Article 50

Paul Flynn Excerpts

Tuesday 24th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Davis]

I warn my hon. Friend to be wary of biblical quotations. The last one I used was,

“Get thee behind me, Satan”,

and it rode with me for several weeks thereafter. However, he is right that this is a massive exercise in democracy, and we will make it so.

[Paul Flynn (Newport West) (Lab)]

The Supreme Court’s judgment is welcome in that it establishes that the will of this House is sovereign and superior to the royal prerogative, but it is unwelcome in that it seeks to take back from Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland powers that had been devolved to them. Will the Secretary of State promise that the special needs of Wales, which will be hit more severely by withdrawal from the single market than England, will be considered and that we will have not just a red, white and blue Brexit, but a red, white and green Brexit that meets the will and the needs of Wales?

[Mr Davis]

I will say two things. First, I think that the hon. Gentleman misreads the judgment. It does not talk about taking back powers back from the devolved Administrations at all, as far as I can see. As I said to the hon. Member for Arfon (Hywel Williams), the interests of the people of Wales, as far as the Welsh Government view them, have been put into a paper that has been submitted to the Joint Ministerial Committee and will be debated at the next meeting of its European negotiating arm.