New Partnership with the EU

Cheryl Gillan Excerpts

Tuesday 17th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Davis]

What the Government will do is abide by the instruction given to them by the British people, and that instruction was to leave the European Union. I am afraid that is inconsistent with membership of the market. But what we have said in terms is that we intend to deliver the very thing the right hon. Gentleman says British business is uncertain about, and that is tariff-free and barrier-free access to the European market.

[Mrs Cheryl Gillan (Chesham and Amersham) (Con)]

May I, too, welcome the increased clarity the Prime Minister has brought to the EU debate today? I just hope that the 27 remaining countries in the EU will take this opportunity to embrace the positive spirit in which this plan has been put forward. The Prime Minister said in her speech that she was putting

“the preservation of our precious Union at the heart of everything”.

In that spirit, may I ask the Secretary of State whether those parts of the country that are net beneficiaries of funds from the EU, such as Wales and Cornwall, will continue to get that level of funding so that they, too, can take advantage of the great opportunities ahead?

[Mr Davis]

The aim of our entire strategy is to improve the economic prospects of the country, and to do that for everybody. Our Prime Minister has been very forward in talking about the benefits for all. One of the things that has passed almost unremarked but was, in fact, remarkable was the speed with which the Treasury stepped in very early on—on universities, farming and structural funds. It made a decision in four weeks, in the middle of August—something I cannot remember in my lifetime in this Parliament, which is quite long. I think my right hon. Friend can take it as read that we will do everything possible to make sure that all parts of the United Kingdom benefit from this policy.