Exiting the EU: New Partnership

Debate between Ben Howlett and David Davis

Thursday 2nd February 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Davis]

I suspect that the final vote here will be before the final ratification in the European Union. Its ratification process is much slower than ours will be.

[Ben Howlett (Bath) (Con)]

I want to put it on the record that I am extremely pleased that the White Paper has been published, and I thank the Secretary of State and his team for listening to hon. Friends and our calls for a White Paper. Will he join me in sending a message to my constituents to feed in their views? In the spirit of listening to his hon. Friends, will he also clarify whether the Government will consider formal reporting back to the House?

[Mr Davis]

I am not quite sure what my hon. Friend means by formal reporting. I have visited the Exiting the European Union Committee once and will be appearing in front of it again, and this, as I said, is my sixth statement to the House. We come to the House at every possible opportunity to tell Members what is going on. There will be subsequent debates, including substantive debates on policy. There will undoubtedly be other Brexit debates—more are planned already—so there is no question that the House will not be fully informed. That we are somehow not paying attention to the Opposition is an illusion—a chimera—that they like to run out. We have given them a White Paper and answers about the customs union and the single market. I do not know how much more open I can be without being dissected.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ben Howlett and David Davis

Thursday 26th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr David Davis]

That is all very well, but the complete premise of the question is wrong. That is not what the Health Secretary said; he was misreported and misinterpreted. What I will say to the hon. Lady is this: what we will be doing is, first, putting the clinical safety of the British people at the front of the priority list, and then looking after the interests of British industry, particularly biosystems and life sciences, in which we are a world leader now and will continue to be after we leave.

[Ben Howlett (Bath) (Con)]

As chair of the all-party group on rare, genetic and undiagnosed conditions, I know that the issue of clinical trials is a big one for patients, as they are concerned that exiting the EU will mean that nothing will replace those trials. Will my right hon. Friend assure the House and those patients that the trials will be replicated as soon as we leave the EU?

Article 50

Debate between Ben Howlett and David Davis

Tuesday 24th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Davis]

The Chairman of the Select Committee, who is not here, said his Committee wanted a plan as quickly as possible—before the middle of February; I said it would be difficult to turn out a full White Paper before then. One of the virtues of delivering the plan via a prime ministerial speech of some length was that we could do it quickly, we could make it very clear and everybody could understand it. It also got coverage around the world in a way that no other medium could have. People remind me—and sometimes tease me, of course—of my history as an activist for parliamentary rights. The important point is that we are here only because we represent our constituents’ interests.

I have tried—I keep reiterating this phrase—to provide as much information as possible. Let us take the plan with respect to what was asked for by Labour Front-Bench Members and the Select Committee. They asked, “What are we going to do about the single market?” and hopefully that is now plain. They asked, “What are we going to do about the customs union?”, and hopefully that is now plain. They asked, “What are we going to do about justice and home affairs?”, and hopefully that is now plain. They asked, “What role is seen for Britain in the world?”, and hopefully that is now plain, too. Of course, what we cannot do is say what the outcome of the negotiation will be. We cannot give that level of certainty, but we can certainly give a level of certainty, as we have and as we will, as to what the aims and strategic objectives are. We have done that.

[Ben Howlett (Bath) (Con)]

I, too, welcome today’s judgment by the Supreme Court, and I would like to lend my support to the Supreme Court judges. I hope that we do not see any repeat in tomorrow’s newspapers of the bile that was directed towards the High Court judges last year. Although I welcome the Prime Minister’s speech last week, which focused on a comprehensive free trade agreement, I have received thousands of emails and correspondence from my constituents all wanting to have their say on this issue. After all, 70% of them voted to remain inside the European Union. Does my right hon. Friend therefore agree—as other colleagues have said, and without wishing to make him repeat himself—that the best way to do this and to ensure that my constituents’ views are heard is via the use of a White Paper?

[Mr Davis]

I am afraid that my hon. Friend has failed in not making me repeat myself. Plainly, the House has determined that I would fail miserably in “Just a Minute”, or whatever the quiz is called where people are not allowed to repeat themselves. I reiterate that it is the facts that matter and the plan that matters and answering Parliament’s questions that matters. We have done all those things. We will continue. I will continue to provide whatever information I can without compromising our negotiating position—I will do that.

New Partnership with the EU

Debate between Ben Howlett and David Davis

Tuesday 17th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Davis]

The right hon. Gentleman will know, as the long-standing ex-Chairman of the Home Affairs Committee—it published a report on this, and put up three dates—that this is strictly a matter for the Home Office to initiate and to set policy on. However, the aim is clear: we do not want people who came to this country in good faith to feel fear or concern about their future. We want to be able to guarantee their future in terms of not just residency rights, but all the other things that go with it, such as welfare support and so on, and that is what we intend to do. He will forgive me if I do not pick a date out of the air, because he knows what would happen: that would create an instant problem either with a sudden rush of people arriving or concerns for those who arrived after that date, and I do not wish to make this any more difficult for people—very good, decent, productive people—than I want to.

[Ben Howlett (Bath) (Con)]

I, too, welcome the Prime Minister’s tone and her outlined objectives as she enters into the Brexit negotiations. I am also pleased that she has listened to her hon. Friends across the Government Benches about putting that to a vote in Parliament. Does my right hon. Friend agree that to ensure the Government are in tune with the will of Parliament, a full debate on the single market is desperately overdue? Does he agree that we should aim for a 0% tariff agreement with the European Union, so that Britain can be the best friend and neighbour of our European partners? To do anything else would certainly make my constituents, and I think Britain, poorer.

[Mr Davis]

My hon. Friend goes to the heart of the strategy. We want not just a 0% tariff, but—let us remember that we have an 80% services economy—non-tariff barriers. In many ways, non-tariff barriers are as important as the 0% tariff, and perhaps a bit harder to negotiate.

Next Steps in Leaving the European Union

Debate between Ben Howlett and David Davis

Monday 10th October 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Davis]

The first thing I would say is that, if I remember correctly, after the referendum decision, GlaxoSmithKline confirmed multiple hundreds of millions of pounds of investment in this country, so I do not think the pharmaceutical industry is running away from this country—just the reverse. In Europe, the pharmaceutical industry is predominantly in the UK, for reasons that relate to intellectual property among other things. The second thing I would say is that we are consulting widely; one of the things we are doing is establishing where the fears and concerns are, so that we can deal with them. We are doing that accurately and carefully, in exactly the way the hon. Lady would, as I know from her time on the Public Accounts Committee. That, in the long run, will guarantee the jobs of her constituents.

[Ben Howlett (Bath) (Con)]

As a remainer, let me gently say this to the remainers on the Opposition Benches: scupper or delay triggering article 50 at your peril. Workers will not respect you for it; nor will businesses. We must respect the democratic will of the British people. I appreciate the pragmatism surrounding the decision not to involve Parliament in every single minute detail. However, does the Secretary of State agree that Parliament must, constitutionally, be involved in setting out the principles of negotiation—that is, on single market membership and free movement rules—to ensure that when things like the great repeal Bill are put before this House, they receive full support?