European Union (Withdrawal) Bill

My hon. Friend mentions the single market; I wonder whether he noted the research published today...

Yes; I think many hon. Members are under the illusion that free-trade agreements are an okay subs...

Order!

Order. If the hon. Gentleman is out of order, I will tell him that he is out of order. Does he wi...

I absolutely do, Madam Deputy Speaker. Amendment 124 talks about protecting the single market pro...

The point also enables us to remember that this was in the Conservative party manifesto in 2015.<...

Who could possibly forget that support for the single market was once a key aspect of Margaret Th...

The hon. Gentleman is right when he says that Margaret Thatcher was pretty much the authoress of ...

We are putting a lot of effort into trying to get free trade deals with New Zealand, Australia an...

As always, I am lost in admiration for the extraordinary eloquence of the hon. Member for Notting...

I just worry about this whole business of relying on the Government saying that they will always ...

The hon. Gentleman is a doughty defender of his party interest and of the House of Commons. On th...

Will my right hon. Friend clear up one other uncertainty created by the hon. Member for Nottingha...

One of the most striking moments of hyperbole was when the hon. Member for Nottingham East assert...

Unfortunately, that is not true because the Government are able to change the Act by statutory in...

Except of course it is, because if the amendment is accepted, as the Government intend, the Proce...

On the point made by the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) about amending the Act, which I w...

That is indeed true. I suppose that Opposition Members would tend to argue that only the courts c...

Is the right hon. Gentleman referring to new clauses 62 and 63 or amendments 62 and 63?

New clauses 62 and 63. I do apologise. I am very bad at remembering the nomenclature, but I know ...

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May I continue for a second? I may anticipate what the hon. Lady is going to say, but I will give...

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I will give way to both hon. Ladies, but I will just say one last thing in case they were going t...

I am pleased about the measures that the right hon. Gentleman outlines, to which the Government a...

I do not suppose that I will succeed now in persuading the hon. Lady. I do not wholly disapprove ...

I do not share the right hon. Gentleman’s confidence that all this will be done in time, and I sh...

There are quite a lot of bits to unpack in that. If we were to leave without an agreement and hen...

My right hon. Friend makes a brilliant speech. [Laughter.] I cannot disagree with a single word t...

I agree with my hon. Friend. He is being unduly modest, because in large part it is due to pressu...

I am pleased to see the change on animal sentience, but to correct the hon. Member for Richmond P...

I have steadfastly resisted for 21 years engaging in meaningless partisan debate, and I am not go...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Laing, and to follow the right hon. Member...

We might think that the most extreme legislation that would be on the statute book allowed for em...

Absolutely. My hon. Friend spoke powerfully about this matter on Second Reading, and he is right ...

I thank my hon. Friend for his excellent forensic examination of what is at fault in the Bill. Do...

That is precisely our concern. We discussed that at length on day 2 in Committee, when we were ta...

Before the hon. Gentleman moves on, I think what he says about the devolved authorities is incorr...

I am happy to take that on board. I learn more about Government environmental policy from the rig...

What the Secretary of State announced to the Environmental Audit Committee on 1 November was the ...

My hon. Friend makes a series of good points. I do not take the Government’s commitment in this p...

Before the hon. Gentleman moves on, I am interested to understand whether the purpose of new clau...

The scope of new clause 63 is for the environmental watchdog in England, as we have already said....

One point that my Committee has specifically made on the devolution settlement is that business d...

I absolutely agree. The devolved Administrations, as my hon. Friend has reminded me, agree that t...

My hon. Friend has made an absolutely essential point. Fundamentally, does he agree that if this ...

I could not agree more with my hon. Friend. That is why strengthened scrutiny procedures for appr...

This debate is very important. As someone who wants this Parliament to take back control on behal...

I have been listening very carefully to the right hon. Gentleman. He is resting on the word “tech...

I am intrigued to hear that characterisation of the hon. Gentleman’s leader; it is not a phrase t...

On that point, does the right hon. Gentleman think that the draft Animal Welfare (Sentencing and ...

As I understand it, that decision has been made for me. I have not yet had the advantage of readi...

My right hon. Friend is making an important point because he is exposing the very fact that, desp...

I am glad we agree about that. I am trying to make a helpful suggestion for the future on this is...

My right hon. Friend is making some important points. If I may say, I have signed up to the amend...

That may be hanging a bit too much on this piece of legislation. I think this is a wider issue, w...

I rise to speak to amendments 264, 222, 73, 234, 239, 240, 266, 269 and 272, in the name of my ri...

It is really quite important to understand that this is the process of leaving the European Union...

The right hon. Lady has much greater faith in the Government’s intentions than I perhaps do. What...

I would like the hon. Gentleman to cast his mind back to before 23 June last year. Can he recall ...

No, the implication was clearly given that control would be taken back by the people. In fact, it...

I was struck by the rather sweeping statement by the right hon. Member for West Dorset (Sir Olive...

I do indeed, and I will come on to that in just one moment.

I just want to back up the hon. Gentleman’s request for more information from the Government. In ...

If we had some more of that detail, we would be a little more reassured, and we would not be able...

The hon. Gentleman is making some excellent points, and I would like to back him up on them. Woul...

The hon. Gentleman makes a very good point that is a further illustration of the dilemma that is ...

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I will give way in a moment, but I want to give a third example, which the Minister may also wish...

Could the hon. Gentleman revisit each of the examples he has given and explain why he thinks that...

I do not think that they are deficiencies—that is not my point. My point is that a Minister or a ...

The hon. Gentleman has talked about the importance of language in this debate. Should we not all ...

Indeed so. There is always the danger that some of the policies that Government may wish to get t...

I understand and sympathise with the hon. Gentleman’s point on deficiencies. Does he agree that o...

Indeed. While I am tempted to digress into a debate on what happened with the phase 1 agreement a...

I do not know whether it would be possible to find definitions that would help. However, the hon....

I accept that these things may be challenged, but I am trying to argue for a democratic process w...

Is the point not really that, as has been pointed out by Justice and the Law Society of Scotland,...

Indeed. That takes me nicely to my next point, which concerns the word “appropriate”.

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Can I make a little progress? I do not usually say that, but I am barely halfway through at the m...

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak. I will do so perhaps rather more briefly and concisel...

I commend the hon. Gentleman for all the remarks that he has just made. I, too, have visited many...

The hon. Gentleman’s interest in this subject, like that of most others in the House, is exceedin...

It may disturb the hon. Gentleman to know that I have signed his new clause, and I agree very muc...

I am not alarmed by the fact that the hon. Lady has signed my new clause 53; I am flattered and e...

I rise to speak briefly to amendments 48, 49 and 52 in my name. They have cross-party support, in...

It is a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford (Yvette...

May I take it therefore that my right hon. and learned Friend is offering his services on this co...

I am already the Chairman of another Committee of Parliament, and I think it might be undesirable...

Can the right hon. and learned Gentleman set out how he thinks the process of scrutiny will be im...

Such organisations can be summoned before the new Select Committee. They can come along and provi...

On quality of the committee and the scrutiny process, the committee will be scrutinising changes ...

That would be a very sensible course of action. As I say, the burden is on the Government to show...

Eight and eight.

Indeed. To that extent, it will, as I understand it, have sufficient flexibility and will, I hope...

As ever, I am considering what my right hon. and learned Friend is saying with enormous care. Muc...

My hon. and learned Friend is right. Of course it is true that, although such measures have a his...

More often.

Such measures may act as a constraint, but once Ministers have taken the plunge, there will not b...

It is a pleasure to follow the right hon. and learned Member for Beaconsfield (Mr Grieve). If he ...

Is my hon. Friend aware of the fact that at least half of the approximately 42 EU agencies that e...

My hon. Friend raises an excellent point, which has also been raised by the European Chemicals Ag...

May I reassure the hon. Lady that it is the made affirmative procedure that is available for urge...

But that would still be the negative procedure—

No, it is set out in the schedule. It is the made affirmative procedure, which means that once th...

I thank the Minister for that clarification.

What could possibly be watered down? The Envir...

Order. I just ask Members to bear in mind that a lot of colleagues wish to speak and the Minister...

I certainly will bear that in mind, Dame Rosie, and thank you for calling me.

I rise to spe...

The thing is that the hon. Gentleman’s Committee is chaired by a man who is respected by both sid...

I count the hon. Gentleman as a great friend, and say to him that yes, all too often I have come ...

I congratulate my hon. Friend and the Procedure Committee, and I really welcome its proposals. Do...

My hon. Friend tempts me so much. It is not my intention today to spook the Government, but I thi...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Broxbourne (Mr Walker). He has set out a system, w...

May I take it from what the right hon. Gentleman has said that he is arguing that we should indee...

Absolutely. Many Members on both sides of the House know that one of the most damaging things tha...

I am sure that the right hon. Gentleman will get a lot of support from the Labour Benches if his ...

All right—the right hon. Gentleman is probably closer to his Front Bench’s policy than I am, cert...

It is a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Tom Brake), and I...

May I introduce you to Bill Cash?

I did not hear what the hon. Lady said, but I am sure that Hansard did, so I will move swiftly on...

Does the right hon. Lady accept, too, that a significant proportion of the voters who voted leave...

I very much agree with the hon. Lady. It is not right and it is not fair. It also, as she rightly...

More.

He says, “More.” I do not criticise him for doing so. I bet he has never been called a Brexit mut...

I associate myself with the comments of the right hon. Member for Broxtowe (Anna Soubry). I agree...

Does my hon. Friend think that the fact that we are disproportionately represented in that way re...

Absolutely. I cannot give with any real certainty the exact reason why Britain uses the orders mo...

I rise to speak to clause 7 and to amendment 391, tabled by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of...

Will the Minister clarify from the Dispatch Box that Opposition Members’ assertions that it would...

I am very grateful to my right hon. Friend. I will come on to the specific differences between cl...

Will the Minister give way?

If I may, I will explain my approach to interventions, which I should have mentioned at the begin...

The Minister mentioned clause 7(5) in relation to the regulatory powers to replace, modify or abo...

I will come back to that later, but I can tell the hon. Gentleman for a start that the translatio...

I understand that, and I realise that I am setting a bit of a challenge. Of course, amendment 1 i...

I am grateful to my right hon. and learned Friend for that intervention.

I wonder whether my hon. Friend might be attracted by this idea. At the moment, as drafted, the c...

I am extremely grateful to my hon. and learned Friend, and I would be happy to meet him, our lega...

The Minister is being very generous and carefully considered in his responses. May I just check w...

I will be very straightforward with my hon. Friend: we are keen to move on this issue, but, as se...

I am sure that the Minister will deal with this on some of the other amendments, but the other li...

I will come to that a little later, but I hope that my right hon. and learned Friend will allow m...

Will my hon. Friend allow me to intervene?

I will give way once, but then I will make some progress, because I am 15 minutes in already.

My hon. Friend has taken several interventions. Some of us have loyally supported Ministers throu...

I am extremely grateful to my hon. Friend for his robust support, and I shall certainly watch out...

In the absence of the hon. Member for Broxbourne (Mr Walker), whose proposal this is, does the Mi...

The hon. Lady has put her point on the record, but what we are doing is accepting the amendments ...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

I hope that my hon. Friend will forgive me if I do not. I am very conscious that I am only 20 min...

May I ask my hon. Friend to give way on this point?

I will do so just the once.

May I make a very brief observation about the sifting committee and the expertise? In my experien...

I think that my hon. Friend has made a strong case for her membership of the sifting committee. I...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

May I just finish making my case? I must point out to my right hon. and learned Friend that I can...

I have noted my hon. Friend’s comments, and I appreciate them, but may I take him back for a mome...

I shall return to the clause 7 versus clause 9 argument a little later.

Amendments 3 and 4 ...

It is my understanding that the Minister is saying that courts that were told that Ministers had ...

I will see whether, before I sit down, my memory can be jogged on an example of case law, but I a...

Earlier in our debate, the right hon. Member for West Dorset (Sir Oliver Letwin) said that we all...

I think what we would say to the hon. and learned Lady is that “appropriate” will follow the plai...

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I shall be here for some hours if I take too many interventions, but I will give way to my hon. F...

I will endeavour not to try my hon. Friend’s patience too much; he is being very generous. I want...

Order. This is a rather long intervention, and the Minister has made it clear that he does not wi...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Weston-super-Mare for putting his own clarificatio...

The Government have rightly excluded the Human Rights Act. I just want to understand why the Equa...

I will come on to the Equality Act within a page.

Amendments 52, 266, 267, 268, 370, 371 an...

I can understand the Minister’s point on timing, but the reality is that the terms of amendment 1...

I am grateful to my right hon. and learned Friend for putting me right on that point, but I shall...

I am grateful for the Minister’s clarification, and I do hope that we can make some progress in, ...

My hon. Friend makes his case with particular force. I am sorry to have to tell him that I am not...

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I will give way to the hon. Lady once.

The Minister’s colleagues gave a statement on 1 November 2016 that made the commitment to take ch...

These are matters for my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and the Bills for which her Departm...

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I just say to my right hon. and learned Friend that I am 51 minutes into my speech and I am only ...

I understand my hon. Friend’s difficulties. He is responding to new clauses and amendments on an ...

I am grateful for my right hon. and learned Friend’s intervention, which has disappointed me neit...

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I will not give way, because I need to make progress and to keep my remarks to some form of limit...

If I may say to the Minister, he has actually provided a totally coherent and helpful answer, whi...

Well, I am extremely grateful to my right hon. and learned Friend, who I am very happy to see doe...

On amendment 359, we seek clarity on the current wording in relation to deficiency by means of a ...

I understand my hon. Friend’s point. Just to reassure him: it is our firm intention to carry thro...

My hon. Friend touches on an important issue. Might it not be the case that any such power done b...

I just draw my right hon. and learned Friend’s attention to paragraph 1(2)(c) of part 1 of schedu...

I take it, therefore, that that covers all the points my hon. Friend has just raised at the Dispa...

There are also some matters in relation to fees and charges, which we discussed earlier in the de...

May I apologise, as Chair of the Procedure Committee, for arriving late to my hon. Friend’s speec...

I am extremely grateful to my hon. Friend.

Let me return to my notes in order that I might ...

I am grateful to the Minister for devoting that portion of his speech to the detail on financial ...

I thank my hon. Friend.

6.15 pm

I have a quick question about financial services legislation and deficiencies. I want to get it c...

The first point to make relates to my hon. Friend’s last point. We have agreed to the sifting com...

It will be very busy.

The committee will be busy, and that is why I am so grateful for the fact that several hon. Membe...

On a related point about the new sifting committee, will the Minister outline the Government’s vi...

The hon. Gentleman has been generous enough to say that he appreciates that that is a matter for ...

We based the model on the European Scrutiny Committee, in which the Chairman is appointed.

I am grateful to my hon. Friend.

I move on to consent from the devolved Administrations. Am...

I hear what the Minister is saying and I take on board that this has to go through the new negoti...

The hon. Lady’s point is well made and has been heard by me and my right hon. and hon. Friends, a...

Will the Minister give way?

Before I conclude my opening remarks, I will give way to the right hon. Gentleman.

It is possible that I switched off, or perhaps nodded off, during the past hour and 20 minutes, b...

The right hon. Gentleman enjoys a jest, but I hope that the Committee will understand that, as I ...

It is a great pleasure to follow the Minister, who presented a rather unbending policy posture th...

I will have to check the record—I was just flicking through my speaking notes—but I am sure that ...

I do not wish to undermine that. I just want the Minister to present what I believe to be a more ...

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But before I sit down, I give way to the hon. Gentleman.

I thank the right hon. Lady—I mean the hon. Lady—for her kind words. Why she is not right honoura...

The hon. Gentleman is displaying his usual charm in trying to make hon. Members feel that the Sta...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Bishop Auckland (Helen Goodman) and to participate...

I want to speak briefly in favour of amendments 15 and 49, 132, and 5 and 2, tabled by the right ...

I sympathise instinctively with an awful lot of fears and analyses expressed by the hon. Member f...

I thank my hon. Friend for his kind words about the excellent work of the Procedure Committee. Do...

I absolutely accept that. Another important thing about the sifting committee will be that many o...

Before my hon. Friend moves on from sifting, does he agree that it represents substantial progres...

Absolutely. Those commitments will be important and consequential, but we also need to ensure tha...

Is my hon. Friend sure that the source of the problem lies in the term “appropriate”? The more I ...

What my right hon. Friend has just demonstrated is the point that I was just about to come on to....

I speak in support of the amendments to clause 7 in the names of my right hon. Friend the Member ...

Does the hon. Lady believe that the British electorate were better protected when these powers re...

This is exactly the point, is it not? Under this form of legislation Ministers will not be as acc...

I rise to speak to new clauses 53 and 77 and to amendments 385, 1, 2, 3, 5, 48 and 49. In view of...

Did my right hon. Friend share my puzzlement at the answer that the Minister gave to that point a...

My right hon. Friend puts it extremely well. I was going to say that the Under-Secretary of State...

Does my right hon. Friend agree that the proposed changes to the standing orders are particularly...

That is an excellent point and a very good idea. There has always been a wider call for the Treas...

My right hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. Does she agree that although time is short an...

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. I hope that those listening get the impression that, what...

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in this important debate. It is a real privilege to fo...

The hon. Lady says that the environment has been peripheral to the debate so far. I am sure that ...

The test of whether the Government are committed to maintaining environmental standards—and indee...

Does the hon. Lady agree that the European Union has been a force for good for the environment? T...

Environmental standards have improved in this country because the European Union—particularly the...

I agree with the hon. Lady that a great deal of European legislation on the environment has been ...

I thank the hon. Lady for her intervention, but she clearly was not listening to what I said. Of ...

It is always a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Penistone and Stocksbridge (Angela Smith), ...

It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Mr Hanson.

I rise to speak to support new clause ...

Does the hon. Lady not accept that the European Union was very clear that until we triggered arti...

In the previous Parliament, I was a member of two Select Committees. I was on the recent chemical...

Order. Before I call the next speaker, I remind hon. Members that we are just over an hour away f...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hanson. I wish to speak about the many amen...

I think Hansard did record that the Environment Secretary nodded his assent, but I am not entirel...

For those of us with an environmental mindset, there is a temptation—and I may say more about thi...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I will gladly give way to my diocesan neighbour.

Does the hon. Gentleman not agree that the environment does not stop at borders, and that interna...

I take the hon. Lady’s point, but I am not sure that the EU is necessarily the only vehicle for t...

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Order. The hon. Gentleman is supposed to be actually in the Chamber in order to intervene.

...

As I said, the DEFRA consultation on the new enforcement body must be published urgently; I agree...

Order. I again remind Members that there is a knife outside my control. Ten Members, possibly 11,...

I rise to speak to amendment 88, tabled in my name and those of my hon. Friends in Plaid Cymru an...

Thank you, Mr Hanson, for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this important debate. Speec...

I have now been in the Chamber for seven hours, apart from a brief sojourn to serve on a Statutor...

Order. If hon. Members do not keep to five minutes now, we will not get every Member in to contri...

It is a great honour to follow the wonderful women from Wealden and Walthamstow in their differen...

I rise to speak in support of amendment 124, tabled by my right hon. Friend the Member for Carsha...

Today’s sitting has considered many important amendments on issues that I have long supported. Ne...

Thank you, Mr Hanson, for the opportunity to join hon. Members in their criticism of the extraord...

I rise to speak to the provisions in my name, and particularly to new clause 27, which I hope to ...

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I am sorry—I love having discussions with the right hon. Gentleman, but I am aware that other peo...

I rise to speak to new clause 37, tabled in my name and the names of many hon. Friends.

Bef...

I wish to speak in favour of amendment 73, which was spoken to by my hon. Friend the Member for E...

The point that the hon. Gentleman makes is absolutely right. Is it not also the case that the Gov...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for making that point for me. He is absolutely correct that that is wh...

This has been a very important debate. Some may feel that this is a dry issue of constitutional p...