Contributions
464 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDEngagementsThe right hon. Gentleman knows that he and his party have voted against this Government’s Budgets even though those Budgets have reduced tax upon the lowest-paid in every part of…06 Feb 2019HANSARDEngagementsI think that the right hon. Gentleman is talking about the situation of mixed-age couples with one person over pensionable age and receiving a pension and the other of working…06 Feb 2019HANSARDEngagementsMy right hon. Friend the Health Secretary was very impressed by what he saw on his visit to Harlow, and I know that my right hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon) will…06 Feb 2019HANSARDEngagementsAs I said earlier, the Prime Minister will be reporting back to this House next week following her discussions in Brussels and elsewhere. I have to say to the right hon. Lady that…06 Feb 2019HANSARDEngagementsThe right hon. Gentleman has some nerve here. He knows that it is in the power of the Scottish Government, under devolution legislation, to top up social security benefits if they…06 Feb 2019HANSARDEngagementsEven if we did take the right hon. Lady’s somewhat ill-defined description of a permanent customs union, it would not address issues in respect of Northern Ireland and Ireland…06 Feb 2019HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal) ActI do want to make progress. I will just say in response to the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) that, as I have said to his hon. Friends, we accept and understand their…09 Jan 2019HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal) ActI will, and then I want to make some progress, particularly to respond to some of the points made by the hon. Gentleman’s Front Benchers.09 Jan 2019HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal) Actrose —09 Jan 2019HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal) ActI completely accept the right hon. and learned Gentleman’s central point, which is that there is space for completely honourable debate within and between political parties in…09 Jan 2019HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal) ActAn extension of article 50 is permitted under that article of the treaty—the hon. Gentleman is right to that extent. But of course such an extension has to be by unanimous consent…09 Jan 2019HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal) ActI will give way once more and then I want to make progress.09 Jan 2019HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal) ActI have had no discussions with the Commission or with the Council about that. The Prime Minister has made the Government’s position very clear on this particular point.09 Jan 2019HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal) ActThere are certainly no plans to hold elections in this country to the European Parliament. In any hypothetical extension of article 50, that would be an important point for the…09 Jan 2019HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal) ActBecause these things are about the sovereign constitutional order of the United Kingdom. They involve decisions that we in this House make and that, in respect of certain devolved…09 Jan 2019HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal) ActI want to come on to talk more generally about the backstop. I am not going to hide the fact—the Prime Minister has said it openly—that this is something we find uncomfortable as…09 Jan 2019HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal) ActAs I have just said, the Government’s own legal position does not pose the threat that the hon. Gentleman has expressed. Probably the best way for me to respond is, having…09 Jan 2019HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal) ActI do think that that is one of the downsides. I am not going to refight a campaign that I fought and lost, along with the right hon. Gentleman, in 2016. As the hon. Member for…09 Jan 2019HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal) ActAs the right hon. Gentleman knows, the Prime Minister will respond to the debate in the final speech next Tuesday. She has been talking to a number of European leaders in the…09 Jan 2019HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal) ActMy hon. Friend is right. Indeed, that fear reinforces the concern that the EU has about the important legal principle that a free trade agreement or association agreement with a…09 Jan 2019