Oral Answers to Questions

Jason McCartney Excerpts

Thursday 27th April 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jones]

I am surprised to hear that. As I said a moment ago, the Scotch Whisky Association itself has identified enormous opportunities from Brexit. When the hon. Lady goes back to her constituency to do a bit of campaigning, perhaps she might go to her nearest distillery and ask people there what they think.

[Jason McCartney (Colne Valley) (Con)]

17. What discussions his Department has had with UK universities on the negotiations for the UK leaving the EU.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union (Mr Robin Walker)]

The Government have provided assurances to EU students in the UK. I particularly welcome the announcement on 21 April, which confirmed that EU students applying to study at English universities in 2018-19 will remain eligible for undergraduate, masters, postgraduate and advanced learner financial support, even if the course concludes after the UK’s exit from the EU. The Government want to create an environment in which the UK remains a world leader in research and academia, and continues to be home to the best universities in the world.

[Jason McCartney]

I echo those sentiments about international students and commend my hon. Friend for all his work on that campaign. I am very proud to have the award-winning Huddersfield University in our town. I visited its institute of railway research a couple of weeks ago. Thanks to the local enterprise partnership business growth fund, it is working on innovative rail and tram projects around the world, including in Australia. Will the Minister and his team make sure that our world-class universities are at the heart of the opportunities that Brexit brings?

[Mr Walker]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to champion our world-class universities. Along with my hon. Friend the Minister for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation, I have been meeting regularly with his higher education and innovation council, which represents the views of the university sector to us. It is very clear that UK collaborative research, both with European partners and more widely in the world, is a huge opportunity through this process.

Legislating for UK Withdrawal from the EU

Jason McCartney Excerpts

Thursday 30th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Davis]

The hon. Lady will have noted that Nissan made an investment decision quite recently that was favourable to the north-east. The issue is a little wider than the White Paper. We said—indeed, the Prime Minister said in the article 50 letter yesterday—that it was important to establish transitional arrangements, or an “implementation phase”, and this relates exactly to that: the need to give a degree of certainty.

[Jason McCartney (Colne Valley) (Con)]

I am lucky to have part of the Peak District national park in my constituency. With that in mind, does the Secretary of State agree that the Bill is an important vehicle for helping to ensure the maintenance of environmental protections and the opportunity to enhance them, and that anyone who supports those aims should welcome it?

[Mr Davis]

My hon. Friend is exactly right. The Bill will ensure that those protections are maintained, and the only way that would not be the case is if the House made an explicit decision to change the position.

New Partnership with the EU

Jason McCartney Excerpts

Tuesday 17th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Davis]

First, not a single power will come away from the devolved Administrations—[Interruption.] Yes, but if one were to listen to people sometimes, one might think we were going to strip the Scottish Parliament of powers, which is not true. Secondly, on the hon. Lady’s specific question, I can give the principles but not the details at this stage: my presumption is that we will devolve wherever possible, so long as it does not undermine the UK single market, which is incredibly important to Scotland—about five times more important than the European single market—so long as it preserves the Government’s ability to carry out international negotiations and so long as we can meet international standards. Those are very important. Subject to that, however, I am on her side in terms of devolving.

[Jason McCartney (Colne Valley) (Con)]

I totally agree with my right hon. Friend that the UK is one of the best places for innovation and science, not least because we have many world-class universities, including in my hometown of Huddersfield. Is that not exactly why our European allies will be eager to build a strong new relationship?

[Mr Davis]

Of course. If the European negotiators take a rational approach, we will do this deal inside the two years, and it will be good for both sides.