European Council

Tim Farron Excerpts

Tuesday 14th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I can assure my hon. Friend that I have noted the House of Lords report on this particular matter. As he will know, when people voted on 23 June last year they were very clear that they did not want to continue year after year paying huge sums of money into the European Union.

[Tim Farron (Westmorland and Lonsdale) (LD)]

I thank the Prime Minister for advance sight of her statement. Given that she is interpreting the will of the people and not enacting it, history will declare that last night she demonstrated contempt for this place and for the British people. The Brexit deal is an unwritten, unknown deal, and it is a deal that will be signed off by someone. The only question is: will it be signed off by a handful of politicians or by the whole of the people? Does she agree that it should be signed off by the whole of the people?

[The Prime Minister]

What the hon. Gentleman says comes a little strange from his party: I seem to remember the time when the Liberal Democrats were going around telling everybody that they were going to have an in/out referendum on membership of the EU, yet now that we have had an in/out referendum on membership of the EU they are not willing to accept the result the British people gave them. We are, and that is why we are putting it into practice. We are delivering the will of the British people.