European Council

Angus Robertson Excerpts

Tuesday 14th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I can assure my hon. Friend that, as we move ahead with this, as we have at every stage, we will take appropriate legal advice, but as he will know we do not discuss that on the Floor of the House.

[Angus Robertson (Moray) (SNP)]

I thank the Prime Minister for advance notice of her statement. I agree with her about how valuable it was that a large part of the EU Council was given over to jobs, growth and competitiveness. That is hugely welcome for the whole of the UK. It really matters that there is economic growth across all 27 member states. The single European market matters to all of us, given it is the largest single market in the world.

The last time the Prime Minister came to the Dispatch Box following an EU Council meeting, I asked her what issues she had raised on behalf of the Scottish Government and their priorities. She could not give a single example then, so I am going to try the same question again. Given that this was the last EU Council before the invoking of article 50, can she give an example—just one, please—of a single issue that was raised on behalf of the Scottish Government and their priorities at the Council meeting? [Interruption.] Goodness, there is a lot of hubbub from the Government Benches on this issue. Perhaps they are also keen to hear from the Prime Minister on that. She did not make a single mention during her statement of what she raised on behalf of the Scottish Government. We will all wait with bated breath to hear the Prime Minister answer that question.

While the Prime Minister was in Brussels, what discussions did she have about her Brexit timetable? Can she confirm that the plan is to negotiate a deal and that, after that, there needs to be time—time for ratification and for agreement across the EU and its institutions? Will she confirm from the Dispatch Box that that is indeed her plan?

The Prime Minister has decided, for one reason or another—I cannot imagine why—to delay the invoking of article 50. Last July, we were told by the Prime Minister herself—I am sure that she remembers saying these very words—that she would not trigger article 50 until she had a “UK-wide approach”. She knows that she has no agreement with the devolved Administration, despite months of compromise suggestions from the Scottish Government. Will the UK Government, even at this very late stage, use the next days to secure a compromise UK-wide approach, or does she still plan to plough on regardless, even though she knows what the consequences of that will mean?

[The Prime Minister]

The right hon. Gentleman asks what issues of relevance to the Scottish Government and to the Scottish people were raised at the European Council. I can answer him—jobs, growth and competitiveness. Those are issues that matter to the Scottish people. They matter to the people of the whole of the UK. He asked whether at the Council there was a discussion of the timetable for the negotiations in respect of article 50. As I said early on in my statement, in the main business of the Council, we discussed the challenge of managing mass migration; the threats from organised crime and instability in the western Balkans; and the measures needed to boost Europe’s growth and competitiveness. This was a Council at which we focused on those issues. I was presenting the case for the UK’s concerns in relation to those issues, including jobs, which, as I have said, matter to the people of Scotland.

The right hon. Gentleman talked about the importance of access to the single market of the European Union. I simply remind him and his colleagues once again that the most important single market for Scotland is the single market of the United Kingdom.