Withdrawal Agreement: Proposed Changes

Tonia Antoniazzi Excerpts

Monday 7th October 2019 Commons Chamber

[James Duddridge]

With great sadness, I can confirm that I fear that some Members on the Opposition Benches and in this House simply do not want to follow the mandate of the British people. They do not want to exit and they will use every trick and turn in the book to frustrate it. That is not to say that there are not some genuine concerns, and I recognise those, but she is right: some people, having offered the referendum to the electorate, do not like the result and are trying to interfere and overturn the democratic will of the public.

[Tonia Antoniazzi (Gower) (Lab)]

Can the Minister confirm whether the full legal text has been shown to the Democratic Unionist party? If it has, why is it reasonable for one party to be able to make an informed judgment about the Government’s proposals while everyone else is kept in the dark?

[James Duddridge]

I am not going to get into the detail of—[Interruption.] Opposition Members who have been Ministers will realise that lots of people see documents, and Ministers do not constantly want to be in the position of saying who has seen what documents, which versions and when. I will not comment on who has seen which documents or indeed on documents that I have seen or have not seen.

Irish Border: Customs Arrangements

Tonia Antoniazzi Excerpts

Tuesday 1st October 2019 Commons Chamber

[James Duddridge]

My hon. Friend eloquently makes a point. We have said that we will not put a border in place, the Irish do not want to put a border in place, and the EU do not want to put one in place along the north-south line.

[Tonia Antoniazzi (Gower) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland told BBC Radio Ulster this morning:

“I’m clear that we can’t have customs facilities in the places mentioned in the reports”

overnight, but Parliament needs to know; we need clarity. The people deserve to know what the Government’s plans are. Can the Minister tell us who is speaking for the Government on these matters—the Prime Minister or the Secretary of State?

[James Duddridge]

Both.

EU Exit Negotiations

Tonia Antoniazzi Excerpts

Tuesday 9th October 2018 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

My hon. Friend is right. I met the Chief Minister recently. We are making sure that the Government of Gibraltar are fully involved and fully aware of all the negotiations. We have made good progress together in Madrid. The Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, my hon. Friend the Member for Worcester (Mr Walker), will be seeing him again next week.

[Tonia Antoniazzi (Gower) (Lab)]

In a letter dated 23 August, the Health Secretary said:

“based on the current cross-Government planning scenario we will ensure the UK has an additional six weeks supply of medicines”

in the event of no deal. However, it was then reported in The Sun that on 8 September that Cabinet Ministers were to be warned of a 12-week disruption at the border in the event of no deal—twice as long as the Health Secretary was planning for. Will the Secretary of State clarify the Government’s current planning assumptions for the length of disruption at the UK border in the event of no deal?

[Dominic Raab]

May I give the hon. Lady a bit of reassurance? In both the technical notices and the letter the Health Secretary sent to stakeholders, that has been set out very clearly. I can also give her the reassurance that the stockpiling of medicines and vaccines is a standard part of UK planning in the way the Government engage with the pharmaceutical industry in lots of other areas.