EU Exit Negotiations

Debate between Catherine McKinnell and David Davis

Tuesday 5th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Davis]

The aim for the whole country, as the hon. Lady says, is to maximise the trade benefits of being outside the customs union and the single market, while maintaining as much as possible the benefits we currently enjoy. That is the aim and that is what we are heading towards. I am pretty confident that that is what we will achieve.

[Catherine McKinnell (Newcastle upon Tyne North) (Lab)]

It is increasingly clear to anyone watching that the Government are incapable of focusing on anything but Brexit, and even then they are making a complete Horlicks of it. What reassurance can the Secretary of State give that the Government are ready to put country before party, not just on the border issue but on our crucial trade negotiations with the EU and the rest of the world?

[Mr Davis]

Is Horlicks a parliamentary word, Mr Speaker? I might use it in future. I am the Brexit Secretary, so that is of course what I focus on most of the time. The simple fact is that the free trade agreement the hon. Lady talks about is precisely what we are aiming for. It is exactly where we and Brussels want to get to as quickly as possible.

New Partnership with the EU

Debate between Catherine McKinnell and David Davis

Tuesday 17th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Davis]

Following my earlier oleaginous comments, of course I will follow the Prime Minister’s lead. Yes, financial services are an enormously important industry, supporting—along with all the associated service industries that support it—1.9 million jobs, so we will treat it as incredibly important. It also generates a great deal of revenue for the Treasury, however, so even if I did not pay attention to it, I am sure the Chancellor would.

[Catherine McKinnell (Newcastle upon Tyne North) (Lab)]

Some 58% of north-east exports are destined for the EU—10% more than the UK average—which leaves our region the most exposed to leaving the single market, so will the Secretary of State say what assessment he has made of the risks and what conversations he has had with business organisations and others in the north-east to ensure that our voice is heard in these discussions and that the jobs that depend on our access to the single market are not put at risk?

[Mr Davis]

I am not a southerner, so the hon. Lady will understand that I come at this with a slightly different view from some. Companies such as Nissan clearly took a view too. I want to make it clear to the hon. Lady that the aim of this strategy is to deliver the maximum possible access to the EU marketplace, as well as access to other global marketplaces. Those two things will be to the benefit of the north-east as much as anywhere else.

Article 50

Debate between Catherine McKinnell and David Davis

Monday 7th November 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Davis]

I guess I was the part-author of the White Paper ahead of the Amsterdam treaty, and our aims were put only in very broad terms. In those terms, we already have our broad aims. They are very plain: control of laws, control of borders, maintenance of our security and the maximum possible access to free markets, both in Europe and elsewhere. Those are the broad aims. In terms of detail, I have just been asked about the customs union. As I have said, when we get to the point of being sure of where we are going on that—[Interruption.] I am glad that Labour Members are all very sure about that, since they do not seem to have looked at any of the numbers at all. The national interest requires that we make sure what the outcome is before we attempt to achieve it. That is a very small negotiating lesson.

I do not think that I want to commit at this point, but let me say this. I have said over and over again in this process that we will be as open as possible, consistent with maintaining our negotiating stance. I mean that. I have stood up for that principle through decades in this Parliament, and I will not stop standing up for it just because I am standing here.

[Catherine McKinnell (Newcastle upon Tyne North) (Lab)]

Last week’s ruling was not about overturning the referendum, but it did recognise that this issue will affect every man, woman and child in this country and that therefore their democratically elected representatives should have a role in making sure that the Government get the best deal for everybody. Without greater transparency, how can the Government provide the reassurance that they are representing not just 52% or 48%, but the whole country?

Parliamentary Scrutiny of Leaving the EU

Debate between Catherine McKinnell and David Davis

Wednesday 12th October 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Davis]

I am afraid that in the immediate aftermath of the vote to leave there was an extraordinary outpouring almost of grief—a “blame Brexit” festival, if you like. It ranged from the Italian Finance Minister blaming us for the state of his bond markets to, more significantly, banks in this country saying that they were laying people off because of Brexit, which, of course, turned out to be entirely untrue. I would have sympathy with employees made nervous by employers who are guessing the worst outcome.

[Catherine McKinnell (Newcastle upon Tyne North) (Lab)]

I urge the Secretary of State to take a more constructive approach with those who have sincere anxieties about the future. Some 58% of the north-east’s exports go to EU countries. However people voted in the referendum, they did not vote to lose jobs. The terms of Brexit are absolutely essential. Does the Secretary of State not recognise that parliamentary scrutiny is therefore also essential?

[Mr Davis]

I started by saying that I was in favour of parliamentary scrutiny; I will widen that out later. Part of the reason for that—not the only reason, by any means—is a recognition of people’s concerns about their job futures. There is no doubt about that. That is why we said in terms that we want a free trade arrangement that is at least as good as what we have now, with both the European Union and outside.