Prime Minister’s Statement

Debate between Boris Johnson and Luciana Berger

Saturday 19th October 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is spot on. He is right that both sides have a strong incentive to do a very good, best-in-class free trade deal by the end of next year. That is our ambition and that is what we are going to achieve.

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (LD)]

The Prime Minister’s Brexit Secretary was on television this morning. He confirmed that no economic analysis of the deal has been done. I ask the House to let that sink in: no economic analysis of the deal, on which we are all expected to vote today, has been done. How does the Prime Minister anticipate that Members on all sides the House can, in good faith, be expected to vote on a deal today that will impact on our country for decades to come?

[The Prime Minister]

I respectfully point out to the hon. Lady that the deal has been welcomed by a broad range of opinion, including the Governor of the Bank of England and the CBI. The choice for her today is between this deal, which I believe is very good for this country both economically and politically, and no deal. That is what she has to decide between.

Brexit Negotiations

Debate between Boris Johnson and Luciana Berger

Thursday 3rd October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (LD)]

In an earlier answer, the Prime Minister alluded to the fact that he had support from business for his plan, and yet the director of the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium has said that the Prime Minister’s plan is both “unworkable and unpalatable”. Will the Prime Minister point to one business that moves goods into Northern Ireland that supports his plan?

[The Prime Minister]

I have met many businesses in Northern Ireland who want emphatically to get a deal. That is the overwhelming view of businesses in Northern Ireland, so I hope very much that the hon. Lady will support them in their ambition.

Priorities for Government

Debate between Boris Johnson and Luciana Berger

Thursday 25th July 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I certainly will, and I congratulate my hon. Friend on everything he does to promote the environment. It is amazing that thanks to the work of colleagues on the Government Benches, the environment and green issues are now seen as the agenda that we Conservatives lead on. We will continue with that, and make improvements to our environment that will be of immense value to the people of this country.

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Ind)]

Yesterday the Prime Minister started in the job that he always wanted. How will he guarantee that millions of people across our country do not see their employment end because we are hurtling towards a no-deal Brexit that does not command the majority of this House?

[The Prime Minister]

The answer is for the House of Commons to do what is sensible and right, deliver on the mandate of the people, and get Brexit done by 31 October. That is the right thing to do.

Government Policy on Russia

Debate between Boris Johnson and Luciana Berger

Tuesday 6th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Boris Johnson]

I am not going to join my hon. Friend in calling for an increase in another Department’s budget right now, although it is absolutely right that we should be spending at least 2%. I should say, though, that out of that 2% we are able to fund—[Interruption.] The shadow Foreign Secretary says that we should spend it properly; we are, for instance, spending it on the 800 UK serving men and women in Tapa in Estonia, on the frontline with Russia, who are giving reassurance to a vital NATO ally. That is what the UK is doing. Believe me, the Russians know that we are doing that and that we are in the lead in calling for France and other EU countries to step up to the plate and deploy in the Baltics. The Russians know that we are in the lead in standing up for our friends in that part of the world. Yes, it may be that we in this country are paying a price for that, but we are not going to resile from that commitment.

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)]

Following the apparent poisoning of Mr Skripal and his daughter, will the Foreign Secretary tell us whether the toxicology report will be made public, and if so, when?

[Boris Johnson]

I must respectfully tell the hon. Lady that, as I said right at the beginning of my response to the urgent question, I am not going to give a commentary on the investigation.

Syria: De-escalation Zones

Debate between Boris Johnson and Luciana Berger

Monday 26th February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Boris Johnson]

The House has spoken as one on that matter this afternoon, and that is what we will continue to convey to Moscow.

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)]

The Foreign Secretary just said that the Prime Minister has regular discussions with President Putin, but has she had recent discussions with President Putin, as we know full well that both President Macron and Chancellor Merkel have? If the Prime Minister has not, both sides of the House urge her to have those urgent conversations.

[Boris Johnson]

I will, of course, make sure that the views of the House are communicated to the Prime Minister. I can tell the hon. Lady that the Prime Minister has regular contact with her Russian counterpart and has repeatedly made that point.

Balfour Declaration

Debate between Boris Johnson and Luciana Berger

Monday 30th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Boris Johnson]

I strongly agree. It has been salutary for people to look back over the last 100 years at the many missed opportunities and at the reasons Balfour thought it necessary to make his declaration. It was not, as is frequently said, simply that Britain wanted to solicit American support in the first world war; it was genuinely because of a need, an imperative, to deal with the pogroms and the anti-Semitism that had plagued Russia and so many parts of eastern Europe for so long. It was vital to find a homeland for the Jewish people, and history can be grateful that Balfour made the decision he did, though we have to understand at the same time the injustice and suffering occasioned by that decision.

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)]

In the same week we celebrate the centenary of the Balfour declaration, will the Foreign Secretary take the opportunity to condemn the actions in Abu Dhabi in recent days, when five Israelis who won medals at the judo grand slam were denied the chance afforded to other athletes of celebrating with their country’s flag and anthem during the awards ceremonies and when one athlete refused to shake the hand of an Israeli athlete? There can be no place for this type of discrimination. If we are to see peace, we have to acknowledge and support both the Israeli and the Palestinian people.

[Boris Johnson]

I completely agree. We condemn anti-Semitism and displays of such prejudice wherever they occur. The example the hon. Lady gives shows the paramount need to sort out this problem and end this running sore.

US Immigration Policy

Debate between Boris Johnson and Luciana Berger

Monday 30th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Boris Johnson]

I am not seeking to defend, explicate or rationalise in any way the policy of the presidential Executive order. I merely seek to explain how it may affect UK nationals and dual nationals, and what we have done to mitigate its effects.

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)]

On Holocaust Memorial Day on Friday, the Prime Minister told us:

“Our commitment to remember the Holocaust is about more than words…It is about…standing up to prejudice…wherever it is found today.”

Why, then, was the Prime Minister unable on Saturday to adhere to her own call to action?

[Boris Johnson]

The Prime Minister made it very clear that she did not agree with the policy.

[Luciana Berger]

She didn’t.

[Boris Johnson]

She did, and I have made it abundantly clear several times during the course of these proceedings that the policy is entirely a matter for the United States, but that my view is that it is divisive, discriminatory and wrong.