56.them we would be poorer and public services... However, the European

:05:57. > :06:00.Union has been clear that we can't open these discussions until the

:06:01. > :06:01.Prime Minister has given formal notification that the UK which is to

:06:02. > :06:13.withdraw from the European Union. We must pass this bill without

:06:14. > :06:18.delays or the Prime Minister can get to work on the negotiations and we

:06:19. > :06:23.can secure a quick deal that secures the status of EU citizens in the UK

:06:24. > :06:29.and UK national living in the EU of which there are 1 million. I take

:06:30. > :06:35.very seriously our modern responsibility to all 4 million

:06:36. > :06:43.United Kingdom and European citizens. This will be one of the

:06:44. > :06:46.top priorities. I welcome the encouraging words from across the

:06:47. > :06:53.Channel, Poland and Sweden, which fill me with confidence that we will

:06:54. > :06:59.reach a swift agreement. As the Polish Prime Minister said, these

:07:00. > :07:06.guarantees will need to be reciprocal. It is important the

:07:07. > :07:13.guarantees of British citizens are hard. I did undertake to give way to

:07:14. > :07:22.the honourable gentleman and I will come back. Is he aware of the survey

:07:23. > :07:29.showing two thirds of EU doctors are thinking of leaving and EU citizens

:07:30. > :07:38.tend to be younger, wouldn't he accept there is a need to act in

:07:39. > :07:46.good faith to set -- to set the agenda. As I said before, these

:07:47. > :07:49.issues are serious and important and people hold their views passionately

:07:50. > :07:54.and with good reason but the simple truth is the government has been

:07:55. > :07:59.very plain in what it intends. It intends to guarantee the rights of

:08:00. > :08:08.British and European citizens and it will do that as quickly as possible.

:08:09. > :08:11.I'm delighted to hear what he had to say about prioritising the

:08:12. > :08:17.negotiations as far as EU citizens are concerned. He said the

:08:18. > :08:23.negotiations could stretch out for up to two years. There's no reason

:08:24. > :08:30.why an agreement should not come a lot earlier as far as this is

:08:31. > :08:35.concerned. Will he give a guarantee that once an agreement is made it

:08:36. > :08:39.will be made public in order to put out of misery the trauma these

:08:40. > :08:49.people may be facing. He makes a good point. When it changes and is

:08:50. > :08:57.putting law. , I would aim to get all the member states to commit an

:08:58. > :09:02.exchange so everybody knows what the rights will be. Deal with the issue

:09:03. > :09:05.the honourable gentleman raised, quite properly, that people are

:09:06. > :09:16.afraid of things they should not be afraid of. This is very dependent on

:09:17. > :09:22.the commitment of other member states as well as ourselves. The

:09:23. > :09:32.Polish Prime Minister has made the point publicly that every single

:09:33. > :09:39.minister of every member state I've spoken to has reinforced the point

:09:40. > :09:52.that they want this to be top of the agenda, dealt with first. That is

:09:53. > :09:58.what we intend to do. Forgive me, I have to make some progress. This

:09:59. > :10:05.amendment may force the UK to set out unilateral plans. Such an

:10:06. > :10:16.approach would only serve to undermine and what I've been talking

:10:17. > :10:19.about. I want to reassure people Parliament will have a clear

:10:20. > :10:26.opportunity to debate and vote on this issue before anything else

:10:27. > :10:37.happens. We will not change the situation. Nothing will change for

:10:38. > :10:46.any EU citizen in the UK without Parliament's explicit approval

:10:47. > :10:51.beforehand. Given the government track record on contingency planning

:10:52. > :10:55.is as bad as the handling of the Brexit process, I wonder if I can

:10:56. > :11:01.ask the Secretary of State that if it is the case that they will not

:11:02. > :11:06.protect the position of EU nationals, has the Secretary of

:11:07. > :11:20.State given consideration as to deportation process?

:11:21. > :11:34.The honourable lady knows me very well. I think it is incredible that

:11:35. > :11:42.anybody would imagine I would sign up to deportation. The answer is

:11:43. > :11:48.simple and I make the point again. I take, as a moral responsibility, the

:11:49. > :12:00.future guarantees of the future of all four of the European citizens.

:12:01. > :12:05.If I may move onto the next issue, let me be clear from the outset,

:12:06. > :12:09.this amendment does not seek to put what we've promised on the face of

:12:10. > :12:17.the bill as was suggested by some. It seeks to go further. Let me begin

:12:18. > :12:22.with subclauses, which do seek to put our commitment on the face of

:12:23. > :12:27.the bill. I will repeat our commitment. We will bring forward a

:12:28. > :12:30.motion on the final agreement to be approved by both houses of

:12:31. > :12:35.Parliament before it is concluded. We expect and intend that this will

:12:36. > :12:38.happen before the European Parliament debates and votes on the

:12:39. > :12:49.final issue. This commitment could not be clearer and so the subclauses

:12:50. > :12:53.are wholly unnecessary. This is our clear intention, and intentions

:12:54. > :12:56.stated more than once, and by far the most likely outcome that will

:12:57. > :13:03.bring a deal back to the house of parliament for them to improve --

:13:04. > :13:06.approve. I am grateful to the Secretary of State. If he is so

:13:07. > :13:10.confident about this why can't he allow the rest of us to be confident

:13:11. > :13:15.by agreeing to the second amendment from the House of Lords? It is

:13:16. > :13:19.unnecessary. When a minister gives an undertaking at this dispatch box

:13:20. > :13:31.in this house that is binding on the government. Understand that? I do

:13:32. > :13:38.not. We should not. Just on the more general point of thoughts, we should

:13:39. > :13:45.not underestimate, I say this with some personal interest, we should

:13:46. > :13:49.not underestimate the mechanisms at Parliament's disposal to ensure that

:13:50. > :14:03.its voice is heard. To paraphrase Lord Howard's words, this place will

:14:04. > :14:14.have its say. We do not need to put this into legislation. He is a

:14:15. > :14:19.member of long standing in this files and he recognises that

:14:20. > :14:25.Parliament will find a way to have a say in whether a deal is reached or

:14:26. > :14:30.whether no deal is reached. If he recognised that would he agree with

:14:31. > :14:39.me that it would be better if the government officially recognised

:14:40. > :14:45.that position? I recognise the point. That is often -- that is a

:14:46. > :14:55.matter for Parliament. It is not for a minister to do do that. Let me get

:14:56. > :15:01.to the point behind this. I agree with her on that but what we cannot

:15:02. > :15:07.have is what I'm coming to about the second aspect of this motion or this

:15:08. > :15:11.amendment, any suggestion that the votes in either house will overturn

:15:12. > :15:18.the result of the referendum. That's the key point. I give way. It would

:15:19. > :15:23.completely cripple the government trying to get a good deal for the

:15:24. > :15:26.UK. This is the time for Parliament to get behind the country that made

:15:27. > :15:34.the decision, and get the best deal. You cannot do that if they can

:15:35. > :15:40.undermine us. That brings me to the sub-clause. Let me deal with that.

:15:41. > :15:45.This effectively seeks to prohibit the Prime Minister from walking away

:15:46. > :15:50.from negotiations even if the Prime Minister thinks they are offering

:15:51. > :15:57.her a very bad deal. The impact of this is unclear but even the -- the

:15:58. > :16:01.intent goes far beyond what we could accept. The government will be

:16:02. > :16:08.undertaking the negotiations and must have the freedom to walk away

:16:09. > :16:13.from a deal which will punish the UK as some have suggested. We are

:16:14. > :16:18.thinking a mutually beneficial relationship can and will work for

:16:19. > :16:23.everyone but tying the government's hands in this way could be the worst

:16:24. > :16:31.way to achieve that. Let's not forget in December this house passed

:16:32. > :16:37.a moment that nothing should be done to undermine the negotiating

:16:38. > :16:42.position of the government. I thank the Minister. He is asking us to

:16:43. > :16:47.take him at his word. Given the record of the party opposite

:16:48. > :16:53.recently on manifesto commitments, does the same principle of trust

:16:54. > :17:05.apply? I said before and I will say it again, I take statements at this

:17:06. > :17:12.dispatch box as binding. The idea that Parliament could force

:17:13. > :17:15.government to accept a bad deal will only incentivise those on the other

:17:16. > :17:25.side of the negotiating table to deliver that deal. As the select

:17:26. > :17:29.committee said, the government will conduct the negotiations on behalf

:17:30. > :17:35.of the United Kingdom and will need room to manoeuvre if it is to secure

:17:36. > :17:42.a good outcome. I'm grateful to my right honourable friend forgiving

:17:43. > :17:48.way. Nobody in this house wishes to fetter the government's hand in

:17:49. > :17:53.negotiations or their right to walk away from negotiations. The issue in

:17:54. > :17:58.sub-clause for is about the question of whether the government comes back

:17:59. > :18:02.to this house to explain its plan on policy in the event of that

:18:03. > :18:11.happening. I would expect that to be inevitable and yet when we've sought

:18:12. > :18:15.assurances from the government that they would do that which seems to me

:18:16. > :18:21.to be blinding obvious we are told they will not give that assurance. I

:18:22. > :18:29.find that a bit awed and I wonder if you could clarify. My right

:18:30. > :18:37.honourable friend is making a good point. The simple truth, as I've

:18:38. > :18:41.said before is that nothing can constrain this house's right to

:18:42. > :18:58.debate and vote on anything it sees fit. What I'm dealing with here is

:18:59. > :19:02.sub-clause for. During the debate, the author of the house admitted he

:19:03. > :19:06.did not know what would happen if Parliament voted against leaving the

:19:07. > :19:11.EU without a deal. This is a strong argument against this but a

:19:12. > :19:24.significant number of Lords supported this amendment, and they

:19:25. > :19:31.made their intentions clear. If Parliament were to vote against

:19:32. > :19:35.leaving without a deal the UK should seek to remain in the EU and reverse

:19:36. > :19:41.the result of the referendum. The European Union member states and

:19:42. > :19:46.institutions Read the proceedings of this house very closely and they

:19:47. > :19:48.will have read that and it will have raised their interest because that

:19:49. > :19:56.is what they would like to see happen. The reality is some would

:19:57. > :20:02.seek to use this to overturn the result of the referendum. The

:20:03. > :20:07.government. Good idea, comes from across the floor. That is exactly

:20:08. > :20:11.what concerns us. The government and the Prime Minister have been crystal

:20:12. > :20:14.clear. The people of the UK have decided to leave the European Union.

:20:15. > :20:20.The government will seek to implement this decision in a way

:20:21. > :20:25.that is most beneficial to both the United Kingdom and the European

:20:26. > :20:31.Union. What we will not do is accept anything that will put the intention

:20:32. > :20:35.to leave the UK in doubt. Will my honourable friends forgive me

:20:36. > :20:40.because I'm coming to the end of my comments? Any prospect we might

:20:41. > :20:43.actually decide to remain in the European Union will only serve to

:20:44. > :20:59.encourage those on the other side to give us the worst possible deal.

:21:00. > :21:10.I reiterate the three points, first to respect the Supreme Court, seven

:21:11. > :21:14.days a moment or unnecessary as the government has a ready-made firm

:21:15. > :21:18.commitments in regards to both of the two issues, third these

:21:19. > :21:22.amendments will undermine the government position in the

:21:23. > :21:28.negotiations to get the best deal for Britain. It is clear to the

:21:29. > :21:35.government that we should send back to the House of Lords a clean bill.

:21:36. > :21:40.I ask us all to repeat that support once more. The question is that this

:21:41. > :21:51.House disagrees with the Lords in there amendment number one. I rise

:21:52. > :22:06.to support both of the amendments passed on the other players. They

:22:07. > :22:07.committee stage in this House. They committee stage in this House. They

:22:08. > :22:13.will be supported by Labour MPs here today. The question is of Honourable

:22:14. > :22:18.members opposite will listen to the arguments in favour of the

:22:19. > :22:21.amendments which I know many are sympathetic to have concerns about.

:22:22. > :22:26.Or will they go along with the Prime Minister's increasing obsession to

:22:27. > :22:30.pass a clean bill on amended, even if that means ignoring amendments

:22:31. > :22:37.that would improve the bill and provide much better protection. I

:22:38. > :22:45.will make some progress because I know lots of members want to speak.

:22:46. > :22:49.The government is about to embark on the most complex and challenging

:22:50. > :22:53.undertaking of any British Government since the Second World

:22:54. > :22:55.War. The deal is the government strikes will have profound

:22:56. > :22:59.consequences upon almost every aspect of British life it is

:23:00. > :23:04.therefore essential that government does not feel or take the country

:23:05. > :23:08.down the wrong path. Starting negotiations by guaranteeing the

:23:09. > :23:15.rights of EU nationals and ending negotiations with a meaningful vote

:23:16. > :23:21.will help guard against that fate. On the amendment on EU nationals, my

:23:22. > :23:25.question is, what is the problem? This is not about delay. The way to

:23:26. > :23:32.prevent delay is to accept the Emma Pengelly on the pit. Secondly, what

:23:33. > :23:37.is the amendment? It is to bring forth proposals within three months

:23:38. > :23:41.of exercising the power to trigger article 50. The Secretary of State

:23:42. > :23:47.says we want an early deal. If it is within three months, no problem with

:23:48. > :23:51.the amendment. The amendment only affects the government's approach of

:23:52. > :23:58.doesn't get an early deal. To convey or betrayed this as a delaying

:23:59. > :24:07.tactic is not to read the amendment or what it says. Within three months

:24:08. > :24:12.to bring forward proposals. I have listened carefully to the argument

:24:13. > :24:16.he is making. 4 million people are affected by this. I would put to him

:24:17. > :24:21.that all 4 million should be dealt with fairly and on a level playing

:24:22. > :24:28.field and you'd only get that from reciprocity and this amendment is

:24:29. > :24:34.not bad. Of course there is a shared concern about UK citizens living in

:24:35. > :24:48.the EU, but this is a matter of principle. Are we prepared to use

:24:49. > :24:53.one set of people, those that are here, as a bargaining chip to get

:24:54. > :24:59.the right settlement for people in the EU? That is exactly what it is.

:25:00. > :25:04.The whole argument about reciprocal rights is about bargaining, saying

:25:05. > :25:14.we will not do what we should do until we get something in return for

:25:15. > :25:20.it. That is a bargaining chip. The Minister seeks to persuade us that

:25:21. > :25:23.it be because he has stated from the dispatch box that this will all be

:25:24. > :25:28.fine and dandy but that is the end of the matter because as he said

:25:29. > :25:31.several times quite inaccurately and ministerial statement from the

:25:32. > :25:37.dispatch box as legally binding. Surely the truth is that it is no

:25:38. > :25:49.more a legally binding them to say that it is legally binding from the

:25:50. > :25:52.dispatch box. The Secretary of State said it was binding as far as he was

:25:53. > :25:58.concerned. That is not the same as a legal commitment. Secretary of State

:25:59. > :26:12.can change and governments can change. That is why we need a

:26:13. > :26:15.commitments. Let me fast forward to the second Amendment on that point

:26:16. > :26:20.because if there is really no problem with clauses one, two and

:26:21. > :26:24.amendment to Clause four and put amendment to Clause four and put

:26:25. > :26:30.them on the face of the bill? This is becoming an obsession with a

:26:31. > :26:36.clean bill. Are built us not be amended even when it is right and

:26:37. > :26:47.proper to do so. I will make progress because it is not fair...

:26:48. > :26:51.How does he have said the Brexit Secretary's point this afternoon,

:26:52. > :26:56.that was if and when we pass this bill and it is given Royal assent,

:26:57. > :27:02.the first priority of the government will be to negotiate both the rights

:27:03. > :27:08.of people here who are from Europe and also our citizens abroad? Does

:27:09. > :27:12.he not accept that if we pass this tonight and give those rights the

:27:13. > :27:17.European citizens here there is no incentive whatsoever for the other

:27:18. > :27:30.European countries to conceded two hours? I think it is important to

:27:31. > :27:33.focus on the words in the amendment which is to bring forward proposals

:27:34. > :27:41.within three months, that doesn't tie the hands of anybody. If this is

:27:42. > :27:48.resolved within three months, and I hope it is for the sake of EU

:27:49. > :27:51.citizens living here, then this represents no problem. It only

:27:52. > :27:54.presents a problem if the government doesn't succeed in an early

:27:55. > :28:00.settlement. The Labour Party has been pushing the government to

:28:01. > :28:08.A Labour motion was tabled back in A Labour motion was tabled back in

:28:09. > :28:14.but the government has refused to but the government has refused to

:28:15. > :28:17.take unilateral action. The international trade Secretary said

:28:18. > :28:21.last year that are guaranteed these rights the EU citizens would be to

:28:22. > :28:31.hand over one of our main cards in the negotiations. We do not believe

:28:32. > :28:36.EU National Football Centre bargaining chips and I think many

:28:37. > :28:40.honourable members agree. There are 3.2 EU National Football Centre who

:28:41. > :28:45.have made their home in the United Kingdom, thousands doing vital jobs

:28:46. > :28:53.in the NHS, our universities, our public sector. They are our friends,

:28:54. > :28:58.colleagues and neighbours. They are also our society. This is a matter

:28:59. > :29:05.of principle and decency and we should not bring unnecessary

:29:06. > :29:09.uncertainty and distress. That is exactly what is happening as a

:29:10. > :29:12.result of the government's approach. Let me read to the house an extract

:29:13. > :29:18.from the Brexit Select Committee's report what they said they had heard

:29:19. > :29:21.a wide range of concerns of EU nationals since the referendum

:29:22. > :29:26.including stress and anxiety and feelings of depression, to practical

:29:27. > :29:30.concerns about pension, health care, children being abused in school

:29:31. > :29:34.playgrounds and worries about ability to work in the UK in the

:29:35. > :29:40.future. What have we come to if we can't deal with that level of

:29:41. > :29:46.anxiety and stress? Many members in this House would have seen this in

:29:47. > :29:57.their own constituencies surgeries, I know I have. It is time for the

:29:58. > :30:02.government to act. Increasingly, it is only the Prime Minister and

:30:03. > :30:06.government to think otherwise. Trade unions have made a powerful and

:30:07. > :30:09.compelling case for this to be dealt with now, as of course has the

:30:10. > :30:16.Brexit Select Committee in its conclusions. Labour support this

:30:17. > :30:20.amendment not only because it is the right thing to do in principle but

:30:21. > :30:24.also because it would help of the negotiations by setting the right

:30:25. > :30:28.to. We have to make it clear to our European partners that although we

:30:29. > :30:33.are leaving the EU we are not severing our ties. We want to have a

:30:34. > :30:38.cooperative future with our European partners. We want our nearest allies

:30:39. > :30:43.to be strong and put the European Union to succeed and prosper. We

:30:44. > :30:46.know that in the future citizens will be richer and happier if we

:30:47. > :30:56.work together with EU partners to meet common challenges. The message

:30:57. > :31:07.is vital. Does he agree with me that given the mixed record of our

:31:08. > :31:12.Foreign Secretary both in terms... Both under ?350 million a week

:31:13. > :31:18.savings promise, that it is right that we should choose leadership and

:31:19. > :31:24.commitment by standing up for EU migrants in supporting this

:31:25. > :31:29.amendment? I do agree and I have said a number of occasions that the

:31:30. > :31:32.two and the government sets is very important as we go up to the

:31:33. > :31:37.beginning of the negotiations. From my direct discussions with those

:31:38. > :31:40.representatives in Brussels from other countries I can tell the house

:31:41. > :31:44.that some of the jokes that have been made about the reasons why our

:31:45. > :31:49.EU partners feel so strongly about the EU have not been well received.

:31:50. > :31:55.Passing this amendment tonight would help sell the right tone. I will

:31:56. > :32:02.move on to the question of the meaningful vote on the second

:32:03. > :32:07.Amendment. I remind the house that as recently as December the Prime

:32:08. > :32:11.Minister was refusing to guarantee that Parliament would be able to

:32:12. > :32:14.vote on what every agreement the government reaches with the EU

:32:15. > :32:17.Commission. Under pressure, that position changed earlier this year

:32:18. > :32:21.but it was only when Labour tabled an amendment to the bill during

:32:22. > :32:29.committee that the government made a set of commitments on the floor of

:32:30. > :32:32.the house. They were set out at the member and repeated by the Secretary

:32:33. > :32:36.of State that Parliament would be able to vote on the final draft

:32:37. > :32:40.agreement, second that Parliament would get a vote not just on the

:32:41. > :32:48.so-called divorce settlement, but also on a future agreement with the

:32:49. > :32:52.European Union, and thirdly that the vote in this Parliament would take

:32:53. > :32:56.place before any votes in the European Parliament. The Lords

:32:57. > :33:02.amendments we are considering simply put these commitments on to the face

:33:03. > :33:08.of the bill. That is why it is so wrong in principle for the

:33:09. > :33:14.government to accept them. Is he aware of the poll published in the

:33:15. > :33:17.last two hours which should a clear majority of the British public

:33:18. > :33:27.support and meaningful vote on this, with 52% supporting it, only 27%

:33:28. > :33:33.saying the other way? I had seen that poll. That is important but

:33:34. > :33:40.this is a matter of principle. This is the question of whether this

:33:41. > :33:45.House should be able to vote on the deal reached in two years before the

:33:46. > :33:50.European Parliament votes and to have a meaningful say. That is what

:33:51. > :34:00.it has been in principle from start to finish. This amendment does not

:34:01. > :34:04.simply give the right to this House to vote on these matters, it gives

:34:05. > :34:10.rights to the other place to vote on these matters. What would happen if

:34:11. > :34:14.this House was the two except for the government wanted to do, but the

:34:15. > :34:24.other place dug in and rejected it? What would happen then? There is a

:34:25. > :34:29.reason that that amendment spells that I can that data because that is

:34:30. > :34:33.precisely what was said from their last time this was debated, what was

:34:34. > :34:38.said by the Minister should be the position. This carefully reflects

:34:39. > :34:44.what the government says it is -- is its assurance so the question about

:34:45. > :34:56.the membership be put to the Secretary of State who has agreed...

:34:57. > :35:00.Would he agree with me that given the high level of uncertainty this

:35:01. > :35:03.is the only stage and proper thing to do to give us one more chance

:35:04. > :35:12.before the European Parliament has an opportunity?

:35:13. > :35:21.I would not put it as one last chance. What I would say is this.

:35:22. > :35:28.These negotiations will lead to first, I hope, and Article 50

:35:29. > :35:33.agreement. Second, I hope, transition arrangements, and third,

:35:34. > :35:39.a final agreement between ourselves and the EU. That will define the

:35:40. > :35:44.future of the UK for generations in Europe and beyond Europe. It is

:35:45. > :35:50.imperative that this House has a vote on that before the end of the

:35:51. > :35:55.two years. I will give way. I'm grateful to my honourable friend.

:35:56. > :36:00.The discussion so far has been about the parliamentary vote in the view

:36:01. > :36:07.of the government reaching a deal. Can I ask, is it his interpretation

:36:08. > :36:14.of State's speech today that in the event of no deal, the government is

:36:15. > :36:22.seeking the authority to default to WTO rules which are not rules used

:36:23. > :36:26.by any major economy alone to trade with the EU. When it defaults to

:36:27. > :36:33.those rules without this House having a say? I'm grateful for that

:36:34. > :36:37.intervention. If that is the interpretation it causes me concern.

:36:38. > :36:43.We need to be clear, Mr Speaker no deal is the worst of all possible

:36:44. > :36:50.outcomes for Britain. The president of the CBI has described it as "The

:36:51. > :36:55.worst case scenario" for which many firms cannot even prepared because,

:36:56. > :36:59."The cost of too high to even consider it". Just yesterday the

:37:00. > :37:08.director of the CBI emphasised that no deal should not be plan B but

:37:09. > :37:11.Plan Z. I could not agree more. Research published today by Open

:37:12. > :37:17.Britain wants that leaving without a deal would cause great harm to trade

:37:18. > :37:23.with the EU than with any due 20 country. And as the cross-party

:37:24. > :37:28.committee warned on Sunday, a complete breakdown in negotiations

:37:29. > :37:33.represent a very destructive outcome leading to mutually assured to

:37:34. > :37:36.damage the EU and the UK. Both side could suffer economic losses and

:37:37. > :37:43.harm to its reputation. This is why having a vote not only on a deal but

:37:44. > :37:49.having a vote on no deal represents a check against the Prime Minister

:37:50. > :37:56.trying to take this country down the most dangerous pass. That is why I

:37:57. > :38:02.will ask those opposite to vote for the amendment, not against it. I

:38:03. > :38:07.will give way. I thank the honourable member forgiving way.

:38:08. > :38:11.Does he at least accept in principle that this Parliament made a contract

:38:12. > :38:19.with the British people at the last referendum, a contract that we would

:38:20. > :38:25.respect their wishes with or without a deal, and that those wishes would

:38:26. > :38:32.be respected in this place. Does he agree with that or not? There was

:38:33. > :38:38.one question on the ballot paper, should we stay in the EU leave.

:38:39. > :38:41.There was no second question. It's impossible to extrapolate but I

:38:42. > :38:47.would be staggered if most people thought this house should not have a

:38:48. > :38:51.proper grip over the available options in two years' time and

:38:52. > :38:55.hopefully beyond two years. I would expect that they said of course we

:38:56. > :38:58.want Parliament to be fully involved, we expect accountability

:38:59. > :39:05.and scrutiny and we expect a vote. Mr Speaker, I am going to conclude

:39:06. > :39:09.because we only have to hours and other people want to come in. These

:39:10. > :39:14.are simple amendments that would improve the Article 50 process, they

:39:15. > :39:18.have achieved cross-party support and large majorities in the Lords,

:39:19. > :39:22.they are vital amendments on important issues and the obsession

:39:23. > :39:27.of an amended bill should not triumph over decency and principle.

:39:28. > :39:35.Thank you, Mr Speaker. -- the obsession of an amended bill. Mr

:39:36. > :39:41.Oliver Letwin. It's about amendments to that I want to speak. The

:39:42. > :39:46.operative clause, as my right honourable friend said, is

:39:47. > :39:53.sub-clause four. I just want to remind the house of this because

:39:54. > :39:57.prior approval of Parliament should be required in relation to any

:39:58. > :40:00.decision by the Prime Minister that the UK shall leave the European

:40:01. > :40:05.Union without an agreement. I have already argued what my right

:40:06. > :40:09.honourable friend argued today in past debates, namely if that is

:40:10. > :40:12.sub-clause wouldn't have its intended effect it would be inimical

:40:13. > :40:17.to the interests of this country because it would have the undoubted

:40:18. > :40:23.effect of providing a massive incentive for our EU counterparts to

:40:24. > :40:29.give us the worst possible agreement. I agree but I think the

:40:30. > :40:32.situation is worse than the Secretary of State describes, far

:40:33. > :40:38.worse. Because this operative sub-clause is deeply deficient as a

:40:39. > :40:44.matter of law. And the reason for that is not just the one that Lord

:40:45. > :40:47.Pannick half admitted to in the House of Lords but because under

:40:48. > :40:52.plausible circumstances this sub-clause will have nothing like

:40:53. > :40:59.its intended effect. I just want briefly to illustrate why that is

:41:00. > :41:05.the case. Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union is for once in

:41:06. > :41:11.treaties entirely clear in the third clause of that article, it says the

:41:12. > :41:18.treaties shall cease to apply to the state in question. To years after

:41:19. > :41:24.the notification, unless the European Council unanimously decides

:41:25. > :41:29.to extend this period. Unless the European Council unanimously decides

:41:30. > :41:34.to extend the period. Let us imagine what I help and what the Secretary

:41:35. > :41:45.of State and the government and I suspect, and in fact why we are at

:41:46. > :41:48.it all members opposite, all negotiations for a proper trade

:41:49. > :41:53.agreement breakdown. We all hope that will not happen yet we cannot

:41:54. > :41:57.exclude the possibility that it may. If it does I think all members on

:41:58. > :42:01.either side of the house must have the emotional intelligence to

:42:02. > :42:06.recognise that in probability that would be in circumstances of

:42:07. > :42:11.acrimony. How likely is it, I ask, that under circumstances of the

:42:12. > :42:17.agreement having broken down in some acrimony, that the EU council will

:42:18. > :42:22.be able to achieve unanimous agreement to allow the UK to remain

:42:23. > :42:27.a member beyond the two-year period? I speculate that this is very

:42:28. > :42:31.unlikely. If we assume that that were to occur and we ask ourselves,

:42:32. > :42:34.what would happen under those circumstances, one thing we can

:42:35. > :42:39.predict with certainty is that there would be litigation. And the

:42:40. > :42:44.litigation would ask the Supreme Court ultimately to decide the

:42:45. > :42:50.question, what has happened here. As the Prime Minister made a decision

:42:51. > :42:56.or has the Prime Minister not made a decision. The courts could decide

:42:57. > :43:00.that in one of two ways. I think members on all sides would agree

:43:01. > :43:04.with me that the court would either decide that the Prime Minister has

:43:05. > :43:08.made the decision or not. Let's suppose that they decide that the

:43:09. > :43:12.Prime Minister has not because the decision has been made instead by

:43:13. > :43:16.the European Council. It is a plausible outcome of the court

:43:17. > :43:20.proceedings. In that case clause four has no effect whatsoever

:43:21. > :43:23.because what it does is to prevent the Prime Minister making a decision

:43:24. > :43:27.without a vote. If the Prime Minister has come in the running of

:43:28. > :43:31.the court, made no decision then it is not possible for her to have made

:43:32. > :43:38.a decision that a vote, therefore it does not give Parliament any ability

:43:39. > :43:43.to vote on the matter. I entirely agree with what might Wright friend

:43:44. > :43:47.says. There is a further point which is, in relation to the competing

:43:48. > :43:53.legislation at that point, it would be a question for the courts as to

:43:54. > :44:00.whether or not the provisions in the Lisbon Treaty, which deal with the

:44:01. > :44:09.question of Article 50, had somehow been amended or repealed by

:44:10. > :44:12.subsequent enactment. I agree with my right honourable friend about

:44:13. > :44:15.that but it seems to me that for this purpose we do not even need to

:44:16. > :44:19.raise that question because there's only one other possibility in this

:44:20. > :44:22.court action. And that is that the court decides that the Prime

:44:23. > :44:28.Minister has implicitly made the decision. I don't know how the court

:44:29. > :44:32.would get to that answer but they might speculate that had the Prime

:44:33. > :44:37.Minister acted differently in the negotiations, the council would have

:44:38. > :44:40.acted differently. Under those circumstances sub-clause forward

:44:41. > :44:46.purportedly come into effect. And that is, I suppose, what its authors

:44:47. > :44:51.intended. However, if the European Council had not, by the two-year

:44:52. > :44:55.period made a unanimous decision, and the court decided that the Prime

:44:56. > :44:58.Minister thereby implicitly decided, then the courts would require

:44:59. > :45:03.Parliament to do something impossible to do. Namely, to get the

:45:04. > :45:07.Prime Minister to reverse a decision which is a matter of ordinary

:45:08. > :45:11.language the Prime Minister wouldn't have made, at a time when the Prime

:45:12. > :45:18.Minister couldn't undo a decision because the European Council had

:45:19. > :45:22.made it! I am perfectly aware, Mr Speaker, that it is of the greatest

:45:23. > :45:27.importance that members of this house should show due deference to

:45:28. > :45:30.the Other Place. And I also genuinely admire the skills of those

:45:31. > :45:35.who are the authors of this amendment. But and put it to them

:45:36. > :45:41.that even the House of Lords in all its majesty cannot compel the Prime

:45:42. > :45:46.Minister to do something that is impossible -- I put it to them. That

:45:47. > :45:51.is beyond the scope of any human agency! I give way to my honourable

:45:52. > :45:58.friend. By Lord Patrick himself arguing in court that this is

:45:59. > :46:03.irreversible. Again I agree with my right honourable friend although the

:46:04. > :46:11.Supreme Court went to great pains not to refer that the ECJ. My point

:46:12. > :46:15.is, this sub-clause, the important one and we are debating today,

:46:16. > :46:19.either would have its intended effect, if it did it would be

:46:20. > :46:22.inimical to the interests of this country because it would induce the

:46:23. > :46:27.worst possible agreement to be offered, it will not have that

:46:28. > :46:30.effect and the worst possible circumstances and if it doesn't it

:46:31. > :46:35.is bad law. I put it to you Mr Speaker that there is House should

:46:36. > :46:38.not pass legislation inimical to the interests of this country or

:46:39. > :46:47.constituting Bradlaugh, so we should reject it. Mr Stephen Gethins. Thank

:46:48. > :46:50.you, Mr Speaker. This is a very timely debate over these amendments

:46:51. > :46:55.that go to the heart of the situation we find ourselves in.

:46:56. > :47:01.First, the SNP have been clear that we wanted to see much more detailed

:47:02. > :47:04.reassurance, maybe the occasional detail from the government and this

:47:05. > :47:08.is the parliamentary scrutiny should have come in. They should also be

:47:09. > :47:12.having a debate about the kind of country in which we want to live,

:47:13. > :47:19.and the kind of country that Scotland and the UK becomes and that

:47:20. > :47:23.is with the amendment on EU National 's comment. The Secretary of State

:47:24. > :47:26.may have caught the statement by the First Minister today in which she

:47:27. > :47:33.made it very clear that this is not the situation in which we wanted to

:47:34. > :47:40.find ourselves. In fact the Scottish Parliament voted across political

:47:41. > :47:44.parties, 92-0, that we should look at ways to secure our relationship

:47:45. > :47:50.with Europe. It is a critical relationship that we have the boss,

:47:51. > :47:55.European partners, one that impacts on and benefits each and every of

:47:56. > :48:00.us. And yet almost nine months on from the EU referendum we still

:48:01. > :48:04.don't have that much in the way of detail from an increasingly clueless

:48:05. > :48:08.government. The most detailed response we have so far to the EU

:48:09. > :48:15.referendum came in the form of a compromise from the Scottish

:48:16. > :48:19.Government just before Christmas. This was a compromise, let's not

:48:20. > :48:23.forget this, that when it meant Scotland leaving the EU against its

:48:24. > :48:26.will to protect our place in the single market, that has a big

:48:27. > :48:30.compromise, that took a lot from this side of the House to put that

:48:31. > :48:36.Ford, especially given that Scotland voted overwhelmingly,

:48:37. > :48:41.overwhelmingly, to remain part of the European Union. But we did that

:48:42. > :48:46.to protect our place in the single market as a way of protecting jobs

:48:47. > :48:54.and the economy and opportunities for young people and the environment

:48:55. > :48:58.in the face of a hard Tory Brexit. It has been suggested that we could

:48:59. > :49:03.lose up to 80,000 jobs in Scotland alone as a result of the plans on

:49:04. > :49:05.the government side. We have a responsibility to protect those

:49:06. > :49:12.jobs, to think about opportunities for young people, to think about the

:49:13. > :49:15.rights we get from our memberships of the European Union. We have a

:49:16. > :49:20.responsibility to protect those jobs, and not just roll over in the

:49:21. > :49:25.face of a disastrous Tory plan. I will give weight to my honourable

:49:26. > :49:30.friend. Last Friday met with major bus company in Scotland who said 70%

:49:31. > :49:38.of their drivers were made of EU immigrants. He said the only reason

:49:39. > :49:41.they won not seeing the same haemorrhaging of talents as their

:49:42. > :49:45.counterparts down south was because of the First Minister's reasonable

:49:46. > :49:49.and inclusive message that EU National 's are welcome. Does he

:49:50. > :49:54.agree that the UK Government could also benefit from... My honourable

:49:55. > :49:59.friend makes an excellent point, I will come onto EU marginals shortly.

:50:00. > :50:04.She makes the point that it is not just Scotland where jobs are

:50:05. > :50:10.threatened. In Parliament we have a responsibility to scrutinise, I will

:50:11. > :50:15.give way... I thank the honourable gentleman. Perhaps he could tell us

:50:16. > :50:21.on the same basis, how many jobs in Scotland would be lost if it left

:50:22. > :50:26.the United Kingdom? This is an extraordinary basis... My honourable

:50:27. > :50:29.colleague from the Foreign Affairs Committee forgets that it is his

:50:30. > :50:34.government that is already tell the people of Ireland that they need not

:50:35. > :50:37.to choose between the European Union and the UK, just as Scotland need

:50:38. > :50:46.not to choose between trading and the rest of the European Union. I

:50:47. > :50:51.want. I will make progress. -- I won't. There's a possibility that if

:50:52. > :50:54.we pass this today we are passing this government a blank cheque. A

:50:55. > :50:59.blank cheque on one of the most crucial issues that this parliament

:51:00. > :51:07.has ever discussed and one that will have an impact on each and every one

:51:08. > :51:12.of us and each and every one of our constituents. Let's not forget Mr

:51:13. > :51:17.Speaker we are handing a blank cheque to a government forced to

:51:18. > :51:20.deny its own tweets, correcting a White Paper not published and

:51:21. > :51:24.bringing out yet another shambolic budget. That is a government that

:51:25. > :51:28.you are handing a blank cheque to and this place would be handing a

:51:29. > :51:36.blank cheque to. Frankie Mr Speaker I am not sure we can trust them to

:51:37. > :51:40.run a bath, never mind very complex set of negotiations! The Secretary

:51:41. > :51:43.of State said that he had seen the best of parliamentary debate in this

:51:44. > :51:47.place and over the course of this bill. It is nice to say that he had

:51:48. > :51:52.seen the best of debates because he's spent millions trying to

:51:53. > :51:58.prevent us from having it in the first place! The basis of a

:51:59. > :52:01.democracy is that we can scrutinise and not acquiesce in the face of

:52:02. > :52:06.damaging plans which is what we will be doing by facing up to a blank

:52:07. > :52:13.cheque. It's the House of Lords of all places who have given us another

:52:14. > :52:18.opportunity today to save the House of Commons's blushes. We will be

:52:19. > :52:23.voting for and meaningful vote today although of course we would also

:52:24. > :52:29.have wanted to see a greater role for the devolved administrations as

:52:30. > :52:32.well. The lack of respect for devolved administrations and the

:52:33. > :52:39.promises made and subsequently broken during the independence

:52:40. > :52:44.referendums and EU referendums have led us to where we are today. Giving

:52:45. > :52:48.the independence referendum we were told the only way Scotland could

:52:49. > :52:52.guarantee to remain part of the EU was to vote against independence. We

:52:53. > :52:56.were told the only way to bring powers of immigration was to vote in

:52:57. > :53:02.favour of leaving the European Union.

:53:03. > :53:09.That is why the First Minister is right to be looking at the electoral

:53:10. > :53:13.mandate that the SNP were given last year the hold another independence

:53:14. > :53:20.referendum. The government may not be big on manifesto commitments, but

:53:21. > :53:27.the SNP are. The SNP were returned to power with more votes, the

:53:28. > :53:31.largest number of votes since devolution was established, with 47%

:53:32. > :53:35.of the constituency vote, compared to a Tory government to have brought

:53:36. > :53:44.this to the situation on a 36% of the votes, and less than 15% of the

:53:45. > :53:57.vote in Scotland. Let me move on to EU nationals. We must not forget the

:53:58. > :54:01.human elements of this. My honourable friend is talking about

:54:02. > :54:09.the human element for EU nationals. On Friday afternoon a Lithuanian

:54:10. > :54:13.attended my surgery saying the uncertainty caused by this

:54:14. > :54:18.government and this Parliament is making her feel worse about personal

:54:19. > :54:27.situation in Britain than she did in Lithuania under the Soviets. Does he

:54:28. > :54:35.agree with me... It is the words of a constituent. Does he agree with me

:54:36. > :54:41.that this Parliament should be ashamed is to be causing such

:54:42. > :54:46.uncertainty? I would like to thank her for raising that point. Many of

:54:47. > :54:50.us have listened to EU nationals who contribute so much financially and

:54:51. > :54:57.culturally, who would be a loss to the whole of the UK if we were to

:54:58. > :55:04.lose them. Therefore, I am not entirely sure why the government

:55:05. > :55:07.cannot give us the basis. I feel very passionate about EU citizens

:55:08. > :55:14.living in the United Kingdom being allowed to do so. The ad so much and

:55:15. > :55:19.it would be a human tragedy if they were forced to leave, but there are

:55:20. > :55:24.hundreds and thousands of Scottish people living in other EU countries.

:55:25. > :55:31.Doesn't he believe that they too want to be given the same guarantee

:55:32. > :55:35.at exactly the same time? He makes my point for me, the Scottish

:55:36. > :55:40.Government is looking to protect Scotland's relationship with Europe.

:55:41. > :55:44.If EU nationals are so important to them they will vote with us tonight

:55:45. > :55:48.to give them the certainty that they need and the certainty that they

:55:49. > :55:55.deserve and I look forward to him joining me. EU nationals who have

:55:56. > :55:58.made Scotland or the rest of the UK there home contribute so much. It is

:55:59. > :56:03.a better place in which to live and work. It makes our communities

:56:04. > :56:08.better. These are people with families and jobs. To give them

:56:09. > :56:15.certainty there is something simple that this side of the house can do,

:56:16. > :56:20.join us for a change. This goes to the heart of the kind of country,

:56:21. > :56:26.and normal members would do well to listen to this this time, goes to

:56:27. > :56:33.the heart of the kind of country we want to live in. We want to live in

:56:34. > :56:38.an open, inclusive country, or Age UK that is increasingly isolated in

:56:39. > :56:43.Europe and abroad? It seemed that this is a choice that people in

:56:44. > :56:48.Scotland are going to get. Today we are sitting on the edge of the abyss

:56:49. > :56:52.with this vote. The question is whether or not Scotland is going to

:56:53. > :56:59.be taken into the abyss with this Tory government. I'm glad that we on

:57:00. > :57:02.this side of the house have an alternative. The alternative is

:57:03. > :57:08.clear and respects the will of the people of Scotland, that seeks to

:57:09. > :57:11.work with our partners on these islands and across Europe and

:57:12. > :57:15.prosper as an equal and normal partner in the international

:57:16. > :57:26.community of nations and therefore we will be opposing the government

:57:27. > :57:29.tonight. Anna Sue Brie. I will keep my comments as short as possible so

:57:30. > :57:39.as many people as possible can speak. Can I just say this, it is

:57:40. > :57:45.surely perverse that we are in a situation whereby if there is a deal

:57:46. > :57:51.it comes back to this place and this place can debated and voted on it.

:57:52. > :57:56.But if there is the worse scenario, which is no deal, we are not

:57:57. > :58:04.entitled to that say or that vote. That simply cannot be right.

:58:05. > :58:15.actually isn't a debate about actually isn't a debate about

:58:16. > :58:16.voted against my conscience so that voted against my conscience so that

:58:17. > :58:17.I would honour the result and I voted for us to leave

:58:18. > :58:23.Union. We have had that one and are Union. We have had that one and are

:58:24. > :58:26.moving on. This is about Parliamentary sovereignty and there

:58:27. > :58:31.are some uncomfortable truths need to be said. It took a few brave

:58:32. > :58:34.souls, and the worst brief, to go to the High Court and Supreme Court to

:58:35. > :58:40.establish parliamentary sophistry and that is why we have this bill,

:58:41. > :58:43.not because we did it in this place, and history will record these

:58:44. > :58:48.things, but because of what they did. To the credit to the government

:58:49. > :58:55.they accepted that. I understand there is a good argument to be made

:58:56. > :59:03.that this is a short and simple bill. The difficulty is because of

:59:04. > :59:10.this inability to accept that in the worst case scenario this place is

:59:11. > :59:15.not allowed to have a say. This Secretary of State, of all members

:59:16. > :59:18.of this place, with his fine track record of establishing and fighting

:59:19. > :59:22.at every opportunity for the sovereignty of Parliament to be

:59:23. > :59:34.standing up and denying the stats on this particular item is ironic. Does

:59:35. > :59:39.she not accept that this place made a contract with the British people

:59:40. > :59:46.at that referendum, the SNP might not like it is true, therefore

:59:47. > :59:50.whatever the deal, if there is a good deal we will take it if there

:59:51. > :59:54.isn't the Prime Minister has made it clear we will not accept the bad

:59:55. > :00:00.deal, we move on and be moved out of the EU. The honourable gentleman

:00:01. > :00:07.forgets there was one question on the ballot paper, are we remaining

:00:08. > :00:12.or leaving the EU? That people voted to leave, and that is what we are

:00:13. > :00:17.doing. Some on the side have honoured that result and have voted

:00:18. > :00:20.for us to leave. Now we are talking about the sovereignty of this

:00:21. > :00:24.Parliament and what happens in the event that our Prime Minister

:00:25. > :00:30.doesn't strike that deal? I trust our Prime Minister to do everything

:00:31. > :00:34.that she can. Let us make no mistake about this and be under no

:00:35. > :00:43.illusions, if she doesn't get to strike that deal there will be no

:00:44. > :00:48.other alternative but WTO tariffs and regulation and rules and the

:00:49. > :00:51.people in my constituency certainly did not vote for that. The

:00:52. > :00:57.honourable gentleman from a secondary place says, so? I can

:00:58. > :01:01.assure the honourable gentleman it is not just me but my Prime Minister

:01:02. > :01:06.he takes the view that falling off the cliff edge is the worst possible

:01:07. > :01:13.outcome for the people of this country and it is the one thing we

:01:14. > :01:23.must, we must make sure doesn't happen. This place that event must

:01:24. > :01:27.help and assist the government. What I really say to some honourable

:01:28. > :01:34.members opposite is this, that we know that there is in the event of

:01:35. > :01:39.no deal, and it would be a remarkable set of the gutsy agents

:01:40. > :01:44.to get three bespoke deals within what will be an 18 month time frame,

:01:45. > :01:47.but let us say that worst-case scenario happens and there are no

:01:48. > :01:52.deals, what I would say to honourable members opposite

:01:53. > :02:01.especially those in the north of Ireland is, in Northern Ireland, the

:02:02. > :02:05.honourable gentleman is... The real danger we face is that cliff edge

:02:06. > :02:11.and in that event the hard border that none of us wants an arrogant,

:02:12. > :02:14.and it may well be that in two years' time things will have changed

:02:15. > :02:18.remarkably in our country, not just politically but economically.

:02:19. > :02:22.Economic and we could find that having had the buoyancy of the

:02:23. > :02:27.devalued pound and people spending on the basis of their savings, that

:02:28. > :02:32.inflation has kicked in and our economy is not in the fine fettle in

:02:33. > :02:38.which it looks like it is now. Politically, we will find that it

:02:39. > :02:42.had a great home of our nation that we will be facing the break-up of

:02:43. > :02:48.this union with the possibility of the Scots going there a way with a

:02:49. > :02:53.referendum and, tragically, for Northern Ireland, talk of a united

:02:54. > :02:59.Ireland or a breakdown of the peace that has been left some years. In

:03:00. > :03:03.that event, all options must remain open for us to debate and the side

:03:04. > :03:08.because it could be we decide to restore the free movement of labour

:03:09. > :03:12.and brief look at the benefits of the single market, which will solve

:03:13. > :03:20.the problem for Northern Ireland and is for Scotland. Would she agreed

:03:21. > :03:24.there is not only an issue of principle here of parliamentary

:03:25. > :03:28.sophistry. There is also an issue of good practice and we shouldn't

:03:29. > :03:32.swallow this incentive to offer the worst possible deal argument at all.

:03:33. > :03:45.An amendment number two would instead -- would instil

:03:46. > :03:54.accountability to the government. Interventions must be brief. ID find

:03:55. > :03:59.that absolutely the idea that if we do the right thing, which is the

:04:00. > :04:05.lies to have a say in the event of no deal, that somehow we weakened

:04:06. > :04:07.Prime Minister's because the hand. All the divisions that still exist

:04:08. > :04:13.in our country, they are not being reported throughout the whole of

:04:14. > :04:17.Europe, as if that isn't happening. They know how divided our nation is.

:04:18. > :04:23.They know about the deliberations in this place and the other place and

:04:24. > :04:28.the also know that of those who voted, it was only 52% that voted

:04:29. > :04:36.for us to leave the European Union. I would urge the government for the

:04:37. > :04:40.sake of bringing unity, not just in these benches, but also to the

:04:41. > :04:43.country at large, that they allow Parliament sovereignty to rain and

:04:44. > :04:50.in the event of no deal we have a boat and a say. I declare an

:04:51. > :04:54.interest because on the issue of EU citizens in the United Kingdom for

:04:55. > :04:58.me the political is personal, as I expected this from any other

:04:59. > :05:02.members. The two most important women in my life, my mother who is

:05:03. > :05:07.Dutch are my Spanish wife are affected by this. Whilst there are

:05:08. > :05:13.special to me I think that their and the uncertainty which which they

:05:14. > :05:17.have endured is typical for many of our constituents. My mother has

:05:18. > :05:23.lived here for more than 50 years, raised four children, work as a

:05:24. > :05:27.teacher, Peter taxes, my wife loves this country, not the weather but

:05:28. > :05:34.she loves this country, is raising children here, pay taxes and works

:05:35. > :05:39.here. It simply beggars belief that people like them and millions like

:05:40. > :05:44.him have had a question placed over their status, their peace of mind,

:05:45. > :05:47.there well-being in our great country because of the action or the

:05:48. > :05:53.shameful inaction of this government.

:05:54. > :06:01.The? Is placed there by the EU not by the Government. If the EU said

:06:02. > :06:06.our citizens abroad I received some or all of the EU citizens here. And

:06:07. > :06:10.honourable member would stop blaming the back traffic on the EU, it is

:06:11. > :06:17.absurd. We picked a fight, not the EU. One observation to be Secretary

:06:18. > :06:23.of State, even if he gets the deal, which I by the way believe he wishes

:06:24. > :06:30.to seek on this issue EU citizens here and EU citizens there, even if

:06:31. > :06:36.that goes smoothly and quickly, I would press him on this point, there

:06:37. > :06:39.is no earthly way that this Government can separate the 3

:06:40. > :06:43.million EU citizens which are already here from the millions who

:06:44. > :06:48.may after a certain cut-off date want to come and live and study and

:06:49. > :06:52.work in the future without creating in mountainous volume of red tape.

:06:53. > :06:56.Reminds me, that wasn't one of the principal reasons we were told by

:06:57. > :07:00.the honourable member and so many others that we should leave the

:07:01. > :07:03.European Union to free ourselves from red tape, yet this Government

:07:04. > :07:08.is going to create tsunami wave of red tape which EU citizens,

:07:09. > :07:12.including my mum and my wife in the future, will rightly resent just as

:07:13. > :07:17.much as the always resented red tape in Brussels. In particular irony is

:07:18. > :07:22.that the Right honourable member and myself worked very closely together

:07:23. > :07:27.as an opposition party spokespeople 12 years ago in this chamber against

:07:28. > :07:31.the then Government's attempt of opposing ID cards and I predict he

:07:32. > :07:35.and his Government will have to introduce something not identical

:07:36. > :07:44.but strikingly similar to trailer behind ID cards. And finally, Mr

:07:45. > :07:46.Speaker, to the other and perhaps more meaningful amendment, Mr

:07:47. > :07:51.Speaker, the double standards we have just heard on red tape is

:07:52. > :07:58.duplicated several times over by the double standards of Brexit he was

:07:59. > :08:02.saying we should free ourselves from the lack of Deco dad-mac Democratic

:08:03. > :08:06.accountability, the first thing they do is undermined and weaken the

:08:07. > :08:10.principle of democratic accountability in this House. I

:08:11. > :08:14.listened closely to the Government's is projecting an amendment,

:08:15. > :08:17.including today, there is no first principal argument against it

:08:18. > :08:21.because we didn't concede the principle of a vote, they just don't

:08:22. > :08:26.like us to have the freedom to decide what that vote should be on.

:08:27. > :08:29.They have come up with some laughable argument we have heard

:08:30. > :08:34.repeated here today, but if we have just the bog-standard plain vanilla

:08:35. > :08:39.accountability exerted by the House of Commons and the other planes to

:08:40. > :08:44.any announcement made by the Prime Minister in two years, it will serve

:08:45. > :08:50.an incentive for the EU to give us a bad deal. By that logic, Mr Speaker,

:08:51. > :08:54.the only Government that can successfully negotiate international

:08:55. > :08:57.agreements are dictatorships. They are democracies, democracy can

:08:58. > :09:04.coexist with a good international agreements. Mr Speaker, I have come

:09:05. > :09:08.to the conclusion that the reason why the Government is digging its

:09:09. > :09:15.heels in as stubbornly as it is it because it think it's going to strut

:09:16. > :09:19.its stuff and impress our soon EU negotiating partners by indulging in

:09:20. > :09:23.this Parliamentary and procedural machismo here. You didn't think

:09:24. > :09:26.there are kidding? Doublethink angler Michael has put everything a

:09:27. > :09:33.fight to look at the debate this afternoon? Look at the week number

:09:34. > :09:39.ten is unceremoniously evicted Lord Heseltine. We better give them a

:09:40. > :09:48.good deal! Does the Secretary of State think that a hard EU

:09:49. > :09:52.negotiator, we better lower the price tag because they are being

:09:53. > :09:56.sold half with their own people. It is a ludicrous assertion. I simply

:09:57. > :09:59.cede to the Government benches at this last 59 seconds of the 11th

:10:00. > :10:08.hour of this debate on this amendment is this, stubbornness can

:10:09. > :10:12.be a sign of suspicion and weakness, not strength. Rejecting the rightful

:10:13. > :10:17.conventional role of the House of Commons and the other place to apply

:10:18. > :10:21.democratic accountability to the actions and decisions of the

:10:22. > :10:26.executive can be a sign of weakness, not strength. And this specious

:10:27. > :10:30.argument that condemns the lack of democratic accountability in

:10:31. > :10:34.Brussels, whilst undermining it in here, in the mother of all

:10:35. > :10:42.parliaments, is a slight of hand, which should not be lightly

:10:43. > :10:45.forgotten! I am grateful, it is a particular pleasure to follow the

:10:46. > :10:50.right honourable gentleman as he and I spent a number of years working

:10:51. > :10:54.together in coalition Government, which I know it wasn't enormously

:10:55. > :10:59.fruitful for all on my site and I think for his remarks. Mr Speaker,

:11:00. > :11:04.let me just deal with the one opening point and then I will refer

:11:05. > :11:09.to these specific amendments. Rather than making a general speech. One

:11:10. > :11:12.observation would be that we said to be House of Lords, coming back to

:11:13. > :11:19.the right honourable gentleman's point about process, in the short

:11:20. > :11:24.and well drafted and tightly focused villa. The House of Lords's usual

:11:25. > :11:30.argument and criticism of this House is that we send long, badly draft

:11:31. > :11:34.did legislation which they have to be improved. It seems to me in this

:11:35. > :11:40.case that we sent them a short tightly focused well drafted Bill

:11:41. > :11:45.does one very specific thing and they made the Bill longer, poorly

:11:46. > :11:49.drafted and reduced the quality of the legislation and he should help

:11:50. > :11:53.them out this afternoon by getting rid of their poorly drafted

:11:54. > :11:59.amendments and sending it back to them in the same expertly drafted

:12:00. > :12:03.form it started. The simple truth is best, Deal or no Deal, vote or no

:12:04. > :12:09.vote, positive vote or negative vote, this process is irreversible,

:12:10. > :12:15.we are leaving the EU and that's what the people want. I am grateful

:12:16. > :12:20.to my honourable friend. Let me deal now, Mr Speaker, with the two

:12:21. > :12:22.amendments before us, which my right honourable friend the Secretary of

:12:23. > :12:29.State is inviting the House to disagree with lordships. The first

:12:30. > :12:34.one on EU nationals, I listen very carefully to the debate that we have

:12:35. > :12:40.just had on this and I think I heard while the debate was underway the

:12:41. > :12:44.member for pressure suggesting to the Secretary of State he could put

:12:45. > :12:50.people's mind at rest by accepting the amendment. I disagree with that.

:12:51. > :12:53.If you read what the amendment says, as opposed to what people have

:12:54. > :12:57.asserted it says, all it says is that the Government should bring

:12:58. > :13:03.forward proposals within three months to deal with people who are

:13:04. > :13:08.legally resident in Britain. Here is why I think this is faulty. First of

:13:09. > :13:13.all, three months pits an arbitrary time limit which will be decided by

:13:14. > :13:16.judges, if people challenge it. Which may be in the middle of the

:13:17. > :13:20.negotiation process that the Secretary of State will carry out to

:13:21. > :13:24.secure the rights of British citizens and could well disrupt that

:13:25. > :13:28.process. Second and more importantly, it talks about those

:13:29. > :13:32.who are legally resident in the country today and there are two

:13:33. > :13:36.groups, one I would like to be more generous to, and one would like to

:13:37. > :13:41.be less generous two. The first group, those we have discovered

:13:42. > :13:45.perhaps didn't understand European Union legislation which says you are

:13:46. > :13:49.legally resident here if are a student by self-sufficient, only if

:13:50. > :13:54.you have comprehensive health insurance. Many people fail that

:13:55. > :13:58.test. I think it would be sensible for us to take a generous approach

:13:59. > :14:03.when we are legislating for people to be able to stay here. The

:14:04. > :14:08.amendment, as drafted, does not suggest that we do that. I think the

:14:09. > :14:12.Government could be more generous to EU nationals who are here making

:14:13. > :14:17.their lives here and that amendment suggests. I think that would be

:14:18. > :14:21.welcome. Does my right honourable friend agree with me that if we get

:14:22. > :14:27.to the point where all our proceedings have to be put into

:14:28. > :14:30.legislation on the subject we cannot proceed, we will cease to be

:14:31. > :14:38.sovereign? That point is very well made. It leads me onto my second

:14:39. > :14:42.point. There is another group of EU nationals, unlike the EU nationals

:14:43. > :14:47.we have already been talking about who we all want to protect, those

:14:48. > :14:50.who has here working and contributing, there are a

:14:51. > :14:55.significant number, a small percentage, but a significant number

:14:56. > :14:58.of EU nationals in Britain who have broken the criminal law. There are

:14:59. > :15:04.four and a half thousand EU nationals in prison. They are

:15:05. > :15:08.legally resident in this country. That amendment, as drafted, would

:15:09. > :15:11.mean that when they are released from prison after serving their

:15:12. > :15:17.sentence it would be very difficult for my right honourable friend the

:15:18. > :15:22.Home Secretary, very difficult for her to remove their right to stay in

:15:23. > :15:25.this country and deport them back to their home country, which frankly is

:15:26. > :15:28.what I want to see us do. What I would like us to do as a country is

:15:29. > :15:33.the more generous to those who come here to work and to contribute and

:15:34. > :15:36.to study but I would like is to be less generous to those who come here

:15:37. > :15:41.to break our laws, violate the welcoming trust we gave them. I

:15:42. > :15:45.don't want to fetter the hands of ministers in doing that. The

:15:46. > :15:49.amendment is poorly drafted, doesn't provide that reassurance and I ask

:15:50. > :15:55.the House to rejected. The final thing on EU nationals referring to

:15:56. > :15:57.the point the honourable and loaded lady from Edinburgh 's south-west,

:15:58. > :16:01.all I would say, I listened very carefully to what she said about her

:16:02. > :16:07.Lithuanian constituent, I hope your constituents will forgive me that I

:16:08. > :16:09.didn't catch her name. I hope the honourable Leonard lady when she was

:16:10. > :16:17.talking to her constituent was able to reassure her by explaining to her

:16:18. > :16:20.the very clear assurances that a Prime Minister of her country has

:16:21. > :16:24.placed on the record about wanting to make sure that constituent, I

:16:25. > :16:29.hope she is able to confirm to the home she did say. I am happy to

:16:30. > :16:42.confirm exactly what my constituents said. She cannot apply for permanent

:16:43. > :16:45.residency because she does not have comprehensive sickness insurance. I

:16:46. > :16:50.advised her the committee of which I am part, the exiting EU select

:16:51. > :16:57.committee, has asked the Government to rectify that matter and they have

:16:58. > :17:00.not as yet done so. I am very pleased actually the honourable lady

:17:01. > :17:05.made that point because if she'd listened any remark that I need I

:17:06. > :17:09.said there were constituents who thought they were here legally but

:17:10. > :17:13.because they don't have comprehensive health insurance are

:17:14. > :17:20.not actually legally resident. The amendment, as drafted, wouldn't

:17:21. > :17:24.provide them with reassurance. But I actually said is a former

:17:25. > :17:28.Immigration Minister I would be generous to constituents like her,

:17:29. > :17:32.which is why I want that deal and I want my right honourable friend the

:17:33. > :17:35.Home Secretary to bring forward that immigration legislation to sort that

:17:36. > :17:40.out. This amendment doesn't do any such thing and people shouldn't

:17:41. > :17:43.mislead people by telling people it does. I would say to my honourable

:17:44. > :17:50.friend is that they should reject it. Let me just move on to the

:17:51. > :17:55.second point. I am conscious there are others who want to speak. The

:17:56. > :18:00.second amendment about a meaningful vote, it falls into two parts. There

:18:01. > :18:05.are those parts where the Government has already said it would bring

:18:06. > :18:11.forward decisions before the house if the Prime Minister strikes a good

:18:12. > :18:16.deal. Both on our article 50 divorce negotiations but also on our future

:18:17. > :18:21.trade relationships. There is a very good reason for not putting it in

:18:22. > :18:26.statute. As soon as you put it in statute, you enable people to

:18:27. > :18:32.challenge the process, to go to quoits, and to frustrate the ability

:18:33. > :18:36.of this House and our Government to conclude those negotiations. The

:18:37. > :18:41.final point, Mr Speaker, I would make reference to the final part of

:18:42. > :18:45.that second amendment which my right honourable friend the member for

:18:46. > :18:50.West Dorset set out very carefully. There are two parts to my

:18:51. > :18:58.objections. The first part is I don't agree with the party opposite.

:18:59. > :19:02.I do think if we say that either the House of Commons or the House of

:19:03. > :19:06.Lords is able to frustrate us leaving the European Union by

:19:07. > :19:11.getting a deal which we do not think is a good one, then I think they

:19:12. > :19:16.will absolutely do so. I listened carefully to what my honourable

:19:17. > :19:21.friend, the member for Broxton said, I couldn't help think that the

:19:22. > :19:26.conclusion to her remarks, if we got a bad deal, was that she wanted us

:19:27. > :19:32.to stay in the European Union. That seems to be the conclusion of what

:19:33. > :19:37.she said. What I am seeing as if we don't get a deal, we should come

:19:38. > :19:41.back here, consider all options, given the circumstances that we

:19:42. > :19:49.would get ourselves in and it may well... I am so sorry. I thought we

:19:50. > :19:56.lived in a democracy. It is unlikely to see how we would go back on our

:19:57. > :20:00.decision to leave the EU. I listened carefully to what my honourable

:20:01. > :20:04.friend says. It seems to me if I consider the question that was paid,

:20:05. > :20:08.I have said this before in this House in a referendum, it was an

:20:09. > :20:12.unconditional question about whether we should remain on whether we

:20:13. > :20:15.should leave. We didn't see to the public, some people think maybe we

:20:16. > :20:20.should have done, but we didn't. We didn't say if we get a fabulous

:20:21. > :20:26.deal, and we should leave. It said, should we leave remain? I was on the

:20:27. > :20:31.remaining side of the argument. But I accept that the people of the

:20:32. > :20:37.United Kingdom made a different decision and it behoves us all,

:20:38. > :20:42.balloons us to support the Prime Minister in getting the best

:20:43. > :20:46.possible deal given that we are leaving, even if there is a bad deal

:20:47. > :20:51.that we can't accept, we are still leaving the European Union, that is

:20:52. > :20:56.why and would urge my honourable friend to disagree with the Lloyd's,

:20:57. > :21:00.both of the amendments before us today. Only 40 minutes to remain. I

:21:01. > :21:11.do need members to help each other. All all the arguments of supporting

:21:12. > :21:17.these amendment be suggesting we should not do because they are got

:21:18. > :21:24.back on that basis everything we put the legislation we might as well

:21:25. > :21:30.pack up and go home. Mr Speaker I rise to support the two amendments.

:21:31. > :21:34.I wish to draw the house's attention to the unanimous recommendation of

:21:35. > :21:39.the select committee which I chaired, which said the Government

:21:40. > :21:43.should now make a unilateral decision to safeguard the rights of

:21:44. > :21:47.EU National is in the United Kingdom and I say to the Secretary of State,

:21:48. > :21:59.the only argument for not doing that, is if someone is prepared to

:22:00. > :22:03.put the status of those 3 million EU citizens into play in the

:22:04. > :22:06.negotiations. That is the only argument because it raises the

:22:07. > :22:10.question how would that be done and to what purpose? It is precisely

:22:11. > :22:15.because the Minister and the Prime Minister have been so clear in

:22:16. > :22:19.saying to the house, we intend to ensure the status and their rights,

:22:20. > :22:24.but nobody in this chamber believes the Government would be prepared to

:22:25. > :22:27.do that. If you are not prepared to put their status into play in

:22:28. > :22:35.negotiations why not now do the right thing and tell them they can

:22:36. > :22:42.stay? I will give way briefly. Is it not the case the Government's

:22:43. > :22:47.position on EU citizens is based on a fiction because if they were not

:22:48. > :22:52.to grant status to stay, presumably they would remove those who cannot

:22:53. > :22:57.stay from the UK but the current Immigration Minister has said they

:22:58. > :23:03.do not know where EU citizens are in order to remove them from the UK. It

:23:04. > :23:08.is an empty threat so why cause all this stress? I agree with my friend

:23:09. > :23:12.back entirely. It cannot be contemplated, the whole house knows

:23:13. > :23:16.it cannot be contemplated under for the Government should follow the

:23:17. > :23:20.advice of the select committee. Or the second Amendment, I listen

:23:21. > :23:23.carefully to the arguments the Secretary of State advanced, but I

:23:24. > :23:27.gently say to them I don't think they would have persuaded the right

:23:28. > :23:31.honourable gentlemen himself in his previous incarnation before he

:23:32. > :23:38.became the Secretary of State. On this point that the honourable

:23:39. > :23:45.member for Sheffield, Hallam raised about incentive to offer a bad deal,

:23:46. > :23:50.just pause for a moment. If that argument holds any sway whatsoever

:23:51. > :23:55.it holds sway when ministers got up to the dispatch box and said, we

:23:56. > :24:00.will give you a vote on a draft deal. It cannot be the case that if

:24:01. > :24:05.the Government offers a vote on the draft of it does not raise the

:24:06. > :24:10.possibility of a bad deal being offered, whereas in this house if we

:24:11. > :24:14.choose to put back vote on the statute book it does raise the

:24:15. > :24:19.possibility of there being a bad deal offered. The two are wholly

:24:20. > :24:25.inconsistent as arguments and the house, I think, is not persuaded. My

:24:26. > :24:30.final point, I listened so carefully to the language used by the

:24:31. > :24:34.Secretary of State who I see is engaged in earnest conversations,

:24:35. > :24:39.and talk about being able to act with out our hands being tied. The

:24:40. > :24:45.top about being able to pass the bill without any strings attached. I

:24:46. > :24:54.just say to them, this house, we are not strings, we are part of our

:24:55. > :24:59.democracy and we are very attached to that democracy. And this

:25:00. > :25:04.amendment, the second one, is not about seeking to reverse a decision

:25:05. > :25:08.of the referendum. I and many others who voted, as the honourable member

:25:09. > :25:11.for Broxtowe did, for this legislation because we respect the

:25:12. > :25:22.outcome of the referendum, but it is about Parliament deciding how we

:25:23. > :25:26.leave the EU. There is a terrible irony in hearing voices of those who

:25:27. > :25:29.are in the course of the referendum used as one of the principal

:25:30. > :25:37.argument we should vote to leave to restore sovereignty, for them now to

:25:38. > :25:42.see their enthusiasm for that sovereignty disappear in a puff of

:25:43. > :25:46.smoke, when the house is asked to put that sovereignty on the statute

:25:47. > :25:51.book. Finally, I say to the right honourable gentlemen, it is now time

:25:52. > :25:56.to put behind without we voted leave or remain in the referendum, come

:25:57. > :26:00.together and put aside division, including resisting the division

:26:01. > :26:06.that is now being urged upon us by others in this chamber. I say to

:26:07. > :26:09.him, having Parliament behind you in these negotiations and knowing in

:26:10. > :26:14.the end the Government was to come to Parliament for what they are able

:26:15. > :26:17.to achieve in negotiations, is not a weakness for this country, it is a

:26:18. > :26:23.strength and the sooner the Government recognises this the

:26:24. > :26:28.better. I campaign for remain in the

:26:29. > :26:32.referendum last year, believing it was in the best medium-term economic

:26:33. > :26:35.interests of my constituents. I did this having stood in a manifesto

:26:36. > :26:39.that promised the British people they can vote on membership of the

:26:40. > :26:43.EU and which would honour the result of the referendum what about the

:26:44. > :26:50.outcome. We must remember in this place a record number of people

:26:51. > :26:54.turned out to vote, bottling of recent electoral trends. There were

:26:55. > :27:00.a massive 72% of electors who turns out, many of my constituents who had

:27:01. > :27:04.never ever voted before because they thought until then there are voices

:27:05. > :27:09.and votes did not count. They did so for the first time. Contrary to what

:27:10. > :27:13.commentators on both the left and the right may say, these people are

:27:14. > :27:18.not simpletons, they are not children, they are adults would have

:27:19. > :27:23.much right to vote as you and I. They knew the risks of voting to

:27:24. > :27:29.leave and did so anyway and we must respect that decision not undermine

:27:30. > :27:35.it. The bill before us... I will not give way because so many members

:27:36. > :27:39.wish to speak. The bill before us is the legal mechanism to begin

:27:40. > :27:44.negotiations. All members, which ever side of the house they sit on

:27:45. > :27:49.and which information they represent, must wish these

:27:50. > :27:54.negotiations are successful. There is no doubt there will be protracted

:27:55. > :27:58.and they will be difficult. It is only in the best interests of all

:27:59. > :28:02.others and the best interests of our constituents, we must give the Prime

:28:03. > :28:09.Minister and her team of ministers the whole negotiating team the

:28:10. > :28:16.strongest hand possible. The noble lord's second amendment hampers

:28:17. > :28:20.this. The precondition... If the honourable Regulus and I will

:28:21. > :28:24.elucidate. The preconditions mean whatever the negotiating team were

:28:25. > :28:30.to say, our EU counterparts would think they could frustrate, delay or

:28:31. > :28:33.even veto. Certainty was the number one priority and the Prime

:28:34. > :28:39.Minister's Lancaster house speech and how can there be any certainty

:28:40. > :28:42.for businesses, constituents or our European partners if there is the

:28:43. > :28:48.prospect for endless review by this place. I will not give way. As the

:28:49. > :28:55.noble lord Hill said on the debate on this bill, a man of great

:28:56. > :29:00.experience, he said this of all European counterparts. They need to

:29:01. > :29:05.know what our negotiators say they can deliver. I therefore urge all

:29:06. > :29:07.members to reject the Lord' amendment and give the Prime

:29:08. > :29:16.Minister the strongest possible hand.

:29:17. > :29:21.The I have only three points to make in terms of the time available. I

:29:22. > :29:27.thought early and missed the bit when my friend from South Perthshire

:29:28. > :29:30.asked the secretary of state whether he would be prepared to deport these

:29:31. > :29:38.European national in our midst, he said of course not. Somebody... Of

:29:39. > :29:42.course that is the case and that would be the case for every member

:29:43. > :29:49.with perhaps one or two exceptions. But the vast majority would not

:29:50. > :29:54.countenance ever doing that which is exactly why they cease to be any

:29:55. > :29:57.sort of bargaining chip, even if we thought the international trade

:29:58. > :30:02.Secretary was right to say they were an important card we must play, even

:30:03. > :30:06.if that were acceptable language, it is not a card. It is like nuclear

:30:07. > :30:09.deterrent, if you're not going to press the button it is not a

:30:10. > :30:13.deterrent and if you're not prepared to follow through or to use people

:30:14. > :30:17.in that way then it cannot be a bargaining chip or a card to play.

:30:18. > :30:22.Therefore, the correct course of action for the Government has

:30:23. > :30:27.unilaterally to accept and to secure the position of our fellow citizens

:30:28. > :30:32.working and contributing among others, there is no possibility of

:30:33. > :30:38.them being effectively used as a bargaining chip in negotiations. Do

:30:39. > :30:42.the right thing. Accept the Lord' amendments. Yesterday the nation was

:30:43. > :30:46.transfixed as we tried to interpret the latest Government policy on a

:30:47. > :30:51.Brexit. Should we follow in one channel that the advice of the

:30:52. > :30:56.Foreign Secretary when he said there will be no problem if we resort to

:30:57. > :31:00.WTO terms, or should it be the advice of the international trade

:31:01. > :31:04.secretary who admitted on another channel indeed it would be a

:31:05. > :31:09.problem. We were all watching the wrong people. We should have been

:31:10. > :31:15.watching the Brexit secretary on the Andrew Marr show when he was getting

:31:16. > :31:20.to the guts of the problem we have. Andrew Marr, so what happens if they

:31:21. > :31:26.do not accept it? Meaning if we vote down the deal the Government brings

:31:27. > :31:31.to us in our meaningful vote. And so, well, then, that is what is

:31:32. > :31:37.called the most favoured deal, what the World Trade Organisation. When

:31:38. > :31:41.we had the committee stage of this debate they were trying to tempt out

:31:42. > :31:47.of the Minister of State when he appeared at the dispatch box in a

:31:48. > :31:52.flourish, or as much as a flourish of the minister does, then told us

:31:53. > :31:57.the Government would have a meaningful vote. Member after member

:31:58. > :32:02.said what happens in this vote if we reject the Government's terms?

:32:03. > :32:08.Yesterday we had the answer from the Brexit secretary. Then it is WTO

:32:09. > :32:13.terms. Our Deal or no Deal. Other way or the highway. It is absolutely

:32:14. > :32:18.clear and no fault can be asked back no vote can be described as

:32:19. > :32:22.meaningful if the alternative is the damage of WTO terms. Lastly,

:32:23. > :32:28.thinking about the injunction of different with us to be brief, that

:32:29. > :32:33.is we are asked why should we not just accept the words of the Brexit

:32:34. > :32:37.secretary and these other chaps in the Government when they tell us

:32:38. > :32:41.things and we do not need to put things into legislation. Can I quote

:32:42. > :32:43.a bit of the history of the assurances we have been given in

:32:44. > :32:50.Scotland in terms of this legislation? Telegraph, Theresa May

:32:51. > :32:54.indicated and said she will not trigger the formal process for

:32:55. > :32:58.leaving the EU until there is an entry to UK approach backed by

:32:59. > :33:03.Scotland. 15th of July last year. I admit, that is not an answer but

:33:04. > :33:09.surely the Daily Telegraph is the nearest the Tories can carve to an

:33:10. > :33:14.official report? That promise has been swept away and that commitment

:33:15. > :33:17.are broken. As indeed was the reaction to the Scottish

:33:18. > :33:22.Government's action to keep us all in the single market. Not even

:33:23. > :33:26.regarded seriously or consulted before the Prime Minister dismissed

:33:27. > :33:29.that as an alternative. Then the compromise, that Scotland stay

:33:30. > :33:35.within the single market place even if this Government is determined to

:33:36. > :33:40.drag the rest of the UK out. Not even given serious consideration.

:33:41. > :33:45.Over the last three months no substantive reply because in their

:33:46. > :33:50.arrogance this Government believes the 48% across the UK, the members

:33:51. > :33:53.of the House of Lords, the people of doubts on the own backbenchers, the

:33:54. > :34:00.nations in this country, two of which voted for remain, our view

:34:01. > :34:05.does not matter. It can be swept aside as we proceed headlong to be

:34:06. > :34:08.heard Brexit cliff edge. Today in Scotland is perhaps the Government

:34:09. > :34:13.were disabused of that notion because there might not be a real

:34:14. > :34:20.vote in meaningful vote in this chamber but there shall be a

:34:21. > :34:25.meaningful vote in Scotland to protect our millennium long history

:34:26. > :34:35.as a European nation. With extreme brevity is now on both sides of the

:34:36. > :34:42.house. This is a very simple bill, it is as

:34:43. > :34:49.simple as triggering. The second thing as far as the question of

:34:50. > :34:56.judicial review is concerned, the plain fact is this will be a gift to

:34:57. > :34:59.the courts and the gift to the lawyers. It is completely

:35:00. > :35:02.inappropriate. The third point regarding the question of

:35:03. > :35:07.sovereignty of Parliament, the fact is that this is not this issue today

:35:08. > :35:15.about parliamentary sovereignty, in fact, it is about undermining a

:35:16. > :35:19.decision made by a referendum of the British people which was itself

:35:20. > :35:24.confirmed by sovereign act of Parliament. That is the distinction

:35:25. > :35:31.and what we need to concentrate on. The next point and the last point I

:35:32. > :35:37.wanted to make this simply this, we cannot tie the Prime Minister's

:35:38. > :35:41.hands. It is inconceivable we would actually legislate and make it

:35:42. > :35:50.judicially reviewable and that the same time passed amendments to the

:35:51. > :35:55.effect that introduce committee of Parliament deciding questions which

:35:56. > :36:02.have to be decided by Government. We are it constitutional constitution

:36:03. > :36:06.that works by governments, not by committee of Parliament or otherwise

:36:07. > :36:08.we would go back to the 17th century and I invite people to look at the

:36:09. > :36:19.bare-bones Parliament. How these two make two brief points.

:36:20. > :36:25.The first is if we don't deal with the issue of EU nationals here or UK

:36:26. > :36:29.nationals in the EU 27 now in the next three months, they will get

:36:30. > :36:35.caught up in the negotiations because the council is due to

:36:36. > :36:40.respond to the trigger an Article 50 in May or June after we have the

:36:41. > :36:47.French elections on the 7th of May. We are expecting the council to give

:36:48. > :36:51.a mandate around that time. If the Government continues to drag its

:36:52. > :36:55.heels on this important issue and it is important for not only EU

:36:56. > :37:00.nationals here but for our National is elsewhere, if they continue to

:37:01. > :37:03.drag their heels, these people, their livelihoods, the certainty and

:37:04. > :37:09.uncertainty this will provoke will cause them for two years. What is

:37:10. > :37:13.the Government going to do once the formal negotiations and article 50

:37:14. > :37:16.on the money and all the things that is going to be so much acrimony

:37:17. > :37:24.about, how is the Government going to avoid EU nationals here and UK

:37:25. > :37:29.nationals in the EU being part of that negotiation. I don't think the

:37:30. > :37:33.Secretary of State provided an answer to that question. We have a

:37:34. > :37:37.short window and it will probably start tomorrow and end sometime in

:37:38. > :37:43.May or June. The second point I wanted to make was to reiterate

:37:44. > :37:50.something be right honourable lady for Broxton said in her very

:37:51. > :37:54.eloquent speech. I find it difficult actually impossible to concede and I

:37:55. > :37:59.knows of the honourable member is benches want us to leave without a

:38:00. > :38:04.deal, but what is the deal that is worse than no Deal? There isn't a

:38:05. > :38:10.deal that is worse than no deal. She said it very clearly. Falling out on

:38:11. > :38:17.WTO rules, with all the tariffs, with the obstructions to trade, is

:38:18. > :38:22.that worse than, sorry better, than some other deal they can conceive

:38:23. > :38:26.of? What is this weird deal they are talking about? There isn't one. This

:38:27. > :38:32.hounds needs to have the same whether there is a deal or not a

:38:33. > :38:36.deal. House. The Government has given clarity as to what happens if

:38:37. > :38:43.and I have been to the are preparing for this eventuality, but what if

:38:44. > :38:47.there isn't a deal that between the UK and our European partners cosmic

:38:48. > :38:52.that would be the very worse still, I think, and I think in terms of

:38:53. > :38:57.Parliamentary scrutiny, something the Secretary of State has spent his

:38:58. > :39:02.political career espousing and promoting, used to before his

:39:03. > :39:05.current position, in terms of Parliamentary sovereignty, could we

:39:06. > :39:09.really leave the EU without a deal, without this parliament having a

:39:10. > :39:13.say? Of course we couldn't. Why doesn't the Government admit this

:39:14. > :39:18.includes new phase of the Bill? Aye easily minute limit on the back

:39:19. > :39:22.bench will now apply. I want to support the Government in carrying

:39:23. > :39:25.out an official and effective Brexit. Listening to some of the

:39:26. > :39:29.contributions this afternoon, I do think I am living in Wonderland. The

:39:30. > :39:35.first point and I want to focus solely on the second amendment and

:39:36. > :39:41.Queloz four. The first thing to understand is that as matters stand

:39:42. > :39:44.at the moment, there is to be not resolutions from this house but

:39:45. > :39:49.primary legislation to complete the process. There is going to be a need

:39:50. > :39:53.for primary legislation, even I suggest to the House, if we have no

:39:54. > :39:57.deal at all. I don't know when the Government wants to deal with that,

:39:58. > :40:00.it could conceivably try and do it during the course of the great

:40:01. > :40:07.repeal bill but it hasn't suggested that the great repeal Bill, and

:40:08. > :40:11.intended Bill, is all about. In those circumstances, it seems to me

:40:12. > :40:14.at the end of the process, if there is no deal, there is going to have

:40:15. > :40:20.to be primary legislation by this house of this hasn't already been

:40:21. > :40:24.done. Fire from the Lloyds trying to lead to great litigation, the

:40:25. > :40:28.amendment, if the Government bothers to read Lord Hope's speech, was of

:40:29. > :40:32.the view that by tabling this amendment to providing for a

:40:33. > :40:37.resolution mechanism at the end, litigation could be avoided. My

:40:38. > :40:41.right honourable friend is to think that there is some way of getting

:40:42. > :40:46.round litigation, I can promise them, they don't follow proper

:40:47. > :40:50.constitutional process, there will be litigation and that litigation

:40:51. > :40:53.will hold matters up. I am not go so concerned about these amendments,

:40:54. > :40:58.the second Amendment, I am concerned about getting an assurance that at

:40:59. > :41:02.the end of the process that there is no deal, which will be a very

:41:03. > :41:05.significant moment in this country's history, Parliament has an

:41:06. > :41:10.opportunity to debate and vote on that. - that being an obstruction to

:41:11. > :41:14.the process, I would expect it to be part of the normal constitutional

:41:15. > :41:18.process and the Government to be seeking the endorsement of the House

:41:19. > :41:20.for that very significant act. I worry that my right honourable

:41:21. > :41:24.friend who I think personally may well agree with me, has been

:41:25. > :41:31.prevented from seeing that in the dispatch box. I am not prepared to

:41:32. > :41:37.follow processes which appear to need to be frankly deranged. There

:41:38. > :41:42.is a clear way of doing things, and if we follow them up with the right

:41:43. > :41:45.decisions at each point, and if we don't, we're going to mire

:41:46. > :41:50.ourselves... Very reluctantly, because I want to support the

:41:51. > :41:54.Government, if we persist with this, I am going to have to say on the

:41:55. > :41:57.second Amendment I cannot support the Government this evening. I am

:41:58. > :42:01.very sorry about that. I would like to be able to do so because the

:42:02. > :42:04.critique raised of the Lords amendment has some flaws, but

:42:05. > :42:07.somebody has got to put down a marker that we have to follow a

:42:08. > :42:16.proper process in the way in which we carry it on the Mac. I commend

:42:17. > :42:20.him on his speech, notwithstanding my support for the Lords amendment

:42:21. > :42:24.about EU nationals. I would urge honourable member is opposite to

:42:25. > :42:30.think very carefully about what they are being asked to do by ministers.

:42:31. > :42:33.In the bill, the Lords have inserted this amendment to give Parliament

:42:34. > :42:41.the meaningful vote and ministers are asking them to avenge that out

:42:42. > :42:44.of the Bill, to delete it. So the bill as it stands provides that

:42:45. > :42:49.Parliamentary scrutiny and authority and I think they should ask

:42:50. > :42:54.themselves, do they really want to actively go through the lobbies and

:42:55. > :43:00.delete that from the text as the bill currently stands? Ministers

:43:01. > :43:05.opposite has asked honourable member is to do a number of things. They

:43:06. > :43:10.have said, don't tie the hands of the Prime Minister. Whatever you do,

:43:11. > :43:14.it gave her unfettered power to negotiate in whatever way she likes.

:43:15. > :43:19.I would save only to those ministers urge honourable members but we

:43:20. > :43:25.shouldn't be doing is putting power entirely in the hands of one person

:43:26. > :43:28.in the Prime Minister without any insurance policy whatsoever, because

:43:29. > :43:33.with the greatest respect to ministers, prime ministers decide

:43:34. > :43:37.who are on her front bench and Parliamentary democracy is the

:43:38. > :43:42.insurance policy that we need throughout this process, something

:43:43. > :43:44.we shouldn't be frightened of, we shouldn't be shy and that, we should

:43:45. > :43:51.welcome it, it is a strengthened part of the process. They say take

:43:52. > :43:56.back control, Mr Speaker, and yet at the same time they are asking us to

:43:57. > :44:01.muzzle Parliament for the next two year period to say, well, even if we

:44:02. > :44:05.have no deal, whatever happens, Parliament may not have a say on

:44:06. > :44:09.that. We could find ourselves in a circumstance where the European

:44:10. > :44:15.Union offer a really good deal, but the Prime Minister, on her own,

:44:16. > :44:18.singularly, or his home, depend that is in years' time, could see

:44:19. > :44:25.absolutely no deal. And we in this Parliament have no choice but to

:44:26. > :44:29.accept it, no say. The ministers say they accept our verbal assurances.

:44:30. > :44:35.Ministers are here today and can be gone tomorrow. Might I even

:44:36. > :44:38.speculate, Mr Speaker, that we could even have a different by Minister,

:44:39. > :44:44.who goes by the time we get to spring 2009, the Foreign Secretary

:44:45. > :44:49.nonetheless, it is possible he could be by Minister one day. He said on

:44:50. > :44:54.the weekend, it would be perfectly OK if we weren't able to get an

:44:55. > :44:58.agreement. It would be perfectly OK if we weren't able to get an

:44:59. > :45:02.agreement. He could be Prime Minister. The honourable members

:45:03. > :45:06.don't know opposite and would be the situation we would have to face, no

:45:07. > :45:13.vote, no right for Parliament, verbal assurances are not

:45:14. > :45:19.sufficient. I am going to be brief under your instructions. I rise to

:45:20. > :45:22.deal with specifically the first Amendment. I thought the second

:45:23. > :45:28.Amendment was well dealt with by my right honourable friend, member of

:45:29. > :45:31.the Dorset side, and also for Forest of Dean. We have heard a lot in this

:45:32. > :45:37.debate and we have heard a lot in the other place of the emotional end

:45:38. > :45:41.of what it was to give EU citizens some kind of reassurance. I have

:45:42. > :45:47.been on record saying I would like to have done that by this particular

:45:48. > :45:54.point. Can I remind people that we also have UK to citizens and I for

:45:55. > :45:57.one Soviet leader of the Liberal Democrats going on about his own

:45:58. > :46:01.family, but I have a sister who has lived and worked in Italy all her

:46:02. > :46:06.life and she remains there and has retired there. I don't think it is

:46:07. > :46:10.on this place to dismiss their concerns and worries quite so

:46:11. > :46:15.lightly as dismissed in the other place and have been dismissed here

:46:16. > :46:18.today. I heard the reason why we shouldn't, from the other side

:46:19. > :46:21.today, be so concerned about them is because many of them are older and

:46:22. > :46:27.therefore pensioners and less important. That is wrong. Therefore,

:46:28. > :46:31.I encourage the Government to stick to their plans to try and deal with

:46:32. > :46:35.this together. The thing about this amendment, it's not actually what

:46:36. > :46:39.all the regional -- emotional argument is for. People who want to

:46:40. > :46:45.guarantee these rights, this is not the amendment. This amendment does

:46:46. > :46:51.the opposite. For two reasons, first, actually it doesn't reassure

:46:52. > :46:53.EU nationals over here. I have had conversations with various EU

:46:54. > :46:56.nationals who don't feel the slightest bit reassured by the idea

:46:57. > :46:59.you are going to call the Government back in three months' time at the

:47:00. > :47:05.triggered Article 52 ask them what they planned to do. That is no

:47:06. > :47:09.reassurance. -- Article 50. You are not voting to reassure them. The

:47:10. > :47:13.second point is that it damages the Government's position in the

:47:14. > :47:20.negotiation. There has been no agreement about what to do with UK

:47:21. > :47:23.citizens. Now the Government on the three month mark, the EU commission

:47:24. > :47:27.knows full well, they would be dragged back to the House, no

:47:28. > :47:31.dramatic claim publicly what their plans are, regardless of what those

:47:32. > :47:35.discussions and negotiations are. I can think of nothing worse than to

:47:36. > :47:40.bind their hands in the worst way and make sure that UK nationals do

:47:41. > :47:45.not get reciprocal arrangements. My point here is that whatever the

:47:46. > :47:50.realities of what people want, both amendment, neither of them, satisfy

:47:51. > :47:54.the requirement to protect either EU nationals or to give this Parliament

:47:55. > :47:56.a vote that is made up without damaging the prospects of the

:47:57. > :48:02.Government's negotiations. I would urge the house not to vote for

:48:03. > :48:05.these. I remind those in the other place to talk endlessly about

:48:06. > :48:10.parliamentary sovereignty for 25 years, I have sat in this place, and

:48:11. > :48:13.have had all the arguments about EU dismissed on the bases we were not

:48:14. > :48:23.allowed to amend a single European treaty. Thank you. I wish to speak

:48:24. > :48:29.particularly to amendment number two, very similar to the new clauses

:48:30. > :48:37.99 and 110, which we debated a month ago. Honourable member 's opposite

:48:38. > :48:41.have complained about the drafting by Lloyds panic. I feel that when

:48:42. > :48:45.ministers meet back complaints, it can be disingenuous because they had

:48:46. > :48:51.the opportunity to amend the amendment. If they really felt that

:48:52. > :48:56.the other place shouldn't be involved, we could have changed the

:48:57. > :49:00.drafting to say not both Houses of Parliament but the houses of

:49:01. > :49:04.comments only. They could have taken a subsection for Mac, which provides

:49:05. > :49:12.for what we do if there isn't an agreement with the EU. We haven't

:49:13. > :49:15.done that and therefore making the bar more difficult, I suspect, for

:49:16. > :49:22.their colleagues sitting behind them. Either it is a problem that

:49:23. > :49:26.the house of Lloyds has a veto because they are unelected chamber

:49:27. > :49:31.or it is not a problem. It seems the Prime Minister made a promise that

:49:32. > :49:35.the vote would come to both houses. She doesn't seem to think that is a

:49:36. > :49:42.problem, I don't know why this is being put up as a problem now. The

:49:43. > :49:46.honourable member for Dorset west took us on a long perambulation

:49:47. > :49:50.about what might or might not happen. That was completely

:49:51. > :49:55.unnecessary. If we were to put this on the face of the bill, we would be

:49:56. > :50:00.making this part of the constitutional arrangements, which

:50:01. > :50:07.under article 50, has to be respected by the EU counterparties

:50:08. > :50:11.in the negotiations. She makes a very good point, because it seems to

:50:12. > :50:16.me in the last debate we had we discuss the possibility of being up

:50:17. > :50:20.against the wire. It seems to me on reflection if our own constitutional

:50:21. > :50:23.processes are not finished, then in those circumstances we couldn't

:50:24. > :50:28.simply fall off the edge of the cliff until we've done so. I believe

:50:29. > :50:34.that a DVD of the lawyers in the European Commission as well.

:50:35. > :50:44.I am grateful for that intervention and my point was it is obviously

:50:45. > :50:51.reasonable for us in this house to have a vote, not just because we all

:50:52. > :50:55.believe in democracy or just because the campaigners for leaving argued

:50:56. > :51:00.on the basis of parliamentary sovereignty, but also because the EU

:51:01. > :51:04.parliament will have a vote. How can ministers stand at the dispatch box

:51:05. > :51:09.and say it is all right to have constitutional arrangements which

:51:10. > :51:14.give MVP is a vote and do not give us a vote? There is one final thing

:51:15. > :51:19.I want to see about leaving without an agreement. The honourable member

:51:20. > :51:23.for Broxtowe set out what the problems are. I think they could be

:51:24. > :51:30.even worse and I think it would be even worse than leaving on WTO

:51:31. > :51:35.terms. For us to have an agreement with the WTO requires ever the

:51:36. > :51:39.member of the WTO to agree we should have that. After everything that has

:51:40. > :51:45.happened does the Minister really think the president of Russia is

:51:46. > :51:49.going to do is that favour? It is not compulsory to speak for

:51:50. > :51:53.the three full minutes and there is a prize for anyone who can do it in

:51:54. > :51:58.one minute. Until the member for Gordon spoke I

:51:59. > :52:03.was afraid I was only one who was having a flashback to the endless

:52:04. > :52:06.nuclear arms control negotiations of the 1980s and there are indeed a

:52:07. > :52:11.couple of parallels to which I will briefly alluded. The first is on

:52:12. > :52:17.Amendment one, the question we are asking is should we make it one side

:52:18. > :52:22.the gesture regardless of the fact it would leave our own citizens

:52:23. > :52:26.exposed? We made it clear from the outset we would agree to guarantee

:52:27. > :52:30.the rights of EU citizens here if other countries would do the same

:52:31. > :52:37.for other citizens in other countries. Why is it that suggestion

:52:38. > :52:44.has not been seized with both hands? The answer one has to say is that

:52:45. > :52:47.indicates to us there are some problems with the way in which the

:52:48. > :52:55.EU intends to go about the process of negotiations because the way

:52:56. > :52:59.forwards would have been for them to say straightaway, yes, you are

:53:00. > :53:04.making this offer, we accept that, no problem. The second point on the

:53:05. > :53:08.second Amendment is the more important one. We have repeatedly

:53:09. > :53:13.heard it said the opposition front bench and elsewhere in the chamber

:53:14. > :53:20.no deal is the worst possible outcome for Britain. Put another

:53:21. > :53:27.way, that is like saying any deal is better than no deal and I would just

:53:28. > :53:31.like to draw a parallel to those arms negotiations in the 1980s

:53:32. > :53:36.because the most successful negotiations were the ones that led

:53:37. > :53:43.to the treaty in 1987 when we got rid of all the cruise missiles on

:53:44. > :53:51.our side and the Russians got rid of their missiles. How that happens was

:53:52. > :53:54.this, we carried out our threat in the negotiations, the other side

:53:55. > :53:58.walked away from the negotiating table when they saw what we meant

:53:59. > :54:03.that they came back and they gave us a better deal. So what we have to

:54:04. > :54:09.remember is this, no deal may lead to a better deal one or two years

:54:10. > :54:14.down the road. If you are determined to take any deal rather than no deal

:54:15. > :54:21.you will end up with a much worse deal than you might otherwise have.

:54:22. > :54:26.I shall vote against all the amendments on the simple bases this

:54:27. > :54:31.bill has one purpose only, that is to give legal effect to the decision

:54:32. > :54:35.of the people on the 23rd of June. Any amendments beyond that are

:54:36. > :54:39.inappropriate for that bill. However, I would like to say to the

:54:40. > :54:46.Secretary of State I look to him to give the firm assurances his first

:54:47. > :54:51.priority will be the rights of EU citizens and he acknowledges it will

:54:52. > :54:55.require a bespoke right to remain to accommodate such problems like

:54:56. > :55:01.health insurance and we will do that as our opening gesture as we open

:55:02. > :55:08.negotiations to set the right tone. Two speeches of two minute speech.

:55:09. > :55:15.I will vote against the amendment and want to address the second one.

:55:16. > :55:19.As others said it is quite wrong for the noble lords to abrogate for the

:55:20. > :55:24.other place a right of unelected peers to veto Brexit at the 11th

:55:25. > :55:29.hour but more than that I think it would be entirely counter-productive

:55:30. > :55:33.as a matter of diplomatic practice. With Jean-Claude Jahnke are talking

:55:34. > :55:38.about the possibility of the UK rejoining the EU, to start

:55:39. > :55:42.negotiations are signalling a poor deal might lead us to the best

:55:43. > :55:49.decision and that would be the surest way to elicit the worst

:55:50. > :55:52.terms. I want to say I understand the legitimate concerns on all sides

:55:53. > :56:01.of the house at this very delicate moment. The truth is, we cannot

:56:02. > :56:05.legislate away legitimate concerns we have whether you voted leave

:56:06. > :56:09.remain and we cannot legislate for every permutation of these

:56:10. > :56:14.negotiations and we have to trust the Government, supported the

:56:15. > :56:20.Government, yes, scrutinise it but do not weaken it, for heaven's sake,

:56:21. > :56:25.at the outset of these negotiations. Mr Speaker, we have debated the one

:56:26. > :56:33.clause bill for six weeks and I want to draw approvingly on the view from

:56:34. > :56:38.the other place of the noble lord who headed up the remain campaign,

:56:39. > :56:43.Lord act-mac Rose, who made it clear in his view the Government should be

:56:44. > :56:48.given the flexibility it needs and deserves to get the best deal for

:56:49. > :56:51.the country and it is incumbent on all politicians of all sides to

:56:52. > :56:55.rally behind the Government to get the best deal for the whole country.

:56:56. > :57:00.I commend the noble lord and will vote against the amendments tonight.

:57:01. > :57:10.The secretary of state would like one minute wind up. Caroline Lucas.

:57:11. > :57:15.We live in a very strange times. The campaign to leave the EU was based

:57:16. > :57:19.on great extent on the idea of restoring sovereignty to Parliament

:57:20. > :57:22.and the White Paper reassert the sovereignty of Parliament is a

:57:23. > :57:26.fundamental principle of the UK constitution yet ministers seems set

:57:27. > :57:31.on opposing any attempt to guarantee a meaningful role for Parliament in

:57:32. > :57:35.the process of EU withdrawal. We have asked instead to write a blank

:57:36. > :57:39.cheque and give ministers power to withdraw the country from the EU on

:57:40. > :57:45.whatever terms they liked or worse, no terms at all. Ministers seem to

:57:46. > :57:48.regard the colleagues as little better than lemmings, faced with the

:57:49. > :57:52.prospect of falling off a cliff edge we are apparently meant to suspend

:57:53. > :57:57.all judgment and blindly follow wherever they lead. Mr Speaker, to

:57:58. > :58:03.allow ministers to proceed in this way would be an extraordinary and

:58:04. > :58:06.unforgivable abdication of parliamentary responsibility. The

:58:07. > :58:09.manner and terms on which we withdraw from the EU will have

:58:10. > :58:14.implications for the rights and interests of every citizen and

:58:15. > :58:18.business for many years to come and Parliament must take responsibility

:58:19. > :58:22.for those decisions. The final deal on trade with the EU will almost

:58:23. > :58:28.certainly need to be ratified at both national and federal level of

:58:29. > :58:31.each EU member state. Number two amendment simply give the UK

:58:32. > :58:36.Parliament at the same power. The ministers are they want Parliament

:58:37. > :58:41.to be single most underpowered of all European Parliament during the

:58:42. > :58:44.process? Finally, I appeal to my colleagues today to defy the whipped

:58:45. > :58:49.up anger of the anti-European press, stand up to the ridiculous notion

:58:50. > :58:54.that any and every attempt to get Parliament a role in the Brexit

:58:55. > :59:00.process is some hope a betrayal of the people. It is no such thing. It

:59:01. > :59:06.is simply the exercise of the judgment we were elected bring to

:59:07. > :59:15.this house, we were not elected to be a lemmings. David Davis.

:59:16. > :59:20.What the Leader of the House I will start by thanking members for the

:59:21. > :59:28.valuable contributions. We have had some formidable speeches. It the

:59:29. > :59:33.most important and more -- some of the more important issues I want to

:59:34. > :59:38.quickly deal with. Several members spoke passionately of the rights of

:59:39. > :59:41.the three million and I agree. I am equally passionate about the four

:59:42. > :59:46.million and do not agree with the chairman of the Brexit committee or

:59:47. > :59:50.indeed the member for Gordon when he says we are using these people as

:59:51. > :59:54.bargaining chips. We are not. We are stopping any of them being

:59:55. > :00:00.bargaining chips and getting an outcome that will reflect well on

:00:01. > :00:04.this house and the EU. With respect to amendment to, I think the member

:00:05. > :00:10.for West Dorset had a brilliant exposition of the Alice in

:00:11. > :00:17.Wonderland consequences of that amendment and the member for Forest

:00:18. > :00:24.Dean was also right in this. The simple truth we in this house passed

:00:25. > :00:29.this Bill amended last time by a 372 majority and they hope we sent it

:00:30. > :00:34.back by similar majority and the House of Lords respect that

:00:35. > :00:39.rejection of the amendments. I must now bring to a conclusion

:00:40. > :00:45.proceedings on consideration of Lords' amendments. The question is

:00:46. > :00:49.this house disagrees with the Lords in their amendment number one. As

:00:50. > :00:56.many as are of the opinion, say "aye". To the contrary, "no".

:00:57. > :03:17.Division! Clear the lobby. The question is this house disagrees

:03:18. > :03:19.with the Lords in their amendment number one. As many as are of the

:03:20. > :03:28.opinion, say "aye". To the contrary, "no". . Tellers for the ayes HE

:03:29. > :14:51.READS Order! Auditor! The ayes TV rights,

:14:52. > :15:04.335, the nos to the left, 287. -- to the right. The ayes tonight, 335,

:15:05. > :15:10.the nos to the left, 287. The "aye" habit, the ayes habit. I must now

:15:11. > :15:16.put the question on the motion to disagree with Lords amendment number

:15:17. > :15:21.two. The minister to move formally. Thank you. The question is that this

:15:22. > :15:29.House disagrees with Lords in their amendment number two. As many as are

:15:30. > :15:34.of that opinion it's a "aye". On the contrary, no. Division, clear the

:15:35. > :18:38.lobby. Order. The question is that this

:18:39. > :18:42.House disagrees with the Lords in their amendment number two. As many

:18:43. > :18:52.as are of that opinion it's the "aye". On the contrary, no. Heather

:18:53. > :28:53.Wheeler and Jackie Dail prize, for the ayes, Jeff Smith for the nos.

:28:54. > :29:21.Order! The ayes to the right 331, the noes to the left 286.

:29:22. > :29:30.The ayes to the right 331, the noes to be left 286. The ayes have it.

:29:31. > :29:37.The ayes have it. Unlock! Order! Ministered to move a committee be

:29:38. > :29:41.appointed to draw up reasons. I beg to move the committee be appointed

:29:42. > :29:53.to draw up reasons to be assigned to the Lords were disagreeing to the

:29:54. > :29:58.amendments one and two. That James Berry Paul Field, Stephen Geffen,

:29:59. > :30:03.David Jones, Jessica Morton and Jeremy Quin be members of the

:30:04. > :30:10.committee. David Jones be the chair of the committee. Three B the

:30:11. > :30:18.quarter of the committee and the committee do withdraw immediately.

:30:19. > :30:24.The question is that a committee be appointed to draw up reasons to be

:30:25. > :30:31.assigned to the Lords for disagreeing to the amendments one

:30:32. > :30:35.and two to the European union Notification Of Withdrawal Belle.

:30:36. > :30:55.HE READS NAMES. David Jones be the chair of the

:30:56. > :31:04.committee. Three Billy Corgan of the committee. The committee do withdraw

:31:05. > :31:17.the immediately. The ayes have it. The ayes of it. Order. We now come

:31:18. > :31:26.to the continuation of the budget debate. Ways and Means adjourned a

:31:27. > :31:38.debate on question. Thank you. To open, I call the

:31:39. > :31:43.secretary of state, when his whip us past, the Secretary of State for

:31:44. > :31:48.Foreign Commonwealth Affairs, Secretary Boris Johnson. Thank you,

:31:49. > :31:57.Mr Speaker. I feel it is entirely right that at this pivotal and

:31:58. > :32:01.exciting moment in this country's... Just before the right honourable

:32:02. > :32:08.gentlemen develops his speech, just gently say to those members quite

:32:09. > :32:14.unaccountably are leaving the chamber before the oratorical

:32:15. > :32:17.fireworks to be volunteered by the secretary of state it would be

:32:18. > :32:20.appreciated if they could do so quickly and quietly so we can

:32:21. > :32:26.proceed with the debates and the right honourable gentlemen can enjoy

:32:27. > :32:32.the certainly quiet and possibly even if he is lucky, respectful

:32:33. > :32:36.audience that he seeks. Foreign Secretary. As I was saying before

:32:37. > :32:42.your kind advice, it is entirely right at this pivotal and exciting

:32:43. > :32:46.moment in our economic relations, international relations, not just

:32:47. > :32:55.with the EU but also with the 93% of the world out with the EU, shortly

:32:56. > :32:59.to be 94%, I should be the first Foreign Secretary and more than ten

:33:00. > :33:03.years to be opening a budget debate. I do so with pride is because this

:33:04. > :33:07.is a budget that will sustain the momentum of what is already one of

:33:08. > :33:13.the fastest-growing economies in the West with unemployment at the lowest

:33:14. > :33:20.for 11 years of the stock market 1000 points higher than it was on

:33:21. > :33:30.June 23, to pick a date entirely at random. More people in work in this

:33:31. > :33:35.country... I will give weight many times but let me get to the end of

:33:36. > :33:41.my second sentence. More people and work than ever before. This is a

:33:42. > :33:43.budget that continues and enables the biggest programme of

:33:44. > :33:50.infrastructure investment this country has seen since Victorian

:33:51. > :33:54.times. It offers other young people in the funding and technical

:33:55. > :34:06.qualifications to enable them to realise their full potential. And as

:34:07. > :34:09.our country prepares for re-entry, to re-enter the global economy and

:34:10. > :34:17.forge new relationships around the world, this budget... I will give

:34:18. > :34:19.way. On the point of forging new relationships, can the Foreign

:34:20. > :34:27.Secretary explain how he will do that when the budget is going to be

:34:28. > :34:35.cuts -- sodden eyes budget is going to be cut substantially? As the --

:34:36. > :34:40.the FOC budget is going to be cut. We run a world-class network, the

:34:41. > :34:45.most developed diplomatic network in the world on two thirds of the

:34:46. > :34:52.budget the French spend and we will continue to exercise the greatest

:34:53. > :34:55.prudence in managing our budget. I am fortified in the support I have

:34:56. > :35:02.an nap from the current Chancellor of the Exchequer who was my

:35:03. > :35:07.predecessor. It is thanks to his was dumb the Chancellor's was them, in

:35:08. > :35:14.his budget, -- the Chancellor's which thou Leave wisdom that young

:35:15. > :35:19.people will be able to compete with confidence. This is a budget for

:35:20. > :35:26.global Britain. It is this Government's argument that Britain

:35:27. > :35:30.is not only more outward facing by history and by instinct than any

:35:31. > :35:36.comparable economy, it is our argument that global character of

:35:37. > :35:43.Britain is profoundly in the interests of the British people

:35:44. > :35:47.because they truly global Britain is a prosperous Britain. It is

:35:48. > :35:52.Britain's engagement with the world. That means this country plays an

:35:53. > :35:56.extraordinary and indispensable role in the security, stability and

:35:57. > :36:03.prosperity of the world. I will happily give way on that point.

:36:04. > :36:09.Thank you. Specifically on the issue of global Britain and a renewed

:36:10. > :36:14.trading relationship, would he not acknowledge that one of the ultimate

:36:15. > :36:19.ways in which we can project the soft power of Britain and the

:36:20. > :36:25.prestige of Britain and around the globe is to recommission a new Royal

:36:26. > :36:30.yacht for Her Majesty the Queen as a floating trade mission to be used by

:36:31. > :36:34.industry around the globe in the interest of our nation? Can I say,

:36:35. > :36:41.Mr Speaker, how much I admire my honourable friend for his campaign

:36:42. > :36:48.he is running to create such a vessel and it is my view that it

:36:49. > :36:58.would indeed add greatly to the soft power of this country, soft power

:36:59. > :37:04.which is already... The new Britannia should not be a call on

:37:05. > :37:08.the taxpayer, if it can be done privately, I am sure it would

:37:09. > :37:21.attract overwhelming, overwhelming support. And I believe that

:37:22. > :37:30.measures... Measures such as a new Royal yacht... Order! Auditor! Why

:37:31. > :37:34.are people making such a noise when the Foreign Secretary is seen things

:37:35. > :37:42.that might be important? Order! I would like to hear him. Foreign

:37:43. > :37:48.Secretary. I am grateful, Madam Deputy Speaker. It is one of a

:37:49. > :37:52.number of measures I am assured that this Government will be able to

:37:53. > :37:57.consider. In the meantime, we have before if a budget that is helping

:37:58. > :38:04.to create the conditions in which this economy can continue to

:38:05. > :38:07.flourish. The first of the conditions, if the members opposite

:38:08. > :38:11.will allow me, are just the couple more sentences. The first of the

:38:12. > :38:19.conditions that are essential for the prosperity of global Britain is

:38:20. > :38:24.security. And unlike the party opposite, whose idea of a nuclear

:38:25. > :38:27.deterrent is to send our submarines to see without a nuclear missile

:38:28. > :38:35.about them so the whole nation is literally firing blanks, this

:38:36. > :38:44.Government sees the vital importance of maintaining our defences. This

:38:45. > :38:51.budget provides, once again, for the United Kingdom to set an example to

:38:52. > :38:55.our European partners by spending 2% of our GDP on our Armed Forces,

:38:56. > :39:02.thereby giving vital credibility to Nato which serves as the guarantor

:39:03. > :39:11.of the security of all our major trading partners on either side of

:39:12. > :39:15.the Atlantic. I might say that after decades... I will give way. I am

:39:16. > :39:19.very grateful to the Foreign Secretary forgiving way. On this

:39:20. > :39:23.point about our treaty relationships, on the weekend he

:39:24. > :39:29.said it would be perfectly OK for the UK to leave the European Union

:39:30. > :39:35.with no deal for -- to fall back on world organisation trade rules. Lord

:39:36. > :39:39.Heseltine said that is rubbish. Is it rubbished? I repeat what I said

:39:40. > :39:46.at the weekend. I am delighted he was paying attention. It is my

:39:47. > :39:51.view... I don't believe we will come to that, because I think in the next

:39:52. > :39:55.couple of years we will have no difficulty in doing, as I will come

:39:56. > :40:02.onto. And no difficulty in doing a deal that is in the interests of

:40:03. > :40:09.both sides. To get back to the defence of the planet, let me just

:40:10. > :40:16.remind the House, we are not all are committed to transatlantic... Just

:40:17. > :40:27.kill it. Transatlantic defences, we will also be spending ?3 billion in

:40:28. > :40:36.the Gulf region over the next ten years. In fact, we are restoring our

:40:37. > :40:41.rural for the first time since 1967, reopening a naval base in Bahrain.

:40:42. > :40:46.It makes perfect economic sense as well, as members opposite, if they

:40:47. > :40:51.cared about these things would understand, there is an absolute

:40:52. > :40:55.connection between them our security and our economic prosperity because

:40:56. > :40:59.that region, the Gulf, which you probably don't know, that region,

:41:00. > :41:08.the Gulf, is our largest and fastest-growing export market, apart

:41:09. > :41:13.from the EU and the US. And it doesn't end that. Because we are

:41:14. > :41:19.also committed, of course, to the security of the wider world, of Asia

:41:20. > :41:26.as well. Last year, as the House will know, the RAF Saint Typhoon

:41:27. > :41:30.fighters to Japan, South Korea and Malaysia, proving that Britain

:41:31. > :41:38.remains a handful of countries able to deploy air Power 7000 miles from

:41:39. > :41:43.our shores. And soon the Royal Navy will have two giant aircraft

:41:44. > :41:47.carriers, each of them longer than the Palace of Westminster, the

:41:48. > :41:51.biggest worship this country has ever possessed, HMS Queen Elizabeth,

:41:52. > :41:54.HMS Prince of Wales, I don't know whether the honourable member

:41:55. > :42:01.opposite of those as those as well, perhaps he does. Perhaps he would

:42:02. > :42:04.enlighten us! I am grateful. As much as I am enjoying this travelogue,

:42:05. > :42:10.can you get back to the business in hand, which is the budget? Couldn't

:42:11. > :42:15.Foreign Secretary confirm that we are going to see leather trade and

:42:16. > :42:21.less economic activity as a result of Brexit and we are going to borrow

:42:22. > :42:26.an extra ?100 billion as a direct consequence of Brexit? With great

:42:27. > :42:34.respect, we have talked about that sort of stuff for the last Euro

:42:35. > :42:40.symbol, proving them wrong. As for the deficit, which he mentions, we

:42:41. > :42:47.are bringing it under 3% of the first time since 2007, thanks to the

:42:48. > :42:50.prudent management of this country's finances and thanks to the

:42:51. > :42:56.Conservative led administration, which had to take over because of

:42:57. > :43:01.this catastrophic mess we had to clear up when his party was in

:43:02. > :43:04.office. I would be obliged if the honourable gentleman would resume

:43:05. > :43:12.his seat because I do not intend to give way to him again. It is thanks

:43:13. > :43:19.to the Chancellor's... Would you give way to new? I will give way.

:43:20. > :43:24.Thank you. Can I say how much I support the Government's position to

:43:25. > :43:32.the 2% minimum on defence spending, but would he not agree we're going

:43:33. > :43:35.to need every penny of that given that in particular the Chinese are

:43:36. > :43:40.seeking to colonise militarily a number of uninhabited atoms in the

:43:41. > :43:46.south China Sea and this is destabilising the region. My right

:43:47. > :43:50.honourable friend, do not agree we need to take action there and

:43:51. > :43:55.increase the defence budget, not stay when it is? I am delighted my

:43:56. > :43:59.right honourable friend make that point because he reminds me, it was

:44:00. > :44:02.the leader of the Labour Party, the current Leader of the Opposition,

:44:03. > :44:06.who said he did not think he discontinued a defence policy at

:44:07. > :44:18.all. He said he said he don't even need an army. I remind my honourable

:44:19. > :44:22.friend that 25% at the world's trade goes through those streets and it is

:44:23. > :44:30.more vital than ever we have a truly global commitment. Any moment or

:44:31. > :44:41.two. I wish to return... I wish to return to the budget. Order, order,

:44:42. > :44:45.order. Mr Gibbs. Foreign Secretary. I will give way in due course. I

:44:46. > :44:50.just wish to make this point, because I have been asked to return

:44:51. > :44:54.to the budget and I do with absolute pleasure, it is thanks to the

:44:55. > :44:59.careful stewardship of this country's finances that we are able

:45:00. > :45:02.to deploy not only hard power on the scale that I have mentioned, the

:45:03. > :45:11.second biggest military contributor to Nato, but we have soft power

:45:12. > :45:14.thanks to this Government's careful management finances on a scale

:45:15. > :45:24.unmatched by any other European partners. The BBC, the British

:45:25. > :45:33.Council, an absolute gem of this country, and unsung gem of this

:45:34. > :45:39.country, the give the United Kingdom a cultural penumbra across the world

:45:40. > :45:44.that is of massive economic value. Thank you. He has referred to the

:45:45. > :45:48.British Council. The British Council, as he knows, is no longer

:45:49. > :45:54.going to receive any funding from the British Government. At the same

:45:55. > :46:00.time, there are going to be continuing pressures on our

:46:01. > :46:04.diplomatic missions around the world as a result of the budget crisis

:46:05. > :46:14.that the Foreign Office has had to deal with. Can he Putallaz how many

:46:15. > :46:19.additional diplomats are going to be appointed to increase the budget of

:46:20. > :46:24.the FCO so he is able to deal with the consequences are Brexit? As the

:46:25. > :46:33.Foreign Affairs Committee called for any recent report. I am deeply

:46:34. > :46:35.disappointed I finally did give way to the gentleman opposite, because

:46:36. > :46:43.he showed the most staggering ignorance of the British Council and

:46:44. > :46:53.Foreign Office spending and... If I may say so, I will give you the

:46:54. > :46:57.answer, which is that in response to the challenging opportunities we

:46:58. > :47:03.have, we are increasing our representation in our European posts

:47:04. > :47:09.by 50 diplomats and 25 new trade experts have been recruited. Just to

:47:10. > :47:16.give him the answer. We are expanding a fantastic network. That

:47:17. > :47:24.is on top of the anonymous stockpile, hard power we have. We

:47:25. > :47:31.are, as the House will know, after the United States and the European

:47:32. > :47:38.Union, the UK is the third biggest contributor to development Finance

:47:39. > :47:43.and the world, and it is quite an extraordinary record which I think

:47:44. > :47:51.everybody in this House Conservative Government should be proud. Thank

:47:52. > :47:57.you. I am glad to hear him talking about soft power and Britain's

:47:58. > :48:03.global reputation. Will he agree he is the biggest risk to Britain's

:48:04. > :48:17.soft power's by putting his foot in mouth too many occasions. I miss the

:48:18. > :48:23.second half of that question. If the assertion was that British diplomacy

:48:24. > :48:28.is in any way falling short, I believe in the last few months we

:48:29. > :48:33.have seen an understanding of what this country wants and a growing

:48:34. > :48:36.warmth towards our objectives because they are sheared objectives

:48:37. > :48:41.with our European friends and partners. One of the things I say is

:48:42. > :48:51.most admired by our colleagues around the table and not just in

:48:52. > :48:55.Brussels but in the UN is that they realise this Government has an

:48:56. > :49:03.extraordinary record in giving development aid. As we sit here and

:49:04. > :49:06.I'm, Madam Deputy Speaker, my honourable friend the Secretary of

:49:07. > :49:10.State for International Development is matter, is helping the Pakistani

:49:11. > :49:15.Government to pick together a 6 million girls through school in the

:49:16. > :49:20.Punjab alone. I think everybody appreciates that is the best way of

:49:21. > :49:23.promoting economic growth, of curbing infant mortality and

:49:24. > :49:33.reducing the pressures of a growing population. We spend this aid

:49:34. > :49:38.budget, 0.7%, not because it is the just the right thing to do, though

:49:39. > :49:42.surely it is morally right thing to do, I am not embarrassed to say it

:49:43. > :49:48.is also the best way of promoting development of those economies and

:49:49. > :49:53.thereby of sparring the growth of our export markets, Madam Deputy

:49:54. > :50:01.Speaker. In that sense, global Britain... I didn't think they'd

:50:02. > :50:06.like that. The are not interested in any policy that is so busily of

:50:07. > :50:13.economic benefit to this country. That is one of the reasons why we

:50:14. > :50:19.are doing it. I speak as a defender and a believer in globalisation,

:50:20. > :50:23.because millions of people in our country, tens of millions, depend

:50:24. > :50:30.for their jobs and livelihoods on the benign force of global free

:50:31. > :50:36.trade. And that in turn requires the shipping lanes, clear rules and

:50:37. > :50:41.effective institutions. I've given way before. None of that can be

:50:42. > :50:46.taken for granted. I am sorry, I haven't. Go on.

:50:47. > :50:52.In terms of global free trade and the judgment of the international

:50:53. > :50:55.financial markets, with the acceptance June 20 of our economy

:50:56. > :51:03.has slipped from the fifth biggest the six biggest and the value have

:51:04. > :51:10.-- has been deflated, which is why we have devalued and therefore

:51:11. > :51:17.everybody's wages and assays are 15% down. That is a failure. -- is not a

:51:18. > :51:21.success. You think they would learn that there is no point in

:51:22. > :51:28.continually standing up and running our country down when what has

:51:29. > :51:34.happened is we are back up at number five, we have seen records

:51:35. > :51:39.investment in the UK and we continue to see the fundamentals of the

:51:40. > :51:49.British economy are strong and getting stronger. One of the reasons

:51:50. > :51:57.for that, as I say, is we play a very active role in protecting and

:51:58. > :52:00.insisting upon the rules -based international law and on that I give

:52:01. > :52:05.weight to my right honourable friend.

:52:06. > :52:08.Will he was talking about the importance of the development

:52:09. > :52:12.project and what it brings us, will he at least accept there is an issue

:52:13. > :52:18.about how that money gets invested in things like the British Council,

:52:19. > :52:23.that policy can only be applied to the developing world as we present

:52:24. > :52:26.global Britain it is rather more important he has the tools to

:52:27. > :52:30.present global left and across the whole world policy should not be

:52:31. > :52:35.constrained by the source of the expenditure.

:52:36. > :52:39.My honourable friend speaks with wisdom and authority on this and I

:52:40. > :52:44.know his committee has made some very useful recommendations about

:52:45. > :52:48.how to maximise our overseas spending and so to coordinate our

:52:49. > :52:53.spending that it helps to deliver not only our security but also our

:52:54. > :53:00.economic objectives, as I have just been saying to members, and I

:53:01. > :53:07.totally accept that point. In the pursuit of the system we want to

:53:08. > :53:16.see, our diplomats and intelligence officers are backed up by... They

:53:17. > :53:19.are striving every day to preserve the essentials of the rules -based

:53:20. > :53:25.system and thereby helping to protect jobs and the safety of our

:53:26. > :53:36.constituents here in the UK. I will conclude this thought by pointing

:53:37. > :53:41.out back in 1990, about 37% of our fellow human beings worldwide lived

:53:42. > :53:46.in absolute poverty. Today, that figure has fallen to less than 10%,

:53:47. > :53:52.which is all the more remarkable when you consider in the interim the

:53:53. > :53:58.world population has gone up by 1.8 billion people. That dramatic fall

:53:59. > :54:03.in property unparalleled in history, coincided with the biggest expansion

:54:04. > :54:07.of free trade and open markets the world has ever seen. It policy the

:54:08. > :54:14.site of the house believes implicitly. I think the right

:54:15. > :54:20.honourable gentlemen opposite will agree with me when I say the rules

:54:21. > :54:26.-based international border which we uphold and global Britain, is

:54:27. > :54:30.overwhelming benefit for the world as a whole. I will give way to the

:54:31. > :54:34.member opposite. Of course I agree with the Foreign

:54:35. > :54:39.Secretary, it is just a pity on some occasions he does not seem to

:54:40. > :54:43.project that when he travels abroad. That is another problem. Can I just

:54:44. > :54:48.say, a moment ago when my honourable friend for Ilford asked him some

:54:49. > :54:52.questions he dismissed them as ignorant. When the chair of the

:54:53. > :54:55.Foreign Affairs Committee asked exactly the same questions he said

:54:56. > :55:00.he agreed with his right honourable friend. He cannot be right in both

:55:01. > :55:07.cases. I must, with great trepidation I

:55:08. > :55:16.must correct... We travelled abroad together and I seem to remember...

:55:17. > :55:25.The reality is, alas, the gentleman opposite, he revealed the

:55:26. > :55:28.profoundest misunderstanding about the exact state of the finances of

:55:29. > :55:35.the British Council and I thought that was a regrettable, and worth

:55:36. > :55:40.correcting. Thanks to my right honourable friend the Chancellor, we

:55:41. > :55:43.are able to continue to support an active global Britain through this

:55:44. > :55:50.budget but there is of course much more to be done. Because once we

:55:51. > :55:55.leave the EU and the governments, we all, regain a power that this

:55:56. > :56:02.country has not been able to deploy for 44 years, and that is the

:56:03. > :56:05.ability to include free trade -- conclude free trade agreements. The

:56:06. > :56:11.first and most important of those deals with B with our friends and

:56:12. > :56:13.partners in the EU because as the Prime Minister revealed we are

:56:14. > :56:18.leaving the EU but we are not leaving Europe. To those who

:56:19. > :56:24.seriously doubt we can pull it off in the next two years let me just

:56:25. > :56:28.remind the essential point, this is profoundly in the interests of our

:56:29. > :56:33.friends and partners on the other side of the channel who have a

:56:34. > :56:37.massive net balance of trade with us. They are optimistic and

:56:38. > :56:41.determined, I sometimes wish we could have a little bit more of the

:56:42. > :56:46.same spirit from the party opposite. Perhaps from the gentleman opposite

:56:47. > :56:53.real Europe, perhaps he will now say he is abandoning his gloom and he

:56:54. > :56:54.will come up with something supportive of the British

:56:55. > :56:58.negotiating position. The other will seek to support the

:56:59. > :57:03.Foreign Secretary in getting one spot back to the question of the

:57:04. > :57:08.budget, he talks about trade is being increased in the future as a

:57:09. > :57:15.result of Brexit, can he therefore tell us if he disagrees with the

:57:16. > :57:19.Independent Tory created Office For Budget Responsibility, and there are

:57:20. > :57:25.a few trade will be reduced as a result of our leaving the EU?

:57:26. > :57:31.I must respectfully say to the member opposite I think he is being

:57:32. > :57:40.too pessimistic and I believe if you look at the UK trade with the rest

:57:41. > :57:44.of the EU over the last 20 years, regrettably, it has been declining

:57:45. > :57:48.as a proportion of our export and I would like to see increasing again.

:57:49. > :57:53.But I would also like to see my right honourable friend, I am

:57:54. > :57:59.delighted to say who was sitting next to me, doing those free-trade

:58:00. > :58:04.deals around the world. As the house will know, there is massive

:58:05. > :58:10.excitement and enthusiasm amongst our global partners to do just that.

:58:11. > :58:13.There is literally a queue of countries that want to do

:58:14. > :58:20.significant and substantial free-trade deals. I will happily

:58:21. > :58:24.give way. Will you agree with the foreign

:58:25. > :58:27.select committee who just yesterday said the possibility of no deal is

:58:28. > :58:32.real enough to justify planning for it. And not to plan would be a

:58:33. > :58:35.mistake and constitute a serious dereliction of duty by the

:58:36. > :58:42.administration. That issue of foreign subcommittee. No, it is not.

:58:43. > :58:52.It is the Foreign Secretary's select committee.

:58:53. > :59:01.If I made, I will remind the honourable lady of my previous, and

:59:02. > :59:07.it would urge members opposite to contain their pessimism because I

:59:08. > :59:11.think it is true, absolutely true, members opposite asked me to name

:59:12. > :59:17.the countries that wish to do free-trade deals and there are

:59:18. > :59:20.dozens but I will see, you have heard the United States of America

:59:21. > :59:23.and what they want to do and it would be hugely in the interests of

:59:24. > :59:32.every part of this country because it is the case at the moment,

:59:33. > :59:35.members mean not know this, but the United States not only still has an

:59:36. > :59:41.embargo on British beef, but on Scottish haggis as well. And I think

:59:42. > :59:45.it would be fine thing. I do not know whether members of the Scottish

:59:46. > :59:53.parties agree with that but there is no other way of doing a free-trade

:59:54. > :59:55.deal and liberating the haggis to travel across the Atlantic again

:59:56. > :00:05.unless be doing a free-trade deal the United States.

:00:06. > :00:12.I appreciate order. This point might be about haggis and

:00:13. > :00:16.the house must listen to it. I appreciate the Foreign Secretary's

:00:17. > :00:21.concern for foreign exports, does he still believes a pound spent in

:00:22. > :00:26.Croydon is far more value to a pound spent on Strathclyde? I certainly

:00:27. > :00:31.believe a free-trade deal with the United States and free-trade deals

:00:32. > :00:35.for this country would be of profound benefit to the whole of the

:00:36. > :00:44.United Kingdom. Since he is interrupted me, let me remind the

:00:45. > :00:48.member on those benches that today is Commonwealth Day. Which provides

:00:49. > :00:54.an opportunity for us to celebrate this remarkable institution which

:00:55. > :00:58.embraces one third of humanity and now includes some of the

:00:59. > :01:03.fastest-growing economies in the world. A free association of 52

:01:04. > :01:07.countries spread across every continent, dedicated to advancing

:01:08. > :01:10.values we share and I am proud to say Britain will host the

:01:11. > :01:18.Commonwealth heads of Government summit next year and though we may

:01:19. > :01:24.not be able to know sign free-trade agreements with our Commonwealth

:01:25. > :01:29.friends, we can see them and see them taking shape. Let me remind our

:01:30. > :01:37.friends from the Scottish Nationalist party, who seems so

:01:38. > :01:42.determined to turn themselves, wrench themselves apart from the UK,

:01:43. > :01:48.even though they have every decisive referendum on this matter, as

:01:49. > :01:54.members will recall, only a couple of years ago. Let me remind them,

:01:55. > :02:02.never mind haggis, the Scotch whiskey exports to India, a

:02:03. > :02:06.potentially huge market, the Indian first whiskey is colossal, currently

:02:07. > :02:11.running at only 4% of Scotch whiskey sales in India or the account for 4%

:02:12. > :02:16.of the Indian whiskey market. That is because currently without a

:02:17. > :02:21.free-trade deal the Indian Government currently imposes a 150%

:02:22. > :02:28.tariff on Scotch whiskey. Imagine a free-trade deal lifted the exports

:02:29. > :02:34.of Scotch to India by only a few percent. To say 10%. Dare to dream

:02:35. > :02:38.that Scotch whiskey, which I think everybody in this house would

:02:39. > :02:50.concede is the original and authentic whiskey, there to dream

:02:51. > :02:54.that Scotch whiskey was just 15% of the gigantic Indian first for

:02:55. > :02:59.whiskey. We would be talking of an increase in the profits for the

:03:00. > :03:04.Scotch whiskey industry for this country and above all for Scotland,

:03:05. > :03:08.every year, running at that time running into hundreds of millions of

:03:09. > :03:13.pounds. That means jobs and growth and investment for Scotland. It

:03:14. > :03:17.means prosperity that comes with having a truly global outlook but

:03:18. > :03:25.unfortunately members opposite seemed to lack. In that global...

:03:26. > :03:30.Whitby make progress. In that global marketplace, this budget will allow

:03:31. > :03:33.young Britons to compete with the best by investing in the talents and

:03:34. > :03:39.skills of the rising generation. More than 100 new free skills

:03:40. > :03:44.provided, 1000 more Ph.D. Places for science, technology, engineering and

:03:45. > :03:50.mathematics. Another ?270 million for biotechnology, robotics and

:03:51. > :03:58.electric vehicles. ?60 million for five G mobile technology. That is

:03:59. > :04:05.building on and fostering a global reputation for innovation that is

:04:06. > :04:10.now the third in the world. We are -- we are one place above America,

:04:11. > :04:16.seven places ahead of Germany, suggesting higher than France and 21

:04:17. > :04:22.places ahead of China. That is a measure of the extraordinary

:04:23. > :04:27.fecundity, intellectual fecundity of this country. Cambridge University

:04:28. > :04:33.alone has produced more Nobel laureates and every university in

:04:34. > :04:39.Russia and China are added together and multiplied by two. Where there

:04:40. > :04:44.breakthroughs take place and that's part of innovation takes place, we

:04:45. > :04:50.fostered it and encourage it and give business every possible

:04:51. > :04:56.incentive to turn those doomed ideas into world beating products. From

:04:57. > :05:02.next month -- those brilliant ideas. We will cut corporation tax to 19%

:05:03. > :05:11.next year, 17% by 2020, the lowest of any G20 economy. It is by

:05:12. > :05:15.creating the right business environment and investing in

:05:16. > :05:21.infrastructure, skills, housing and technology, as I say, that we are

:05:22. > :05:27.not only building a platform for sustainable growth, we are creating

:05:28. > :05:31.a launch pad for the most extraordinary exports. As I never

:05:32. > :05:39.tire of telling my friends, we export to you to China. We export

:05:40. > :05:45.data France. We export bicycles to Hollands. We export TV aerials to

:05:46. > :05:49.South Korea. Boomerang is to Australia. I think we have at least

:05:50. > :05:53.once in the past export of sand to Saudi Arabia and Nigel Farage to

:05:54. > :06:11.America, I am delighted to say. The only mark the entrepreneurial

:06:12. > :06:18.spirit, but let me tell you... Madam Deputy Speaker, let me tell you that

:06:19. > :06:21.on Friday... Order, order. The Foreign Secretary will give way when

:06:22. > :06:31.he is ready to give away, meanwhile, no shouting. I will conclude with

:06:32. > :06:36.these thoughts. I was asked last Friday in my own constituency in

:06:37. > :06:46.Oxbridge and I am proud to say I've visited a business that has, on a

:06:47. > :06:50.backstreet, it has cornered the market in manufacturing the fancy

:06:51. > :07:01.display cabinets that are used to sell delicacies such as Toblerone in

:07:02. > :07:06.every airport in Saudi Arabia. And we are expanding, thanks to the

:07:07. > :07:10.ingenuity and enterprise. If you go to a Saudi Arabian airport, and you

:07:11. > :07:17.buy a Toblerone, he would buy it over a counter made in Oxbridge.

:07:18. > :07:22.Given the ingenuity, I will not give way... I will not every way. I

:07:23. > :07:28.believe we have every reason to be confident in what we can achieve

:07:29. > :07:35.together as one United Kingdom. This is a nation that in the last 300

:07:36. > :07:42.years has become prosperous and successful, precisely because it

:07:43. > :07:46.adopted a uniquely global outlook. Active, engaged and trading with

:07:47. > :07:49.every corner of the planet. Not as for the benefit of the people of

:07:50. > :07:53.this country, but I do to savour the benefit of the entire world. And

:07:54. > :07:58.this is once again the course on which we are now embarked. This

:07:59. > :08:10.budget will help us to fulfil our entire potential for a truly global

:08:11. > :08:13.Britain. Wright thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Let me start by

:08:14. > :08:18.saying that like many other members of this house, it was my privilege

:08:19. > :08:22.was afternoon to attend this celebration for the Commonwealth at

:08:23. > :08:27.Westminster Abbey in her presence of the Majesty the Queen. It was a

:08:28. > :08:32.reminder in the context of tonight's to beat of the powerful ties and

:08:33. > :08:35.historic ties that enjoys all over the world. We only country that will

:08:36. > :08:40.face outwards another tenant on ourselves and like the Secretary of

:08:41. > :08:44.State on that next year's service we will have another member of the

:08:45. > :08:49.Commonwealth present as a democratic Gambia completes the process of

:08:50. > :08:51.readmission. I would like to thank the Secretary of State for opening

:08:52. > :08:58.this even's debate on Britain's place in the world. An issue of

:08:59. > :09:01.vital importance and yet one that hasn't exactly been centrestage in

:09:02. > :09:07.the last five years RAC debate on the budget. If someone had told us

:09:08. > :09:11.last summer, that going into Article 50 week it would be the Prime

:09:12. > :09:17.Minister and the Chancellor who would be at each other's throats, at

:09:18. > :09:22.worst to the media, engaged in some desperate blaming game, it would be

:09:23. > :09:24.the Secretary of State for foreign Commonwealth Office who will be sent

:09:25. > :09:27.into the television studios to act for the Government as the voice of

:09:28. > :09:33.calm and unity, no one would have believed that. But if that is going

:09:34. > :09:41.to be his new role, if he is going to be the new figure, or the new

:09:42. > :09:44.comedy and I see it, John Prescott, I congratulate him and wishing the

:09:45. > :09:46.best of luck and wish them the best of luck in the future. There would

:09:47. > :09:52.be some unkind souls who would look at the row between number ten and 11

:09:53. > :09:55.and think that it is exactly what the Secretary of State needed this

:09:56. > :09:58.weekend because in their cynical mindset had it not been for that

:09:59. > :10:01.row, much more attention would have been focused on Sunday's will

:10:02. > :10:05.heavyweight contest, the one that the public really wanted to see

:10:06. > :10:12.explode, the one between the two Tory blond heavyweights, Tarzana

:10:13. > :10:19.versus the zip glider, the dog killer versus... We were denied a

:10:20. > :10:24.true fight, Mr Speaker, what we were left with these immortal words from

:10:25. > :10:27.Lord Heseltine. When I listen to borrowers he has turned the article

:10:28. > :10:32.in the political committee into a science of using waffle, time and

:10:33. > :10:38.Dillane, anything to stop actually answering questions. Madam Deputy

:10:39. > :10:41.Speaker, in the rest of my speech I intend to ask some very

:10:42. > :10:45.straightforward and simple questions on the budget and Britain's place in

:10:46. > :10:49.the world and I hope these are ones which the Secretary of State will be

:10:50. > :10:55.able to answer without waffle, orderly, and with you more time than

:10:56. > :10:59.he feels is absolutely necessary. It is striking we are here to debate a

:11:00. > :11:02.budget that is almost nothing to say that Britain's place in the world,

:11:03. > :11:09.with even less to offer for it. I am sure we can all predict some of the

:11:10. > :11:14.rhetoric we have already heard from the honourable member tonight, about

:11:15. > :11:18.re-entering into the world market, a truly global Britain, and active

:11:19. > :11:21.global Britain and I predict that we will hear more about brand Britannia

:11:22. > :11:34.and dynamic, adult cutting-edge global powers and global influence,

:11:35. > :11:38.etc, about exploiting boomerangs, but the question is really best.

:11:39. > :11:42.What is the strategy for achieving that ambition? And how does the

:11:43. > :11:47.budget provide the resources to back it up? So far, we have seen no

:11:48. > :11:50.evidence of either. Madam Deputy Speaker, it isn't enough to simply

:11:51. > :11:55.want a relationship with Europe that has all the benefits and none of the

:11:56. > :11:59.costs and to be a leading global power at the same time, or to say,

:12:00. > :12:03.like Tinkerbell, that we have to do to make it happen is to believe that

:12:04. > :12:06.it is possible and, indeed, the honourable gentleman on the seems to

:12:07. > :12:08.be implying that if we don't believe, if we ask awkward

:12:09. > :12:13.questions, somehow these things would happen and the fairies will

:12:14. > :12:20.start falling from the skies. But it has to be said in this debate and no

:12:21. > :12:23.doubt it will be said again, the Government is meeting its

:12:24. > :12:29.commitments to spend with 2% of GDP on defence and 0.7% on development,

:12:30. > :12:32.but whilst these seem like the commitments, when you scratch the

:12:33. > :12:37.surface there are many unanswered questions about how funding is split

:12:38. > :12:42.between the F seal MoD and about how, where, why and what this money

:12:43. > :12:45.is actually spent on. It seems likely a large part of the Foreign

:12:46. > :12:49.Office budget over the next few years will come from funding streams

:12:50. > :12:55.which are nominally shared across departments, most of them with

:12:56. > :13:01.blandly unobjectionable names, the prosperity funds, and the idea of

:13:02. > :13:05.shared funding is a valid one in principle, but we need to know how

:13:06. > :13:08.these funds are going to be used by the Foreign Office. How much is

:13:09. > :13:14.going to be classed as aid spending's how much is defence? How

:13:15. > :13:17.much is going to be classed as both? We need to know why there is so

:13:18. > :13:23.little transparency on this issue and what kind of oversight there is

:13:24. > :13:27.to make sure these are funded responsibly. One might F they were

:13:28. > :13:32.of the suspicious frame of mind conclude the Government is being

:13:33. > :13:37.wilfully opaque on this matter, but the secretary of the state will do

:13:38. > :13:43.all he can to dispel such thoughtful debate and the reliance of the phone

:13:44. > :13:45.'s office, from finding out how does budget settlement, is automatically

:13:46. > :13:52.much larger and much more damaging trend under this Government. Unlike

:13:53. > :13:54.defence or overseas aid, our diplomatic service lacks the

:13:55. > :14:00.financial security that politically and legally binding spending target.

:14:01. > :14:03.I am sorry to say that it shows. Of the three departments vision was

:14:04. > :14:09.most of responsibility for Britain's place in the world, the foreign and

:14:10. > :14:15.the Ministry of Defence, the FCO's budget accounts for just 3% of the

:14:16. > :14:22.-- combined total. It is every bit as essential as the other two. I

:14:23. > :14:31.ensure the honourable gentleman saw the Financial Times on Friday, which

:14:32. > :14:35.highlighted the real change between... It is no surprise and

:14:36. > :14:42.there is a great deal of fuss about this there has been a cut of 37.2%

:14:43. > :14:46.TDC LG, local Government budgets. What is the one department, Madam

:14:47. > :14:50.Deputy Speaker, that has the largest cut for the Department and

:14:51. > :14:56.Government? The Foreign Commonwealth Office, which has

:14:57. > :15:00.8-38.1% changes to its budget. The honourable gentleman may shake his

:15:01. > :15:06.head and if I am wrong, Tallis, I would be interested to see you take

:15:07. > :15:10.battle the Financial Times. For a department whose budget is already

:15:11. > :15:14.very small, it comes as no surprise these cuts have had serious

:15:15. > :15:18.consequences for our standing in the world and for our global reach and

:15:19. > :15:22.influence. There was a lot of expertise, we have seen the

:15:23. > :15:27.Government repeatedly caught by surprise that global significance.

:15:28. > :15:31.Whether the Arab Spring the crisis in Ukraine, or the attempted coup in

:15:32. > :15:37.Turkey, there has been hollowing out of expertise on these critical

:15:38. > :15:40.areas, not to mention the loss of skilled linguists. If the Secretary

:15:41. > :15:43.of State and tells what progress has been made in recovering Russian and

:15:44. > :15:50.Arab language disabilities, for example, I should be very grateful.

:15:51. > :15:56.She is making a very powerful case about the hollowing out of the S C L

:15:57. > :16:00.budget. On the question of linguists, has she seen the report

:16:01. > :16:09.of the foreign select committee, which we published last week about

:16:10. > :16:13.Russia and the lack of expertise there now is within the FCL a lot

:16:14. > :16:16.about looking at Russia and does she agree with me and with the foreign

:16:17. > :16:22.affairs select committee that the FCO needs more resources to confront

:16:23. > :16:27.and understand the problems caused by Russia and its behaviour towards

:16:28. > :16:30.its neighbours? It was for that reason after reading that report

:16:31. > :16:35.that I mentioned the Russian language capabilities. For my own

:16:36. > :16:39.view, the reports from the foreign affairs select committee are very

:16:40. > :16:43.thoughtful and informative and I recommend them to the Secretary of

:16:44. > :16:49.State, because there are a number of flags raised by this select

:16:50. > :16:52.committee, that you need to be considered very carefully, because

:16:53. > :16:58.it does seem to me the changes happening at the moment to our

:16:59. > :17:01.precious Foreign Office are the ones where we are losing capability and

:17:02. > :17:12.it would be very difficult to develop it again. Thank you. She was

:17:13. > :17:16.making a reasonably cogent case. LAUGHTER

:17:17. > :17:20.She is most welcome, Madam Deputy Speaker. Order, order. Honourable

:17:21. > :17:28.members must not object when a member is polite to someone on the

:17:29. > :17:35.other side. He is being honourable. In respect of the honourable lady,

:17:36. > :17:40.Madam Deputy Speaker. On a serious point, isn't it only fair to recall

:17:41. > :17:43.that under the previous labour Government, those of us who travel

:17:44. > :17:48.occasionally to Central and South America witnessed a shrinking of the

:17:49. > :17:53.footprint, a shrinking of that soft power as we closed many embassies in

:17:54. > :17:57.Central America and in South America. We downgraded scholarships

:17:58. > :18:05.and that is something major review urgently as we go through post

:18:06. > :18:08.Brexit. I am surprised to find myself agreeing with the honourable

:18:09. > :18:14.gentleman to the extent that I do. It is important that we stop and

:18:15. > :18:16.have a review. We need to look very carefully at these 38% cuts which

:18:17. > :18:22.are currently being implemented by his Government. At this crucial time

:18:23. > :18:26.for Britain. That is the pond haymaking in this budget debate and

:18:27. > :18:30.I do think that these are issues that need to be seriously addressed

:18:31. > :18:35.and questions and answers about haggis or not sufficient when it

:18:36. > :18:38.comes to dealing with cuts of 38% to the Foreign Commonwealth Office.

:18:39. > :18:44.It isn't just language skills that have suffered, consider BBC

:18:45. > :18:47.monitoring, and absolutely vital service which monitors and

:18:48. > :18:49.translates foreign news reports, serving as an indispensable source

:18:50. > :18:53.of intelligence for Government departments including the Foreign

:18:54. > :18:56.Office, by transferring the responsibility for its funding from

:18:57. > :19:01.the taxpayer to the BBC itself, the Government has left BBC monitoring

:19:02. > :19:05.up into cuts which last year saw an announcement of 96 job losses and

:19:06. > :19:10.the closure of 20% of its posts overseas, at a time like this, is

:19:11. > :19:14.this responsible behaviour? Cut such as these will continue to have

:19:15. > :19:19.effects as incalculable as the are far-reaching. It turns out that

:19:20. > :19:23.about a Government chooses to fund and not a fund can tell you a great

:19:24. > :19:26.deal more than just the short-term spending priorities of the

:19:27. > :19:29.Government of the holder. For the Foreign Office, those decisions can

:19:30. > :19:30.tell you that the most basic principles underlying the

:19:31. > :19:37.Government's foreign policy approach. Perhaps the best example

:19:38. > :19:42.of this, we need to look no further than the downgrading of human rights

:19:43. > :19:44.as a priority for the department. So that is now considered far less

:19:45. > :19:50.important than the so-called prosperity agenda. I hear from a

:19:51. > :19:56.position that people are saying that is entirely untrue, let me say that

:19:57. > :19:59.the permanent Secretary to the Foreign Commonwealth Office who

:20:00. > :20:04.has said precisely that. A decision that confirms was more or less a

:20:05. > :20:09.direct consequence of the cuts imposed by the party opposite. It

:20:10. > :20:16.wasn't so long ago the Tory Foreign Minister, William Hague, was able to

:20:17. > :20:19.say with a straight face that they would be no downgrading of human

:20:20. > :20:23.rights under this Government. He argued it was neither in our

:20:24. > :20:27.interests nor our nature to have what he called a foreign policy

:20:28. > :20:31.without a conscience. I couldn't agree more. He must know sure our

:20:32. > :20:34.disappointment to see the Thule Foreign Secretary and the Tory Prime

:20:35. > :20:38.Minister practically tripping over each other to cosy up to the likes

:20:39. > :20:42.of Donald Trump. We used to think there was some world leaders who

:20:43. > :20:47.would always unite the opinion of this House and members on both sides

:20:48. > :20:50.would never give up the courage to speak out against those who did not

:20:51. > :20:59.share our values. These days, the Government's values are obscure, to

:21:00. > :21:04.be polite. Beyond being in favour of trade. The question isn't just how

:21:05. > :21:08.much the Government is prepared to spend on a world-class diplomatic

:21:09. > :21:12.service, the service that at once, but important as that is, what is

:21:13. > :21:17.the Government prepared to do with the resources that it has?

:21:18. > :21:23.If you she is making her points but does she not agree the Government

:21:24. > :21:28.has made important strides in freedom of religion, holding a

:21:29. > :21:34.conference in a few months ago to promote this globally. As a member

:21:35. > :21:38.of the group for freedom of religion I appreciate that sort of action and

:21:39. > :21:45.it is very important and should not be downgraded.

:21:46. > :21:50.That is to be acknowledged but if you look at what is happening with

:21:51. > :21:56.the various missions and posts being stripped out so those whose job was

:21:57. > :22:05.to make with human rights activists and civil society within various

:22:06. > :22:07.countries, those posts... If the honourable gentleman wishes to

:22:08. > :22:14.intervene I have no problem with intervening but if he's not going to

:22:15. > :22:18.if you would be quiet and let me finish, I would appreciate it. I was

:22:19. > :22:24.good to talk about what in essence the purpose of foreign policy is.

:22:25. > :22:27.Ministers are fond of speaking of the opportunity is leaving the EU

:22:28. > :22:30.may provide modern foreign policy is a fundamental rethink of the

:22:31. > :22:35.Government's approach could be one of those opportunities. In fact, it

:22:36. > :22:39.is more than that, it is absolutely imperative we do so. As the

:22:40. > :22:49.Government starts to think, however belatedly, about the kind of the

:22:50. > :22:52.world and we need to have more than just warm words from the Government,

:22:53. > :22:56.we need a plan. I believe our Foreign Office has been at its very

:22:57. > :23:00.best when it has been allowed to get proper weight to the values of

:23:01. > :23:03.Britain in its foreign policy as well as British interests, and I

:23:04. > :23:07.hope the Secretary of State will look to that legacy, embrace it and

:23:08. > :23:12.build on it, not undermine it any further than he already has. In more

:23:13. > :23:15.immediate terms, we need the Government to start thinking

:23:16. > :23:19.sensibly about Europe as a matter of urgency. We know little more about

:23:20. > :23:22.the minister 's intentions than that they are prepared to break the

:23:23. > :23:28.British economic model if they feel that is needed if we do not get a

:23:29. > :23:32.deal. I hope the Secretary of State said it would probably OK it would

:23:33. > :23:38.be better deal, so after saying that, why is the Chancellor briefing

:23:39. > :23:43.he will order ?60 billion because Brexit? Perhaps that is to fund the

:23:44. > :23:46.extra ?350 million a week the Secretary of State promised for the

:23:47. > :23:51.NHS? I hope the Secretary of State has asked the Chancellor because if

:23:52. > :23:55.that is right ?60 million will pay for three years, three months and

:23:56. > :23:58.one week worth of extra money for the NHS. At the moment he seems to

:23:59. > :24:03.be doing just no more than simply crossing his fingers and hoping for

:24:04. > :24:07.the best. This is serious situation. We need clear thinking about the

:24:08. > :24:14.future, our future in Europe and the wider world and simply talking about

:24:15. > :24:17.Toblerone display cabinets and Saudi Arabia is not sufficient. We need a

:24:18. > :24:26.clear plan, clear thinking and we need it without any further delay.

:24:27. > :24:31.It will be obvious to colleagues that a great many people want to

:24:32. > :24:37.speak and although we have plenty of time, I am going to set a time limit

:24:38. > :24:41.immediately for that, otherwise, like last week, the people at the

:24:42. > :24:45.beginning will take three times the amount of time as those at the end.

:24:46. > :24:52.We will start with a time limit of eight minutes. Mr James Morris.

:24:53. > :24:58.Where I totally agree with the Foreign Secretary is weak at this

:24:59. > :25:02.moment are presented with a massive opportunity to create a new form of

:25:03. > :25:06.global Britain and I particularly agree with the Foreign Secretary's

:25:07. > :25:13.point about Britain's soft power. To clarify the point about the amount

:25:14. > :25:19.of FCO funding for the British Council figures show by 2020 there

:25:20. > :25:24.will be 43% rise in FCO funding which I think is reflective of the

:25:25. > :25:29.seriousness with which we do take the opportunities for Britain's

:25:30. > :25:39.sovereign power. The opportunities of global Britain are of particular

:25:40. > :25:44.importance to my constituents. The announcement in the budget for the

:25:45. > :25:51.Midlands engine strategy is a significant moment for the people of

:25:52. > :25:56.the Black Country. The budget set aside ?55 million of new investment

:25:57. > :26:00.to the Black Country which builds on the significant investment that was

:26:01. > :26:05.made in the last Parliament is where, through the City deals, we

:26:06. > :26:12.had significant ?1 million investment in advance of science

:26:13. > :26:16.technology and engineering sector. Significant progress has already

:26:17. > :26:21.been made in terms of investing in the Black Country. The Black Country

:26:22. > :26:24.today is one of the fastest-growing regions, sub regions, in the UK,

:26:25. > :26:33.with more jobs and better skills, but the job is not done. There is

:26:34. > :26:38.more we need to do. As we build the global Britain which the Foreign

:26:39. > :26:43.Secretary talk about, areas like the Black Country which I partially

:26:44. > :26:49.represent, have five key challenges. The first challenge we face is

:26:50. > :26:54.around skills. Even though young people not in education or training

:26:55. > :26:59.is actually below the national average in the Black Country we have

:27:00. > :27:06.made significant progress, there are still skill gaps in the area I

:27:07. > :27:10.represent. I welcome the ?7 million of new capital investment announced

:27:11. > :27:17.in the budget as part of the Midlands engine strategy for further

:27:18. > :27:21.education. More is needed. It is for investment and technical skills and

:27:22. > :27:23.to tackle historic levels of educational underperformance in the

:27:24. > :27:30.Black Country and wider West Midlands. Skill gaps are still

:27:31. > :27:35.holding the Black Country back as we seek to develop this global Britain.

:27:36. > :27:43.The second significant challenge is around transport and infrastructure.

:27:44. > :27:48.That historic underinvestment in transport infrastructure is a

:27:49. > :27:53.holding in the West Midlands back. I welcome the ?25 million that was in

:27:54. > :27:58.the budget for the Midlands engine to tackle congestion, what we need

:27:59. > :28:04.to have a longer term focus on the potential benefits of HS2, the

:28:05. > :28:07.development of Birmingham Airport and other rail and road network

:28:08. > :28:12.across the Black Country and West Midlands. The third big challenge

:28:13. > :28:16.addressed in the budget and what we need to think about for the

:28:17. > :28:22.long-term is about rates of innovation in areas like the Black

:28:23. > :28:29.Country. The Black Country is becoming a world leader in some

:28:30. > :28:34.specific sectors in automotive, aerospace, advanced manufacturing.

:28:35. > :28:41.With specific design products like Bugatti breaks, even match of the

:28:42. > :28:45.Day chairs being produced in the Black Country. The Black Country is

:28:46. > :28:49.developing a worldwide reputation for design and product

:28:50. > :28:54.manufacturing. The fourth key challenge which is the cumulative

:28:55. > :28:59.impact of these is a relative low productivity. This is a bit of a

:29:00. > :29:05.puzzle. One we have yet to solve. We need to tackle by approaching it

:29:06. > :29:09.from all angles. Improving skills, improving education at primary and

:29:10. > :29:15.secondary level and investing in our transport infrastructure and the

:29:16. > :29:21.wider social realm. The first challenge for the Black Country is

:29:22. > :29:26.around exporting inward investment and the potential opportunities for

:29:27. > :29:30.Brexit. The West Midlands export performance has in recent times been

:29:31. > :29:38.excellent, better than many other regions in the UK. With an increase

:29:39. > :29:43.of 49% in exporting since 2010. We need to be positive about the future

:29:44. > :29:49.of the West Midlands and position the West Midlands front and centre

:29:50. > :29:53.of our global trade plans. To take advantage of the opportunities that

:29:54. > :30:00.the Brexit presents. That is why I welcome as part of the Midlands

:30:01. > :30:02.Engine Strategy moves to creating an Midlands trade and investment

:30:03. > :30:07.programme to put the West Midlands front and centre, looking to develop

:30:08. > :30:12.markets with the West Midlands is not currently exporting. A good

:30:13. > :30:15.record in China, the United States and many other countries where we

:30:16. > :30:26.have an opportunity to open up and exploit new markets.

:30:27. > :30:31.Witty agree with me one of the most important skills we still lack in

:30:32. > :30:38.teaching is that of foreign languages? That is intimately

:30:39. > :30:41.associated with our performance in the past. Most are better teaching

:30:42. > :30:46.and learning a foreign languages to penetrate those new markets. He is

:30:47. > :30:52.absolutely right. The foreign languages is the key component of

:30:53. > :30:55.lack but the challenge in an area like the Black Country is to raise

:30:56. > :31:02.the level of educational performance more broadly. Our standards need to

:31:03. > :31:05.be improved and renewed focus on technical education, be weeded the

:31:06. > :31:10.West Midlands to be an outward facing region taking advantage of

:31:11. > :31:16.the global presented. -- we need the West Midlands.

:31:17. > :31:20.One of the critical thing is too often the Black Country and West

:31:21. > :31:27.Midlands is talked about as if it were a relic of Britain's industrial

:31:28. > :31:34.past. That is wrong. Increasingly, the Black Country is in the vanguard

:31:35. > :31:38.of our industrial future. It is a leading player in high-tech

:31:39. > :31:44.manufacturing and has an increasingly competitive and

:31:45. > :31:48.productive economy. What we need to focus on is not somehow managing

:31:49. > :31:56.decline, the Black Country is not some kind of industrial Museum that

:31:57. > :32:00.we look back on with fondness for Britain's industrial greatness.

:32:01. > :32:04.Increasingly, the Black Country is becoming a place which is a world

:32:05. > :32:13.leader in critical parts of our economic future. It is vitally

:32:14. > :32:21.important, as we take A forward review about global Britain, that we

:32:22. > :32:24.don't focus just on London and the south-east, part of our long-term

:32:25. > :32:30.strategy should be the rebalancing of the economy, taking a long time

:32:31. > :32:35.but we have made a lot of progress in achieving that rebalancing and

:32:36. > :32:40.now we need to redouble that effort in order to invest in the

:32:41. > :32:44.appropriate skills, invest in the future of the businesses of areas

:32:45. > :32:48.like the West Midlands and take away barriers to growth. Those barriers

:32:49. > :32:53.are around transport infrastructure, it is simply too difficult to get

:32:54. > :32:57.around the Black Country and the wider West Midlands at the moment.

:32:58. > :33:03.The evidence is because of those transport bottlenecks it is

:33:04. > :33:07.increasingly difficult for the West Midlands to achieve it economic

:33:08. > :33:14.potential and achieve the productive growth it can. As I said, we are not

:33:15. > :33:18.managing decline in the Black Country, nor nostalgically looking

:33:19. > :33:23.back to the mythical golden age, we are seeking to embrace the future,

:33:24. > :33:26.which is the future of the Black Country and future of the area at

:33:27. > :33:37.the future of our young people in a global Britain.

:33:38. > :33:41.It is a pleasure to speak in this budget debate. I had the pleasure of

:33:42. > :33:44.the same thing last year and I really appreciate the opportunity. I

:33:45. > :33:50.want to talk about quite a few things. The Foreign Secretary talk

:33:51. > :33:56.about global Britain. In fact, what we are looking at is a broken Brexit

:33:57. > :34:01.Britain. We are looking at a package of unfairness, not just in this

:34:02. > :34:07.budget, but in the austerity this Government has followed four years

:34:08. > :34:15.in the way ordinary working people have not been supported. Not by this

:34:16. > :34:20.Government and past Government. The UK Government has got its ahead in

:34:21. > :34:25.the sand. Actually, it has got its head in the sand from what I'm sure

:34:26. > :34:28.for it are two very good reasons. Firstly, the UK Government does not

:34:29. > :34:39.have the faintest idea what the Brexit will mean, and the stuff it

:34:40. > :34:43.does no about Brexit is it will be bad. So it does not want to tell us

:34:44. > :34:46.of things. The other thing is the Government part all the paperwork

:34:47. > :34:53.ordinary working people and how this will impact them -- ordinary working

:34:54. > :34:57.people, most of the side or of the people on that side of the chamber

:34:58. > :35:01.do not a clue actually what it is like to be an ordinary working

:35:02. > :35:06.person and the part a clue what it is like to push a trolley round the

:35:07. > :35:10.supermarket and feel the price of inflation going up over the past

:35:11. > :35:15.three months. The price of inflation has gone the highest level than in

:35:16. > :35:22.ages. People are seeing a 15% increase in the price of butter, 6%

:35:23. > :35:27.increase in the price of tea. Those things have a real impact on

:35:28. > :35:31.families budgets because those things are real everyday essentials

:35:32. > :35:36.people regularly buy. The disproportionate affect Windows

:35:37. > :35:43.things go up in price. In Scotland 48.4% of adults have less than ?100

:35:44. > :35:49.in savings. Across the UK families will on average -- O on average more

:35:50. > :35:54.than 2007 the balance. That is the family debt. This is a very tight

:35:55. > :36:00.situation for people and people are struggling and not able to save and

:36:01. > :36:06.have got levels of debt. People who have a mortgage in the past eight

:36:07. > :36:09.years have never seen interest rates above 0.5%. If the Bank of England

:36:10. > :36:14.decides to raise interest rates because of the weakness of the pound

:36:15. > :36:17.these people will be hit by increased mortgage costs they did

:36:18. > :36:22.not expect because they never seen it and therefore have not plan for

:36:23. > :36:29.it. This Government are doing nothing to help the budgets of these

:36:30. > :36:34.people. The actual... I spoke to some of my friends about how they

:36:35. > :36:40.are feeling the impact on the economy and how it hits them and the

:36:41. > :36:44.too many of them said to me, I lie awake at night worrying because I

:36:45. > :36:50.have no savings. What are my partner has laid off? We have no money, no

:36:51. > :36:54.slack in our budgets. With rising inflation because of Brexit, with

:36:55. > :36:59.the fact the UK Government is not willing to take action now to combat

:37:00. > :37:05.this, people's budgets will be squeezed further and we have seen

:37:06. > :37:08.wage stagnation as part of a package of unfairness. The average earnings

:37:09. > :37:14.in 2022 will be no higher than the average earnings in 2007. The UK

:37:15. > :37:19.Government needs to take action and needs to be spending in order to

:37:20. > :37:20.counter this, in order to make sure people's invalided budgets and

:37:21. > :37:29.family incomes balance. I just put it into perspective, the

:37:30. > :37:35.forecast is for inflation to be 2.6%, coming down to 2%, which is

:37:36. > :37:38.higher than we would like, it is above target but it is not the kind

:37:39. > :37:42.of information we have seen in the past under other governments. The

:37:43. > :37:47.honourable lady is talking about a fiscal reflation am putting more

:37:48. > :37:53.money into the economy. That would increase the amount of information.

:37:54. > :37:55.The idea behind the comedy idea is putting more money into things like

:37:56. > :38:01.infrastructure putting money into things that create jobs, research

:38:02. > :38:04.and development, what we have seen in the UK is pitiful productivity

:38:05. > :38:08.and actually in Scotland we are managing to counter that. Our

:38:09. > :38:13.productivity process has been much faster than the growth in the rest

:38:14. > :38:18.of the UK and part of that, I think, if because of the level of

:38:19. > :38:20.infrastructure spending, the fiscal stimulus in terms of infrastructure

:38:21. > :38:24.packages we have put in. We have made a difference in terms of

:38:25. > :38:28.productivity and if the UK Government intends to take us out of

:38:29. > :38:32.the single market, if the UK Government intends to have this

:38:33. > :38:35.situation where it is more difficult task to have trading relationships

:38:36. > :38:38.to export them they are going to need to make sure they are

:38:39. > :38:45.increasing productivity in order to counter that other wise we will see

:38:46. > :38:49.a wage stagnation. A few more things, I want to mention the oil

:38:50. > :38:52.and gas industry. The Chancellor stood up and said it is fabulous

:38:53. > :38:57.what we are doing for the oil and gas industry, we're going to make it

:38:58. > :39:02.easier for oil and gas installations and companies to transfer their

:39:03. > :39:05.assets. This is important. The oil and gas industry will continue to

:39:06. > :39:09.take oil out of the ground for a very long time into the future. What

:39:10. > :39:14.we have is some fields that are nearing maturity and those fields

:39:15. > :39:18.are operated by one of the big operators and what we need to do is

:39:19. > :39:23.we need to make it easier for those assets to be transferred to some of

:39:24. > :39:27.the new operators, some of the smaller operators, in order that

:39:28. > :39:31.they can sweat that asset, get maximum economic recovery out of

:39:32. > :39:34.that asset. The problem that I have with what the UK Government

:39:35. > :39:39.announced is they announced this last year and did not do it. They

:39:40. > :39:45.announced this exact thing last year and it has not been done. Forgive me

:39:46. > :39:48.if I am not dancing around in excitement that there is going to be

:39:49. > :39:51.a panel of experts to look at this thing they announced last year. It

:39:52. > :39:55.would have been nice if they had done it back then. The other couple

:39:56. > :40:04.of things I wanted to mention, I wanted to mention that ?350 of extra

:40:05. > :40:09.money that is going to Scotland. -- ?350 million. It was kind of the

:40:10. > :40:11.Chancellor to say we are giving ?350 million extra to Scotland and

:40:12. > :40:15.actually at is rubbish, that is happening at all. What they are

:40:16. > :40:18.doing if they spending more money in England and Wales and it so happens

:40:19. > :40:23.Scotland gets an extra slice because of that. The thing is, the

:40:24. > :40:28.Chancellor cannot stand up and pretend he is being, you know,

:40:29. > :40:33.giving money to Scotland in the face of asking departments to make 6%

:40:34. > :40:39.cuts, in the face of continuing austerity. The thing is that he

:40:40. > :40:42.can't stand up and say we are giving Scotland all of this money when we

:40:43. > :40:49.have had a 2.9 billion pounds real term cuts over the decade from 2010.

:40:50. > :40:53.It is absolutely ridiculous that we are in this situation. I just want

:40:54. > :40:58.to touch on a couple of things that the Foreign Secretary said. The

:40:59. > :41:02.Foreign Secretary talked about, he mentioned in response to an

:41:03. > :41:07.intervention about the WTO rules and it would be perfectly OK. I am

:41:08. > :41:10.really interested to see the analysis he has done on this and I

:41:11. > :41:14.would be keen to see this because I don't think it would be perfectly

:41:15. > :41:22.OK. I think the Foreign Secretary is guessing, imagining, inventing

:41:23. > :41:25.something new. Or hoping with his fingers crossed, absolutely as my

:41:26. > :41:31.colleague says. Because WTO rules and falling back on a bit nation

:41:32. > :41:39.status is a harsh reality for our exporters. As the harsh reality

:41:40. > :41:43.particularly for SMEs. On this topic, the Foreign Secretary said

:41:44. > :41:48.the most bizarre phrase. He said people on this side of the House

:41:49. > :41:52.were mocking entrepreneurial spirit. This is the party that has moved the

:41:53. > :41:58.changes to the self-employed national insurance contributions and

:41:59. > :42:02.they are accusing us of mocking entrepreneurs. Actually we are

:42:03. > :42:05.supporting those in small business, supporting entrepreneurs,

:42:06. > :42:10.particularly the incredible numbers of women and people on low incomes

:42:11. > :42:14.that have started businesses and have taken on the mantle of

:42:15. > :42:18.self-employment. I think this is really, really important. These

:42:19. > :42:22.people have decided, they have chosen to become self-employed and

:42:23. > :42:29.now this government is taxing that aspiration. Mr Deputy Speaker,

:42:30. > :42:37.sorry, I am confused because the chair was changed there. I think

:42:38. > :42:42.that this budget has dodged far too many of the important issues. It has

:42:43. > :42:46.not spoken about the real fallout from Brexit. Part of the reason they

:42:47. > :42:52.have been able to do that they aren't going to give the ODI any

:42:53. > :42:59.real information so they have been able to dodge the improper forecast

:43:00. > :43:02.that the OBI can be provided. This budget has actually been, despite

:43:03. > :43:06.all of the comments in the run-up, it has been shambolic. It has dodged

:43:07. > :43:10.the issue is, it has taxed aspiration, it has done absolutely

:43:11. > :43:15.nothing for the oil and gas industry beyond what was promised last year.

:43:16. > :43:19.This is not a budget that has been promising for Scotland. This had

:43:20. > :43:24.increased the package of unfairness and it has consigned ordinary

:43:25. > :43:31.working people to long-term lack of prosperity. We will introduce a six

:43:32. > :43:35.minute limit. If we can try and keep tightly that we should be able to

:43:36. > :43:38.get everybody in. It is a pleasure to follow on from the Honourable

:43:39. > :43:41.Lady. I did not agree with a great deal of what she said but

:43:42. > :43:46.nonetheless Scottish people have made such a valuable role in shaping

:43:47. > :43:50.the foreign affairs of the United Kingdom over such a long and

:43:51. > :43:53.protracted period of time and through that the fifth largest

:43:54. > :43:58.economy of the world and through that I trust and hope they continue

:43:59. > :44:01.to do so for many years to come. Mr Deputy Speaker, it will not come as

:44:02. > :44:05.a great surprise to you that I am not much of a mountaineer but I have

:44:06. > :44:09.been told by those that are that the most dangerous point in climbing any

:44:10. > :44:13.mountain is when you have made the stupendous effort and you have got

:44:14. > :44:20.just to the summit and then you begin the so-called easy descent. In

:44:21. > :44:23.fiscal terms, after nine long and difficult years, the House finds

:44:24. > :44:27.itself nearing the top of the summit. The struggle to rein in

:44:28. > :44:36.public debt is an immense and ongoing undertaking but according to

:44:37. > :44:40.the OBR, a percentage of GDP peaks in 2017 in the maximum every single

:44:41. > :44:46.successive year after it falls. Whatever the real temptations

:44:47. > :44:49.encouraged by factors this year to slow further the pace on deficit

:44:50. > :44:57.reduction, we owe it to future generations to finish what we have

:44:58. > :45:01.begun. We are now in our eighth year without a recession. Unlike others,

:45:02. > :45:10.we have no pretence that we can abolish the business cycle and it is

:45:11. > :45:12.critical that we have the rebuild financial firepower to tackle

:45:13. > :45:17.anything that comes our way. It is critical to our domestic economy, it

:45:18. > :45:26.is also equally critical to our standing in the world. 2% on

:45:27. > :45:30.defence, on overseas aid. That gives us hard and soft power but our

:45:31. > :45:35.allies need to know that these commitments are real and

:45:36. > :45:43.sustainable. -- 0.7% on overseas aid. The honourable lady domains

:45:44. > :45:46.vision sees being made in our public sector without recognising in this

:45:47. > :45:50.budget debate the critical importance of bringing down our

:45:51. > :45:56.deficit and to show our ability to act credibly abroad and have

:45:57. > :46:02.long-term sustainable finances. With our national debt topping out at 1.8

:46:03. > :46:05.trillion, our annual interest payments also represent as the

:46:06. > :46:12.Chancellor pointed out the entire annual spending on defence and

:46:13. > :46:17.policing combined. And this is why proper, sensible husbanding of our

:46:18. > :46:21.resources is critical. Despite the huge increase in the national debt,

:46:22. > :46:25.we are spending the same in interest now as we were 15 years ago with the

:46:26. > :46:30.base rate bound to rise, something with which I do agree with the

:46:31. > :46:35.honourable lady from Aberdeen North. This is not sustainable long-term.

:46:36. > :46:39.This risk is compounded by demographic shifts, notably the

:46:40. > :46:41.retirement of the baby boomer generation. These demographic

:46:42. > :46:45.changes are projected to increase the cost of the state pension by 40%

:46:46. > :46:49.and drive up the cost of health and social care spending. That is why I

:46:50. > :46:58.recognise the efforts being made to enhance our productivity with extra

:46:59. > :47:00.spending on technical education, half ?1 billion, 300 million

:47:01. > :47:04.commitment to support the brightest research talent, including 1000 new

:47:05. > :47:08.Ph.D. Places focused on certain subjects. That combined with

:47:09. > :47:16.transport spending will help to narrow our relative activity gap and

:47:17. > :47:21.education is the key. Studying the financial projections of some of our

:47:22. > :47:24.schools in my constituency I can ensure the Chancellor that after

:47:25. > :47:28.years of being underfunded they are run extremely efficiently and

:47:29. > :47:32.tightly, with staffing accounting for 85% of total spend. I believe

:47:33. > :47:35.that schools in historically well funded areas have a lot to learn

:47:36. > :47:38.from places like those in West Sussex and could potentially do more

:47:39. > :47:45.than is currently being asked. I have also -- I am also grateful to

:47:46. > :47:49.the Education Secretary's commitment to a minimum amount of funding

:47:50. > :47:51.required by schools to deliver the standards and curriculum that

:47:52. > :48:00.students and we have every right to expect. I welcome, as the get onto

:48:01. > :48:05.the subject debated in the media, I welcome the Taylor review. I feel

:48:06. > :48:09.sure his report later this year will enlighten how the government can

:48:10. > :48:13.help the southern Clwyd and clarify the position of the Birtley

:48:14. > :48:17.employed. The self-employed population is -- of the virtually

:48:18. > :48:23.employed. The self-employed population, this growth undermines

:48:24. > :48:26.the tax base on which future generations will rely. There is a

:48:27. > :48:34.package of measures being brought forward. Changes to class two and

:48:35. > :48:39.class for NICs, coming in over the next few years, none can be viewed

:48:40. > :48:46.in isolation. 60% of those changes to NICs, the impact is capped at

:48:47. > :48:50.?600 a year for those at the top. The average additional contribution

:48:51. > :48:54.is ?240 per year. Self-employed pension benefits will be enhanced, a

:48:55. > :48:59.benefit if purchased in the open market would cost ?50,000. These

:49:00. > :49:04.measures to help support self-employment in retirement are

:49:05. > :49:09.progressive whilst ensuring that being self-employed has tax

:49:10. > :49:15.advantages. Of course, we will support entrepreneurs, we will help

:49:16. > :49:17.drive our country forward in the new post-Brexit environment but helping

:49:18. > :49:22.them meet the cost of retirement while also narrowing the potential

:49:23. > :49:25.reduction in our tax base, these are proportionate, long-term steps in a

:49:26. > :49:31.budget focused on the long-term financial health of the country

:49:32. > :49:39.which I commend. Thank you Mr Deputy Speaker. We now go live to the House

:49:40. > :49:41.of lords where peers are returning to the EU notification of withdrawal

:49:42. > :49:43.Bill which was sent back earlier this evening by the House of

:49:44. > :49:54.commons.