UK’s Withdrawal from the EU

Given the debate and dispute about the meaning of the Government’s motion, will my right hon. Fri...

I am very happy to give my right hon. Friend and predecessor in this role that assurance. The Cab...

The Secretary of State has set out why he is observing what the House said on alternative arrange...

The short answer is that the House has said two different things. It passed by a big majority leg...

I encourage the Government to keep their nerve during these negotiations. I accept that the vast ...

My hon. Friend, as a former member of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, knows all about holding hi...

I think we all agree about the importance of keeping our nerve, and keeping no deal on the table ...

For the avoidance of doubt, I am happy to confirm that, because that is what the legislation says...

My right hon. Friend was just moving on to an alternative, but it seems to me that he has just gi...

Although I obviously respect the considerable experience of the Father of the House, I frankly do...

The Prime Minister met hon. Members in the Boothroyd Room before the first vote, which she lost b...

Given the propensity of the Scottish National party to have referendums and not respect the resul...

I very much want to see a deal done. It is in the interests of the country, and it is definitely ...

As is so often the case, my right hon. Friend reflects a sentiment that one hears expressed in th...

Of course we want to get a deal with the European Union, but is not taking no deal off the table ...

The right hon. Gentleman is right on both points. First, it is important that we have no deal on ...

If I can make some progress, I will come on to the discussions the right hon. Gentleman mentioned...

I will make some progress, and then will happily take further interventions. A number of interven...

I am going to make a little progress, and then I will happily take further interventions.

T...

Given that the European Union is saying that it will not entertain any legal changes to the withd...

I am going to come on that exact issue. The hon. Gentleman cited at the start of his intervention...

Further to the Secretary of State’s answer to the right hon. Member for Haltemprice and Howden (M...

Again, what I set out was that we are 100% committed to the position set out and agreed by the Ca...

The reality is that the vote against no deal in this House was more convincingly passed, includin...

Again, I very much respect the position of my right hon. Friend. I suspect that, on this, we will...

I support the Prime Minister’s deal. I want us to get a deal. But I am looking very closely at th...

First, I absolutely respect votes of this House. Indeed, when we had, for example, the Humble Add...

We can’t hear you.

Order. Can I just appeal to the Secretary of State? He is, in my experience, a most courteous ind...

I absolutely accept your direction on that point, Mr Speaker. I was seeking to engage with my rig...

I have taken quite a few interventions and I will make a bit of progress, not least because I am ...

Will my right hon. Friend confirm that using techniques and technology that already exist at the ...

I agree. That is already agreed by the European Union and the United Kingdom in its reflection in...

Is it now Government policy to take forward the Malthouse compromise that we have all read about?...

I can confirm that we have taken it forward to the European Union, in that I have raised it with ...

The Secretary of State just told the House that he has put proposals to Michel Barnier. Can he th...

One should always be slightly cautious about what is said on Twitter, and that applies even to so...

The task that the Secretary of State has set out in terms of the alternatives is large, and the w...

I respect my hon. Friend’s point, but what I hear from many, particularly in the business communi...

I am grateful to the Secretary of State for giving way, although he may not be so grateful for th...

I looked with interest at the hon. Lady’s reference in the Brexit Select Committee to the Belfast...

The amendment that the House passed, tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Altrincham and Sale ...

I have already confirmed to the House that this issue has been raised with Michel Barnier. I have...

I have taken a lot of interventions. I am conscious that many other Members wish to speak, includ...

I rise to support amendment (a) in my name and that of the Leader of the Opposition. The Secretar...

Will the right hon. and learned Gentleman give way?

I will in a minute.

And the Prime Minister returned with nothing—warm words in the margins ...

Will the right hon. and learned Gentleman give way?

I will in just a minute.

Two weeks after that, on 29 January, the Prime Minister voted for ...

Will the right hon. and learned Gentleman give way?

I will give way in just a minute.

The amendment called for the backstop to be replaced with...

Can the right hon. and learned Gentleman not understand the nonsense of his own argument? He sugg...

I am grateful for that intervention: I think the hon. Gentleman has missed the point. The Prime M...

Will the right hon. and learned Gentleman give way?

I will just make the next point and then I will give way.

The idea that the vote on 29 Janu...

Will the right hon. and learned Gentleman give way?

I will in just one minute.

On Tuesday, in another non-update from the Prime Minister, she s...

Will the right hon. and learned Gentleman give way?

I will in just a second.

The third option—alternative arrangements—remains undefined, and w...

May I commend the right hon. and learned Gentleman for his courage and bravery in standing up for...

I am grateful for the concern, and I am getting on fine, thanks very much. I will tell the hon. G...

Are not all these meetings and activity that my right hon. and learned Friend is outlining, when ...

I completely agree with that intervention and that observation.

My right hon. and learned Friend has been talking to businesses, as I have. Does he agree that th...

I do agree with that. One of the things that saddens me most from the discussions I have had in t...

Will the right hon. and learned Gentleman give way?

I promised I would give way to the hon. Gentleman.

Is not the thing this House has to understand that the backstop is there in case the Malthouse co...

The EU has been very clear about the backstop. It is to be observed that there are hon. Members w...

I will just make a bit of progress on this point.

So it goes on, and so it will go on. The ...

The right hon. and learned Gentleman is making a powerful point, as always, about the ineptitude ...

I have sympathy with the point that we will need an extension to article 50 sooner or later, whet...

The right hon. and learned Gentleman is being generous with his time. In contrast to what he just...

As for the Prime Minister taking us out of the EU on 29 March this year without a deal—we’ll see ...

My right hon. and learned Friend is right in what he says about business and the need for clarity...

I am grateful for that intervention, and my right hon. Friend puts his finger on it.

Is my right hon. and learned Friend as astonished as I am that we have a Prime Minister and Gover...

It is a gamble—

I will make some progress. I have taken a lot of interventions, and I will take some more in a mi...

The right hon. and learned Gentleman is being extraordinarily generous in giving way. No self-res...

I do not know how to let the hon. Gentleman down gently, but let me try this: we are so patently ...

I will give way to the hon. Member for St Albans (Mrs Main).

I thank the right hon. and learned Gentleman so much for giving way—I was beginning to think I ha...

I am sure the question of policy is important, but I am facing the practical reality. We are 43 d...

I am going to make some progress. Labour’s amendment is intended to put a hard stop to running do...

The right hon. and learned Gentleman is making a strong point about the perils of no deal. Does h...

I agree and I am grateful for that intervention. That is really the point. If it is not credible ...

The right hon. and learned Gentleman is right to say that business wants certainty—he has made bi...

Well, I am not going to take that lying down for this reason: on the Government Benches, did they...

I am going to make some progress and then I will give way again.

Therefore, we need to take...

I have listened carefully today. In defence of the Secretary of State, he has made it quite clear...

I am. Happily, we discussed that at our party conference and agreed unanimously—something I do no...

Excuse me, I have a bit of a head cold. The amount of white flags being thrown would give anyone ...

The position of the Labour party is that we have concerns about the backstop. [Interruption.] Thi...

I thank the shadow Brexit Secretary for allowing me to intervene on that very important point. He...

I am grateful for that intervention. As the hon. Lady knows, I worked in Northern Ireland for fiv...

I thank the right hon. and learned Gentleman for giving way because I actually find that I agree ...

I am not sure the hon. Lady carefully read the proposition we were voting for on the meaningful v...

Is the right hon. and learned Gentleman able to clarify in plain English at what point the Leader...

The policy we have adopted is clear about what the options are. What we are trying to do today is...

The backstop is taking up a lot of the discussion today because it is incredibly important. May I...

I am grateful for that intervention. One of the central problems in all this is that the politica...

Following my right hon. and learned Friend’s replies to the hon. Members for Bracknell (Dr Lee) a...

I am grateful for that point. What I will say is this—

What is it?

Just as I am about to give the answer I am asked from a sedentary position what the answer is. Pe...

I just want to complete this point, because it is important. The Prime Minister has replied in no...

My right hon. and learned Friend is making some important and good points about the Prime Ministe...

I do not think I need to associate with or dissociate from anybody on what my views are. I think ...

I am going to make some progress and then I will take more interventions. I have taken a lot of i...

Will the right hon. and learned Gentleman give way?

Not at the moment.

The hard stop would ensure that on 27 February the Prime Minister must e...

Will my right hon. and learned Friend clarify something for me? I am sympathetic to and almost su...

As I have said from this Dispatch Box, so far as the extension is concerned, it obviously depends...

We have moved to yet another of these almost weekly engagements, at which we are told that histor...

I agree with everything that my right hon. and learned Friend has said. Does he agree that a very...

I think I agree with that; I cannot give an off-the-cuff response to my right hon. Friend’s detai...

My right hon. and learned Friend referred to legislation. Of course, he voted for the Third Readi...

Government and Parliament can at any time produce legislation to reform previous legislation beca...

Will my right hon. and learned Friend give way?

I will give way to my right hon. Friend—my best friend among all these arch-remainers, who are ot...

rose—

I will not give way any more. I have great respect for my hon. Friend, so I hope that I will not ...

I rise to speak to our amendment (i), standing in my name and that of my right hon. Friend the Me...

I want to ask the hon. Gentleman a similar question to the one I put to those on our Front Bench....

I think that option has to be open, but it will be very difficult, because the Europeans have alr...

Does the hon. Gentleman accept that the Speaker has ruled that all these motions are advisory, in...

I do not accept the argument that says, “Because the vote was close,” or, “Because the legislatio...

rose—

I could not give a speech without giving way to the hon. Gentleman.

I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way. He is quite right that the vast majority...

It really is a bit cheeky to criticise the First Minister of Scotland for missing one meeting whe...

I thank my hon. Friend for making such a powerful case. Colleagues on the Government Benches have...

I never give up on the possibility of anybody in this House or elsewhere finally seeing sense and...

The hon. Gentleman has reminded me of the party manifesto, on which I apparently I stood and whic...

That is certainly an interesting proposal. Let me say that each and every time I have stood for e...

Given the hon. Gentleman’s comments about Jaguar Land Rover, will he join me in welcoming its dec...

I welcome any investment, but unfortunately employees in other parts of the Jaguar Land Rover net...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

I really must make progress, because other Members want to speak. [Interruption.] I am grateful t...

The hon. Gentleman has cited the Belfast agreement, and has talked of its falling and smashing on...

Yes, I have read the Belfast agreement, and with all due respect, if it comes to any arguments ab...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

I really must wind up my speech.

We are nowhere near ready to leave on 29 March without a d...

It is, as always, a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Glenrothes (Peter Grant).

I beli...

The right hon. Gentleman says that a deal can still be negotiated. Given that one of the reasons ...

The hon. Gentleman raises a perfectly respectable point, but the head of HMRC has said there woul...

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

No, as I have undertaken to proceed swiftly to the end so that other Members can speak.

I w...

My fear is that we are just drifting—that we are stuck in limbo on something that is going to hav...

The right hon. Lady might recall that in November, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Commit...

We should take very seriously the warnings about a reduction of up to 80% in the volume of goods ...

Did the right hon. Lady hear a couple of days ago that the food industry is saying that it can no...

That is really troubling, and it is now happening right across industry and across every sector. ...

Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is the Prime Minister’s red lines, including not meeting ...

I agree with my hon. Friend that the Prime Minister has to change her red lines, particularly aro...

Will the right hon. Lady give way?

I will not; I need to conclude my remarks.

It is as though we are all just standing around ...

Order. An eight minute limit on each Back-Bench speech now applies.

2.16 pm

I rise to support the amendment in my name and those of many hon. and right hon. Members from all...

My right hon. Friend is being very informative. Is she prepared to tell us whether she has seen t...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for her intervention. I hope that she will take me at my word. Al...

Will my right hon. Friend give way?

I will take one short intervention.

My right hon. Friend is being generous with her time. I do not agree with her, although I do resp...

I would not disagree with my hon. Friend at all. I have indeed seen those very same papers myself...

Will the right hon. Lady give way?

I will not, just because I am running out of time and I want to make several important points.