European Union (Withdrawal) Act

Debate between Mike Penning and Stephen Pound

Friday 11th January 2019 Commons Chamber

[Sir Mike Penning]

No, Mr Speaker. I was blocked by others in my party who thought that, perhaps, I was not from the correct background. We are all on a journey.

[Stephen Pound]

What happens in the Holiday Inn should stay in the Holiday Inn.

[Sir Mike Penning]

Yes. It is very important for my constituents to understand that, perhaps, we are having a debate in the correct way in this House today. When we had the referendum in 1975, which I was not allowed to take part in because, believe it or not, I was too young, I did not, a year later, lobby my MP to say, “We want to do it again, because I was not allowed to vote as I was too young.” We accepted the decision. I was away in the Army at the time, but we accepted it. The reason why I was so proud of this country in the latest referendum is that the British public stuck two fingers up at the political elite and said, “No, this is what we want to do because you haven’t got the guts to make that decision in the House of Commons.” Many in this House, including my Prime Minister at the time, did not expect them to do that and, partly, neither did I—in the back of my heart I wanted them to, but my mind told me that they would not do it. But they did. The British public said by a large number—I know that it split my constituency—“No, we want to come out.”

I would really like to support the deal of this Prime Minister and this Government, but the issue for me is the backstop. I served in Northern Ireland and I lost good colleagues to protect the Union. I will not vote for anything that does not protect the Union. This will be a sovereign country; we cannot have part of this country outside the Union, so I say to the Prime Minister and to the Treasury Bench, “Go back, do a deal”—I have done deals with Europe before as a Minister in several different Departments—“sort out the backstop, give us our sovereignty, and you will get this Bill through the House and we will leave the European Union.”

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Mike Penning and Stephen Pound

Monday 18th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mike Penning]

I greatly respect the hon. Gentleman, but the conclusions of the Court of Appeal were nothing to do with consultation. It was a process issue, in that the Court felt that the Minister had not been given enough information, based on the information that was put in writing. The Court went on to say that there was evidence that the Minister

“consulted personally with many affected groups”

and it had

“no doubt that evidence of hard cases would have been forcefully drawn to her attention.”

That is what the Court ruled. It had nothing to do with consultation.

[Stephen Pound (Ealing North) (Lab)]

The Department for Work and Pensions annual report was due to be published in April this year. When will we finally see it?

[Mike Penning]

With due respect, the Court ruling did not have an awful lot to do with that so I cannot answer the question. The annual report will come out in due course.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Mike Penning and Stephen Pound

Wednesday 23rd January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I do not wish to be unkind or discourteous to the hon. Gentleman, but the question was, and must remain, about youth unemployment. There is no requirement on the Minister to answer.

[Stephen Pound (Ealing North) (Lab)]

Despite the recent violence that we have witnessed, there is great work being done on the ground to combat youth unemployment and build community cohesion. Much of it is supported by funding from the European Union, through PEACE money. Will the Minister assure people in Northern Ireland that he remains firmly committed to the United Kingdom remaining within the EU, and to Northern Ireland continuing to benefit from PEACE money?

[Mike Penning]

As ever—[Interruption.] I never knew I was so popular. Making sure that youth unemployment is addressed in Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom is very important. The issue of the PEACE money, which is part of negotiations at the moment regarding the financial settlement, is way above my pay grade. Whatever happens, we will ensure the best possible deal for the United Kingdom.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Mike Penning and Stephen Pound

Wednesday 5th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mike Penning]

It will be a pleasure and an honour to meet the families in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency. We are working very closely with the brigadier and his staff at 38 (Irish) Brigade to ensure that concerns are addressed.

[Stephen Pound (Ealing North) (Lab)]

Members on both sides of the House welcome the community covenant, which is a long-overdue recognition of the heroic sacrifice of our armed forces. Have the Secretary of State or the Minister given thought to naming an individual contact point for returning veterans—perhaps a community covenant champion, bearing it in mind that the Minister of State already has rather a busy job?

[Mike Penning]

I thank the hon. Gentleman, and my friend, for his comments. I have a very busy and a very important job, but correctly looking after those who have served their country, which the military covenant was designed to do, is exactly what I intend to do. I sit on the Prime Minister’s military covenant committee. When I was asked that question in the military covenant debate, I committed to having a round-table discussion on how we better help our servicemen and women when they leave the armed forces in Northern Ireland.