Contributions
464 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Exiting the European UnionMy hon. Friend is right. I refer again to the fact that our party’s manifesto two years ago said that our aim was to negotiate a new deep and special partnership with the European…11 Mar 2019HANSARD Exiting the European UnionI have to advise the hon. Lady to look at the detailed text as soon as it becomes available. I am sure there will be opportunities for her to seek that kind of detailed answer…11 Mar 2019HANSARD Exiting the European UnionI do agree with my hon. Friend. Many of us in this House and many people outside the House who voted and campaigned to remain in the European Union have said that we accept the…11 Mar 2019HANSARD Exiting the European UnionI can understand that the hon. Lady will want to look at the text when it is available, but as I have just said, such declarations are used frequently by states when they come to…11 Mar 2019HANSARD Exiting the European UnionI can understand the interest in this. The last thing that I can do is comment on either the timing or the content of live legal proceedings. That is entirely a matter for the…11 Mar 2019HANSARD Exiting the European UnionThe joint instrument is an addition to the withdrawal agreement and has equal and equally binding legal force, so I think the hon. Gentleman’s assessment of the legal impact of…11 Mar 2019HANSARD Exiting the European UnionAs my hon. Friend said, my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House is in her place this evening, as she is on many occasions during this House’s proceedings. As I undertook…11 Mar 2019HANSARD Exiting the European UnionI think that the hon. Lady is underrating the content of what I announced earlier. The joint instrument that has been agreed has precisely the same status in law as the withdrawal…11 Mar 2019HANSARD Exiting the European UnionThis has been a long and hard-fought negotiation, and the EU has made it clear that the deal now on the table is it and that there are no further negotiations. The House—that…11 Mar 2019HANSARD Exiting the European UnionMy right hon. Friend has been a consistent advocate of this approach and I have heard him speak and intervene a number of times in this Chamber on that theme. I am happy to…11 Mar 2019HANSARD Exiting the European UnionWhat has changed is that there has been a successful outcome to the negotiations. When I came into the Chamber, the talks were still ongoing and I was not in a position to say…11 Mar 2019HANSARD Exiting the European UnionThe Attorney General is as keen as anyone to provide that assessment to the House, but clearly he would have been wrong to do it without sight of the final versions of all the…11 Mar 2019HANSARD Exiting the European UnionThere are many things for which I take responsibility under this Government, but Twitter accounts are not one of them. The Attorney General is preparing his legal assessment as we…11 Mar 2019HANSARD Exiting the European UnionThe documents and the motion will be published, I hope and believe, later this evening—11 Mar 2019HANSARD Exiting the European UnionThe preparatory work on those substantive negotiations can start immediately after agreement has been given to the withdrawal agreement and the associated documents. The legal…11 Mar 2019HANSARD Exiting the European UnionMy right hon. Friend is tempting me to go beyond the subject matter of the statement that I have been able to give the House this evening. I have said that the talks are ongoing,…11 Mar 2019HANSARD Exiting the European UnionI completely understand the right hon. Gentleman’s wish for detailed analysis. He asked about the other matters that are still under negotiation. I hope that those talks will…11 Mar 2019HANSARD Exiting the European UnionI think I answered that question earlier—[Hon. Members: “No, you didn’t!”] The key point is that the withdrawal agreement, and the obligations that are incorporated within it and…11 Mar 2019HANSARD Exiting the European UnionIt will be for the Attorney General to decide what he puts in his assessment. I am sure that not just he but many other legal authorities will want to comment on the documents.…11 Mar 2019HANSARD Exiting the European UnionThe only way in which we can get certainty about the long-term relationship is to get on with negotiating it. We can only do that once a withdrawal agreement has been implemented…11 Mar 2019