Oral Answers to Questions

Patricia Gibson Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

I thank my right hon. and learned Friend. I was not quite sure what the question there was, but the position of the Government is that advisers advise and Ministers decide. It is right that the legislation that we have rightly dubbed the surrender Act gets the kind of scrutiny that a Government would get—whether it is from the Executive, parliamentary Select Committees in this House or, indeed, the declarations of interest that should come forward in the normal way.

[Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran) (SNP)]

Q6. Can the First Secretary of State set out clearly and unambiguously for this House in what circumstances the Prime Minister will write to the EU Council President, as set out in the terms of the Benn Act?

[Dominic Raab]

The Government have been very clear: we will respect the law—[Interruption.] We will respect the law, but we are not going to extend beyond 31 October. I would ask all hon. Members who signed up to that shoddy legislation to reflect on whether—with the fact of the multiple conditions, the £1 billion a month that it would cost the UK taxpayer and undermining the position of the UK Government to get a deal in Brussels—they are actually courting the no-deal scenario they pretend they want to avoid.