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637 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) BillMy hon. Friend is right. Many of us here today want to discuss this issue because it is crucial to our constituents not just in the short term, but in the longer term. The former…06 Dec 2024HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) BillI am grateful for the hon. Gentleman’s intervention. I was going to quote from the Belfast agreement in detail, but I decided not to do so. I did read it, and I remember it at the…06 Dec 2024HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) BillI am coming to a close, but I will give way. I have found this subject to be crucial to the wider constitutional and democratic process of which we are all supportive. There are…06 Dec 2024HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) BillMy hon. Friend may be in a much better position to say, but I suspect that this is the place where that consultation happens. We listen to the views of people, and we can reflect…06 Dec 2024HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) BillMy hon. Friend makes a good point. At the end of the day, whether the hon. and learned Member for North Antrim and I like it or not, and I do, they are allies in virtually the…06 Dec 2024HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) BillI understand the right hon. Gentleman’s comments, and I am not going to challenge the integrity of the people who were part of that negotiation. It is not for me to challenge…06 Dec 2024HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) BillMy hon. Friend is absolutely right. I would be the first to admit that we do not always get these things right—whoever does? What we have to do is try, try and try again, and…06 Dec 2024HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) BillI regret that the hon. Gentleman takes that view of what I am saying. I would not say it is not fair, but I am genuinely trying to be as conciliatory as I can be given the…06 Dec 2024HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) BillI will touch on that a little later.06 Dec 2024HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) BillI do not quite understand the hon. and learned Member’s point. Today, we are trying to tease out many of the issues and concerns that he, quite understandably, has raised, to try…06 Dec 2024HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) BillI will, but I first want to make a point about the hon. and learned Member for North Antrim. I know that he holds views that are born out of real belief in, and commitment to, his…06 Dec 2024HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) BillThat is a really good point, and I am pleased we are having this debate, because these are the points we need to consider carefully when we look at these issues and figure them…06 Dec 2024HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) BillMy hon. Friend is right. I reject the Bill as respectfully as I can. Countries have to operate in an international rules-based system. That is the position that this country has…06 Dec 2024HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) BillThe bottom line, in my view and that of many other people, is that it has not been breached. I completely accept that the hon. and learned Gentleman takes a different view, but I…06 Dec 2024HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) BillPrecisely—my hon. Friend on the Front Bench says it would be dangerous, and it would be. What about the key provisions of the outer space treaty? What about the agreement…06 Dec 2024HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) BillThat is a perfectly valid point. Clearly, the hon. Gentleman has had a sneak preview of the points that I will raise later on. I will take up that matter with my staff. It is…06 Dec 2024HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) BillAs my hon. Friend the Member for Putney (Fleur Anderson) says from a sedentary position, the framework strengthens the Union. That is exactly the point that I would have made. I…06 Dec 2024HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) BillI do not think it is a humiliating concession, but if it is a concession at all, I think it is an attempt, given the circumstances that we faced, to reach an agreement with…06 Dec 2024HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) BillMy hon. Friend makes an excellent point. We have to be very careful of the law of unintended consequences when we go down a particular path. Issues are bound to arise that either…06 Dec 2024HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) BillMy stance is that if a person does not trust me in a democratic environment, they are perfectly entitled to go down to the ballot box and put an X against my opponent’s name, and…06 Dec 2024