Exiting the European Union

Peter Kyle Excerpts

Monday 10th December 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I hear what my hon. Friend says. As I said earlier, the timing of this is rather better determined by the nature of the discussions we have with the European Union.

[Peter Kyle (Hove) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister started this process by going to the Supreme Court to stop the House of Commons having a say in starting the Brexit process. We are only having a vote tomorrow—or were only having a vote tomorrow, because she was defeated last year on the amendment to the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill. Is it not true that she has barefaced cheek to come before the House and lecture us about our duty to this House and our Parliament? Is not it true that no Prime Minister is better than a bad Prime Minister?

[The Prime Minister]

What I have pointed out today to Members of this House is the duty that each and every one of us has, having stood, as the hon. Gentleman did, on a manifesto to deliver on the result of the referendum, to do exactly that.

EU Exit Negotiations

Peter Kyle Excerpts

Thursday 15th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My right hon. Friend will be aware that there may be those in the House, as we have heard from several Opposition Members, who wish to ensure we do not leave the EU. I believe that it is important that we do leave the EU and that we do so on the basis of a good future relationship with the EU.

[Peter Kyle (Hove) (Lab)]

It is obvious that the Prime Minister does not command a majority in the House. People who support leave know the deal gives power to the EU instead of bringing it back, and people who support remain know it is not as good as the one we have. We have got to this position because she has been playing games with Brexit from the beginning, including by calling a general election in the middle of the negotiation period. Will she now do the right thing, go back to the people and let them say whether the deal is good enough? It would not be a rerun of the referendum. The first was based on promises; this one would be based on facts.

[The Prime Minister]

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave earlier.

EU Exit Negotiations

Peter Kyle Excerpts

Monday 15th October 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend’s question gives me an opportunity to say what I am sure was said earlier in the Chamber and give my personal congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on the great news that we have heard today.

I assure my hon. Friend that, absolutely, concentrating on the long-term solution will not only deliver a good economic future for the partnership with the European Union for this country, but ensure that we deliver on our commitment to the people of Northern Ireland.

[Peter Kyle (Hove) (Lab)]

During the referendum and since, the people running Britain’s businesses have been promised repeatedly that they will enjoy the exact same benefits that they currently enjoy once we have left the EU. After two years of negotiation, it is patently clear that they will not. Does the Prime Minister empathise with them? Does she understand why they want to have a say on the deal themselves, and to decide for themselves whether it is fit for British business?

[The Prime Minister]

We have indeed been listening to British business. We have put forward a proposal for frictionless trade and a free trade area between the United Kingdom and the European Union that would deliver for British business and meet its concerns.

Salisbury Update

Peter Kyle Excerpts

Wednesday 5th September 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My right hon. Friend speaks from his experience as a Security Minister, and I am grateful to him for the point he makes. We have already taken steps such as enhancing the power to stop people at ports when there is a suspicion that they might be involved in hostile state activity. Legislation is also going through the House in relation to enhancing our powers in certain areas relating to counter-terrorism. As my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has already said, we will look at the issue of espionage legislation to see whether there is anything further that we need to do.

[Peter Kyle (Hove) (Lab)]

After the attacks earlier in the year, our friends and partners abroad came together in a fantastic way to bring pressure to bear against Russia in response to what happened on our soil. In the light of today’s conclusions, that action should be seen as the start, not the end, of international pressure, because Vladimir Putin responds only to strength, and internationally co-ordinated strength works best. Where next for that partnership?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman is right that we saw an important international coalition come together. Since then, we have seen some further action being taken by individual countries, such as the United States, in relation to sanctions against Russia. We have also seen a coming together at the European Union level in relation to a sanctions regime for chemical weapons use, and we will continue to push that matter. We will also continue to push on sanctions in relation to Russia in several other areas. That activity will be continuing, and we will continue to step up pressure among our international allies. As I said earlier, I hope that the evidence that has been presented today will clearly show why this is so important.

NATO Summit

Peter Kyle Excerpts

Monday 16th July 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

As I have said, we recognise that there are real concerns about Nord Stream 2. There are concerns about its impact on Ukraine, and we will discuss the matter further with our allies.

[Peter Kyle (Hove) (Lab)]

The fact remains that President Trump is a NATO-sceptic who really responds only to individual strongmen around the world. Does the Prime Minister agree that NATO’s strength is many countries coming together and putting their collective security in the single organisation of NATO? Did she explain to Donald Trump where that strength comes from?

[The Prime Minister]

It was very clear around the NATO summit table—it was a point that I and others made—that our unity and collective strength have made NATO the bedrock of European security over the years.

Parliamentary Constituencies (Amendment) Bill: Committee Stage

Peter Kyle Excerpts

Tuesday 19th June 2018 Commons Chamber

[Peter Kyle (Hove) (Lab)]

Obviously Ministers are drawn from Parliament. Does my hon. Friend agree that if the number of MPs is reduced but the number of Ministers is not, a considerable amount of power will shift from Parliament to Government? If the Government’s proposal were even-handed, the number of Ministers would be reduced so that power would not be transferred from Parliament to the Government.

[Valerie Vaz]

I thank my hon. Friend for making that point. I will be drawing on it. Let me add, however, that as early as tomorrow we will see the effect of an overbearing Executive, and will see why it is so important for Members to be able to hold the Government to account.

If the Bill were allowed a Committee stage as a result of the motion, the debate on my hon. Friend’s Bill could explore the reasons for it. The Government could table new clauses and vote against clauses in the Bill, as many Conservative Members have suggested. Amendments could be tabled, too. This motion would allow that to take place so that hon. Members on both sides would be aware of why the Government object.

My hon. Friend the Member for Hove (Peter Kyle) must be psychic as I am now going to touch on the point he made. I have asked this previously, but will the Leader of the House confirm in relation to the payroll vote whether there will be a reduction in the number of Ministers and what costs will be saved by a reduction in the payroll vote? There is more work to be done as we leave the European Union and post-Brexit both for Parliament and for the Executive, but this means that the Executive will dominate Parliament, and if costs were an issue, ministerial numbers would also be reduced. However, the Government are incurring more costs in Parliament. What are the costs of the peers? In the last seven years, 260 have been appointed.

My second point—[Interruption.] I do not know if that was an intervention. The Leader of the House refers to things being done on a case-by-case basis. What is that, and since when do the Government decide which Bills ought to be progressed? She seems to have come up with a new case-by-case basis Standing Order. I have checked the latest edition of the Blue Book—May 2018—and there is no entry for “case-by-case basis.” This means that the Government are twisting convention by saying they will decide which Bills are worthy of a money resolution. All Bills should be treated fairly, which is the basis of the convention.

Tributes: Baroness Jowell

Peter Kyle Excerpts

Monday 14th May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Peter Kyle (Hove) (Lab)]

There have been many wonderful tributes to Tessa. One of the many that would have pleased her hugely was yesterday’s from the former Prime Minister, Tony Blair. He described in detail the rigour with which Tessa put forward her case in the now famous meeting at which she pitched the Olympics to him. Tessa described that same meeting to me a few years ago, and it was identical to Mr Blair’s description—with one addition. She said that at the end of the meeting she turned informally to him and said, “Do you want to be the Prime Minister who had the Olympics within their grasp and chose to turn away?” That, for me, was Tessa. She had learnt to weaponise the male ego, and woe betide any big beast that stood between her and one of her political objectives. That somebody could have an Olympic-sized vision and make it happen, yet do so leaving nothing but a trail of love and laughter, is a modern day political miracle. For those of us who knew her, she was that miracle. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear.”]

Syria

Peter Kyle Excerpts

Monday 16th April 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. I think that that accusation is indeed insulting. It is certainly not true. It is insulting to the Government, and, as my hon. Friend has said, it is insulting to our troops who so professionally and bravely carry out the action that we need.

[Peter Kyle (Hove) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister acted entirely appropriately. If these chemical weapons became normalised, not only would they be used against civilians in the future, but the time would surely come when our own servicemen and women would go into action for our country and they would be used against them too. That would be unforgivable. However, military action is not a replacement for diplomacy. Does the Prime Minister accept that we need a global response on the scale of the Gleneagles summit—when we focused the world’s attention on international development—to tackle Syria and put strategy behind it once and for all?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for making the point that if chemical weapons were allowed to continue to be used, they would be used by other people not just against civilians, but potentially against service personnel.

We do want to ensure that there is a major effort on the diplomatic side to find a resolution to the situation in Syria. That is why we continue to back the Geneva process and will work to ensure that it is reignited.

UK/EU Future Economic Partnership

Peter Kyle Excerpts

Monday 5th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am very clear about the important role that the life sciences industry plays in the United Kingdom, and I pay tribute to the work that my hon. Friend has done with it here in the United Kingdom. We wish to explore the possibility of some form of associate membership of those agencies. That is in the interests not just of the UK but of people across the EU, in terms of getting medicines to market more quickly.

[Peter Kyle (Hove) (Lab)]

The European Union has published the draft text of its legal stance of its negotiating position. The Prime Minister makes a speech, which does give more detail, but is still full of ambiguity. When will she publish the legal text of her negotiating stance?

[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.

European Council

Peter Kyle Excerpts

Monday 18th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am very happy to say exactly that to my hon. Friend. A number of hon. Friends have commented on comments that have been made by their constituents who are EU citizens that they do now feel reassured as a result of the phase 1 negotiation. I was clear that citizens’ rights should be one of the early issues that we addressed. We have done just that, and we have given people confidence for the future.

[Peter Kyle (Hove) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister has spent inordinate amounts of time reconciling the divisions within her own Cabinet, but no time whatsoever doing so for the public. Now that we are entering the most difficult part of these negotiations, what will she do specifically not only to deliver on the aspirations and excitement of those who voted leave, but to take into account the anxieties of people who voted remain?

[The Prime Minister]

Regardless of whether somebody voted leave or remain, I think the key focus for us all now is to ensure that we get the best possible deal for the United Kingdom as we leave the European Union. That is what the Government are focused on, and that is what we are going to do.