UK/EU Future Economic Partnership

Peter Bone Excerpts

Monday 5th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I did try to explain this to the Leader of the Opposition, but I will have another go. The legal text that was published by the European Commission is not a legal text on its negotiations for the future economic or security partnership; it is a legal text on withdrawal agreement. We are working on that with the Commission, but what I have done is set out, from the United Kingdom’s point of view, what we want to see from our future economic partnership, just as I set out our future security partnership in Munich a few weeks ago. We now wait for the response from the European Union to our putting out our proposals before they have put out theirs.

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

In 389 days’ time, the United Kingdom will leave the dreadful European Union superstate. The Prime Minister will end the free movement of people; she will stop sending billions and billions of pounds to the EU each and every year; and we will make our own laws in our country, judged by our own judges. Does the Prime Minister find it slightly disconcerting that she is the first Conservative leader who has been able to unite those on these Benches on Europe?

[The Prime Minister]

I am very pleased that on these Conservative Benches we are united in the aim of ensuring that we deliver on the vote of the British people, we leave the European Union and we do it with a good deal that leads to an optimistic future for this country.

Strengthening Families

Peter Bone Excerpts

Thursday 8th February 2018 Westminster Hall

[Michael Tomlinson]

I could not agree more. I could mention two local examples from Dorset and the south-west—the Footprints Project and Clean Sheet, a national organisation that operates in Dorset—that do exactly that volunteering work in prisons. We should also mention prison chaplains, who do so much in that area.

I am pleased that the Government have committed to supporting the Farmer review. I do not expect the Minister to respond to it in detail, but I look forward to the new prisons Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Penrith and The Border (Rory Stewart), grasping and tackling the subject, as I know he will, and updating us in due course.

I have two final points to make. First, greater emphasis and training should be given to prison staff, who should be encouraged to build personal relationships with prisoners and their families, and to encourage prisoners in turn to build their own relationships with families and significant others. Secondly, when considering a prisoner’s application for release on temporary licence, family ties and supportive relationships should be a consideration. It should be a priority to ensure that an offender can improve family relationships ahead of release when it is safe to do so. A linked issue is the location of our prisons; we should ensure that prisoners are located as close to home as physically possible.

Families come in all shapes and sizes, but the evidence is clear. We know instinctively the importance of the family. I ask that the Government’s good work continue and that families’ importance be recognised, even within our criminal justice system.

[Mr Peter Bone (in the Chair)]

I call Carol Monaghan—not to wind up for the Scottish National party, but in her own right.

European Council

Peter Bone Excerpts

Monday 18th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I understand that, in the space of one day over the weekend, the shadow Home Secretary rejected a second referendum and the deputy leader of the Labour party said that a second referendum was still on the table. My right hon. Friend the Member for Belfast North (Nigel Dodds) is absolutely right about this particular issue. The best way to get the worst deal would be to suggest that we are going down the route of a second referendum, but it is more than that—I think it would actually be betraying the British people. This Parliament gave the British people a vote, and it is up to us to deliver on the result.

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

Will the Prime Minister give the British people a huge Christmas present by stating that, on 29 March 2019, we will leave the European Union, end the free movement of people and remove the jurisdiction of the European Court, and that the £39 billion we plan to give the European superstate to squander will be spent instead on the NHS, social care and maybe even cutting taxes?

[The Prime Minister]

We will be leaving the European Union on 29 March 2019. We will now be moving quickly to negotiate the details of the relationship during the implementation period which, as I have said, we expect to last for up to, or around, two years. The reason why we will have that implementation period, and why we would expect to continue to trade and operate with the EU on a similar basis to today, is to give businesses the certainty of knowing the basis on which they will be able to operate and so that they will not have to make two sets of changes to their arrangements, such as in relation to customs. There will only be one point at which businesses move to the new partnership. I think that that is a practical matter that most people will understand and appreciate.

Brexit Negotiations

Peter Bone Excerpts

Monday 11th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

No. If the hon. Gentleman looks at the joint progress report, he will also see that these things are all set in the context of agreeing the future partnership and the future trade arrangement between the United Kingdom and the European Union, but I remain of the view that no deal is better than a bad deal.

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

I came to the Chamber today thinking that we were going to leave the European Union on 29 March 2019 and that the whole House agreed. We now know from the Leader of the Opposition that Labour wants to stay in indefinitely. Will the Prime Minister confirm that we will come out in 473 days’ time and that that date will be put in the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend, and I can confirm that we will be leaving the European Union on 29 March 2019. I think the fact, as he reflects, that the Leader of the Opposition was so equivocal about the Labour party’s view on this issue shows that the Opposition want to try to play to two houses: they want to say at the start that they are confirming the referendum and respecting it; and yet, at the same time, they do not want to accept that we will be leaving the European Union—and we will be leaving.

Oral Answers to Questions

Peter Bone Excerpts

Wednesday 6th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady is just completely wrong. The Government have published a number of documents that set out the various options that can be taken forward with respect to the future trade relationship, that address the whole question of the customs relationship and that would address the issue of the Northern Ireland border. We have already published those proposals in detail. Those details are not part of the negotiations at the moment; they will become part of the negotiations when we move on to phase 2.

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

Q13. When the British people voted to leave the European super-state, they voted to end the free movement of people, to stop sending billions and billions of pounds to the EU each and every year, and to make our laws in our own country, judged by our own judges. Are we still on course to deliver that? If we have a problem, would it help if I came over to Brussels with the Prime Minister to sort it out?

[The Prime Minister]

I am always happy to spend time in my hon. Friend’s company. I hope that his petition on chicken farms went down well the other evening. The answer is, yes, we are on course to deliver what the people of this country voted for when they voted to leave the European Union.

European Council

Peter Bone Excerpts

Monday 23rd October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

It was very good of the Prime Minister to explain what the hon. Member for Blyth Valley was blathering on about, because I could not tell. I am very grateful for that bit of information.

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

This morning I met a gentleman who was singing the praises of the Prime Minister, saying that she is determined yet patient and that she gets things done. I think that the whole House would agree with that. He went on to say that he reads the newspapers and is very concerned about progress not being made and about things being terrible. Does the Prime Minister agree with what the newspapers are saying or not? One other thing, Mr Speaker: I asked the man what newspaper he read and it was the Evening Standard.

[The Prime Minister]

I say to my hon. Friend that we have a free press in this country and that is an important underpinning of our democracy. What I know is what the Government are doing to ensure that we get a good deal for the future.

Oral Answers to Questions

Peter Bone Excerpts

Wednesday 11th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

When we leave the European Union, we will be leaving the common fisheries policy. As part of the agreement that we need to enter into for the implementation period, obviously that and other issues will be part of that agreement. But when we leave the European Union, we will leave the common fisheries policy.

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

It has been assumed that triggering article 50 means that on 29 March 2019 we will come out of the EU if there is no agreement, but is it not the case that the negotiations can be extended if the Government and the EU agree to do that? Will the Prime Minister assure the House that under no circumstances will the negotiations be extended?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is accurate in his interpretation of the treaty, which does allow for an extension of negotiations. I have been very clear that by March 2019 we want not only for those negotiations to have ended but to have an agreement on the future relationship and on our withdrawal, and we will leave the EU in March 2019.

UK Plans for Leaving the EU

Peter Bone Excerpts

Monday 9th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Nice bid, as the Secretary of State says. Let me say to the hon. Gentleman—[Interruption.] Well, he changed from “not losing out” to “additional money” in his question. We have been very clear in relation to a number of elements where people currently receive funding related to the EU, such as under the common agricultural policy and structural funds, that we will meet any agreements entered into before we leave the European Union—in relation to the structural funds, as long as they meet UK priorities and are value for money. Thereafter, once we are outside the EU, it will be for us here in the UK to decide how we wish to ensure that different parts of the country are supported in the way that is necessary for them. What I have put forward is that there should be a shared prosperity fund, which will look at the diversity and disparity within regions and between regions, and we will act accordingly.

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

Last week, I met a leading UK industrialist and we discussed Brexit and the hundreds of thousands of people employed in the sector in this country. Although he wanted to see an agreement and understood entirely the Prime Minister’s implementation period, he is concerned that, if no agreement is reached, it is no good saying that on 29 March 2019—he needs to know now what Brexit without a deal would look like, so that he can plan for that eventuality. He asked whether the Prime Minister could publish those plans prior to Christmas.

[The Prime Minister]

I recognise the concerns people have about ensuring they know what the situation is going to be. The Government are working on what steps will be necessary for whatever the eventuality—whether we do negotiate a deal or whether we do not—and in doing that we are holding discussions with business.

European Council

Peter Bone Excerpts

Monday 26th June 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

I think the whole country will welcome the agreement that the Conservative and Unionist party has made with the DUP. The Prime Minister’s statement referred to the Brexit dividend of over £10 billion that we will save when we are not in the European superstate, and I welcome the half a billion pounds a year going to Northern Ireland. Is that the sort of funding that the Prime Minister thinks will happen in the rest of the United Kingdom?

[The Prime Minister]

I can say that we have to look at how we are going to use the money that we will no longer be sending to the European Union. People voted for us not to be sending vast sums of money to the EU every year, and we will have to look at how we use that money. One suggestion that has already been proposed by the Government is the concept of a shared prosperity fund to remove the disparities between different parts of the UK.

Early Parliamentary General Election

Peter Bone Excerpts

Wednesday 19th April 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

I hope that I can take up less time than that, Mr Speaker.

It is a great honour to follow the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron), who speaks for the Liberal Democrats. I had hoped to hear him rule out coming into a coalition with us, because I can tell him that there is no chance that those on the Conservative Benches would want him in our coalition or in any Government.

Party politics are in full swing today, but really this is a good day for Parliament. This is another slight step towards parliamentary democracy and away from diktat by the Executive. The Prime Minister has not called a general election; it is this House that will decide whether there will be a general election. I do not think for one moment that this election has been called for party political reasons. Previous Governments have decided to go early to the country; they were able to choose to go to the country for reasons of political advantage. This gave great power to the Executive. However, a strange set of circumstances has come about. We have had a change of Prime Minister and a change of all the senior Ministers. We have moved from having a Government who were anti-Brexit to one who are pro-Brexit.

That is why I will cast my vote today in support of the Government motion. It is up to each Member to make their own decision. I believe that this proves that the Fixed- term Parliaments Act 2011 is working—[Interruption.] If Members disagree, they can vote against the motion.

[Mr MacNeil]

The hon. Gentleman says that Parliament will decide on this question, but the Prime Minister went on television yesterday and staked her reputation across the world by declaring that there would be a general election. If she does not get the support of 422 MPs and a two-thirds majority today, would such a public humiliation mean that she had to resign?

[Mr Bone]

This illustrates the advantage of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act. If the House does not agree to a general election, it will not happen and the Government will continue in office. Any Opposition Members who did not want a general election would be very strange creatures indeed. Any Opposition Members who sat on their hands and did not vote would be regarded as impotent Members of Parliament. I hope that the hon. Gentleman will make his mind up and cast his vote one way or the other.

[Mr Jacob Rees-Mogg (North East Somerset) (Con)]

But does this not demonstrate why the Fixed-term Parliaments Act can never work? No Opposition can sensibly say that they would prefer a Government they oppose to continue in office, rather than having a chance to defeat them. The Act does not therefore fit within our constitution, and it ought to go.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Bone]

I rarely disagree with my hon. Friend, but I believe that these events are proof that the Act is working. I believe that we will have the required majority. I understand, Mr Speaker, that if no one objects when the vote is called, and if you decide the matter according to the voices, the motion will be carried without a two-thirds majority being required. That is a strange anomaly, and I hope that someone will shout “No” so that we get a vote. I will not be doing that today, however, because our vote has to follow our voice and I would never dream of doing anything other than that. Despite the party politics, this is a great day for Parliament and a small step forward for parliamentary democracy.