Leaving the European Union

Rachael Maskell Excerpts

Tuesday 26th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the timetable I set out in my statement. I am working to bring back a deal that this House is able to agree.

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

The Prime Minister announced today that she will start the process of extending article 50 on 14 March. However, it is a two-way process. If the European Union partners are unable to deliver in 11 working days, will she revoke article 50 to stop a no deal?

[The Prime Minister]

Revoking article 50 is not something that can be done for a limited period of time. It means staying in the European Union, and we will not do that. We will honour the result of the referendum.

Leaving the EU

Rachael Maskell Excerpts

Tuesday 12th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

It is not the case that the only resolution of the issue of the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland is a customs union with the European Union.

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

The Government’s own economic analysis, which was of the Chequers deal, not the Prime Minister’s disastrous deal, demonstrated that our nation and the people of our country are going to be significantly poorer. Why does the Prime Minister think that, without a customs union, people on these Benches—Labour MPs—will vote for people to be poorer by following her deal?

[The Prime Minister]

First, I did make it clear that the deal that the Government had put forward was analysed in the economic analysis. We recognise that there was not economic analysis of the political declaration, which is part of the vote that took place in the House of Commons, because there are elements of that that are not yet tied down and agreed. However, variations were indicated within the economic analysis. A mid-term variation in relation to friction at the border was indicated. I say to the hon. Lady that it is not the case that the analysis shows that leaving the EU and the deals that are proposed would leave us poorer than we are today. What it does show is differences in the growth in the economy under the various deals, compared with staying in the European Union, but we are leaving the EU, and the analysis showed that the deal that the Government had proposed was the deal that was best for respecting the referendum and protecting jobs and the economy.

Oral Answers to Questions

Rachael Maskell Excerpts

Wednesday 9th January 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right about the vital role that the RNLI plays. As she says, many people do not realise that it is funded entirely by voluntary contributions. I pay tribute to all those across the country who raise funds for the RNLI, including, if she will allow me, the Sonning branch in my constituency.

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

Q13. York has been in shock as we have learned that 11 homeless people in our city died last year. While we know that this is an issue across the nation, we also know that substance misuse services have been cut, that social housing has not been built in our city, and that mental health services are desperately underfunded and understaffed.Prime Minister, I do not want to hear what you have done, because it has clearly failed. I want to know what you are going to do differently, so that no homeless person dies this year.

[The Prime Minister]

Every death of someone while homeless or sleeping rough on our streets is one death too many, which is why we have made a commitment to end rough sleeping by 2027 and halve it by 2022. The hon. Lady says that she does not want to know what we have done, but we have committed more than £1.2 billion to tackling homelessness and rough sleeping. She mentioned mental health services, and asked what we would do in the future. What we will be doing in the future is putting an extra £2.3 billion into mental health services, to ensure that we provide them for the people who, sadly, are not currently able to access them.

European Council

Rachael Maskell Excerpts

Monday 17th December 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Members of this House will have a decision to take in relation to the deal and whether they want to leave the European Union with a deal.

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

It is economically corrosive to delay the deal. For each day that passes, our economy is sliding down. People are becoming poorer and businesses are losing confidence. In the light of the political arithmetic that means the deal will fall, what discussions did the Prime Minister have with her European counterparts this weekend about alternatives, including the extension of article 50?

[The Prime Minister]

If the hon. Lady is concerned and wants to give certainty to business, there is one step she could take that would do that: back the deal.

Oral Answers to Questions

Rachael Maskell Excerpts

Wednesday 12th December 2018 Commons Chamber

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

Q14. The self-serving chaos unleashed on this Parliament this week is emblematic of the way in which this Government have consistently treated the people of our country. In the light of the Prime Minister’s conduct, the pound has fallen by 2% in the past 48 hours—her Budget’s equivalent of running the entire NHS for six weeks. Does she believe that this is a price worth paying for her Brexit deal?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady talks about what the Government are doing for the NHS. It is this Government who are establishing a 10-year plan for the sustainability of the NHS and putting the biggest cash boost in its history into the NHS to ensure it is there for all our constituents, now and in the future.

Exiting the European Union: Meaningful Vote

Rachael Maskell Excerpts

Tuesday 11th December 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lidington]

I will go this far with the hon. Gentleman: my view, and the Government’s view, is that we need to push on with this sooner rather than later, but that we need to know the outcome of the discussions that my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister is having before we determine the exact timing of those future days of debate. Let me also reiterate that, as both the Prime Minister and my hon. Friend the Member for Worcester have said to the House, the Government regard the obligation, in the event of no deal being agreed, to make a statement in line with section 13 of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act as a solemn commitment that still stands.

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that greater than the political crisis that has been created is the economic crisis? Already, in the last 24 hours, 2% has been knocked off the value of the pound. Is that not a reason to press ahead with the vote?

[Mr Lidington]

I am second to no one in wanting this issue to be resolved as rapidly as possible.

Exiting the European Union

Rachael Maskell Excerpts

Monday 10th December 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The official Opposition, as the Conservative party did, stood on a manifesto to deliver on the referendum, and they should do exactly that.

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

Given that the Prime Minister and her Government have led these negotiations for 29 months, what are the exact terms that the Prime Minister wants to negotiate with the EU this week?

[The Prime Minister]

I think I have answered this question on several occasions. I want to negotiate in relation to the backstop—ensuring that it is not permanent or indefinite and can only be temporary.

G20 Summit

Rachael Maskell Excerpts

Monday 3rd December 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I will tell my hon. Friend one of the negotiations I successfully negotiated. When I became Home Secretary, I was told that the exchange of passenger name records across the European Union would be very important in improving our security against terrorists and organised criminals. I was also told that we were the only country that wanted it and therefore it could not happen inside the European Union. What do we now see? By painstaking work, because I refused to accept that view, we have a passenger name records directive.

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

There is a time in politics when words are not enough; 56,000 people have been killed and 14 million are living through a humanitarian crisis in Yemen—what is the Prime Minister’s price to ensure that human rights are more important than blood money from the sale of arms?

[The Prime Minister]

The question of providing for those people who are suffering terribly in the Yemen today is about ensuring that there is a political solution in the Yemen. We believe that there is an opportunity for that now and that is what we have been encouraging all the parties to come together for. That is why the talks that are going to take place in Stockholm over the coming days and weeks are so important.

Progress on EU Negotiations

Rachael Maskell Excerpts

Thursday 22nd November 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend has identified that this is an issue on which there are strong feelings in the European Union. We have rigorously resisted attempts to link these two issues. He asked me to write to him, but I am tempted to say that what I said in my statement was that the fisheries agreement is not something that we will be trading off against any other priorities. That is not just in a letter from me to him; it will be in Hansard. I hope that he will take some comfort from that.

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

Two hundred of my constituents—people who are highly skilled and who regulate chemicals for the agricultural sector—will lose their jobs if this deal goes through. Why should they back her?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady has made a statement there, and I am not sure about the nature of the jobs that she mentions. We are clear about the importance of our agricultural industry and of our negotiating on the European Chemicals Agency, if that is one of the issues that she was talking about. This is a deal that is good for the UK because it is a deal that protects jobs.

EU Exit Negotiations

Rachael Maskell Excerpts

Thursday 15th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, we are developing a framework for our own procurement arrangements.

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

In the light of the fact that a no deal would be a disaster for our nation and the high probability that the House will not pass this deal, will the Prime Minister make it her first step to extend article 50 to ensure that we do not fall off a cliff edge?

[The Prime Minister]

No, the Government have made it clear that we will not be extending article 50.