European Council

John Bercow Excerpts

Monday 22nd February 2016 Commons Chamber

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. May I gently remind the House that people who wish to take part in the exchanges should have been here at the start and remained throughout? People who have gone in and out of the Chamber, and may have come back in again, should not then be standing. That is very much in breach of the traditions of the House, and we need to be clear about that.

[Mr Ronnie Campbell (Blyth Valley) (Lab)]

One of the bogeymen policies for me was closer political union. If this country votes to stay in the EU on 23 June, what guarantees has the Prime Minister got that these things will be put in statute or written into a treaty at that time?

--- Later in debate ---

[The Prime Minister]

I am very happy to make that point. I do not know whether I will make it to Wimbledon, but I hope to make it to many parts of our country over the next four months to make exactly that point. We have not solved all of Britain’s problems with Europe—we have not solved all of Europe’s problems—but we have fundamentally addressed four major problems: too much of a single currency club, too much regulation, too much of a political union and not enough national determination over free-movement abuse and welfare. Those four things go to the heart of the problems we have had with this organisation.

[Mr Speaker]

As the Prime Minister knows very well, it is always worth while going to Wimbledon.

[Ian Paisley (North Antrim) (DUP)]

Will the Prime Minister welcome the support he has received today, surprisingly, from the Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, who has joined his campaign and who supports it, or will he encourage the people of Northern Ireland to stay in tune with his Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, who has indicated very strongly, in tune with them, that they should leave? If he is not going to support his Secretary of State, will he, then, follow the Deputy First Minister’s advice that she should resign? Will he now support his Secretary of State?

--- Later in debate ---

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I will try to accommodate remaining colleagues, but short questions are now required. We are having pithy answers but we need short questions.

[Rehman Chishti (Gillingham and Rainham) (Con)]

As someone who has an open mind and can see competing arguments on both sides, may I ask that we ensure that the information used in the campaign is factually correct? A few weeks ago, a letter criticising the Prime Minister appeared in The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail, apparently signed by a local Conservative activist from my constituency, linking the association to the letter, yet no one had ever heard of that person. May I ask that information put forward by both sides is fair, accurate and factually correct so that the British public can decide on the basis of fair evidence?

--- Later in debate ---

[The Prime Minister]

Politicians complaining about the BBC is a pretty common activity. I remember the former First Minister of Scotland getting quite heated about this issue. Every media organisation is under an obligation—sorry, let me restate that, because it is certainly not true of the newspapers. Every regulated television business is under a duty of impartiality, and I am sure the BBC will carry that out.

[Mr Speaker]

I thank the Prime Minister, other colleagues and, indeed, all 103 Back Benchers who have taken part in this important exchange.