Leaving the European Union

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Rupa Huq

Wednesday 22nd May 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman references the different opinions in the House. That is precisely why I think it is important that we crystallise those opinions to a position that can command a majority across the House. People voted in 2016 to leave the EU, to end free movement, to ensure our courts were supreme and to ensure we did not send vast annual sums to the EU. They wanted us to be that independent nation. I believe that an independent trade policy is part of that independence, which is why I have proposed and supported the position I have on customs, but it will be for the House to determine the customs union objectives—we are talking about the objectives—for future negotiations.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

With the inevitable end nigh for the Prime Minister and our still being in the EU under an extension to an extension, and with burning injustices still unextinguished everywhere, will the Prime Minister tell us, under her premiership, factoring in the two new Ministries she has created, the civil servants from all over redeployed to this exercise and her costly and sometimes incompetent no-deal planning experiments—she now tells us no deal would be a bad thing—how much Brexit has cost the public purse?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady knows full well that the Treasury’s figures for the two Departments preparing for Brexit, in whatever form it takes, have been made public. She alludes to other work the Government have undertaken. I am very pleased that this Government introduced, for example, the race disparity audit and that we are taking action to ensure that those in certain communities who find it harder to get into the workplace are given the support they need, and introducing changes to domestic abuse legislation. There are many areas where this Government are acting to deal with exactly the injustices I have referred to previously.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Rupa Huq

Wednesday 8th May 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I join my hon. Friend in welcoming the reports that Asia Bibi has been able to travel freely and can now make decisions about her future. Our concern was always her safety and security. We were in close contact with the Government of Pakistan and a range of international partners who were considering the offers that would be available to Asia Bibi. Canada made this offer, and we felt it was right and appropriate that we supported that offer. That is important. We have a proud record of welcoming people here who have been persecuted because of their faith, and we will continue that record, but in individual cases like this, it is important for international partners to work together with the key aim constantly of ensuring that the safety, security and best interests of the individual are put first and foremost.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

Q8. When 12-year-old Zac Gormley, a family friend, is the latest victim of an after-school mugging, which has traumatised him, and in the same week another family are terrified by masked robbers in their own home, leafy Ealing and Chiswick feel like they are becoming the wild west. The Prime Minister said that austerity is over, so when will we get back the 21,000 police officers—300 locally—cut on her watch?

[The Prime Minister]

As the hon. Lady knows, we are making around £1 billion extra available for police this year, which includes a significant amount of extra money available for the Metropolitan police. Extra money is also being put into violence reduction units in hotspots around the country, including London, to ensure that we deal with the issue of serious violence, which the Government take very seriously and will be dealing with in a number of ways across Departments.

European Council

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Rupa Huq

Thursday 11th April 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend has made a very interesting and important suggestion, and I will certainly look very carefully at it. It is important that Members of this House have as much information as possible when they are making decisions on these matters, and certainly the voice of business will be an important part of that.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

I must thank the Prime Minister for having me round exactly a week ago—it feels like six months ago—for a much more agreeable cross-party dialogue than the confrontational exchanges that we have in here. I congratulate her on her achievement of the wee hours yesterday night, or this morning—whenever it was. In recognition of the spirit of reaching consensus that she talked about—we discussed last week how all our constituents just want this stalemate moved on from—I am now prepared to allow her deal to pass, subject to the small rider that it has attached to the end of it a ratificatory referendum to check that the will of the people in 2016 is the will of the people now. I feel that would imbue it with democratic renewal. That is my compromise—it is a big climbdown from what I have said all the way up to now—and I just wonder if she would tell us what is hers.

[The Prime Minister]

I was happy to have a discussion with the hon. Lady last week. I think that in her question she referenced the need that constituents feel to be able to move on from this situation. I just say to her gently that I do not think that holding a second referendum would enable people to move on—it would create further division.

European Council

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Rupa Huq

Monday 25th March 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Although I have indicated that we would whip against the amendment from my right hon. Friend the Member for West Dorset (Sir Oliver Letwin), if it were to pass it would lead to some votes taking place on Wednesday. The commitment that the Government have made is that there would be opportunities over this week and next week. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster indicated that we would facilitate the opportunity for the House to make those decisions in the two weeks following last week’s European Council.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

As someone who is not a member of the DUP or the ERG or from a leave-voting seat, I thank the Prime Minister for the “Dear colleague” letter she sent me, which includes the offer of a meeting. When she came to Ealing Central and Acton in 2017, my majority was 200 and she had hopes of taking the constituency back. Today, in that same seat, more people have signed a petition to rescind article 50—never mind supporting a people’s vote—than voted Conservative in that same election. If she is serious, will she meet me to thrash out a way forward so that London is not lost forever? If not, it will seem that she just listens to the same old voices all the time.

[The Prime Minister]

As I indicated in answer to an earlier question, I have been meeting Members from across the House and am very happy to do so to discuss such matters.

Leaving the European Union

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Rupa Huq

Tuesday 26th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. Whether it is called a people’s vote or a confirmatory vote, it is a second referendum. It is putting the decision back to the British people. We said that we would honour the decision, the Labour party stood on a manifesto of respecting that decision, and we should both do just that.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister says that she wants to unite the nation and this House, and she has again presented us today with her deal, no deal or no Brexit. Her deal faced the biggest ever defeat in this place, and no amount of backstop tinkering is going to change things for us on the Opposition Benches. Given that no deal has already been rejected twice by this House, what contingency planning she has done for no Brexit in the same way as for no deal, the assessment of which she is publishing today? If she will not rescind article 50, will she not accept that, ostensibly, the only sensible thing to do with 800 hours to go is to put her negotiated settlement back to the people, so that we can get a fresh assessment of the will of the people—the most accurate one—and then that can prevail?

[The Prime Minister]

I refer the hon. Lady to the answer that I gave to that question earlier.

Leaving the EU

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Rupa Huq

Tuesday 12th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I think the proper response to the sneeze from the hon. Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Laura Smith) at the end of the last question is, “Bless you.”

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

We are now 45 days away from the projected departure date, and we still have no clarity and no closure on a deal that the Prime Minister negotiated when there were 135 days to go. May I ask for her opinion on this statement from the innocent days when there were only 110 days to go, on the eve of the last pulled vote in December?

“If Parliament does not agree a Brexit deal soon then we must recognise that the original mandate to leave, taken over two years ago, will begin to date and will, eventually, no longer represent a reflection of current intent.”

Those are not my words, but the words of the right hon. and gallant Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood). If members of her own Government get it, why won’t she? Can she not see why the general public see that her only strategy is to run down the clock?

[The Prime Minister]

The Government’s position is very clear. We believe it is better for this country to leave with a deal. That is the position that the House of Commons has taken, but the House of Commons has also said that it does not agree the deal that was negotiated. It wants to see changes to the backstop and that is what we are working for.

Leaving the European Union

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Rupa Huq

Monday 21st January 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. I hope that there are those across this House who will take that message to heart and act on it.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

Let us not forget that the fact that the Prime Minister is here at all before us today to explain her plan B, which looks suspiciously like plan A, and the fact that we had a meaningful vote at all are only because she was compelled to do so by Back-Bench action, not because of her own good will. I feel that good will, as well as time, is now slipping away. May I suggest to her that to prevent the old “strong and stable” becoming “scared of scrutiny”, and to win back good will from Members on both sides of the House, including many of her own Ministers, she should just rule out no deal now? Where there is a will, there is a way.

[The Prime Minister]

If the hon. Lady cared to look at the record in Hansard, she would see that far from being compelled to come to this House to give statements on the matter of Brexit, I have regularly come to this House to give statements on Brexit. I think the calculation was that, certainly between October and Christmas, the time was 24 hours. I have given more hours since to this House during debates and statements. I have not been reluctant to come to this House to answer questions from Members on the issue of Brexit.

Leaving the EU

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Rupa Huq

Monday 14th January 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am of course working to ensure that things do go in the right way tomorrow, but I assure my hon. Friend that whatever I do and whatever happens, I will be working in the national interest with the determination, which I have always had, of ensuring that we deliver for this country.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

Small businesses with no time, energy or resources for no-deal planning are appalled to see the phantom ferry company’s Government contract, the Kent lorry park experiment and the swathes of civil servants now given over to some sort of “Dad’s Army”-style wargaming of troops on our streets, so will the Prime Minister tell us how much, by running down the clock and not ruling out no deal, her blackmail Brexit has cost the taxpayer to date and since 11 December?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady will know the sums of money that have been made available by the Treasury to Departments across Government to provide for both no-deal preparations and the preparations for a deal. It is entirely right that we make those contingency arrangements to ensure that we have made the decisions and put in place the operations necessary should there be no deal.

European Council

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Rupa Huq

Monday 17th December 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We have that date in our legislation: it is 29 March 2019.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister is not interested in the will of the people apart from on one day in 2016, and given that her minority Government were the first ever to be found in contempt and that she pulled the plug on the meaningful vote at the last minute last week, she clearly has little regard for the sovereignty of Parliament either. She has returned from her latest travels empty-handed due to her own red lines, so why will she not allow MPs to vote on her deal this week and consider extending article 50? It is the season of miracles and good will, but no one—no one at all—believes that this is all going to be neatly concluded by the end of March.

Exiting the European Union

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Rupa Huq

Monday 10th December 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The political declaration makes it very clear that what will be negotiated will give effect to what is in the political declaration. If you like, it is instructions to the negotiators. What is also clear within the deal that has been agreed is that both sides will use their best endeavours, acting in good faith, to achieve that negotiation by the end of December 2020.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

Nine times, the Prime Minister assured us that there would be no early general election, and still it happened. As recently as this morning her hapless, ever-changing band of Ministers were out on the airwaves assuring us that there would be a meaningful vote tomorrow before this latest twist—a sort of premature parliamentary ejaculation—that has put the lie to the claim that she sticks to her guns. When she will not even tell us when the vote is deferred to and as it appears the lady is for turning, how can we or anyone trust anything she says again?

[The Prime Minister]

I am tempted to say to the hon. Lady that, if she looks carefully, I think she will see that I am not capable of a parliamentary ejaculation. [Laughter.]

G20 Summit

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Rupa Huq

Monday 3rd December 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Of course, the incoming President who made those remarks was not there at the G20 summit; as my hon. Friend said, it was the current President, Mr Temer, who was there. We will continue to be clear with all countries around the world about the importance that we attach to equal rights and human rights.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

May I congratulate the Prime Minister on all the air miles she has clocked up recently on our behalf? I urge her Government not to forget their promises on anticorruption. The G20 declaration commits leaders to tackling

“vulnerabilities in the financial system”.

What with the National Crime Agency—which the Prime Minister had a hand in setting up, as she reminded us—estimating that hundreds of billions of pounds are currently being laundered through the UK, will she give us a date for when the commitment to consult on the creation of a criminal offence for corporations of failure to prevent money laundering will materialise, so that we can practise what we preach?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Lady for her remarks. I did set up the National Crime Agency and it is doing important work in this area. The new economic crime centre has been set up, and that is an important step in dealing with these issues. We continue to look at the powers that are necessary to deal with money laundering, but we have already introduced new powers that enable us to take action against those involved in these matters.

Leaving the EU

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Rupa Huq

Monday 26th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Yes. I thank my hon. Friend for bringing the views of business in Taunton to the House. She is absolutely right. We listen to business. That is exactly why the free trade area with good customs arrangements lies at the heart of our future economic partnership. This deal delivers Brexit, but it does it in a way that enables business to thrive and jobs to be protected.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister is fond of telling us what the British people think. She trumpets the end of freedom of movement as a plus of what is now a face-saving exercise, but for businesses that are losing their EU workforces, for EU nationals—there are 13,000 in my seat—and for young people who want to study and live abroad, that, as well as her crass comments about jumping the queue, are a tragedy. Is it not time that she sought a fresh assessment of the will of the people and gave all electors in this 65 million nation—not just 650 MPs—a say? What if the will of the people in June 2016 is no longer the will of the people?

[The Prime Minister]

I refer the hon. Lady to the answer I gave earlier.

Progress on EU Negotiations

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Rupa Huq

Thursday 22nd November 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am very happy to give my hon. Friend that commitment, and he is absolutely right. That is why I have said, as I have said before, that any second referendum would not be a people’s vote but a politicians’ vote.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

There is a strange sense of déjà vu and, indeed, anti-climax in this document after more than two years. The words “shall be decided” occur 127 times, and paragraph 147, at the end, states that a high-level conference will be convened at least every six months, with no guarantees of anything. That is a possible Brexternity. At what date and time will these negotiations ever end? With both this and with last week’s so-called deal, will the Prime Minister not just admit that she is flogging a dead horse?

[The Prime Minister]

I have made clear before that we will be working to ensure that the future relationship can be in place on 1 January 2021.

October EU Council

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Rupa Huq

Monday 22nd October 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I would not require any other EU member state to do that, and it is unacceptable for the EU to require us effectively to carve Northern Ireland away from the United Kingdom with a customs border down the Irish sea. I have made that very clear, and that is why we are looking for alternative backstop proposals.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

A huge number of people marching for a democratic say on the next steps and a fresh assessment of the will of the people should not be ignored by any Government, unless the Government are perhaps not being completely full with us about what they know. Does the Prime Minister think that her deal will leave us better off than the deal we already have as an EU member—yes or no?

[The Prime Minister]

I have been very clear that we are working for a good deal. Our best days lie ahead of us, but this is about getting a good deal, getting good deals around the rest of the world and ensuring that we build a better and brighter future for the people of this country.

EU Exit Negotiations

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Rupa Huq

Monday 15th October 2018 Commons Chamber

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

The Brexit Minister luckily made it back okay from the continent yesterday, but my son’s school trip letter about Berlin in June warns that in the case of a no-deal Brexit the projected price may rise due to the pound sterling rate relative to the euro and that additional fees may be incurred for visas—not to mention what will happen to the plane if the open skies agreement is not renewed. If Elthorne Park High School is not prepared to take the whole “It’ll be all right on the night” line that we be keep being fed, surely “Project Fear” is fast becoming “Project Reality”.

[The Prime Minister]

We are working for a good deal, but it is right that the Government, as we have done through the publication of the technical notices and our work on the matters that are the responsibility of Government, prepare for the possibility of no deal. The European Union is preparing for the possibility of no deal, but both sides are working to ensure that we get a deal.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Rupa Huq

Wednesday 5th September 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I commend my hon. Friend for the work that he has done to champion the cause of blood cancer and raise a much greater awareness of the issue. I can assure him that we will continue to press on and raise awareness of the issue, and I, too, am pleased that the decision that was announced yesterday was able to be made. I congratulate him, because he has personally campaigned on this and championed this cause.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

Q5. The Prime Minister and I both represent seats around Heathrow airport, and we both campaigned for years against its damaging effects on our constituents and against its expansion. But when it came to the third runway vote, she shifted. If I can understand her change of heart—because new facts emerge and it was not the same proposal as it was years ago—can she not apply the same logic and allow the electorate the final say on the final Brexit deal?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady makes an ingenious attempt to raise the Brexit issue. This Parliament overwhelmingly gave the British the decision on whether to remain in or leave the European Union. The British people voted. It is now up to this Government and politicians across the whole House to show our faith with the British people and deliver on their vote.

NATO Summit

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Rupa Huq

Monday 16th July 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My right hon. Friend makes a good and important point. He is absolutely right that this is an opportunity for us to show global Britain and to show our absolute commitment to NATO for the future.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

Our NATO obligations are entwined with our other collective security arrangements. The Prime Minister has previously said:

“Thanks to the arrest warrant, more than 2,500 people wanted for crimes abroad are no longer roaming the streets of Britain…These include serious international criminals like murderers, paedophiles, human traffickers and terrorists.”

Can she tell us how she intends to defend us from these undesirables, as the White Paper does not commit to keeping us in the European arrest warrant system post Brexit?

Leaving the EU

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Rupa Huq

Monday 9th July 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

It was always clear that the White Paper, which will be published as a DExEU White Paper, would reflect the Government’s position, and the White Paper that is published next week will do exactly that.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

Now that even senior members of the Government are resigning—DExEU’s midnight runners and the Foreign Secretary—because they think that we are heading for a bad Brexit deal, I suggest to the Prime Minister that at the end of the negotiations, she could put herself in a strong position by holding a people’s vote to validate the final deal. What is she scared of?

[The Prime Minister]

I think that I have covered this point on a number of occasions. It remains unfortunate that the Labour party is not willing to rule out a second referendum. This House—this Parliament—overwhelmingly gave the people of this country the decision and the choice whether to leave the European Union. They voted. I think that the vast majority of the public out there want their Government to deliver on that—not to have a second referendum, but to have faith with the British people and deliver on their vote.

G7

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Rupa Huq

Monday 11th June 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The question of ensuring that women have those opportunities and that gender equality is in place is right in itself, but it is also important for economies, because there would be a significant boost to economies if women were able to play the same sort of role, in terms of businesses that they are setting up and so forth, as the male part of the population. I can assure him that President Macron, who will be hosting the G7 next year, committed at the summit in Quebec to taking this agenda item—the empowerment of women and gender equality—through to the G7 in France next year.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

Does the Prime Minister share my concern that the good work she described coming out of the G7 seems deliberately to be having the shine taken off it by President Trump and his tweets—insisting that it should be a G8 and pushing on with his tariffs—and his general inability to play by the collective rules? Or are blond buffoons who seek to undermine her at every turn now becoming the norm?

[The Prime Minister]

G7 leaders signed up to a number of actions in the communiqué. We will ensure that we abide by them, and I expect others to do the same.

European Council

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Rupa Huq

Monday 26th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. That was reflected in the conclusions of the European Council that took place on Thursday and Friday last week. It has also been reflected in the actions taken by number of EU countries. Those actions are not just about supporting the United Kingdom; they are in the interests of the national security of those countries themselves.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

It is pleasing to see our EU partners expressing unanimity behind the Prime Minister in recognising that the shocking events in Salisbury were in fact made in Russia. Among the actions that we now take, will she please revisit the golden ticket visas—the tier 1 investor visas—in the light of the fact that 2,500 oligarchs have acquired such visas in less than 10 years? Will she at least commit to strengthening the checks on the wealth behind these people so that accusations of rich Russians buying their way into Britain with dirty money simply cannot stick?

[The Prime Minister]

My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has in hand a review of that particular tier of investor visas.

Salisbury Incident

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Rupa Huq

Wednesday 14th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We of course stand ready to call out the Putin Administration and Russian Government; we do that across a number of fronts and will continue to do so.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

I thank the Prime Minister for her statement and the concern she expressed to me yesterday regarding the surprise substances some of us received in our parliamentary post this week—not on a Salisbury scale, but frightening none the less. Will she commit to those who operate within and outside feeling the full force of the law, and go a bit faster on the long-promised public registers of property, many of which are Russian-owned? This has been Government policy since David Cameron, and if they were in place by now, we would know where the assets are to freeze.

[The Prime Minister]

I reiterate the comment that I made at Prime Minister’s questions that these were appalling acts against Muslim Members of this House, and of course a full investigation is taking place. I have discussed the public register of ownership with the Business Secretary and it is the Government’s intention to bring that forward, so that we can ensure that we shine a light on the issue.

Salisbury Incident

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Rupa Huq

Monday 12th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for what he has said. I assure him that, as I have said to others, we will consider a range of activities—a range of responses—and I will update the House further at the earliest opportunity. Let me also confirm that we will continue to defend the democratic values that underpin us as a country, but wish to do so alongside our allies. It was remarked earlier that the international rules-based order is under threat from Russia. I have to say that it is also under threat from others, and it is important that we stand up and robustly defend it.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

Three people are gravely ill in hospital following this horrific chain of events. I welcome the Prime Minister’s resolve that business cannot go on as usual. Will she take this opportunity to tighten up the loopholes in the system in respect of money laundering, so that the “From Russia With Cash” situation that has occurred all too often does not turn into “From Russia With Blood”?

[The Prime Minister]

As the hon. Lady will know, the Government recently took extra powers to enable us to deal with criminal finances through the Criminal Finances Act 2017, and I think it important that we did that. We are well aware that the very attractiveness of normal financial activity here in London can mean that there are those who see an opportunity for illicit flows of money, and we will take every possible action against them.

UK/EU Future Economic Partnership

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Rupa Huq

Monday 5th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The aim is to ensure that when we leave the European Union, we have a result that is good for the whole United Kingdom—not just Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, but the whole of England, including the north. My hon. Friend is absolutely right that voters in the north of England voted overwhelmingly to leave the EU. This Parliament gave them that vote; it gave the people of the United Kingdom that vote, and it is right that we as politicians deliver on that, rather than talking, as the Liberal Democrats do, about a second referendum. The Labour party, too, will not rule out a second referendum. It should be listening to the people and giving them what they voted for.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

First chlorinated chicken, then hormone-pumped beef, and now a trade war. Are those really a price worth paying to keep holding hands with Trump? We should be holding him to account.

[The Prime Minister]

We are discussing with the United States of America a potential trade deal, and we will also be doing that with other countries around the world, such as Australia, because we are ensuring that we are developing the economy of the future for this country; that will bring jobs and prosperity to this country in years to come.

European Council

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Rupa Huq

Monday 18th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. He puts it succinctly and very well indeed. We want to maintain good trade access, but we also want to be able to take back control of our borders and laws, and that is what we will do.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

I congratulate the Prime Minister on the applause she got at the EU dinner—something that even George Osborne would never have predicted. But would not the assurance on the rights of EU nationals have been more useful 18 months ago? As we now hear that a compromise is being cooked up to stave off yet another rebellion, were humble pie and fudge on the menu?

Brexit Negotiations

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Rupa Huq

Monday 11th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, I absolutely agree. We have shown that we can achieve what we want to achieve for the United Kingdom. That bodes well for the next phase of the negotiations. I am optimistic about that next phase and I hope others will be, too.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

In the light of the nearly £40 billion that we will now be spending to leave the EU, when does the Prime Minister anticipate our regaining our triple A credit rating?

[The Prime Minister]

Of course, the credit ratings are determined by external bodies, but one thing is certain: if the hon. Lady wants to ensure that we have good credit ratings in the future, we do not want a Labour Government and a run on the pound.

European Council

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Rupa Huq

Monday 23rd October 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. That was why I set out in my Florence speech what our future trade relationship could be like. That has elicited a response from the EU27, and they are now preparing for negotiations on that relationship.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

May I just say what fine fettle the Prime Minister appears to be in, given the German media reports at the weekend suggesting that she was the opposite? Something must have been lost in translation. Anyway, does she share the concern of my constituents who work in the City of London at the declaration of the CEO of Goldman Sachs that he will be spending a lot more time in Frankfurt after all this? Similar musings have come out of J. P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley. What is the Prime Minister doing to stem the brain drain and corporate exodus that faces our great capital?

[The Prime Minister]

Of course we want to ensure that the City of London retains its place as the world’s leading financial centre. That has been reconfirmed recently. I say to those who think that the City of London will be damaged by our leaving the European Union that the very reasons why the City is so important in an international financial sense are the very reasons why it is important for the City to retain that financial services provision for the rest of the EU as well.

UK Plans for Leaving the EU

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Rupa Huq

Monday 9th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

The writing is not on the wall for this Government as some say: it is just slowly sliding off. Why did the Prime Minister choose to deliver her statement from Florence when Ealing town hall would have had her? What was the cost of flying the entire Cabinet there in pounds or euros or in terms of the carbon footprint—any will do?

[The Prime Minister]

I am asked why I gave a speech about our future relationship with Europe on mainland Europe. I do not need to give any answer to that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Rupa Huq

Wednesday 28th June 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I can assure my hon. Friend that I do not have that aversion, but on this issue I do take a different view. It is important that, given the position that we hold and the fact that our economy is one of the largest in the world, we recognise that we can help those around the world. We are seeing millions of people, particularly girls, being educated as a result of the action that we are taking. That is important. I recognise what my hon. Friend has said: we have suffered from terrible terrorist attacks here in the United Kingdom, and our services have also foiled a number of terrorist attacks in recent months and years. It is important that we are able to use our aid money to help ensure good governance in countries so that we do not see the creation of spaces where the terrorists are able to train and incite others.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

Q11. I must thank the Prime Minister and most of the Cabinet for visiting Ealing during the election, because my majority went up by 50 times. Some 53,000 EU nationals reside in the London borough of Ealing, and they would now like some clarity on this “fair and generous” offer, such as how much extra their settled status applications will cost them and why they will not be able to vote in local elections, as they can now.

Article 50

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Rupa Huq

Wednesday 29th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

Even an ardent remainer like me recognises that we now have a golden opportunity to reshape immigration policy. The Prime Minister spoke in her statement of “a truly global Britain”, so will she apply that principle and, at the earliest opportunity in the next two years, remove international students from net migration targets? That would send out the message that we are a welcoming nation and stem the plummeting tide of EU applications to our universities.

[The Prime Minister]

Whether or not international students are included in the net migration target is not a message about our country and how we welcome people. We welcome students coming to this country—we are very clear about that—but in the statistics we abide by the international definition used by countries around the world. We want to ensure that the brightest and the best are indeed able to come to the United Kingdom and get the value of a UK education.

European Council

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Rupa Huq

Tuesday 14th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I have been very clear with all the devolved Administrations that Brexit will not involve any powers that have currently been devolved to those Administrations being returned to the United Kingdom Government. As we look at the transfer of powers that are currently in Brussels back to the United Kingdom, we may very well see more powers being devolved to the Administrations.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

A total of 43% of publications from the UK’s 47 biggest universities come from collaboration with at least one EU firm—it is even higher in London institutions. Did the discussions that the Prime Minister engaged in with her European counterparts touch on any kind of safeguards for our university sector given that level of dependency on European industry? Furthermore, on page 75 of her party’s manifesto, there is a commitment not only to remain in the single market, but to expand it. How is that going?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady might have noticed that we also promised the British people a referendum and a vote on whether to stay in the European Union. We gave them that vote, and they decided. We are now acting on the results of that vote. Although the vast majority of questions have been on Brexit this afternoon, Brexit was not formally discussed in the EU Council, as I indicated earlier. On the issue of universities, we have already given some comfort to universities in relation to research funding agreements that they enter into before we leave the European Union. If she looks at the Lancaster House speech I gave and the White Paper that came off the back of that, she will see that science and innovation was one issue that we put forward as a negotiating objective.

European Council 2016

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Rupa Huq

Monday 19th December 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I have to disappoint my hon. Friend; this matter was not discussed at the European Council. However, as my hon. Friend indicated, the whole question of tax avoidance is one that the UK has led on with the measures we have taken, and it is an issue that I raised at the G20 earlier this year.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

Did the discussions the Prime Minister had with her European counterparts touch on the exchange rate for sterling, and how many euros did she get for her pounds on her trip?

[The Prime Minister]

No, we did not discuss that.

European Council

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Rupa Huq

Monday 24th October 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

It will be for this Parliament to decide how we deal with the regulations and laws once they have been brought into UK law, but there are two points I would make to the hon. Gentleman. It is right to bring that EU law into UK law at the point at which we leave the European Union, to ensure that there is no legal gap and that everybody has certainty of the legislation that they will be operating under. The second important point is that, once that has happened, it will be for this Parliament to decide, and to be sovereign in determining, those laws.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

Will the Prime Minister enlighten us on whether her discussions touched on the subject of higher education? Are there any clues about whether UK universities will retain access to EU research projects after we leave, and about the fees status of EU students in 2018 and beyond? On the first point, we have already heard anecdotal evidence that British researchers are being turned down for Horizon 2020 funds, and my written questions to the Government on both points remain unanswered.

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady will, of course, get responses to her written questions in due course. A number of people have raised with me a concern that an approach is being taken, particularly in relation to the university sector, whereby, because we have decided to leave, we should be treated somewhat differently while we are still in the European Union. It is important that we emphasise and ensure that, while we are still members of the EU, we are still treated as full members and therefore have access to those sorts of projects.