Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Davis and Jim Cunningham

Thursday 27th April 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Davis]

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. He crystallises the point on “no deal is better than a bad deal”, and he clearly demonstrates why the Labour proposal, apart from being completely impractical, would never be deliverable.

[Mr Jim Cunningham (Coventry South) (Lab)]

Can the Secretary of State guarantee regional aid for the west midlands after Britain leaves the EU? More importantly, we have a very fine candidate for the mayor’s job in the west midlands: Siôn Simon.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Davis and Jim Cunningham

Thursday 9th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jim Cunningham (Coventry South) (Lab)]

8. What steps he is taking to ensure that maintaining human rights protections is included in negotiations on the UK leaving the EU.

[The Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union (Mr David Davis)]

The UK has a long-standing tradition of ensuring that our rights and traditional liberties are protected domestically and of fulfilling our international human rights obligations. The decision to leave the European Union does not change any of that. That is the approach we will take as we enter negotiations, and I can confirm that the Government have no plans to withdraw from the European convention on human rights.

[Mr Cunningham]

Given that answer, will the Secretary of State set out a full and detailed list of all fundamental rights currently guaranteed under EU law and what approach the Government intend to take towards them?

[Mr Davis]

We will be putting the great repeal Bill in front of the House at some point in the near future. That will carry into British law the existing law of the European Union and the case law that goes with it. But British human rights have not depended on the European Union; they have been intrinsic to our history and our tradition, and we—I most of all—will continue to defend them.