European Council

Debate between Owen Smith and Baroness May of Maidenhead

Thursday 11th April 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right about the importance of our finding a way through in this House to deliver on Brexit and to ensure that we do so in an orderly way. He should tell voters on the doorsteps that this is a Government who have been working, and who continue to work, to deliver Brexit. When it comes to the local council elections, I am sure that people will recognise that if they want good local services and lower council tax, there is only one way to vote and that is Conservative.

[Owen Smith (Pontypridd) (Lab)]

I commend the Prime Minister for the flexibility she has shown in recent days in rejecting a no deal and requesting the extension to article 50 that she had previously rejected. May I ask that she shows a similar spirit of compromise in accepting that one way in which she could get her deal through this Parliament is by attaching to it a people’s vote?

[The Prime Minister]

I refer the hon. Gentleman to my earlier answer.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Owen Smith and Baroness May of Maidenhead

Wednesday 3rd April 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

As I said, my hon. Friend has been campaigning hard on the issue for some time. I understand that the Department for Transport will announce tomorrow the stations that will benefit from funding for accessibility, if my hon. Friend can have just a little patience and wait for the announcement.

[Owen Smith (Pontypridd) (Lab)]

Q2. When the Prime Minister sits down later this afternoon with my right hon. Friend the Leader of the Opposition and the shadow Brexit Secretary, no doubt she will hear that Labour’s policy on Brexit is to secure membership of a customs union and the single market, and—crucially—to get a people’s vote on any deal. If the Prime Minister accepts that compromise, she can pass her deal and leave office. Will she do so?

[The Prime Minister]

The purpose of meeting the Leader of the Opposition today is to look at the areas on which we agree. There are actually a number of areas on which we agree in relation to Brexit: we both want to deliver on leaving the EU with a deal; we both want to protect jobs; we both want to ensure that we end free movement; and we both recognise the importance of the withdrawal agreement. We want to find a way forward that can command the support of this House, to deliver on Brexit and the result of the referendum, and to ensure that people can continue to have trust in their politicians doing what they ask us to do.

Leaving the European Union

Debate between Owen Smith and Baroness May of Maidenhead

Tuesday 26th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

As I have said on a number of occasions, simply extending article 50 does not resolve the issue of the decision that the House will have to make. When the time comes, it will be for every Member of the House to decide whether we should respect the result of the referendum and whether we should do that by leaving with a deal, with the changes that will be achieved through the negotiations that are currently being undertaken with the European Union. However, that choice—no deal, a deal, or no Brexit—will be before every Member when the time comes.

[Owen Smith (Pontypridd) (Lab)]

I always admire a good U-turn on either side of the House, and I am delighted to welcome the Prime Minister’s screeching U-turn today and her acceptance that the House must have a chance to vote against no deal; but can she be clear, because she has not been thus far? If we have that vote on 12 or 13 March, will her Government be voting in favour of no deal or against it?

[The Prime Minister]

I am hearing conflicting views from across the Chamber. On one hand I am told that nothing has changed, and on the other hand I am told that we have done a U-turn.

Leaving the EU

Debate between Owen Smith and Baroness May of Maidenhead

Tuesday 12th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

What I have said in the statement and what we have indicated is that if there are future changes to workers’ rights in the European Union, we have committed to giving Parliament the opportunity to say whether the United Kingdom would support those rights.

[Owen Smith (Pontypridd) (Lab)]

It is patently obvious that the Prime Minister’s tawdry strategy is now to string this out until the last second in an attempt to blackmail and bully MPs into supporting this deal. I reassure her that I will take her advice: I will hold my nerve and refuse to bend the knee to this job-destroying Brexit. May I urge my party’s Front Benchers to do likewise—refuse to vote for it and instead honour our conference commitment to holding a public vote on this deal?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman talks about the impact of not having come to a deal at this stage and then in his question wants to go into a situation where we do not have a deal, we do not have agreement across this House and there is an extension of the time and the uncertainty that he has already referred to. I do not think that a people’s vote—a second referendum—is the right way forward for the reasons I indicated earlier. I believe that what people want us to do is deliver on the referendum and get on with it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Owen Smith and Baroness May of Maidenhead

Wednesday 30th January 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

First, I am sure the whole House will join me in sending our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Jack. A terrible tragedy has occurred with the loss of such a young life.

We recognise, as I am sure my hon. Friend the Member for Dudley South (Mike Wood) will confirm, that sepsis is a devastating condition, and it is important that the NHS carries on developing its programme of work on recognising sepsis and improving outcomes. I know NHS England and NHS Improvement are working urgently with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health to establish a single England-wide paediatrics early-warning system to improve the recognition of sepsis and the response of healthcare services to children and young people.

Obviously, nothing we can do will bring Jack back or compensate for the devastating impact on his family, but I can reassure my hon. Friend the Member for Brigg and Goole (Andrew Percy), and I hope he will be able to reassure his constituents, that we will continue to do all we can to improve the care for those with this devastating condition.

[Owen Smith (Pontypridd) (Lab)]

Q3. The Prime Minister will know that there is a rising tide of racism in our country. Since she came to office, race hate crime has increased by 100% to 72,000 separate attacks last year. What is happening to our country on her watch?

[The Prime Minister]

When I was Home Secretary, I took measures to ensure that we improved the recording of hate crime because—[Interruption.] Actually, no. We did not have a full picture of what was happening.

My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has recently reviewed and revised our hate crime strategy, but the point underlying what the hon. Member for Pontypridd (Owen Smith) has said is that none of us should accept hate crime. We should all be very clear from this House that there is no place for hate crime in our society. Wherever we see racism, in whatever form, we should all take action to eradicate it.

Exiting the European Union

Debate between Owen Smith and Baroness May of Maidenhead

Monday 10th December 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. In any negotiation, it is necessary to compromise; it is necessary to know what your vital interests are and to stick to them, but also to be willing to compromise in order to achieve those vital interests. It is for all of us to recognise the damage that can be done to our constituents if this House does not deliver on the referendum and do so in a way that protects people’s jobs and livelihoods.

[Owen Smith (Pontypridd) (Lab)]

Since the Prime Minister has been on her feet this afternoon, the pound has fallen to its lowest level since early 2017. The FTSE 250 has fallen to its lowest level for two years, as a direct consequence of the uncertainty caused by this failed brinksmanship. Is it not grossly irresponsible of the Prime Minister to tell the country that we do not know when we will have a vote on this and that this uncertainty may continue indefinitely?

[The Prime Minister]

Of course, people look at this House and hear people talking about the possibility of a second referendum or of a general election, all of which would increase uncertainty, increase division and increase the problems for this country.

Leaving the EU

Debate between Owen Smith and Baroness May of Maidenhead

Monday 26th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

No. First, there are, of course, regulatory differences already between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom. They are in limited areas, but they do exist. Secondly, the European Court of Justice would not be the final arbiter—that is not what is set out in the withdrawal agreement. The arbitration panel would make that decision, not the ECJ.

[Owen Smith (Pontypridd) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister steadfastly and tellingly refuses to say that her Brexit deal will make Britain better off. If she cannot offer a guarantee to my constituents that they will not be worse off as a result of this deal, how can she ask me to vote for it?

[The Prime Minister]

As I expressly said earlier, I believe that we can be better off outside the EU. The mistake all too often made is made by those who say that the only issue about our future prosperity is whether we are a member of the EU. I disagree. The issue of our future prosperity is about us and decisions that Governments and this Parliament take about our economy, and it is about the talents of our people, and I am full of optimism about our prosperity outside the EU precisely because of the talents of our people.

October EU Council

Debate between Owen Smith and Baroness May of Maidenhead

Monday 22nd October 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

No, that is not the Government’s position, that is not what the Government have proposed and that is not what the Government are working on in the negotiations with the European Union. My right hon. Friend is right in saying that business wants certainty as soon as it can have that certainty. That is why we are continuing to work to ensure we can complete the final negotiations—so that business will be able to see what the future deal is and what the future relationship with the European Union will be.

[Owen Smith (Pontypridd) (Lab)]

On Saturday, more than 700,000 people marched peacefully on Parliament and reasonably requested a people’s vote on the final deal. May I urge the Prime Minister to listen to those reasonable voices and resist the thuggish and brutish threats coming from some on the Government Benches behind her?

[The Prime Minister]

I have answered that question on a number of occasions already this afternoon. I believe it is right that we gave the people the vote in 2016. They voted to leave and we will deliver on that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Owen Smith and Baroness May of Maidenhead

Wednesday 15th November 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am very happy to join my hon. Friend in welcoming that vote in Australia. I was proud, as I know he and other colleagues were, when we passed the legislation here in this House to enable same-sex marriage in the United Kingdom, and I hope that the Australian Government will indeed act on that vote very soon.

[Owen Smith (Pontypridd) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker.

European Council

Debate between Owen Smith and Baroness May of Maidenhead

Tuesday 14th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right about this country’s important role in the market for digital services, which is why my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has set out a digital strategy. I was rather surprised by the derision from the Opposition at the suggestion that we should encourage a single market in digital services in the European Union, which we can trade with and sell into. They seem not to want us to develop that market in a way that is good for the United Kingdom.

[Owen Smith (Pontypridd) (Lab)]

A moment ago, the Prime Minister repeated without a hint of irony or comedy that she is encouraging the European Union to complete the single market in services because that is in our national interest. Will she explain to the House and to the country how it is not in our national interest to be a part of it?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman has said in the past that he has a different view on the result of the vote and of where the Government should be going in relation to membership of the European Union.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Owen Smith and Baroness May of Maidenhead

Wednesday 8th February 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and I think all of us and everybody in the country wants to unite behind the Government’s work to ensure that we get the best possible deal for the United Kingdom as we leave the European Union, and I believe that we can get a deal that will be in the interests of both the UK and the EU. I had hoped that I would be able to welcome the shadow Home Secretary to the Front Bench in time for the vote that is going to take place later tonight. Perhaps Labour Members are starting to realise that their only real headache is their leader.

[Owen Smith (Pontypridd) (Lab)]

Does the Prime Minister agree with the director general of the World Trade Organisation that if Britain were to leave the EU on WTO terms, it would cost £9 billion in lost trade each year?

[The Prime Minister]

What we want to do is to ensure that we negotiate a deal with the European Union that enables us to have the best possible deal in trading with and operating within the European Union single market in goods and services. I believe that is possible precisely because, as I have just said in response to my hon. Friend the Member for Lincoln (Karl MᶜCartney), such a deal would be good not just for us, but for the EU as well.

Informal European Council

Debate between Owen Smith and Baroness May of Maidenhead

Monday 6th February 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

What I have been clear about with all the European leaders I have spoken to is that what we want when we leave the European Union is a good free trade arrangement with the member states of the European Union, in the form of the European Union. That is what we want, and that is what we will be working for.

[Owen Smith (Pontypridd) (Lab)]

The summit began with the German Chancellor admonishing the Prime Minister for the threat to undercut our European neighbours—the alternative economic model the Prime Minister talked about at Lancaster House. Could she confirm that she is still threatening to cut corporation tax in a race to the bottom, and could she tell us whether she is worried that the manner of the negotiations is damaging our reputation abroad?

[The Prime Minister]

What I set out in the Lancaster House speech were my 12 objectives for the negotiations. Within that was a new free trade agreement with the European Union and a belief that we have every opportunity and every possibility of getting the arrangement that we want for the future strength of the UK economy. What I also said very clearly was that we would not be wanting to sign up to a bad deal for the UK. I think the UK public want to hear from their Prime Minister that we are not willing to sign up to a bad deal, and will make every effort and expect to get the best deal possible for the United Kingdom.

Alcohol Strategy

Debate between Owen Smith and Baroness May of Maidenhead

Friday 23rd March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mrs May]

I thank my hon. Friend for that. He is absolutely right. We were promised that the legislation would suddenly open an era in which people would sit casually in the streets, drinking responsibly. In fact, what we saw was an enormously increased burden on the police, who had to deal with the late-night and early-hours licences that were allowed as a result of Labour’s Licensing Act—that is why the police welcome the steps that we are taking today—and of course that just helped to fuel that binge-drinking culture which has caused so many problems in our town centres and high streets.

I apologise; the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas) previously mentioned advertising. In fact, we are looking at the issue of advertising and display of alcohol as part of the responsibility deal.

[Owen Smith (Pontypridd) (Lab)]

I agree that it is a very important statement that we have before us today, but it is a shame that it has been snuck out as a diversionary tactic on a Friday. As the Home Secretary failed to answer the question asked by my right hon. Friend the Member for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford (Yvette Cooper), can she now tell us when exactly she was instructed to make today's statement?

[Mrs May]

The Opposition really need to get their story straight. The hon. Gentleman's right hon. Friend stands up and complains that there has been too much press and media coverage about this, and he claims that the statement has been slunk out.