United Kingdom Internal Market Bill

Angus Brendan MacNeil Excerpts

Wednesday 16th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Dehenna Davison]

The hon. Gentleman will recall that a few years ago the people of Scotland had the political freedom to choose whether or not they wanted to remain part of this Union and they made that decision. This Government have been given an overwhelming democratic mandate to make sure that delivering on the will of the British people is achieved. The British public had the freedom to choose to leave the EU and the freedom to appoint a Government to—get ready for it—get Brexit done. We must repay that trust and uphold that freedom, and this Bill will allow us to do just that. It is our duty to put the interests of the UK first, to secure our sovereignty, to control our borders, to protect the territorial integrity of the UK and to fundamentally empower the British people and create the best life possible for them. We must remember that all of us are here only on the command of our constituents, and this Bill is our chance to empower the Government to secure a brighter future for the people we represent.

[Angus Brendan MacNeil (Na h-Eileanan an Iar) (SNP)]

Following up on the answer the hon. Lady gave my hon. Friend the Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (Alan Brown), is the UK a centralising superstate or a Union of four nations, where each has a say? Or can the others be bullied by one?

[Dehenna Davison]

The United Kingdom is a Union—the clue is in the name. I will not forget, nor will I ever take it for granted, that the residents of Bishop Auckland had the freedom to choose me as their voice in Parliament. Across every demographic on my patch—from Spennymoor to Shildon and from Barney to Bowes—I have heard the same message: “We have been taken for granted. We have been left behind. We have been ignored.” We in this place cannot allow that to continue. We need to show that we are listening and we need to level up.

For too long, the north-east has been falling behind, failed by years of poor local leadership from Labour and let down over time by a series of successive Governments. Now, empowered by this Government’s levelling up agenda, which is the heart and soul of this Conservative party, we must do better. We must deliver that much needed investment for the north-east, so clause 46 has my wholehearted support. As we know, it will allow the UK Government the freedom to spend taxpayers’ money that was previously administered by the EU.

I must admit that the north-east has been the beneficiary of UK aid money, but as we carve out a bright future as an independent nation, it is only right that our Government have the freedom to decide how we spend our money. It is our job as local MPs then to lobby for that money for our local areas, and I can assure all residents of Bishop Auckland that I will be first in the queue for that. The EU is resisting that notion and is attempting to use state aid as a chain to bind our hands so that we comply with its demands in this negotiation, yet it does not ask the same of other nations with whom it is negotiating trade deals. All we want is fairness.

As well as the freedom of political choice, if the referendum taught us anything it is that we as a nation also deeply desire the freedom to set our own domestic policy and that the sovereignty of the UK is paramount. That is what is being threatened by bureaucrats in Brussels. Their proven willingness to operate without good faith and to interpret the withdrawal agreement in, frankly, absurd and dangerous ways is why we need to empower this Government with the protective powers to secure the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our United Kingdom.

--- Later in debate ---

[Dehenna Davison]

I will not be giving way again; there are other Members who want to speak.

I now turn to my friends in Scotland. We all remember how we witnessed the people of Scotland exert their right of political freedom to choose to stay as part of our Union. [Interruption.] I cannot state this more clearly: the United Kingdom is stronger united. The Scottish people chose their future as part of our Union, and it is the faith in that strength that we must protect.

[Angus Brendan MacNeil]

Will the hon. Lady give way?

[Dehenna Davison]

I will not give way again. I know by now I should not be surprised by SNP Members’ antics, but I am surprised by the tone of their amendments today. I find it remarkable that SNP Members are against the prospect of additional funding for their communities. They would rather have UK taxpayers hand over our pocket money to Brussels in order for it to siphon off a portion, give us a measly bit back and pat us on the head. Well, I say no. We already know that the SNP is adamant that it wants to break up our Union, but why is it so unwilling to be given powers by the UK Government, yet so willing to hand them away to Brussels? I have spoken of the freedoms that we have.

--- Later in debate ---

Mr Evans, you have been in the House as long as I have, and I think I have spoken on every Scotland Act; in fact I probably led for the Scottish National party on every Scotland Act other than the 1998 Act, when I was not yet in the House. You will probably remember that the Scotland Act 2012, which followed the Calman commission, specifically looked at schedule 5 and the reserved powers. I remember a very curious debate then in this House about Antarctica; because Antarctica was not listed in schedule 5 of the Scotland Act it was presumed to be devolved to Scotland. I reassure colleagues opposite that we have no territorial claim to the south Atlantic; the penguins and narwhals can relax—they are not going to be under the jurisdiction of Scotland. However, so seriously did this House take the distinction between reserved and devolved powers that Members were prepared to debate Antarctica to ensure it was placed in schedule 5 of the Scotland Act. Now they are prepared to throw that all away, and for what?

[Angus Brendan MacNeil]

My hon. Friend is making a fine speech and points out the way that devolution has been torn apart by the Conservative party. The answer to that is what is increasingly coming from poll after poll of the Scottish people: the answer is not to continue under the Conservatives. The answer is independence; we go up the road and they can argue the way they want themselves.

[Pete Wishart]

Yes, what they want to do is up to them. Get on with it, for goodness sake, just do not take our country down with you. My hon. Friend is spot on.

What is the Government’s view on all this? I have listened to the speeches in this debate, and some of those from Conservative Members were totally astounding: “There’s nothing to see here. Don’t worry your precious little Jockish heads about what we’re doing. All we are doing is merely copying what the EU does on state aid and structural funding.” However, I say to them that this idea that there is some sort of equivalence between the European Union and the UK is total and utter bunkum and nonsense. Let me explain why to them. The EU is a partnership association made up of member states; it is a rules-based organisation based on the decisions of its members. The United Kingdom, on the other hand, is an incorporating Union that simply subsumes Scotland as a nation and forces us under the sovereignty of this Parliament, even though we agree on the principle of the sovereignty of the people. They could not be more different, but yet again Conservative Members tell us that this is all about an equivalence with the EU, and that is utter, utter bunkum.