Contributions
4,303 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Article 50 ExtensionI shall come to that later, but I will make this point. The period should of course be as short as possible, but it must be long enough to determine the purpose. In other words,…20 Mar 2019HANSARD Article 50 ExtensionLast week we touched on the difficulty of the EU elections and discussed the legal position and what the political position may be, and we need to bear that in mind. Of greater…20 Mar 2019HANSARD Article 50 ExtensionThat is really a question for the Government. My point is that we have to find a way through this impasse, and that requires us to come together as a House to consider and vote on…20 Mar 2019HANSARD Article 50 ExtensionThat is a powerful point. The argument that we were making last week was that, realistically, the deal had not changed since the first time it was put eight weeks earlier. There…20 Mar 2019HANSARD Article 50 ExtensionI certainly agree that this is not the first time that most of the people voting for a motion think it to be pretty clear, only to find that what it meant is disputed within a…20 Mar 2019HANSARD Article 50 ExtensionNo, I am going to make some progress. I will give way in a moment. We are now acting in the absence of a deal, with the express will of this House to prevent no deal. One of my…20 Mar 2019HANSARD Article 50 ExtensionI am just going to make some progress before I take any more interventions. After voting as we did in last week’s debate, we recognise that an extension to article 50 is now…20 Mar 2019HANSARD Article 50 ExtensionI will give way twice.20 Mar 2019HANSARD Article 50 ExtensionI do understand the difficulty, but I do not think it is appropriate for me to respond to or comment on what may or may not have been said by Heads of State about what may or may…20 Mar 2019HANSARD Article 50 ExtensionAs I said earlier, I will get to purpose a little later in my speech.20 Mar 2019HANSARD Article 50 ExtensionWe will have to wait until tomorrow to see what the Council’s response is. It may simply say that it will consider any request, but it does need to know what the purpose is. This…20 Mar 2019HANSARD Article 50 ExtensionI agree. Also, it is not very seemly for the United Kingdom to be in a situation in which a deal is simply put and re-put and re-put and re-put. If it eventually got through by…20 Mar 2019HANSARD Article 50 ExtensionI really do think it was clear to anybody who was in that debate. The Minister for the Cabinet Office also went on at least to hint that if the deal did not go through this week,…20 Mar 2019HANSARD Article 50 ExtensionThank you, Mr Speaker, for allowing time to hear this application for an emergency debate on the following motion: that this House has considered the matter of the length and…20 Mar 2019HANSARD Article 50 ExtensionI am grateful for that intervention because it allows me to read out what the Minister for the Cabinet Office said on this motion from the Dispatch Box. He was promoting the…20 Mar 2019HANSARD Article 50 ExtensionI do agree with that. The reputation of the Minister for the Cabinet Office in this House is that he is someone in whom others invest assurance and confidence because of what he…20 Mar 2019HANSARD Article 50 ExtensionI am not sure how another day with me at this Dispatch Box and us here discussing Brexit could be considered a happy day in anybody’s book.20 Mar 2019HANSARD Article 50 ExtensionThe immediate concern is that the Prime Minister does not appear to be acting in accordance with her own motion of last week, but the deeper problem, which is what I am most…20 Mar 2019HANSARD Article 50 ExtensionThe problem with the Prime Minister’s approach is that last week we voted on a motion that said she would seek a short extension if the deal was passed by today—that was in…20 Mar 2019HANSARD Article 50 ExtensionI beg to move, That this House has considered the matter of the length and purpose of the extension of the Article 50 process requested by the Government. Thank you, Mr Speaker,…20 Mar 2019