No Confidence in Her Majesty’s Government

In 2017, the Prime Minister and her party thought that they could call an election and win it. Th...

If the right hon. Gentleman’s motion is successful this evening, there may be a general election ...

We are a democratic party, and our party will decide what policy we fight the election on. In the...

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Could you please assist the House, because this is an important ...

The Clerk reminds me that that is not a point of order. My understanding is that there was a pair...

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Nothing demonstrates the sheer incompetence of this Government quite...

Order. There are courtesies in this place. A Member can seek to intervene, but he or she should n...

I was not shrieking.

Well, whether we say shriek or yell or bellow or shout, it was very noisy, and it was disorderly....

Isn’t the Leader of the Opposition supposed to—

Whether an intervention is taken or not—

All right.

No, there is no “all right” about it. The person who has the Floor decides whether to take an int...

Who has confidence in this Government’s ability to negotiate a future trade deal with the EU by D...

In modern British history, when faced with a defeat even a fraction of the size of the titanic an...

I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. As I made clear, all the precedents are that when a...

As I understand it, the Leader of the Opposition will allow his party to decide whether he will d...

I am sure that the right hon. Gentleman is fully aware of the decision made at my party’s confere...

In this national crisis, will my right hon. Friend confirm whether the Prime Minister has telepho...

I have not had such a call as yet. I have my phone on. [Interruption.]

I think we should pr...

When those cross-party talks start, which of the Scarlet Pimpernels will come? Will it be the Lea...

There has been no offer or communication on all-party talks. All the Prime Minister said was that...

The Leader of the Opposition is making some powerful arguments—not very well, but he is making th...

I thank the right hon. Lady for her intervention, and I look forward to testing opinion at the ba...

My right hon. Friend is right to put on record the concerns about uncertainty in the country, and...

I can absolutely confirm that. We have voted against a no-deal Brexit, and apparently the Busines...

Will my right hon. Friend give way?

I will give way one more time.

I thank my right hon. Friend for giving way. He is absolutely right that, under this Government, ...

I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention and for his work representing his constituency. On t...

Order. No, Mr David Morris, do not yell from a sedentary position like that. If you seek to inter...

Thank you. Mr Speaker.

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

No. I am sure we can all unite in condemning racist abuse in any form whatsoever within our socie...

On a point of order, Mr Speaker.

They are looking to Parliament to deliver for them a better and fairer society—

Is the right hon. Gentleman just pausing?

I am pausing because you stood up.

Quite right, absolutely. That is very reasonable and sensible. Thank you. I call Mark Francois, o...

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Is it not—[Interruption.] Well, give me a go! Is it not often th...

It is commonplace, but it is not, in any sense, obligatory.

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

If the House backs this motion today, I will welcome the wide-rangin...

Last night, the House rejected the deal the Government have negotiated with the European Union. T...

The Prime Minister has lost a quarter of her Cabinet and 117 of her Back Benchers want her gone. ...

The hon. Gentleman might not have noticed that we are debating a vote of no confidence in the Gov...

As someone who was defeated last night by only 230 votes, may I encourage the Prime Minister to K...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I shall speak about this later in my speech, but it is over t...

I totally agree with the Prime Minister that a general election would solve nothing—it is merely ...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right that a general election would cause the sort of delay that I h...

I thank the Prime Minister for giving way; unlike some, she is clearly not afraid to debate. It i...

She’s taller than you. [Laughter.]

So is everybody else!

It is possible that the Prime Minister and I will continue to disagre...

I thank my right hon. Friend for his intervention. I note what he said and I am happy to carry on...

In 2017, the Prime Minister went to the country and asked for a mandate; she lost her majority. L...

I said last night that we would be having discussions across the House. There are many different ...

If Members will just be a little patient, I have taken a number of interventions, so I will make ...

Will the Prime Minister give way?

If the hon. Gentleman had listened to what I said—it does help sometimes.

We do not even kn...

On that point, will the Prime Minister give way?

If my hon. Friend would just allow me one moment.

It is barely 18 months since this country...

Does the Prime Minister agree that if the Leader of the Opposition himself wrote on a note exactl...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right, because of course the position that the Leader of the Opposit...

My right hon. Friend the Leader of the Opposition is absolutely right to call for a general elect...

The hon. Gentleman talks about paying for police; of course, we made more money available to poli...

I will make a little more progress, then take some more interventions.

Last night the House...

I tried this with the Prime Minister earlier during Question Time, and I am going to give her one...

The hon. Gentleman will not be surprised to hear that I will give him the same answer as I have j...

I am trying to be helpful to the Prime Minister, believe it or not, but this is pure robotic fant...

I repeat that we will approach the discussions in a constructive spirit. We want to hear from the...

I thank my right hon. Friend for giving way, unlike the Leader of the Opposition. Does she share ...

My hon. Friend puts his point very powerfully indeed. This Parliament voted to ask the British pe...

I will just make a little more progress.

That is what we want to do: deliver on the will of...

On that point—

I will make a little more progress. I have already been generous with interventions.

If tho...

rose—

I will give way to the hon. Lady, as she has risen several times.

I thank the Prime Minister for her generosity in giving way. With all due respect to her she has ...

What I am doing is setting out what the British people voted for in the referendum in 2016, and i...

rose—

Again, I will just make a little progress.

I know that to serve in Government is a unique p...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

In a moment.

When I became Prime Minister that is what I pledged to do. Yes, to deliver Bre...

I thank the Prime Minister for giving way. The problem is that she seems to be talking as if she ...

What I want to see is what the British people voted for—[Interruption.] No, this is very importan...

rose—

rose—

I give way.

rose—

If the Father of the House would allow me, I did say to my hon. Friend the Member for Thirsk and ...

I thank the Prime Minister for giving way. She is being criticised for setting and sticking to re...

That is the point that I have been making and repeating. When people voted to leave, they voted f...

I have asked many people throughout this why they voted on one side or the other in the referendu...

My right hon. and learned Friend refers to the fact that, obviously, there were various reasons w...

rose—

rose—

rose—

I will make some progress before I take any further interventions.

I believe that this Gove...

I thank the Prime Minister for allowing me to intervene. Under her leadership, this Government ha...

May I say again that the whole point of this debate today is to determine whether this House has ...

I thank the Prime Minister for giving way. I acknowledge that she wants to paint a good picture o...

The hon. Lady might recall that I made exactly that point when I became Prime Minister—that there...

I appreciate the positive, confident and optimistic picture of the future of the UK painted by th...

Absolutely. Anybody who wants to be Prime Minister should believe in this country and in the tale...

I know that there is so little time to get in all the achievements—[Laughter.] Colleagues may lau...

I thank my hon. Friend, who has set out an area on which this Government have been taking importa...

I am very grateful to the Prime Minister; she is giving way considerably more than the Leader of ...

That is absolutely right. The biggest cash boost to the NHS in its history and a long-term plan t...

If hon. and right hon. Members will forgive me, I am conscious that the time is getting on.

indicated assent.

The right hon. Member for Exeter (Mr Bradshaw) is encouraging me not to take so many intervention...

The Prime Minister is quite right to point out the yawning chasm at the heart of Labour’s policy,...

The purpose of the various discussions that we are going to have is to identify the issues that w...

Will the Prime Minister give way?

I will give way to the hon. Gentleman, and then I am going to make progress so that others can sp...

I am extremely grateful to the Prime Minister for giving way; she has been generous. She has talk...

The hon. Gentleman has been present on many occasions when I have come to listen to and answer qu...

Will the Prime Minister give way?

If my right hon. Friend will bear with me, I will make some progress, as I understand that a sign...

I am grateful to the Prime Minister for being so generous and engaging in a debate. As ever, she ...

What my right hon. Friend experienced last week was appalling. I understand that she has experien...

Will the Prime Minister give way?

I will give way to the right hon. Gentleman, and then I will conclude.

I am grateful to the Prime Minister for giving way. She must recognise that she has built a cage ...

The point I made last night and have repeatedly made today is that I will be talking to people ac...

I was naive to honour a Treasury tradition that went back to Churchill with a text that is pretty...

Order. Stop trying to shout other Members down. Calm yourselves.

The Prime Minister was a member of the party that backed Labour’s spending plans up to late 2009,...

We did see what was happening in terms of the financial crisis and its impact, but the Labour par...

Will the Prime Minister give way?

I am about to conclude, so I will not take any more interventions.

We are living through a ...

It is a pleasure to follow the Prime Minister. Of course, I wish her no ill will and, if she does...

rose—

I will give way in a moment. [Interruption.] I say to those on the Government Benches, if they wo...

I thought perhaps the right hon. Gentleman could just inform the House: how many seats in Westmin...

I am grateful to the Prime Minister for that intervention. I say to her that there are 59 seats i...

I think the right hon. Gentleman’s speech is a little eccentric because he seems to think that th...

Let me explain. The hon. Gentleman, in supporting a motion of no confidence against the Prime Min...

The right hon. Gentleman must agree that the Prime Minister is a record setter—record levels of p...

I would say to my hon. Friend, because he is my hon. Friend, that we see a record level of lack o...

Has not the time come for the country to see that the Tory party—not by its words, but by its act...

I am grateful to my dear and honourable Friend for that point because I have to say to this House...

With respect, I know many people want to speak and I have to make progress. I will take intervent...

I first thank the right hon. Gentleman for letting his party give me a seat in this place, but th...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. I say to him that the people of Caithness and Su...

I want to make progress; I apologise.

I have talked about Brexit. Let me move on to the rec...

Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is appalling that this Government have slipped out, among...

My hon. Friend is correct to highlight that this Government have been sneaking out those kinds of...

rose—

I will give way one more time.

The right hon. Gentleman said earlier that he is worried about economic growth. I share those con...

Oh good grief. I have to say that the hon. Gentleman is mistaken. Over the course of the last yea...

I will give way in a second, but let me just say this. When I look at Scotland in the rear-view m...

I hope that the motion tabled by the Leader of the Opposition is successful this evening. I was r...

There is a very simple answer to that: yes, of course.

I have been generous in taking interventions. I need to move on, because I am only on page 2 of m...

I give way to my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow South (Stewart Malcolm McDonald). [Interrupti...

Order. The House is over-excited. Although the right hon. Gentleman is well able to look after hi...

They are a curious bunch, Mr Speaker. I ask my right hon. Friend and Members across the House to ...

It’s coming yet for a’ that. [Interruption.] I hear Tory Members from a sedentary position talkin...

As ever, my right hon. Friend is giving a stunning account of the current situation. Does he agre...

I absolutely agree. I reflect on the fact that we in Scotland have a Parliament elected by propor...

I am honoured by the right hon. Gentleman giving way to me, and I am grateful to him. He mentione...

The hon. Gentleman used to sit in the Scottish Parliament. I suggest that if he wants to debate d...

Order. You always have a very amiable disposition, Mr Kerr, but you are becoming a mildly exubera...

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I am proud of the record of investment in public services by my Government...

Order. On account of the level of demand, a five-minute limit on Back-Bench speeches will now app...

When my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister was winding up the debate yesterday evening, she sai...

My hon. Friend is making a compelling case that we should go back to Europe and renegotiate. He k...

No, I am not. Two years ago, we were told by the Prime Minister that nothing was agreed until eve...

In terms of imposing conditions, if we go to no deal we will go immediately to default WTO terms,...

No, I will not engage in trying to respond to all the scaremongering. My hon. Friend is good at t...

rose—

No, I am not going to give way anymore. At a sitting of the Exiting the European Union Committee,...

It is a great pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Christchurch (Sir Christopher Chope), who ju...

Order. I am extremely grateful to the right hon. Gentleman and I apologise for interrupting him. ...

A further sentence?

I appreciate it is difficult, but Members do know the minute situation when they stand. They migh...

Mr Speaker, you know I always try to satisfy the demands you place on me, and I will do so now.