Progress on EU Negotiations

Mary Creagh Excerpts

Thursday 22nd November 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend will see that we also say in paragraph 23 that this economic partnership will

“ensure no tariffs, fees, charges or quantitative restrictions across all sectors, with ambitious customs arrangements”.

As I said in my statement, that is something that no other country has been offered by the European Union. This is a deal that delivers on the vote, but also protects jobs and security around the UK.

[Mary Creagh (Wakefield) (Lab)]

For a £39 billion divorce fee, the British people are being offered the prospect of years, if not decades, of wrangling over sectors such as transport, chemicals and nuclear. The ECJ will be the final arbiter in any decision, with the ability to impose fines on us. The Prime Minister is going to this summit pretending that she can get this deal through Parliament, when she knows she cannot. Is it not time to stop the madness and put this back to the people in a vote, so that they can reject it?

[The Prime Minister]

In response to the hon. Lady’s final question, I refer her to the answer I have given to other right hon. and hon. Members. There is much else I could say about the other details in her question, but I will simply make this point. This deal does not make the European Court of Justice the final arbiter on any dispute.

EU Exit Negotiations

Mary Creagh Excerpts

Thursday 15th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

It is our choice on which of those we wish to do. My hon. Friend is absolutely right that the extension of the implementation period needs agreement with the EU, and that is why I have described this as a choice. It is for us to say whether we wish the backstop or the implementation period to be extended, but she is absolutely right that the extension would be a matter for negotiation with the EU. If we get to that point, there would be arguments on both sides about which would be preferable for the UK, just as there would be arguments on both sides within the EU, because the backstop is not a situation the EU wants either.

[Mary Creagh (Wakefield) (Lab)]

I have a great deal of sympathy for the Prime Minister—she has walked the Via Dolorosa set out for her by her own party—but the false choice she is offering this place is between a deal that is dead before it has even been read by most people in this House and no deal at all. Is it not now time for the British people to take back control from this place and for her to extend article 50 and let the people decide in a people’s vote?

[The Prime Minister]

I refer the hon. Lady to the answers I have given previously to that question.

October EU Council

Mary Creagh Excerpts

Monday 22nd October 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman asks whether that was discussed at the European Union Council. It was not, but a number of other security matters were. We continue to believe that it is important for that treaty to continue, but the parties to it must abide by it.

[Mary Creagh (Wakefield) (Lab)]

Should not the people of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland have the opportunity to give their consent to any deal she brings back—this should also happen in the event of no deal—that makes any change to the Irish border as set out in the Good Friday agreement?

Leaving the EU

Mary Creagh Excerpts

Monday 9th July 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

As I am sure my hon. Friend knows, we have allocated a significant amount—£3 billion over two years, £1.5 billion of which has already been allocated to Departments—for Departments to do their work on preparing for leaving the European Union. Some of that work will relate to what might be necessary in getting a deal, and other work will relate to what would be necessary if there were no deal. Work has already been undertaken by Departments, but we are now stepping up the pace and intensity of that work.

[Mary Creagh (Wakefield) (Lab)]

On Friday night, after the Chequers meeting, the Prime Minister announced unanimous Cabinet support and reaffirmed the principle of collective responsibility. After the resignations of two of her Cabinet today—it looks like she could have a hat-trick by close of play—has she appointed a new Foreign Secretary and, if so, who is it?

[The Prime Minister]

I have actually been in the Chamber for quite a time since the resignation of the Foreign Secretary. I will be appointing a new Foreign Secretary in due course.

Oral Answers to Questions

Mary Creagh Excerpts

Wednesday 27th June 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Was that heard? I apologise to the hon. Gentleman, but I think we may have to ask someone else to ask his question for him.

[Mary Creagh (Wakefield) (Lab)]

Can the Minister give us some examples?

[Mr Speaker]

We are grateful to the hon. Lady, and we wish the hon. Gentleman well.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Prime Minister]

I was very happy to visit my hon. Friend’s constituency and to highlight the opportunities that the Ayrshire growth deal gives us. As he says, it is important locally, regionally and nationally because of the economic benefit that it can bring. Negotiations have now commenced between both Governments and the Ayrshire councils on how to implement the deal. I understand that officials met on Monday this week to discuss aerospace and proposals for Prestwick, and the work is ongoing across Ayrshire. Therefore, the work is continuing and I can assure him that we recognise the importance of the Ayrshire growth deal.

[Mary Creagh (Wakefield) (Lab)]

Q11. Will the Prime Minister join me in congratulating the Foreign Secretary for expressing so pithily what her hard Brexit will do to British jobs and British businesses?

[The Prime Minister]

I say to the hon. Lady, as I have said many times in this House before, that we are pursuing a Brexit that will be a good deal for the UK, a good deal for business, a good deal for citizens, and a good deal for jobs. I believe that we will achieve that because it will be good not only for the United Kingdom, but for the European Union.

G7

Mary Creagh Excerpts

Monday 11th June 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Moreover, if one were being really pedantic one would have to say that the hon. Gentleman’s question did not contain a main verb.

[Mary Creagh (Wakefield) (Lab)]

It’s certainly not “Love Island”, is it Mr Speaker?

The G7 summit was a fiasco rescued only by our EU allies and friends who filled the vacuum of leadership created by President Trump’s tweets. Does his abandonment of the international rules-based trading system not reveal how important it is for us to stay in a customs union and in the European single market, not least for the environmental and social protections that any bilateral trade deals with third countries receive?

[The Prime Minister]

If we were in a customs union, we would not be able to negotiate our own trade deals and we would not be able to have an independent trade policy. We want to have that independent trade policy, so that we can negotiate trade deals around the rest of the world in our own interests. If we were in a customs union, we would be giving responsibility for our future trade deals to Brussels while not being a member of the European Union. That would mean it would have no incentive at all to negotiate trade deals in our interests. We need to have that independent trade policy and that means being outside a customs union.

Tributes: Baroness Jowell

Mary Creagh Excerpts

Monday 14th May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mary Creagh (Wakefield) (Lab)]

We have heard a lot today about what Tessa did—her outstanding legacy of bringing the Olympics and Paralympics to London, and her amazing work—but I want to talk a little bit about how she did it. I remember a fantastic speech that she gave at the Labour party conference in 2005, when I was a newly elected MP. She spoke about her plans to roll out music education to every child, and mentioned a conversation that she had had with a lady in a tower block in Lambeth. She talked about that lady’s daughter, saying, “I want this music education programme to reach everyone. The test will be: will Rosa learn to play the violin?” I am pretty certain that Rosa, in that tower block in Lambeth, did get to play her violin.

I remember running into Tessa in the middle of the Olympic games, when she was incredibly busy and under pressure. I asked her, “What’s going on? How are you, Tessa?”, and she said, “Well, I’m living here for the next six weeks.” I said, “Gosh, are you not even going home? Do you have enough stuff with you?” and she said, “Yes. Essentially, me and Sebastian Coe are the joint mayors of the Olympic village.” I just knew that she was glorying in that amazing six weeks of tremendous sport.

A friend of mine sent me a text to say that she had been at a housing association trust, where a nervous young man had introduced Tessa as “Jessa Towell”. Tessa had just roared with laughter. My friend said that everybody in the room simply fell in love with Tessa at that moment. That is what she was—irresistible, charming and funny, but with a little bit of steel inside. She loved fashion. She could rock a frock and she liked to shop. In the end, the moments I treasure are the lifts home that she gave me, having some pretty salty conversations on the way as well.

In an era of fast food, fast politics and fast media, Tessa was a slow politician. I mean “slow” in the very best sense of the word: every word, every deed, measured out for kindness, for thoughtfulness and for compassion. Seamus Heaney wrote in “At the Wellhead”:

“Being with her

Was intimate and helpful, like a cure

You didn’t notice happening.”

She leaves a legacy in our hearts. Rest in peace, Tessa.

Syria

Mary Creagh Excerpts

Monday 16th April 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I can certainly give my hon. Friend that assurance.

[Mary Creagh (Wakefield) (Lab)]

I pay tribute to our Royal Air Force personnel, some of whom I had the privilege to meet on a NATO delegation to Qatar last month. Does the Prime Minister agree that international humanitarian law is clear that there is no time and no place, ever, where chemical weapons may be used, and that enforcing that law—that taboo—is absolutely imperative, whether the weapons are used on the streets of Salisbury or the bunkers of Douma? Many Labour Members support the action that she took, and we also support Labour’s proud tradition of taking action to intervene in conflicts to provide humanitarian protection, notably in Kosovo and Sierra Leone. We will act to protect that tradition.

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Lady for her comments. She is absolutely right that we should be proud of our air force personnel, as we should be of all our armed forces and the work they do to keep us safe. As she said, there is a proud tradition in the Labour party of being willing to take action on these matters when necessary, and she has reflected that proud tradition today.

European Council

Mary Creagh Excerpts

Monday 18th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am very happy to agree with my hon. Friend, particularly on that final point. What we have seen over the phase 1 negotiations is that, with commitment and perseverance on both sides, we can achieve agreement. That should give reassurance to EU citizens living here and indeed to UK citizens in the EU 27. As we move forward, we will indeed continue to abide by our values, particularly our values of tolerance and respect.

[Mary Creagh (Wakefield) (Lab)]

Is not the result of this European Council that there will be no negotiations with the EU until March next year and no deal concluded between now and March 2019? The tragedy is that there is no deal that the Prime Minister can get with the EU that will be as good as the one that we have now.

[The Prime Minister]

I am afraid that the hon. Lady is wrong in her question. In fact, the discussions with the European Union will be starting very soon, both on the implementation period and looking ahead to the future partnership.

Brexit Negotiations

Mary Creagh Excerpts

Monday 11th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Ah, yes—the Member with the bright jumper! I call Mary Creagh.

[Mary Creagh (Wakefield) (Lab)]

The Brexit Secretary has captivated the House with tales of regulatory impact assessments that do not exist. The Chancellor has said that the divorce bill will be paid in all circumstances, but the Brexit Secretary contradicted him at the weekend, saying that it would be conditional on a trade deal. The Prime Minister’s deal with the Taoiseach, promising full regulatory alignment, has been dismissed by the Brexit Secretary as a statement of intent. If she cannot even get her Brexit Secretary to agree with her, how on earth is she going to get a good deal that protects jobs, investment and growth in this country?

[The Prime Minister]

The Brexit Secretary and I—indeed, the whole Cabinet and the whole Government—are behind the agreement, the deal and the progress report that we have negotiated in relation to moving on to phase 2. We are of one accord on that. The only party that is not of one accord is the Labour party.