EU Exit: Negotiations and the Joint Committee

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Monday 19th October 2020 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

My colleague Lord Agnew, the Cabinet Office Minister, has been in touch with my hon. Friend and with the local authority to stress that there will be additional investment, which will mean more jobs in Warrington. We expect that there will be an additional 375 jobs created in Warrington, split between new jobs for colleagues in the Border Force, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, Mitie and the haulage firm Wincanton. The current expectation is that that number will rise to around 460 jobs by December next year. We are also working to make sure that there is appropriate additional funding to ensure that there is no additional traffic problem for him, his constituents or those in neighbouring villages.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op) [V]]

I have known the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster all his political career. May I urge him not to keep the door ajar but to open the door to continuing negotiations? Not to have a deal would be a historic, shameful failure. It would hurt my constituents and his, with broken businesses and unemployment, and blight the future of a new generation and generations to come. Please, I beg him to try again for all of us.

[Michael Gove]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his comments. We sincerely want an agreement, but we cannot have an agreement on any terms. I know that his constituents, like mine, voted to leave the European Union—

[Mr Sheerman]

indicated dissent.

[Michael Gove]

Oh, a curious absence, then, in Yorkshire. Whatever our disagreements, the hon. Gentleman and I agree that we should work together in the best interests of all the citizens of the United Kingdom. I am always grateful for his wisdom. Ever since I first arrived in the House, he has been a good friend and a wise head, and whenever I have gone wrong it is because I have not paid too much attention—sorry, it is because I have not paid enough attention to his words.

EU Exit: End of Transition Period

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Monday 13th July 2020 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

My right hon. Friend makes an important point. Like me and many of his constituents, he is a proud dog owner. Scarlet Mitchell is a previous winner of the Westminster dog of the year competition.

People cherish the opportunity to travel with their pets. If we are not a listed country, there will be additional procedures that pet owners will have to follow beyond those that currently exist, but we are confident that we will be a listed country because we have none of the health risks that the countries that are not listed by the EU have. I am confident that my right hon. Friend and Scarlet Whoosabootiful Mitchell—I believe that is the full name of his pet—will be able to continue to visit France.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op) [V]]

May I inform the Secretary of State that, as a member of the Committee on the Future Relationship with the European Union, I find it rather negative of him to take out of context some of the quotes from the witnesses who have given evidence to the Committee? I have heard all the evidence since I have been a member, and my view is that we are heading for a disaster. What would he say to a leading businessman in my constituency, who said that we are staggering because of coronavirus? He said that it is like coming out of the ring having gone 15 rounds with Anthony Joshua, only to find, with the chaos of leaving Europe, that we have Tyson Fury for another 15. Is it fair to do that to our great British public?

[Michael Gove]

Seconds out, round one, I am tempted to reply. The hon. Gentleman knows that I have great affection and respect for him. Indeed, it was his questioning in the Select Committee that helped to elucidate some of the opportunities that leaving the European Union can bring. The customs expert Lars Karlsson, who spoke before the Committee, said:

“It is a great opportunity because part of the UK’s strategy and global vision for trade opens up a totally new industry here”,

which can be more efficient and bring additional benefits to British business. It is important of course to be aware of the challenges, but also the opportunities.

UK-EU Negotiations

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Tuesday 16th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

My right hon. Friend is an indefatigable campaigner not just for Harlow but for the hard-pressed citizens of this country. He is right that outside the European Union, once we have left the transition period, we will have full control of VAT rates. My right hon Friend the Prime Minister is dedicated to making sure that we can use that new-found independence to help precisely the constituents for whom my right hon. Friend the Member for Harlow fights so brilliantly.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op) [V]]

I am sure that the Minister agrees that all common-sense people now know that we want a deal and we want a good deal, because the health, wealth and prosperity of our constituents depend on it. Can he assure me that we will put real energy into that? It is all right to dig out a campaign for Esso petrol back in 1959, but we need some serious leadership. He must admit, surely, that the breakthrough came only when Prime Ministers at the top level talked about moving it forward. Can we make sure that we take it seriously and that the Prime Minister comes regularly to the House to report on future progress? We need a good deal and we need it soon, because turbulence lies ahead whatever deal we get.

[Michael Gove]

I am amazed that the hon. Gentleman can recall an advertising campaign from 1959, because it must have occurred before either of us was born. Nevertheless, he makes an important point, which is that we need to accelerate progress in the talks. That is the Prime Minister’s aim and the EU’s aim. I look forward to updating him on our progress in weeks to come.

Oral Answers to Questions

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Thursday 11th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

What plans he has to change the size and strength of the negotiating team working on the future relationship between the UK and the EU.

[The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office (Michael Gove)]

We have no plans to change the size of the negotiating team working on the future relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union. As Eric Morecambe said of Ernie Wise, it is “small and perfectly formed”.

[Mr Speaker]

I don’t know that there is a link there—don’t worry.

[Mr Sheerman [V]]

Some of us on the Committee on the Future Relationship with the European Union are very worried about the Secretary of State. He was very lacklustre when he gave evidence to the Committee recently, and we are very sympathetic. This is a tough job. In reality, we have only five months to get it right for the country. Is it not a fact that there is a rift between him and the Prime Minister? The Prime Minister is not good on detail. There is a rift between them—does he need more help to overcome that?

[Michael Gove]

I am always grateful to the hon. Gentleman for offering to step in as a marriage counsellor. I have to say, notwithstanding my earlier reference to Morecambe and Wise, that the Prime Minister and I, when it comes to everything, are like the two Ronnies, so it’s goodnight from me and it’s goodnight from him.

Oral Answers to Questions

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Wednesday 4th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

I agree absolutely that education is a right for all, but especially for girls. We all know that if a girl is educated, that community gains so much more than just that education. That is something that at DFID and across this Government we are absolutely committed to. We are working in a number of areas on gender equality and reductions in violence against girls, and part of the focus that I am going to give to DFID around girls’ education for 12 years is the Prime Minister’s absolute commitment. We will be drawing together all those constituent parts.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

I welcome the new Secretary of State and also the fact that this morning marks the inauguration of the Speaker’s chaplain. It is lovely to see her in the Chamber and leading our prayers.

Does the Secretary of State agree that we need much more energy from legislators worldwide? If we are going to tackle girls’ education worldwide, as well as my own World Health Organisation work on reducing road accidents worldwide, can we not get the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, the Inter-Parliamentary Union and legislators around the world helping Ministers to do the job properly?

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

It sounds to me like the hon. Gentleman has just given himself a job to help me to draw up the plan that we want to bring together, which is exactly as he mentioned. If the focus is on ensuring that every girl across the globe has 12 years of education, we need to include all those things that make it possible, such as getting to school safely and appropriate sanitation in those schools so that girls can keep attending. I look forward to him coming to help us—

Oral Answers to Questions

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Wednesday 29th January 2020 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Stephenson]

I would encourage the hon. Gentleman to read the announcement in the Prime Minister’s speech more carefully. The announcement includes not only our bilateral aid assistance but investment, export credit and trade promotion support. The Government have shown significant leadership in tackling climate change, not least through our announcement to double our international climate finance commitment to developing countries, and we will host COP26 later this year.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

Is the Minister aware that an all-party group has invited leaders of the indigenous communities of the Amazon to visit the House of Commons on 5 February? I invite all Members to meet those people and listen to their concerns about the deforestation of the Amazon.

[Andrew Stephenson]

The hon. Gentleman is right to suggest that we need to work with indigenous communities around the world. Many people in the developing world owe their livelihoods and incomes to local forests, and we therefore need to work with the communities in everything we do.

Early Parliamentary General Election Bill

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

2nd reading: House of Commons
Tuesday 29th October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Oliver Dowden]

The problem with the argument advanced by the hon. Gentleman is that when we had the opportunity to get Brexit done and to get it done by 31 October, he and Opposition Members chose to vote against the programme motion that would have enabled that. The challenge facing us is that every time this House has had the opportunity to deliver on Brexit, it instead chooses further delay.

The deal that the Prime Minister has reached has confounded critics in this House and elsewhere. People said that we would never be able to reopen the withdrawal agreement, but we reopened it. He has nailed the naysayers who said that the EU would never let go of the Northern Ireland backstop by getting rid of the backstop. When people said that we could not ensure that the whole United Kingdom could leave as a single customs territory, he refused to accept it. This Government have made sure that the UK can leave the customs union as one entire United Kingdom that is free to chart its own course.

The Government’s position for some time has been that if Parliament cannot back the Prime Minister’s deal, we must surely have a general election. Up until today, however, that has not been the position of the Labour party. We have had the extraordinary spectacle of a Leader of the Opposition who spends every day castigating the Government’s failures—indeed, his party busily puts out leaflets demanding a general election—but when that golden moment arrives finally to have that general election, what happens? The Leader of the Opposition has repeatedly spurned it. I am glad that the Leader of the Opposition has finally faced up to the inevitable, ensuring that we will make some progress with this Bill. I am confident that we can make that progress, and that we can get on and have that general election.

When the general election happens, we will have two contrasting visions for 2020. The choice in front of the British people is clear. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has a deal that ensures that we deliver on the promises we made in the 2017 manifesto. We can finally deliver on Brexit and get the job done. Once we have got the job done, we can finally turn to the priorities that matter to the British people. The great one nation agenda being advanced by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister will allow us to deliver for our hospitals and for our schools.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Many excellent speeches species were curtailed at three minutes this evening. Why is this awful, repetitious performance being allowed to go on for so long?

[Mr Speaker]

The Minister has two and a half minutes in which to develop his peroration, but the hon. Gentleman has registered his disapproval.

Oral Answers to Questions

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Oliver Dowden]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. We have introduced new measures to ensure that the Union and devolved matters are properly considered as part of the process for developing and agreeing Government policy. Lord Dunlop’s independent review of UK Government capability will report in the autumn and make recommendations on how UK Government structures can continue to strengthen the working of the Union.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

This is not the time for yah-boo politics. This is a most serious question—most serious because many experts outside this House believe that we are on course for a break-up of the United Kingdom as a result of the way this Government are handling the European Union and Brexit. Is the Minister not worried about that?

[Oliver Dowden]

I thought the hon. Gentleman would be greatly heartened by the fact that, finally, the Prime Minister has agreed a deal—one that was voted for by this House last night—that enables a smooth transition out of the European Union, which will do much to enhance our Union.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Prime Minister]

On a duchess and a city, may I undertake to report back to the House on the progress we are making, Mr Speaker?

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

Q2. I wonder whether the Prime Minister has seen the heartbreaking images of children being killed, mutilated and seriously injured on the Syrian border. Given that the Turks are members of NATO and old allies of ours, that we have fought with the Kurds, who are good and trusted friends, and that the United States is a major ally of ours and the Prime Minister has a good relationship with Donald Trump, will the right hon. Gentleman step up to the plate and show that the British Government care about this and are willing to do something about it?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Gentleman; he is absolutely right to raise this issue. If I may say so, this is an appalling state of affairs, and the House will be aware of what is happening in northern Syria. The British Government have actively deplored this, and I have spoken twice to President Erdoğan on the matter, both last weekend and this most recent weekend. I urged him to cease fire and for a standstill. Everybody in the House shares the hon. Gentleman’s feelings about the loss of civilian life. It is particularly unsettling to see some of our close allies at variance. The UK is working closely now, as he would expect, with our French and German friends to try to bring an understanding to President Erdoğan of the risks that we think this policy is running, and of course to persuade our American friends that we cannot simply turn a blind eye to what is happening in Syria. The hon. Gentleman is entirely correct in what he said.

Prime Minister’s Statement

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Saturday 19th October 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I certainly did not mean to dismiss anybody’s concerns, let alone her own. I recognise, as I think I said in my opening statement, that this is an issue that has aroused deep feeling across the country on both sides, but it is my strong belief that the way forward for this country now is to deliver Brexit, get it done and move our country forward. That is the way, I believe, that people can honestly and passionately express their pro-European views in a new deep and special partnership of the kind that my right hon. Friend—both of us—campaigned for.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

Forty years ago I heard a Conservative leader speak, and although I disagreed with much of what she believed in, I believed in her loyalty, I trusted her, and she brought the nation together with a great speech. I did not hear that this morning. What I heard was a man who leads this country but who people do not trust. He keeps saying, “Trust”. Who will trust the British people? If we want the British people to trust us, does he agree that we should have a referendum so that people can judge this deal for what it is? We can then have a general election after that.

[The Prime Minister]

I think the best way to show our trust in the people is to repay their trust in us by honouring their mandate and delivering on the verdict of the people. That is what we should do today, and I hope very much that the hon. Gentleman will join us in the Lobby tonight.

Preparations for Leaving the EU

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Tuesday 8th October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

My hon. Friend has made a very good point. Not just tariffs—which will particularly affect some in the agricultural sector—but other events and other frictions could have an adverse effect on specific businesses and specific sectors. That is why my right hon. Friends the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Business Secretary have Operation Kingfisher, which is a means of making sure that we can support any company that is fundamentally viable but experiences turbulence for a short period.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

Over the years, I have become something of a Gove-watcher. Is it not a fact that, in his heart of hearts, the right hon. Gentleman really now knows that this country is being led to disaster by a man whom he neither likes nor trusts?

[Michael Gove]

No, I do not take that view. The hon. Gentleman is an old friend, and I therefore take his comments in good part, but no: I admire the Prime Minister, and I know that what he is trying to do is what the Government are trying to do, which is to honour the votes of his constituents so that we can leave the EU.