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4,303 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal) ActsIf we pass this deal today, it will be a long way back for the communities we represent. I urge all Members to reject it.19 Oct 2019HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal) ActsI am grateful for that intervention, which reinforces the point. Manufacturing, which had been on its knees, has now revived, at least in part. Why would anybody, whichever way…19 Oct 2019HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal) ActsI am grateful for that intervention. The point is this: the Prime Minister said that no British Conservative Government could or should sign up to any such arrangement, but now it…19 Oct 2019HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal) ActsI agree completely.19 Oct 2019HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal) ActsI will make this point and then I will give way. I know how important these issues are to many Members on the Opposition Benches, particularly the question of workplace rights,…19 Oct 2019HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal) ActsI am going to make a little more progress, then I will give way. Today, the Prime Minister dangles prospects of workers’ rights and indicates amendments he might be inclined to…19 Oct 2019HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal) ActsI am genuinely grateful for that intervention, which I wanted to take, but the fact remains that the hon. Gentleman is right when he says that if the trade deals “are not…19 Oct 2019HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal) ActsI will give way to the hon. Gentleman, because I said that I would.19 Oct 2019HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal) ActsI have given way many, many times. I am going to make some progress, and then I will give way again. Of the two possible outcomes, one is this deregulated free trade agreement…19 Oct 2019HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal) ActsI am grateful to my right hon. Friend, who has made the point very carefully and ably.19 Oct 2019HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal) ActsOf course we would, but the point is this, and it has not been answered by any of these interventions. Since the current rule allows you to have higher standards, why do you write…19 Oct 2019HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal) ActsI have never accepted the proposition that insuring the country against no deal undermines the negotiations. I remind Members that at no point in the two years of the negotiating…19 Oct 2019HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal) ActsBecause the Labour party and other Opposition parties would never countenance it, and I do not think the Government would either. [Interruption.]19 Oct 2019HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal) ActsI agree with the tenor of that comment.19 Oct 2019HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal) ActsI have taken a lot of interventions and will take more later, but first I will make some progress. It is important that we work through not just the technicalities of the deal,…19 Oct 2019HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal) ActsI do, and I am deeply concerned, because I am proud of our manufacturing base and the revival that it has gone through.19 Oct 2019HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal) ActsThere have to be checks, and they have to be done at the border with England, Scotland and Wales, or Northern Ireland—there is no getting away from that. The argument that the…19 Oct 2019HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal) ActsI agree, and that is a point that I will develop. In recognition of the previous Prime Minister, although she said that, I always felt that she had a profound sense of public…19 Oct 2019HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal) ActsI am concerned about the position in Northern Ireland, and the Secretary of State quoted me on this earlier. It is true that I and the Labour party had reservations about the…19 Oct 2019HANSARD European Union (Withdrawal) ActsI think I said this in the debate last week, but I will say it again: I am not going to vote for a general election until I know that no deal is off the table and we have an…19 Oct 2019