UK Parliament / Open data

Leaving the European Union

e-petition debate on Monday, 1 April 2019, in the House of Commons, led by Catherine McKinnell. The answering member was Chris Heaton-Harris.
Motion that this House has considered e-petitions 241584, 235138 and 243319 relating to leaving the European Union. Motions lapsed. Sitting adjourned without Question put.

About these Parliamentary proceedings

Reference

657 cc243-290WH 

Session

2017-19

Chamber / Committee

Westminster Hall
E-petitions relating to leaving the European Union
Thursday, 28 March 2019
Research briefings

Proceeding contributions

Catherine McKinnell | 657 c243WH (Link to this contribution)

I beg to move,

That this House has considered e-petitions 241584, 235138 and 243319 relatin...

Ian Murray | 657 c243WH (Link to this contribution)

My hon. Friend has been utterly fantastic on Brexit from start to finish. I am sure she will ment...


Show all contributions (165)
Catherine McKinnell | 657 cc243-4WH (Link to this contribution)

My hon. Friend raises an important point. That is why this debate is so important: to get these i...

Rushanara Ali | 657 cc244-5WH (Link to this contribution)

To reinforce my hon. Friend’s point, according to the Bank of England, two thirds of warehouses h...

James Gray | 657 c245WH (Link to this contribution)

As the sitting was suspended for 15 minutes, 15 minutes will be added to the end as injury time, ...

Catherine McKinnell | 657 c245WH (Link to this contribution)

My hon. Friend the Member for Bethnal Green and Bow (Rushanara Ali) was in the middle of her inte...

Rushanara Ali | 657 c245WH (Link to this contribution)

I wanted to highlight the fact that, according to the Bank of England, warehouses are already run...

Catherine McKinnell | 657 cc245-6WH (Link to this contribution)

My hon. Friend speaks from the experience that we have shared as members of the Treasury Committe...

Jo Swinson | 657 c246WH (Link to this contribution)

The hon. Lady is absolutely right that those are the other important issues that we should be dir...

Catherine McKinnell | 657 c246WH (Link to this contribution)

The hon. Lady makes some excellent and important points. It is good that they are now on the reco...

Anna McMorrin | 657 c246WH (Link to this contribution)

My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech on an important issue. Does she agree that, with the...

Catherine McKinnell | 657 c247WH (Link to this contribution)

My hon. Friend succinctly says what I will say in more words.

I agree, and hon. Members are...

Catherine McKinnell | 657 c247WH (Link to this contribution)

I give way to my hon. Friend the Member for Battersea (Marsha De Cordova)

Marsha De Cordova | 657 c247WH (Link to this contribution)

My hon. Friend is making an eloquent speech about the petitions and the need for us to remain par...

Catherine McKinnell | 657 c247WH (Link to this contribution)

It is a strong point. I have been clear about the potential ramifications of the Prime Minister’s...

Ged Killen | 657 c247WH (Link to this contribution)

My hon. Friend is making an excellent point about people who still want to leave the European Uni...

Catherine McKinnell | 657 c247WH (Link to this contribution)

Absolutely. So much has become evident since the referendum vote in 2016 and we all, including th...

Andrea Jenkyns | 657 c248WH (Link to this contribution)

I thank the hon. Lady for giving way. Hearing your speech—

Andrea Jenkyns | 657 c248WH (Link to this contribution)

Hearing her speech makes me believe that she is trying to give the public the option of Brexit in...

Catherine McKinnell | 657 c248WH (Link to this contribution)

Absolutely. We had a referendum in 2016 that put the basic question, “Do you want to leave the Eu...

Andy Slaughter | 657 c248WH (Link to this contribution)

My hon. Friend mentions what happened last Friday afternoon. It is extraordinary that Parliament ...

Catherine McKinnell | 657 cc248-9WH (Link to this contribution)

Yes; many hon. Members were disturbed by the scenes they witnessed on Friday directly and on the ...

Heidi Allen | 657 c249WH (Link to this contribution)

People talk about the divisiveness of a second referendum, which seems to be the biggest reason n...

Catherine McKinnell | 657 c249WH (Link to this contribution)

The hon. Lady makes the point well. There are people who think that the radical approach of democ...

Julian Lewis | 657 c249WH (Link to this contribution)

That is indeed an extremely impressive total of petition signatories. Therefore, would the hon. M...

Catherine McKinnell | 657 c250WH (Link to this contribution)

Clearly not. Before turning to the content of this petition—

Andy Slaughter | 657 c250WH (Link to this contribution)

My hon. Friend is being very generous in giving way, but that was a bit of sophistry that we have...

Catherine McKinnell | 657 c250WH (Link to this contribution)

My hon. Friend has put that very well.

Before turning to the content and substance of this ...

Chris Leslie | 657 c250WH (Link to this contribution)

On this point about the number of signatures—in my constituency, there were more than 9,500 signa...

Catherine McKinnell | 657 c250WH (Link to this contribution)

I am sure that is now on the record and as the Petitions Committee, which is a formal cross-party...

Julian Lewis | 657 c250WH (Link to this contribution)

May I just encroach one more time?

Julian Lewis | 657 c251WH (Link to this contribution)

The hon. Lady is being terribly courteous and I really appreciate it. Let us just try this new fo...

Catherine McKinnell | 657 c251WH (Link to this contribution)

May I clarify matters for the right hon. Gentleman, because he does not seem to understand the na...

Christine Jardine | 657 c251WH (Link to this contribution)

I thank the hon. Lady for giving way and I will just reinforce that point. As someone who was ele...

Catherine McKinnell | 657 c251WH (Link to this contribution)

Indeed, because what this petition —combined with the million-plus people who gave up their Satur...

Wera Hobhouse | 657 c251WH (Link to this contribution)

The hon. Lady is generous in giving way. I come back to the suggestion that after each election s...

Catherine McKinnell | 657 c251WH (Link to this contribution)

That is an important point, which is now on the record.

Andrea Jenkyns | 657 c252WH (Link to this contribution)

I thank the hon. Lady for giving way again. To raise a contrary point to the one just made by the...

Catherine McKinnell | 657 c252WH (Link to this contribution)

No, I completely disagree with that. I have already set out very clearly my views and my concerns...

John Redwood | 657 c252WH (Link to this contribution)

Perhaps, then, the hon. Lady would like to tell us why the remain Bank of England/Treasury foreca...

Catherine McKinnell | 657 c252WH (Link to this contribution)

Many of the predictions that were made—for example, that we would see a stall in investment or th...

Rushanara Ali | 657 c252WH (Link to this contribution)

Does my hon. Friend agree that since this whole affair began there has been no parliamentary sove...

Catherine McKinnell | 657 cc252-3WH (Link to this contribution)

My hon. Friend speaks with great wisdom and insight.

From speaking to my constituents, I am...

Anna McMorrin | 657 c253WH (Link to this contribution)

As we have heard, the Electoral Commission found Vote Leave and Leave.EU guilty of corrupt activi...

Catherine McKinnell | 657 c253WH (Link to this contribution)

Those concerns are being expressed by many members of the public as they watch the reality of the...

Julian Lewis | 657 c253WH (Link to this contribution)

There is one slight difference between the hon. Lady’s examples and what happened in 2016, when t...

Catherine McKinnell | 657 c254WH (Link to this contribution)

The right hon. Gentleman seems a bit stuck in the past. What we are talking about today is what w...

Catherine McKinnell | 657 c254WH (Link to this contribution)

I think the Minister wants me to give way.

Catherine McKinnell | 657 c254WH (Link to this contribution)

I was hoping the right hon. Gentleman would make a speech.

Julian Lewis | 657 c254WH (Link to this contribution)

I am sorry; I thought the hon. Lady wanted an answer now. I think there are three possibilities: ...

Chris Heaton-Harris | 657 c254WH (Link to this contribution)

I will congratulate the hon. Lady properly later. She mentioned that things had moved on and that...

Catherine McKinnell | 657 cc254-5WH (Link to this contribution)

What is so difficult about the debate is that it has wedded itself to events in the past, rather ...

Lord Mackinlay of Richborough | 657 c255WH (Link to this contribution)

Has this petition not shown clearly what the People’s Vote is about, and made its veil drop? One ...

Catherine McKinnell | 657 c255WH (Link to this contribution)

I am not sure that the hon. Gentleman has been here for the full debate. [Hon. Members: “He hasn’...

James Gray | 657 c255WH (Link to this contribution)

No, the hon. Gentleman did not.

James Gray | 657 c255WH (Link to this contribution)

Order. I am perfectly certain that the hon. Gentleman was not suggesting that the hon. Lady was b...

James Gray | 657 c255WH (Link to this contribution)

I think he did not. However, Hansard will tell. But I am sure that he was not intending to do so....

Catherine McKinnell | 657 cc255-6WH (Link to this contribution)

Thank you, Mr Gray. The hon. Member for South Thanet (Craig Mackinlay) did suggest that I should ...

James Gray | 657 c256WH (Link to this contribution)

A glance around the Chamber demonstrates that a great many Members wish to take part in this deba...

Chris Leslie | 657 cc256-7WH (Link to this contribution)

The petition that I particularly wish to address is that signed by over 6 million members of the ...

Geraint Davies | 657 c257WH (Link to this contribution)

The hon. Gentleman may know that I tabled the Terms of Withdrawal from the European Union (Refere...

Chris Leslie | 657 c257WH (Link to this contribution)

My hon. Friend has been very prescient on this issue. He has been consistent throughout—as have m...

Rachael Maskell | 657 cc257-8WH (Link to this contribution)

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Gray. I rise in particular to speak on the ...

Rachael Maskell | 657 cc258-9WH (Link to this contribution)

No, I will continue. I met a manufacturing employer just over a week ago. We are also due to lose...

Wera Hobhouse | 657 c259WH (Link to this contribution)

It is a big honour not only to serve under your chairship, Mr Gray, but to speak in this debate. ...

Wera Hobhouse | 657 cc259-260WH (Link to this contribution)

I will not, because many Members want to speak.

One reason that people have been inspired t...

Helen Hayes | 657 c260WH (Link to this contribution)

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Gray. The Brexit negotiations over the past...

Heidi Allen | 657 c260WH (Link to this contribution)

I am sure the hon. Lady is as curious as I am about tonight’s documentary with Laura Kuenssberg, ...

Helen Hayes | 657 cc260-1WH (Link to this contribution)

I thank the hon. Lady for her intervention. It will indeed be interesting to see that documentary...

Julian Lewis | 657 c261WH (Link to this contribution)

I merely point out that the remain campaign heavily outspent the leave campaign and the Governmen...

Helen Hayes | 657 c261WH (Link to this contribution)

I simply say to the right hon. Gentleman that only the leave campaign was found by the Electoral ...

Chuka Umunna | 657 cc261-2WH (Link to this contribution)

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Gray, and also a pleasure to follow my neig...

Chris Heaton-Harris | 657 c262WH (Link to this contribution)

The hon. Gentleman raises important points from the paper. I am sure he saw the Treasury Monetary...

Chuka Umunna | 657 c262WH (Link to this contribution)

I am just quoting from the Minister’s own document. Technically, he is—dare I say it?—the Ministe...

Julian Lewis | 657 c263WH (Link to this contribution)

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Chuka Umunna | 657 c263WH (Link to this contribution)

I will finish on this point: above all, the people who will be most angered by us allowing the co...

Geraint Davies | 657 c263WH (Link to this contribution)

As I mentioned, on 6 July 2016 I introduced the Terms of Withdrawal from EU (Referendum) Bill to ...

Julian Lewis | 657 c263WH (Link to this contribution)

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Geraint Davies | 657 c263WH (Link to this contribution)

No, I will not give way—we have heard enough from you already, thank you. [Interruption.] We did ...

Julian Lewis | 657 c264WH (Link to this contribution)

Just talk to each other then. [Interruption.]

Geraint Davies | 657 c264WH (Link to this contribution)

I am sorry that Government Members have decided to leave, after multiple interventions to hear so...

Heidi Allen | 657 c264WH (Link to this contribution)

I appreciate that everybody’s diaries are incredibly busy in Westminster, but I find it extraordi...

Geraint Davies | 657 c264WH (Link to this contribution)

I completely agree. We have seen 6 million people in a matter of days saying, “Enough is enough—w...

Daniel Zeichner | 657 c264WH (Link to this contribution)

Further to the previous intervention, in the last debate in Westminster Hall we had exactly the s...

Geraint Davies | 657 c264WH (Link to this contribution)

People have the right to exercise their views, whether to leave or to remain, and increasingly pe...

Martyn Day | 657 cc264-6WH (Link to this contribution)

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr McCabe, in what has been an interesting, hi...

Catherine West | 657 c266WH (Link to this contribution)

It is a pleasure to speak under your chairmanship, Mr McCabe. May I put it on record how proud I ...

Andy Slaughter | 657 c266WH (Link to this contribution)

I cannot compete with my hon. Friend—Hammersmith has only 22,346 signatories, although that is 30...

Catherine West | 657 cc266-8WH (Link to this contribution)

My hon. Friend is correct. Even though a very small percentage of my constituents voted to leave ...

Ann Coffey | 657 cc268-9WH (Link to this contribution)

Our relationship with Europe continues to divide communities and generations. Many people see the...

Martin Whitfield | 657 cc269-270WH (Link to this contribution)

It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Mr McCabe. I thank the Petitions Committee for ...

Sandy Martin | 657 c270WH (Link to this contribution)

Does my hon. Friend agree that should article 50 be revoked, that needs to be in conjunction with...

Martin Whitfield | 657 c270WH (Link to this contribution)

I very much agree; we cannot have enough democracy. One of the questions that needs to be answere...

Bambos Charalambous | 657 c270WH (Link to this contribution)

Businesses are affected, and many of them do not know who they will employ in the future, what su...

Martin Whitfield | 657 cc270-1WH (Link to this contribution)

Absolutely; I agree. The handling of the no-deal nightmare cliff edge has not been the greatest m...

Sarah Wollaston | 657 cc271-2WH (Link to this contribution)

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr McCabe.

“If a democracy cannot change...

Neil Coyle | 657 cc272-4WH (Link to this contribution)

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne North (Catherine McKinnell) on h...

Deidre Brock | 657 cc274-6WH (Link to this contribution)

It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr McCabe. There have been some terrific co...

Catherine West | 657 c276WH (Link to this contribution)

Does the hon. Lady agree that there is a real risk of another Windrush situation developing if th...

Deidre Brock | 657 c276WH (Link to this contribution)

The hon. Lady is absolutely right. I hope that the Minister is hearing this, because it greatly c...

Martin Whitfield | 657 c276WH (Link to this contribution)

I will be swift. I am sure that the hon. Lady will confirm that the substantial majority of those...

Deidre Brock | 657 cc276-7WH (Link to this contribution)

Absolutely. I completely associate myself with that comment. My constituency is particularly mult...

Baroness Chapman of Darlington | 657 cc277-8WH (Link to this contribution)

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr McCabe.

I thank all the Members who h...

Sarah Wollaston | 657 c278WH (Link to this contribution)

Will the hon. Lady clarify what Labour’s position is tonight on voting in favour of the revoke mo...

Baroness Chapman of Darlington | 657 c278WH (Link to this contribution)

Yes. We are treating tonight as the opportunity to vote for something—a way to find whether there...

Sarah Wollaston | 657 c278WH (Link to this contribution)

Is that a whipped abstention or advisory?

Baroness Chapman of Darlington | 657 c278WH (Link to this contribution)

Gosh, the hon. Lady invites me to make comments way above my station. I am sure she will understa...

Chris Heaton-Harris | 657 c278WH (Link to this contribution)

I can confirm that my party has a free vote on that, apart from members of the Cabinet, who seem ...

Baroness Chapman of Darlington | 657 c279WH (Link to this contribution)

I am admiring and respectful of the petition, and I understand the reasons for it. I also do not ...

Neil Coyle | 657 c279WH (Link to this contribution)

Perhaps some clarification would help: my understanding is that there is no Whip for Labour MPs o...

Baroness Chapman of Darlington | 657 c279WH (Link to this contribution)

I am grateful for my hon. Friend’s advice, which I am sure he would have given regardless of advi...

Catherine West | 657 c279WH (Link to this contribution)

In the last two weeks, figures have come out showing that Brexit is costing £600 million to £800 ...

Baroness Chapman of Darlington | 657 c279WH (Link to this contribution)

There is definitely more of a sense of urgency. People feel that if they are to have their voice ...

Sandy Martin | 657 c279WH (Link to this contribution)

My hon. Friend talked about the anger of some of those out there. Does she agree that there is a ...

Baroness Chapman of Darlington | 657 cc279-280WH (Link to this contribution)

I agree that there is anger on both sides. We have not always heard it, but in this debate collea...

Ann Coffey | 657 c281WH (Link to this contribution)

Can the hon. Lady confirm that the confirmatory vote would have remain on the ballot paper?

Baroness Chapman of Darlington | 657 c281WH (Link to this contribution)

I do not see any point in going through another exercise such as that without having remain on th...

Chris Heaton-Harris | 657 cc281-2WH (Link to this contribution)

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr McCabe, which is a first for me. I shall tr...

Catherine McKinnell | 657 c282WH (Link to this contribution)

I would be interested to know where the Minister got that figure. Officially, Newcastle as a city...

Chris Heaton-Harris | 657 c282WH (Link to this contribution)

I always read the paper that my mother reads; it is very important to know where she is going to ...

Sandy Martin | 657 c282WH (Link to this contribution)

I know the estimated percentage of my constituents who voted leave. It is 56.7%. However, I have ...

Chris Heaton-Harris | 657 cc282-3WH (Link to this contribution)

I think that is a completely honourable position for the hon. Gentleman to take. The hon. Member ...

Catherine McKinnell | 657 c283WH (Link to this contribution)

On a point of fact, it is not up to the Petitions Committee where the debates are held. The Commi...

Chris Heaton-Harris | 657 c283WH (Link to this contribution)

I hear what the hon. Lady says. We have a Speaker who believes in the evolution of parliamentary ...

Sarah Wollaston | 657 c283WH (Link to this contribution)

On no-deal preparation, one thing that has been quite frustrating is the use of non-disclosure ag...

Chris Heaton-Harris | 657 c284WH (Link to this contribution)

Perhaps the hon. Lady missed the email update last week to 19,000 doctors by Professor Russell Vi...

Sarah Wollaston | 657 c284WH (Link to this contribution)

Is the Minister saying that everybody who has been asked not to disclose any issues to do with th...

Chris Heaton-Harris | 657 cc284-5WH (Link to this contribution)

I have said what I have said in public, and I will happily take that up with the hon. Lady after ...

Chris Heaton-Harris | 657 c285WH (Link to this contribution)

I will happily give way to all three hon. Members, beginning with the hon. Member for East Lothia...

Martin Whitfield | 657 c285WH (Link to this contribution)

I refrained from raising this in my speech, but the Conservatives also stood on a manifesto sayin...

Chris Heaton-Harris | 657 c285WH (Link to this contribution)

I give way to the hon. Member for Streatham.

Chuka Umunna | 657 c285WH (Link to this contribution)

I thought the Minister might want to reply. The point he continues to ignore is the reason why he...

Chris Heaton-Harris | 657 c286WH (Link to this contribution)

Forgive me for not answering the point made by the hon. Member for East Lothian. I was going to t...

Chuka Umunna | 657 c286WH (Link to this contribution)

The Minister is also ignoring what his own Chief Whip will say on BBC 2 later this evening: the G...

Chris Heaton-Harris | 657 c286WH (Link to this contribution)

I tend to disagree. First, obviously I have not seen a programme that has yet to air.

Chris Heaton-Harris | 657 c286WH (Link to this contribution)

Forgive me—it is a tiny bit busy at this moment in time. Obviously I will watch and read every wo...

Wera Hobhouse | 657 c286WH (Link to this contribution)

The one thing I struggle with is why, if the Prime Minister says with so much passion and convict...

Chris Heaton-Harris | 657 c286WH (Link to this contribution)

I shall happily answer that point later in my speech.

Neil Coyle | 657 c287WH (Link to this contribution)

The Minister seems to be struggling to split the hypothetical from what happened in the election....

Chris Heaton-Harris | 657 c287WH (Link to this contribution)

In a way the hon. Gentleman is making the point that I was trying to make to the hon. Member for ...

Sandy Martin | 657 c287WH (Link to this contribution)

Surely the point of a manifesto is to let the voters know what the party will do if and when it f...

Chris Heaton-Harris | 657 c287WH (Link to this contribution)

I do not think that I was blaming hon. Members collectively. I was just making a point about what...

Sarah Wollaston | 657 c287WH (Link to this contribution)

Does the Minister agree that it was the publication of the manifesto that was the tipping point f...

Chris Heaton-Harris | 657 c287WH (Link to this contribution)

The problem is that people sometimes do not like it when politicians say one thing and do another...

Baroness Chapman of Darlington | 657 c288WH (Link to this contribution)

I remind the Minister that we are being observed here by members of the public in the Gallery, an...

Chris Heaton-Harris | 657 c288WH (Link to this contribution)

That is what I had started to do. Failing to deliver on the commitments that we, as politicians, ...

Deidre Brock | 657 c288WH (Link to this contribution)

The Minister talks of a commitment to people’s original voting intentions but, at the very least,...

Chris Heaton-Harris | 657 c288WH (Link to this contribution)

I am afraid I completely disagree.

Let me be clear. To revoke article 50 or to hold a secon...

Catherine McKinnell | 657 cc288-290WH (Link to this contribution)

I thank the Minister for his reply. I was perhaps being a little unfair on him when I picked him ...

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