Legislating for UK Withdrawal from the EU

Debate between David Davis and Mark Durkan

Thursday 30th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Davis]

No, but it is not a matter for the great repeal Bill.

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

The great “download and save until delete” Bill will actually lead to a carnival of reaction, when, alongside the so-called bonfire of red tape, we will see Ministers competing in a demolition derby to reduce various rights and environmental protections. It is also a charter for dilution before devolution. Does the Secretary of State recognise that for some of us to trust Tory Ministers with the “holding and moulding” powers that he wants to give them would be like asking Attila the Hun to mind our horse?

[Mr Davis]

I did not know that the hon. Gentleman had a horse, but let me say this to him: his entire approach—his entire assessment—is just plain wrong.

Article 50

Debate between David Davis and Mark Durkan

Tuesday 24th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Davis]

I thank my hon. Friend for that. All I can say is that I am surprised it was only 61% in his constituency.

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

The judgment’s terms tell us that we should not rely on mere political convention for legal adherence or political confirmation on key matters. That being so, Sewel will be meaningless in the context of the great repeal Bill. Does the Secretary of State recognise that the key constitutional precept of the Good Friday agreement—the principle of consent and the democratic potential for a united Ireland—will have to be explicitly included in any new UK-EU treaty in order to fully reflect the principle that those issues are a matter for the people of Ireland, without external impediment, and to properly reflect the terms of today’s Supreme Court judgment?

[Mr Davis]

I will not reiterate the facts of the Supreme Court judgment on the Northern Irish aspect. The hon. Gentleman can read those much more authoritatively in the judgment. I have said to him before in this House and reiterate to him again that there is more than one guarantee in this matter. The British Government are determined to preserve the peace settlement and all that underpins it; the Irish Government are determined to underpin it; and so is the Commission. I will say something nice about the Commission in this regard. When I spoke to Michel Barnier, my opposite number, he reminded me that he was involved in the original peace process. All the parties to this matter therefore have a vested interest in delivering what the hon. Gentleman wants.

New Partnership with the EU

Debate between David Davis and Mark Durkan

Tuesday 17th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Davis]

I do not know where the hon. Gentleman was on 23 June, but the British people pretty much rejected that.

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

Brexit is a bigger factor in the political discoloration in Northern Ireland at the moment, partly because common membership of the EU and its institutions was absolutely germane to the Good Friday agreement. The Secretary of State needs to recognise that any negotiations that follow these elections and precede the restoration of our institutions will involve returning to and renewing fundamentals of the Good Friday agreement. That means that people will be looking at strand 2, and the need to ensure that the island of Ireland can work and be worked as part of the European economic area in the future.

The question of when powers over rights are transferred or devolved after the great repeal Bill will be a key political issue. No one in Northern Ireland will trust the House of Commons with the dilution of rights before powers are devolved when any attempt to improve them can be vetoed by the Democratic Unionist party, as we have seen in the past. It would be like asking Attila the Hun to mind your horse.

[Mr Davis]

I am not entirely sure that I understand the reference, but one of the reasons why I wrote to the Northern Ireland Executive was to ensure that we had representation in the Joint Ministerial Committee during the election process. I do not foresee the removal of any rights, and, as I said to a Labour Member earlier, this is one area in which we expect a great deal of co-operation from the European Commission to secure an outcome that will be beneficial for everyone.

Article 50

Debate between David Davis and Mark Durkan

Monday 7th November 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Davis]

I will leave it to the Welsh Labour party to take my right hon. Friend’s advice directly. He will understand that it would not be appropriate for me to comment on who should or should not join the legal case.

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

Since the referendum result, there has been a carnival of reaction that has been in part vicious and pernicious, and that is now verging on the seditious with regard to the rule of law. The Prime Minister seems to want to just crowd surf that mood, wrapped in the royal prerogative. Would it not be better for this Chamber to move beyond yet another episode of roaming commentary and to give real consideration to the precepts and purposes that will inform negotiations? Does the Secretary of State recognise that it is not just UK constitutional interests that are at stake? Irish constitutional dimensions need to be taken care of, too.

[Mr Davis]

I referred to the Northern Irish case, which the Government won, and the decision about whether to leapfrog it will be made tomorrow. I am entirely aware that this is a very wide constitutional issue that has to be resolved properly. That is one of the reasons I am resisting calls to do something before the Supreme Court rules on the issue. That is the proper place for the decision to be taken.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Davis and Mark Durkan

Thursday 20th October 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Davis]

As I said, all law will be incorporated—no exceptions.

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

On that point, employment law is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland, so under the great repeal Bill will that competence be automatically devolved, or will it be held in some sort of holding room here before it is devolved?

[Mr Davis]

The hon. Gentleman raises an important point. That is why I said last week when we were talking about the great repeal Bill that we will have extensive discussions with all the devolved Administrations to ensure that each appropriate piece of law goes to the right place.

Next Steps in Leaving the European Union

Debate between David Davis and Mark Durkan

Monday 10th October 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Davis]

My hon. Friend is right, and I will do everything I can to resist temptation.

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

Should we not at least commend the Secretary of State for once again presenting us, at the Dispatch Box, with a full range of cosmetics without a single microbead of substance? Does he realise that his reassurances about the consultation with the joint First Ministers in Stormont, and his indication of his hopes for the profile of the border, do not measure up to a response on the profound implications that the course he is piloting will have for the Good Friday agreement, with its delicate layers of understanding, constitutional foundations and key political premises?

[Mr Davis]

I am sorry, but the hon. Gentleman is just wrong. We have already invested a lot of resource in this issue. Indeed, the quotes from the Northern Ireland Secretary on the front page of The Guardian this morning are accurate. We are talking to the Irish Government to determine, as well as we can, a technical mechanism to ensure that we will maintain an open border and underpin the agreement.