European Council

Chris Leslie Excerpts

Tuesday 14th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Chris Leslie (Nottingham East) (Lab/Co-op)]

After lecturing the other European leaders on how they should complete the single market, did the Prime Minister remember that she had already thrown in the towel on Britain’s membership of the single market? Will she admit what an error it was for her to give the Scottish First Minister exactly the excuse she was looking for for an opportunistic second referendum?

[The Prime Minister]

First of all, no lecturing took place. There was a view around the table—I encouraged it, and others contributed—that it was important for the European Union to continue to complete the single market. The hon. Gentleman talks about the single market, but actually there is work yet to be done. It is also important for the EU to continue to work on trade arrangements with other areas. The reason that I ask the EU leaders to do that is that it will be good for the United Kingdom in our future relationship with the European Union. This is something that will be good for us. I have always been clear that we will trigger article 50 by the end of March, and that is exactly what we will do.

Informal European Council

Chris Leslie Excerpts

Monday 6th February 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Obviously we are doing all we can and working with all parties that we can in relation to the defeat of Daesh. My hon. Friend understands the issue very well. He will know that while steps are being taken in other places—for example, in Iraq—to take military action against Daesh and to have an impact on it there, it is important that we do not see it able to regroup and come forward in other parts of the world where perhaps there is a vacuum that would enable it to do that. As he mentioned, underlying it all is the fact that we need to deal with the ideology. It is not just about the people at the moment; it is about dealing with the ideology. That is where the work to deal with radicalisation is so important.

[Chris Leslie (Nottingham East) (Lab/Co-op)]

Will the Prime Minister answer part of the question on which my right hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton South East (Mr McFadden) pressed her? Will she confirm that Parliament must give its consent in advance to whatever the new proposed relationship will be, deal or no deal?

[The Prime Minister]

I have been very clear that Parliament will have a vote on the deal. This is a matter that is going to be discussed in some detail tomorrow, when the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union will be able to set out in more detail than in response to a single question what the situation will be.

European Council 2016

Chris Leslie Excerpts

Monday 19th December 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

With his experience, my right hon. Friend recognises that it is about not just agreeing a resolution, but ensuring that it is then implemented, so that making humanitarian aid available to people and enabling them to leave safely can be put into practice. I assure my right hon. Friend that we recognise the importance of getting momentum going on this. It will be important to do that over the coming days and weeks. Our focus on it will continue.

[Chris Leslie (Nottingham East) (Lab/Co-op)]

May I ask the Prime Minister about the risks of the cliff-edge in April 2019, which is already prompting some of our key financial institutions, such as Lloyd’s of London, to think about moving some of their business out of Britain? Does she agree with the Chancellor, who said that it would be helpful if we started to discuss a transitional arrangement going beyond that particular deadline, and started discussing it now?

[The Prime Minister]

The Chancellor reflected the comments I made when I spoke to the CBI, recognising the desire for business to have some certainty beyond that point of leaving the European Union. That is one of the reasons why we have already announced that we are going to bring EU law into domestic law in the UK at that point, so that people can have some certainty about the point of movement from membership of the European Union to being outside it.

European Council

Chris Leslie Excerpts

Monday 24th October 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I agree.

[Chris Leslie (Nottingham East) (Lab/Co-op)]

Just to be crystal clear about the Prime Minister’s statement and her answers, is it her intention that the UK will be leaving the customs union?

[The Prime Minister]

I could give the hon. Gentleman a very lengthy answer about that—[Interruption.] From a sedentary position, the shadow Foreign Secretary talks about “the substance”. The important point about the customs union is that the way in which you deal with the customs union is not a binary choice. There are different aspects to the customs union, which is precisely why it is important to look at the detail and get the answer right, not simply make statements.

Report of the Iraq Inquiry

Chris Leslie Excerpts

Wednesday 6th July 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend, who served in at least one of those missions, has made this point before and it is set out in the report as well. There was a policy of deterrence and containment, and I think Sir John Chilcot argues quite persuasively that that situation should have continued for longer, with more UN action and more inspector action, before the last resort of military action. He makes that point very clearly.

[Chris Leslie (Nottingham East) (Lab/Co-op)]

There are some practical constitutional lessons to be learned here, specifically for Parliament given its role in the process. For example, would it not be better if we had specific opportunity to scrutinise the Attorney General before such decisions are made? Should we not have better parliamentary scrutiny of the security services? On those occasions when we do have to come to a decision about military intervention, which is sometimes necessary, should there not be a better-equipped National Security Council, which somehow has a thread of accountability back to Parliament?

[The Prime Minister]

These are all interesting ideas and I am prepared to consider them. The Attorney General does answer questions in Parliament and is accountable to Parliament. The National Security Council’s members are accountable to Parliament and now there is this Committee of both Lords and Commons, in front of which I have appeared, that scrutinises the national security strategy. As I have said, our intelligence services are far more accountable than they have ever been, including giving speeches, openly, about what they are doing and then answering questions at ISC meetings in some considerable detail. I am always happy to consider other things, but we have come a huge way on accountability.

Outcome of the EU Referendum

Chris Leslie Excerpts

Monday 27th June 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I certainly believe that we all have a responsibility to bring the country together and to make this new pathway work as well as it does, but we have to do it from a position of realism. We do not know exactly what some of the economic and other effects will be, so we are going to have to take great caution and care in the coming days and the coming weeks to respond to that, as well as coming together to get the best pathway for our country to leave this organisation.

[Chris Leslie (Nottingham East) (Lab/Co-op)]

On Friday, the Leader of the Opposition suggested we should rush to invoke article 50 renegotiations now. I disagree. I believe that it would be in good, sound order for our economy, to secure a stable transition, to make sure that article 50 is not triggered until at least the new year.

[The Prime Minister]

The triggering of article 50 is a matter for the British Government, and it is important we establish that. What matters is that we do as much work as possible to determine the best possible model that we want to try to negotiate for, which must be a matter for the new Prime Minister, and then he or she will make the decision to trigger article 50.

European Council

Chris Leslie Excerpts

Monday 21st March 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

It is important that our agencies work together. On the whole, that will be on a bilateral basis, but it is worth understanding that in the modern European Union, there are a series of mechanisms to do with criminal records, border information, watch lists and passenger name records, all of which help to keep us safer than we would otherwise be. To be completely fair, if we left the EU we could try to negotiate our way back into some of those things, but it would take time, and this prompts the question: if you want to get back into them, why are you getting out of them?

[Chris Leslie (Nottingham East) (Lab/Co-op)]

Will the Prime Minister now justify the nearly £3 billion giveaway in capital gains tax for the wealthy?

[The Prime Minister]

I think it is right to cut capital gains tax, because we want to have an enterprising economy in which entrepreneurs want to get out there, set up businesses, and create wealth and jobs to generate the tax revenues that pay for the health service and the schools that we want for our country. I note that the capital gains tax rate, at 20%, will be a little bit higher than it was when the hon. Gentleman was last in government. Because we are not cutting it for carried interest, we will not have to face the absurd situation we had when he was in government in which people working in the City were paying less tax than the people who cleaned their offices.

European Council

Chris Leslie Excerpts

Monday 22nd February 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. I do not believe that the American view is based simply on, “Well, it’s easier to make one phone call rather than many.” I think it is based on the fact that they believe that Britain will be a stronger partner and more able to get things done and to bend the will of other countries in our and America’s direction when it comes to solving great crises. If we ask ourselves how we have managed to massively reduce pirate attacks off Somalia, and how we are going to try to fix the problem of Libya’s border, then we see that, yes, we can act unilaterally, and yes, there are valuable partnerships in NATO, but EU partnerships are worth a lot too.

[Chris Leslie (Nottingham East) (Lab/Co-op)]

Given that the pound has slid to its lowest level for seven years on the news that the hon. Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Boris Johnson) has joined the leave campaign, are we not just getting a glimpse of the major economic upheaval that could follow if we leave the European Union? Is that not a timely reminder that the long-term best interests of our country should come ahead of party politicking and personal ambition?

[The Prime Minister]

It is important that we look in detail at the full economic impacts of either staying in or choosing to leave the EU. We will set out that approach in the weeks and months to come so that people can see what the dangers and risks are and what the case is.

Syria

Chris Leslie Excerpts

Thursday 26th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right that dialogue between Saudi Arabia and Iran is going to be crucial to providing the backdrop to a political solution in Syria. We need to make sure that the potential conflict between Sunni majority nations and Shi’a majority nations does not overtake what is necessary, which is to identify the common enemy: this Islamist extremist violence, most notably through ISIL, which is of course a threat to us, as we have discussed, but also a massive threat to the stability and security of the region.

[Chris Leslie (Nottingham East) (Lab/Co-op)]

It is of course important that the Prime Minister provides the reassurances that many of my Labour colleagues are seeking—particularly on the reconstruction fund, which he mentioned, for after the conflict—but is not United Nations Security Council resolution 2249 a pivotal moment? Will he confirm that it not only permits all necessary steps to be taken to eradicate ISIL, but actually calls on member states to take all necessary steps? What would it say about our judgment if we failed to take heed of the appeal from the United Nations?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman makes a very powerful point. The Security Council resolution confirms the right of member states to defend themselves and others, and it confirms the need to do so against ISIL, so I think that is a very powerful point. When people talk about knee-jerk reactions, we need to think about what has changed. What has changed is that we have a UN Security Council resolution, Paris has happened, the political process has happened, and the advice about the need for action is so clear. Labour Members will, I know, be thinking very carefully about this, and rightly so, but I was looking at what their party conference motion said about opposing action until the “following conditions are met”, of which the first point was:

“Clear and unambiguous authorisation…from the United Nations.”

That is a very important step forward, so Members who feel that this is the right action should see that as a very important point.

National Security and Defence

Chris Leslie Excerpts

Monday 23rd November 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Let me say first, in defence of the 2010 review, in which my hon. Friend was involved, that we did have to make difficult decisions, but I would argue that the moves that we made—reducing the number of battle tanks and focusing on such elements as flexible armed forces and information, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance—resulted from our making the right judgments. Those were the things that we needed more of, and now we are able to supply even more of them.

My hon. Friend asked about the strike brigades. As he knows, we currently have the capability to deploy a brigade anywhere in the world and sustain it indefinitely. With the new armoured vehicles, such as the Ajax vehicles, and given the new way in which we are going to rotate armed forces personnel, instead of being able to deploy only one brigade we shall be able to deploy two, with greater mobility. Obviously the time that this takes will depend on how soon some of the new equipment comes on board, but my commitment to the House is to make sure that the strike brigades are ready as soon as they can be.

[Chris Leslie (Nottingham East) (Lab/Co-op)]

Before the Prime Minister makes his statement on ISIL and Syria on Thursday, may I urge him to listen carefully to Labour Members who have an open mind on this question, but want reassurances on specific issues—chiefly reassurances about humanitarian protection and the need to prevent further displacement and suffering, but also a specific commitment to long-term reconstruction and stabilisation once the conflict has ended?

[The Prime Minister]

I can certainly give the hon. Gentleman that assurance. My aim is to bring together the biggest possible majority on both sides of the House in favour of the action that I think is necessary. I am not saying that we will solve the problem simply by crossing a line from Iraq into Syria. We will solve the problem if we have a political strategy, a diplomatic strategy and a humanitarian strategy. Britain is leading the way in that regard, not least by organising next year’s conference with Norway, Germany and Kuwait to raise the funds that are necessary to help the Syrian people wherever they are—and the more of them we can keep in Syria, the better.