EU Exit Negotiations

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Monday 13th November 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Davis]

Yes, my hon. Friend is exactly right. Properly seen, this is a positive-sum negotiation. Only if one side is unwise and does not take the point on free trade will it become a negative-sum one.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

We have heard a lot of complaint from Opposition Members about the Government’s generous offer of a meaningful vote on whatever deal the Secretary of State can achieve. Will my right hon. Friend confirm that that is exactly the basis on which the European Parliament will vote, and will he tell the House whether UK Members of the European Parliament will vote on the deal?

[Mr Davis]

The ones in receipt of the Conservative Whip will.

Brexit and Foreign Affairs

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Monday 26th June 2017 Commons Chamber

[Keir Starmer]

One of the biggest risks to these negotiations is utter complacency—the failure to realise the risks and complexity of the negotiations. It is quite right for the Opposition to challenge the Government at every twist and turn to ensure that these negotiations go as well as possible.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

Will the right hon. and learned Gentleman give way?

[Keir Starmer]

I will make some progress.

In addition to tone and approach, the second thing that needs to change is that we need to drop the “no deal is better than a bad deal” mantra.

[Andrew Bridgen]

Will the right hon. and learned Gentleman give way?

[Keir Starmer]

I will make my point and then I will give way.

No deal would be a miserable failure. As the Chancellor said last week, no deal would be a very, very bad outcome indeed, but it is what happens automatically on 29 March 2019 if we do not reach agreement—we will be gently pushed over a cliff. Threatening to jump does not kid anyone. No deal means no agreement at all—no agreement on trade, no agreement on security and no arrangements for passing on information, because that is all done according to an EU framework.

--- Later in debate ---

[Keir Starmer]

This mischaracterisation of the point I am making does not help. This is not the EU demanding here; if we do not have a lawful basis for these activities in the UK, we do not have the authority to do this. It is no good talking up a “no deal” as if it is a viable, tenable option.

[Andrew Bridgen]

rose—

[Keir Starmer]

I am going to press on to my third point about the reset: we need a razor-like focus on how we retain the benefits of the single market and the customs union. The Secretary of State stood at that Dispatch Box on 24 January and promised this House that we he would reach an agreement that provided the “exact same benefits” as single market membership and the customs union. He knows, because we have raised it repeatedly since then, that we will hold him to that; it is one of the six tests I set out for the Government to meet in the final agreement.

Next Steps in Leaving the European Union

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Monday 10th October 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Madeleine Moon (Bridgend) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State has said that he will provide some certainty and clarity. I have had an email from a general practitioner in my constituency saying that a lady who has lived there for over 40 years is having mental health problems as she is concerned about being deported. Parents have contacted me saying that their children are awake at night worried that they are about to lose their mother or their father who is an EU citizen.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

Reassure them.

[Mrs Moon]

It is absolutely imperative that we have some clarity. A glib individual on the Government Benches claims I should reassure them. I have done that, but they need reassurance from the Government, because I do not have such a power. May we at least have clarification that those who have lived in this country for over five years will have an automatic right to remain? They need it, and it is only right that citizens should have such clarity.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Davis]

I am sorry, but the hon. Gentleman is just wrong. We have already invested a lot of resource in this issue. Indeed, the quotes from the Northern Ireland Secretary on the front page of The Guardian this morning are accurate. We are talking to the Irish Government to determine, as well as we can, a technical mechanism to ensure that we will maintain an open border and underpin the agreement.

[Andrew Bridgen]

I am disappointed that so many Members of this House—I might politely call them the “unreconcilables”—seem intent on using every ploy of parliamentary procedure to undermine the will of the British people, claiming that it is the democratic right of this House. Does my right hon. Friend agree that one of the most important principles of democracy is that everyone’s vote counts the same, and that on 23 June, everyone in the country, including Members of this House, had a vote and the result was clear?

[Mr Davis]

My hon. Friend is right. We have a mandate and we should remember that. I have heard, although not today to be honest, some sneering comments from people who seem to think that 17.5 million people do not have the right to hold an opinion.