Oral Answers to Questions

Daniel Kawczynski Excerpts

Thursday 9th January 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mark Logan (Bolton North East) (Con)]

17. What plans the Government have to mark the UK leaving the EU on 31 January 2020.

[Daniel Kawczynski (Shrewsbury and Atcham) (Con)]

18. What plans the Government have to mark the UK leaving the EU on 31 January 2020.

[The Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union (Steve Barclay)]

I begin by congratulating my hon. Friend on his election to the seat of Warrington South. I look forward to his advocacy on issues relating to our exit from the European Union. We stand ready to work with businesses up and down the country as we mark an important moment in our national history: leaving the European Union on 31 January.

--- Later in debate ---

[Steve Barclay]

I very much welcome my hon. Friend to his place, not least as a fellow Lancastrian; I am sure Mr Speaker knows of our Lancastrian pride. He brings an important suggestion. Again, it is all part of marking this significant moment in our national history.

[Daniel Kawczynski]

Will my right hon. Friend acknowledge that 31 January is a significant day not only for us here in the United Kingdom but for hundreds of millions of Eurosceptics across the continent of Europe who share concerns about the direction of travel of the European Union, including many citizens in my country of birth, Poland? Does he agree that it is important for us to celebrate this day very publicly, as a nation, to give a guiding principle to others in Europe that there is life outside the European Union?

[Steve Barclay]

My hon. Friend is right to draw attention to the fact that this is an important day not just for our own citizens but for many elsewhere who recognise the importance of this event in terms of democracy and respecting the democratic decisions that people take, rather than overturning them, as has sometimes been the intention in the past. He has always been a champion of close ties between the UK and Poland, and I think that whatever celebrations there are will continue in that vein.