Leaving the EU

Lord Dodds of Duncairn Excerpts

Monday 26th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I make two points to my hon. Friend. First, one of the things that the European Union (Withdrawal) Act does is bring European Union law into UK law, such that there is that smooth and orderly transition when we leave the European Union, and, of course, the withdrawal agreement will be implemented in our legislation through the withdrawal agreement Act.

[Nigel Dodds (Belfast North) (DUP)]

The Prime Minister says in her statement that “the legal text is now also clear that once the backstop has been superseded, it shall ‘cease to apply’”. We need accuracy—actually, on page 309, article 2, on the Northern Ireland protocol, it says the backstop can be superseded

“in whole or in part”

and

“shall cease to apply…in whole or in part.”

We need accuracy, because it is the legal text that matters, and that is what will bind the country. As the Chancellor has rightly said that the backstop is bad for the Union and bad for the economy—that is what he has said—can she tell us what bits are so bad for the Union?

[The Prime Minister]

The parts of the backstop that are bad for the European Union—

[Nigel Dodds]

For the United Kingdom.

[The Prime Minister]

Oh, sorry—for the United Kingdom. What we want to be able to do in the future is to have our independent trade policy. One of the issues in relation to the backstop is whether or not we would be able to do that—that is one of the issues that we would not want to see us continuing to be in the backstop for.