Leaving the EU: Protection for Workers

Debate between Alison McGovern and Baroness Winterton of Doncaster
Wednesday 6th March 2019

(5 years, 8 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Baroness Winterton of Doncaster Portrait Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)
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This is obviously an extremely important statement, but there is quite a lot of other business to get through this afternoon, so shorter questions and shorter answers might be in order.

Alison McGovern Portrait Alison McGovern (Wirral South) (Lab)
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The Secretary of State speaks well and everybody wishes to listen to him. However, not all his colleagues are of the same mind. Before Christmas, the Attorney General stood at the Dispatch Box and boasted that the non-regression clauses in the deal are

“not enforceable either by the EU institutions or by the arbitration arrangements under the withdrawal agreement.”—[Official Report, 3 December 2018; Vol. 650, c. 559.]

So why on earth should we trust these clauses?