European Council

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Stephen Timms

Monday 24th June 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I will ensure that I am able to look at the specific case that the hon. Gentleman has raised.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

The European Parliament is investigating concerns that more than 1 million citizens of other EU countries who live in the UK may have been wrongly prevented from voting in the recent European parliamentary elections. What discussions has the Prime Minister had about those concerns, either at the Council or elsewhere?

[The Prime Minister]

This is not an issue that has been raised by other member states directly with me, and it was not raised at this EU Council meeting.

Leaving the European Union

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Stephen Timms

Monday 21st January 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. First, we will ensure that, as I have said, those fees will be waived, and those who have already applied or are applying during the pilot will have their fees reimbursed. My hon. Friend is absolutely right about the point in relation to a second referendum. It is so important that we show people that they can have trust in their politicians by delivering on the decision that they took in 2016.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

I do not doubt that the Prime Minister has tried her level best to secure an acceptable agreement, but she has clearly failed—the scale of her defeat last week was monumental—largely because she has been constrained by the national economic interest. Following that failure, surely it would now be right to offer the people a vote.

[The Prime Minister]

We agreed to give the people a vote and that vote took place in 2016. The people voted to leave the European Union, and this Parliament should accept, as the Government are doing, the importance of delivering on the vote that people gave in the 2016 referendum.

European Union (Withdrawal) Act

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Stephen Timms

Tuesday 4th December 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I will take two further interventions.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

On 30 March, under the agreement, the UK will lose its place on the European Data Protection Board, even though Ministers have said they wanted to hang on to that place. It is a place where the UK has wielded considerable influence on the development of European policy. Is not the reality of the agreement that we will continue to have to obey these rules, but we will have lost the ability to influence what those rules are?

[The Prime Minister]

The position in terms of voting rights and various elements once we have left the European Union is of course going to change, but what has been clear from the agreements that we have negotiated is the capacity for the United Kingdom to continue to give technical support where that is appropriate in a whole range of matters. On a number of the issues that are dealt with by the European Union, in terms of the rules that it operates, of course these are not just European Union rules, but international standards on which the United Kingdom will continue, during the implementation period and beyond, to have its role. I said I would take a second intervention.

Progress on EU Negotiations

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Stephen Timms

Thursday 22nd November 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

That is certainly our position. That remains our position. Of course a reference within the fisheries section—I think it is in the fisheries section—refers to the desire to have those arrangements in place by July 2020, such that they are in place for the consideration of fixing access and quotas for 2021 and thereafter.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

On financial services, the Prime Minister said that equivalence would not be withdrawn on a whim. Will she tell the House what she meant by that? At the moment, equivalence for a third country can be withdrawn by the European Union at 30 days’ notice, as Switzerland is now experiencing. Will it be different for the UK?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes. If the right hon. Gentleman cares to look at the language in the political declaration, it is clear that what we are negotiating for financial services does in fact go beyond what is available elsewhere.

October EU Council

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Stephen Timms

Monday 22nd October 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

It is precisely because I am aware of people’s concerns about the possibility of an attempt in some circumstances to keep us in some permanent limbo that we are looking at mechanisms to ensure that a backstop, if it is needed, is there for only a limited period of time to provide that bridge to the future relationship, and ideally it would not have to be used at all.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister has told us that parts of the political declaration on the future relationship have been agreed, including on services. What has been agreed on financial services?

[The Prime Minister]

We have indeed made good progress, as I have said, on transport, services and other elements of the economic partnership, and on the security partnership. We are still in the process of negotiating those details so that we can bring them to the House at the point of final agreement.

EU Exit Negotiations

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Stephen Timms

Monday 15th October 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My right hon. Friend makes a very good point. It was a joint report, and the basis on which we were looking to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland was very clear.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

Some people in the House who have been supporting the Government seem to think that the solution is to have a hard border in Northern Ireland but not to enforce it. Is not that prospect just a myth?

[The Prime Minister]

The Government are committed to ensuring that we have no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, and that is what we are working for.

Leaving the EU

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Stephen Timms

Monday 9th July 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

It is absolutely the case that on such issues it is important that we come to a decision that I and the Government believe is in the UK’s national interest and will deliver a good Brexit deal for the United Kingdom. That is where our focus is and will continue to be.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister has opted, finally, for a high degree of alignment with the European Union—she is right to have done so. The Government and the EU intend that the UK will stay in the large number of international agreements with countries outside the EU covering trade and other areas, but that will require agreement from those non-EU countries. What progress has there been so far in securing agreement from those countries?

[The Prime Minister]

The right hon. Gentleman is right in that we are looking to maintain those agreements. Of course, once we are out of the European Union, it will then be possible for us to enhance and improve those agreements in negotiation with those countries. Discussions have been held with a number of countries, and also with the European Commission, which itself has indicated its recognition that this is the right way forward.

June European Council

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Stephen Timms

Monday 2nd July 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

One of the things people voted for when they voted to leave the European Union was to bring an end to free movement, and that will be the case. The hon. Gentleman may be aware that the Migration Advisory Committee has been asked to advise the Home Office on the question of the contribution made to our economy by workers from within the European Union, and it will be reporting on that later this year.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister has recognised that, in the national interest, we will need to continue to recognise the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in a number of areas after the end of the implementation period at the end of 2020. Does she agree that data privacy regulation is one of those areas—she has acknowledged the importance of that—and that Europol is another? Will she set out some of the other areas in which we will need to continue to recognise that jurisdiction?

[The Prime Minister]

As the right hon. Gentleman knows, I indicated in my Mansion House speech and subsequently that what he says may pertain in future where we continue to remain a member of a European Union agency, but the arrangements for that membership, that partnership, that association would still have to be negotiated.

UK/EU Future Economic Partnership

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Stephen Timms

Monday 5th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. This is a relationship that we will be building across a number of areas. I have spoken specifically about economic partnership and in most detail about the goods trade between the EU and the UK in the future. There is the security partnership as well and our work on civil judicial co-operation. There is a whole range of areas in which we will be building a new relationship but a continuing good relationship with the EU, because we may be leaving the EU, but we are not leaving Europe.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

The reality, unfortunately, is that the hard Brexit that the Prime Minister is now pursuing will lead inexorably and inevitably to a hard border in Northern Ireland. Between Canada and the United States, there are border checks of exactly the kind that she rightly says—unlike the Foreign Secretary—that she does not want in Northern Ireland. Will she confirm that she cannot name a single example anywhere in the world of an international border with no customs union and no border checks? It is a fantasy.

[The Prime Minister]

The Opposition need to stop thinking in this binary fashion—that either you are in a customs union or you cannot have suitable customs arrangements. This is exactly the problem. We have set out very clearly the options that are available. I have elaborated on another aspect of the relationship—notably, the regulatory standards. These two go together in building that trade relationship, which means no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Stephen Timms

Wednesday 17th January 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend raises an important issue. He is absolutely right that for too many people loneliness is the sad reality of modern life, and we know that loneliness has an impact not only on mental health, but on physical health. Later today I will be pleased to host a reception at No. 10 Downing Street for the Jo Cox Foundation to look at the issue. I think that the work that Jo Cox started, which has been continued by my hon. Friend the Member for South Ribble (Seema Kennedy) and the hon. Member for Leeds West (Rachel Reeves), is very important. I am pleased to say that the Government have appointed a Minister for loneliness. This is an important step forward. Of course there is more to do, but it shows that we recognise the importance of the issue. I pay tribute to all Members of the House who have championed the issue.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

Q12. Universal credit was meant to remove benefit traps, but the Department for Education wants to base eligibility for free school meals on an income threshold, so if a family earning just below the threshold gets a small pay rise or an increase in hours, they will immediately lose the benefit of the free school meals and end up much worse off. It is a far worse benefit trap than anything in the old benefits system. Surely one Department should not be torpedoing the Government’s aim of getting rid of benefit traps in that way.

[The Prime Minister]

As the right hon. Gentleman knows, we believe that universal credit is a better system because it is simpler than the benefits system it replaces, it encourages people to get into work, and it ensures that the more they earn, the more they keep. Our proposals mean that once universal credit has been fully rolled out, 50,000 more children will be eligible for free school meals than were under the old system.

European Council

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Stephen Timms

Monday 18th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

To avoid, rightly, a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, the Prime Minister has committed the UK, if necessary, to

“maintain full alignment with those rules of the internal market and the customs union”

that are necessary. Will such full alignment apply just to Northern Ireland, or to the UK as a whole?

[The Prime Minister]

As the right hon. Gentleman knows, we believe that we can actually deliver on having no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland through the overall relationship that we negotiate between the UK and the European Union. Failing that, we will look at specific solutions that match the unique circumstances of Northern Ireland, and failing that, we will move to the concept of full alignment, which is about having the same objectives on both sides. If he carries on reading the progress report, it makes it clear how that would operate: it could be UK-wide or, with the agreement of the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly, it could be specific to Northern Ireland.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Stephen Timms

Wednesday 13th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am very happy to agree with my hon. Friend, and to congratulate Ruth Cooke on her appointment for the Clarion Housing Group, which does show that women can take on those very senior jobs. I have to say to my hon. Friend that he is aspiring to an accolade that I do not think the right hon. and learned Member for Camberwell and Peckham (Ms Harman) has ever given to me, despite the fact that I am only the second female Prime Minister in this country. One day, maybe, the Labour sisterhood will manage to get a female leader of the Labour party.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

Q11. Assessing the impact of leaving the European Union on the different sectors of the UK economy is surely basic spadework for the negotiations, yet the Brexit Secretary told the Select Committee last week that none of it has been done. Why not?

[The Prime Minister]

No, it is not the case that no work has been done in looking at that, as the right hon. Gentleman knows from the over 800 pages of sectoral analysis that have been published.

Brexit Negotiations

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Stephen Timms

Monday 11th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am optimistic about getting that good trade deal for the United Kingdom with the EU, because actually it is in the EU27’s interests for their businesses to be able to continue to trade on good terms with the UK.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

The European Union says that we will stay in the single market and the customs union during the implementation phase. The Prime Minister is saying, I presume, that we will leave at the start of the implementation phase, but will she confirm that the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice will continue throughout the two years or so of the implementation phase?

[The Prime Minister]

As the right hon. Gentleman knows, the details of the implementation period are to be negotiated. Assuming that the EU Council takes the decision to move ahead on Thursday or Friday of this week, that will happen very quickly. He talks about leaving the single market and the customs union. We will do that when we leave the European Union in March 2019, but we will then have a relationship with the European Union during the implementation period to ensure that businesses and individuals have the reassurance of not needing to make two stages of adjustments to our future partnership.

UK Plans for Leaving the EU

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Stephen Timms

Monday 9th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am happy to give my hon. Friend that confirmation and reassurance. We said we wanted this issue to be looked at from an early stage and it has been. Significant progress has been made and I hope that the negotiators will be able to clear up the remaining issues between us in relation to citizens’ rights so that we can give citizens that absolute certainty.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

Will the Prime Minister confirm that there will be no new restrictions at the UK border for EU citizens wishing to come into the UK during the implementation period of “around two years”? I think that is the implication of what she has been saying. She also said that there will be a registration scheme. Who will she require to register?

[The Prime Minister]

It is right that people will be able to come to live and work in the United Kingdom, but those coming from the European Union after the point at which we have left the European Union will be required to register. This is part of the building block to the new immigration rules that will be in place at the end of the implementation period.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Stephen Timms

Wednesday 26th April 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend raises a very important point. We have been able to invest in York, with £1.6 million this year for transport improvements, £2.2 million for highways maintenance and £1.3 million to support the sustainable i-Travel York initiative, but we can invest in infrastructure only if we have the strong and stable leadership that secures a strong economy. That is what the choice in June will be. It is very clear: a strong economy, guaranteeing investment in York and across the country under the Conservatives, or bankruptcy and chaos with Labour.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

Q11. As the Prime Minister knows, fixed odds betting terminals cause immense harm in communities. On taking office, she authorised a review of maximum stakes and all the evidence was collected by the end of last year. Why do we still not have a result? Will she today show some leadership and reduce the maximum stake on these appalling machines to £2?

[The Prime Minister]

I recognise that a number of hon. Members have raised concerns about this issue. We did indeed have the consultation and there will be a Government response to it. Of course, that response—[Interruption.] “Get on with it,” we are told. We are now in a situation where these things will be published after the purdah period and after the general election, so the right hon. Gentleman will have to wait for that response. Obviously we recognise the concern over this issue and we will respond in due course.

Early Parliamentary General Election

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Stephen Timms

Wednesday 19th April 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

That intervention was not worthy of the hon. Gentleman.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

Will the Prime Minister just clarify for us whether she supports fixed-term Parliaments?

[The Prime Minister]

We have a Fixed-term Parliaments Act that enables us to have fixed-term Parliaments. I believe that at this point in time, it is right for us to have this debate and this vote in this House, and I believe that it is right for Members of this House to vote—I shall explain why—for us to have a general election at this stage.

Article 50

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Stephen Timms

Wednesday 29th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Yes. We have already been able to give some reassurance to farmers with our commitment on funding through to 2020 but, of course, we will then need to look at the arrangements that are put in place after the UK leaves the European Union. I assure my hon. Friend that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is working with farmers in all parts of the United Kingdom to look at what are the best arrangements for the way ahead.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

There is a very big economic challenge ahead. Does the Prime Minister recognise that securing anything like the barrier-free access to the single market that she has rightly set as her goal will require some compromise—some middle ground—to be found on the question of free movement of people?

[The Prime Minister]

The decision that was taken on 23 June in relation to free movement was that it should be the UK Government who determine the immigration rules for people coming to the United Kingdom from the European Union. We will be putting forward proposals to the House in due course on what those future arrangements should be. We will not be stopping immigration from the European Union—we will not stop people coming into the United Kingdom—and we recognise that people will still move from the EU into the United Kingdom, but the important point is that the rules governing that movement will be determined by the UK Government.

European Council

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Stephen Timms

Tuesday 14th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. and learned Friend is absolutely right, and the figures are very clear: the single market that is most important to Scotland is the single market with the United Kingdom. [Interruption.] The right hon. Member for Gordon shouts “frictionless borders” at me; of course, Scotland has a frictionless border with the rest of the United Kingdom, which is the most important single market it is a member of.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

In recent discussions I have taken part in, it has been clear that there is no support among any of the parties represented in the German Parliament for the UK to retain barrier-free access to the single market if we no longer operate free movement. The Prime Minister has asserted her optimism, but does she recognise that that is the reality of the starting point we are at?

[The Prime Minister]

The reality of the starting point we are at is that we are going to sit down with the European Commission and, obviously, representatives of the European Council and the European Parliament, to negotiate the relationship that is going to be right for the United Kingdom and right for the rest of the European Union. The discussions I have had so far indicate that there is a recognition on both sides of the negotiation of the importance of making sure that we get a very good free trade agreement.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Stephen Timms

Wednesday 30th November 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

As I mentioned earlier, we have seen a significant rise in the number of people in employment in this country, and that is because we have got the strong economy that we have. However, I recognise that employment and types of employment are changing. Technology is the driver in many cases. That is why I have asked the chief executive of the RSA, Matthew Taylor, to conduct a review of and report on modern employment practices, so we can ensure that the legislative framework is absolutely the right one for the economy of the future and the jobs of the future. That shows that it is now the Conservative party that is the party of working people.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

Q10. The Conservative election manifesto promised to halve the disability employment gap by 2020. Ministers justified their plan to cut the benefit from next April by promising to recycle some of the savings into improving employment support for benefit claimants. It has now become apparent that funding for employment support is not being increased; it is being cut. The target for halving the gap—2020—has been completely abandoned. Surely the only honourable course now is for the Government to abandon the benefit cut as well.

[The Prime Minister]

I am very pleased to say that, over the past three years, nearly 600,000 more disabled people have got into the workplace. I think that is very important. Of course, we want to ensure that all those disabled people who are able to get into work are given the support needed to do that. That is why we have been ensuring not just that this is about benefits, but that this is about the support package in total that people are given. They do have individual support through the personal independence payment for the particular long-terms costs that they have incurred because of their disability. It is also the support package that is provided to people in the work group in employment and support allowance that enables them to get into work. Nearly 600,000 more disabled people in work—that is something the right hon. Gentleman should be celebrating.

Family Migration

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Stephen Timms

Monday 11th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mrs May]

Obviously we are conscious that some people will find it difficult to deal with the income threshold—perhaps a sponsor here who is disabled and may not have the same expectations of income as others—so there will be some ability to be flexible on that. The English language test is an important part of the scheme we are putting in place. I acknowledge what my right hon. Friend says about people who, for a medical reason, may have difficulty with that, but overall I think it is right that we have the test in the scheme.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

I was contacted by a constituent this morning. He is engaged and he earns £16,000 a year. He says:

“I have never relied on the state…I would like to live a happy life with my wife in my country of birth, why should the amount I earn be a reason not…to”?

How does the Secretary of State answer my constituent?

[Mrs May]

I say to the right hon. Gentleman what I have said previously. When someone wants to bring a partner or spouse to the UK, it is right that we have an expectation that they will be able to do so without relying on benefits. The income threshold set by the Migration Advisory Committee is the level at which people are generally able to support themselves and a dependant, which is the circumstance that pertains when someone brings in a spouse or partner. The figure has not been plucked out of the air by this Government. The Migration Advisory Committee looked at it very carefully and this is the threshold that it proposed.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Stephen Timms

Thursday 19th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mrs May]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise the issue. One reason we have specifically recruited business mentors to work with women who want to set up their own business is that access to finance is often much harder for them. My hon. Friend the Minister for Equalities has had some constructive discussions with Noreena Hertz, on which we will be able to report soon.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

4. What assessment she has made of the effect on women's employment of providing support for child care.

Public Disorder

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Stephen Timms

Thursday 11th August 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mrs May]

I think I can provide that guarantee to the right hon. Gentleman.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

My constituency was badly affected on Monday. I wanted to ask about the police cuts. The Prime Minister told us earlier that the budget cuts could be managed with no reductions in visible policing. As the Home Secretary knows, in London a large number of police sergeants are being taken out the leadership of safer neighbourhoods teams in a very visible way. Are we to take it that the Government think there is a different way of managing cuts in London from the one that is being implemented?