European Council

Baroness Hoey Excerpts

Monday 26th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for that suggestion. I am very happy to join him and the British delegation in making that request.

[Kate Hoey (Vauxhall) (Lab)]

May I congratulate the Prime Minister on getting unanimity on Russia?

Will the Prime Minister state categorically today that no matter what happens, the implementation period will end at the end of December 2020? Does she agree that to go into any negotiation saying that one will never walk away is not the way to get the best result?

[The Prime Minister]

I certainly agree with the hon. Lady on that point, which I have made in the Chamber in the past. Anybody going into a negotiation needs to be able to take that position.

On the end date of the implementation period, I have spoken about it being around two years. In the negotiations, the European Union wanted it to be at December 2020, and I felt it was appropriate that we had that firm date, so that everybody is clear about when the implementation period will end.

UK/EU Future Economic Partnership

Baroness Hoey Excerpts

Monday 5th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Absolutely. The European Union asked for more detail to be set out. I said that I would do that at the appropriate time. I have now done so both on security and on our economic partnership. My message to the European Union in relation to the negotiations is, “Let’s get on with it.”

[Kate Hoey (Vauxhall) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister made some very sensible suggestions in her speech about the relationship with regard to the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Has she read a very good report by the European Parliament’s Committee on Constitutional Affairs about how the border issue can be solved by innovative technology and so on? Will she make sure that her officials also read that before they go back into negotiations?

Oral Answers to Questions

Baroness Hoey Excerpts

Wednesday 7th February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Karen Bradley]

The hon. Gentleman puts his point more eloquently than I could ever dream of.

[Kate Hoey (Vauxhall) (Lab)]

Given that the Irish Republic would lose out most if there was not a good deal with the European Union, is the Secretary of State making it clear to all the Irish Ministers she is meeting that they have a role to play with the European Union and that they should be standing up for their country’s attitudes and making sure we get a good deal, which is to their benefit?

[Karen Bradley]

The reality is that a good deal is a win-win for everybody—not just Ireland but all the EU27 member states. Not having that is a lose-lose; nobody benefits from not having a good deal.

European Council

Baroness Hoey Excerpts

Monday 18th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The fact that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed is actually in the joint progress report that was published by the UK and the European Union. There will be various stages at which this Parliament will be able to vote on matters relating to our leaving the EU. I just referred to the withdrawal agreement and implementation Bill, and there will be other pieces of legislation as well. Separate from the formal withdrawal agreement that will bring those matters into UK law, we will of course be able legally to sign our new trade agreement with the EU once we leave the EU.

[Kate Hoey (Vauxhall) (Lab)]

If we will no longer be in the internal market and the customs union during the implementation period, why can we not negotiate, sign and implement new trade deals before the end of that period?

[The Prime Minister]

The purpose of the implementation period is to ensure that businesses and individuals do not have to make two sets of changes because of a new relationship that is put in place as part of our future partnership with the EU. That is why, as we look at the implementation period, I and the Government are clear that although we will be formally out of the customs union and the single market, we expect to be able to operate on the same terms as we currently do. That is what limits the ability to implement new trade deals elsewhere.

Brexit Negotiations

Baroness Hoey Excerpts

Monday 11th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

For the avoidance of doubt, I should say to the whole House that I regard any reference to Geoffrey Boycott as a compliment. What is said in the joint progress report is that these payments will be made as they fall due, unless otherwise determined by the United Kingdom and the European Union.

[Kate Hoey (Vauxhall) (Lab)]

This is a little bit of repetition, but to be absolutely clear, will the Prime Minister confirm that leaving the single market—the internal market, as I prefer to call it—and the customs union is not an option, and that anyone who is pushing for that is really still trying to stay in the EU?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady asked me to confirm that anybody wanting to leave the single market and the customs union effectively wants to stay in the EU; I think she meant that anybody who wants to stay in the single market and the customs union wants that. [Interruption.] She is nodding her affirmation. Yes, that is absolutely right. It is clear that actually leaving the EU means leaving the single market and the customs union.

UK Plans for Leaving the EU

Baroness Hoey Excerpts

Monday 9th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, I believe that such a relationship is in the interests of the remaining 27 members states of the EU and that as they come to look at this issue—they were not previously focusing on it, but Florence has now triggered their thinking on it—they will see the benefits of such a relationship not just to us but to them as well.

[Kate Hoey (Vauxhall) (Lab)]

The European Commission talks continually about the need for Her Majesty’s Government to provide certainty and clarity. Is there not one area in which we could provide that certainty and clarity very plainly, today and in our negotiations? Could we not make it clear that in March 2019 we will withdraw from the common fisheries policy, take back all our fisheries, and ensure that our fishing communities actually take back control of who fishes in British waters?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady is right to suggest that when we leave the European Union one of the aspects of leaving it will be leaving the common fisheries policy. Of course, we will need to consider the arrangements that we want to put in place here in the United Kingdom for the operation of our coastal waters and the operation of fishing around them.

Article 50

Baroness Hoey Excerpts

Wednesday 29th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The Conservative-led Government’s long-term economic plan, on which we all stood at the last election, has enabled our economy to have the necessary strength. We are pleased that we are able to maintain and build on that strength in our economy. She talks about the WTO arrangements. What I say in the letter to President Tusk is very clear:

“If…we leave the European Union without an agreement the default position is that we would have to trade on World Trade Organisation terms.”

In that kind of scenario, both the UK and the EU would of course cope with the change, but it is not the outcome that either side should seek. We must therefore work hard to avoid that outcome. I am clear that we want a comprehensive free trade agreement with the European Union, and that is what we will be working for.

[Kate Hoey (Vauxhall) (Lab)]

On what is a genuinely historic day for our country, may I pay tribute to the Prime Minister and to the Brexit Ministers for their determination and dedication in getting to this stage today to implement the will of the British people? Does she agree that one area on which we should be able to move forward very quickly in negotiations is getting back control of our fishing grounds?

European Council

Baroness Hoey Excerpts

Tuesday 14th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

In our negotiations, the Spanish Government have been concerned and clear that it is not possible for a country to break away from a member of the European Union and immediately rejoin the European Union—the Barroso doctrine, which has been reaffirmed by the European Commission. As for Scotland, independence would not mean membership of the European Union. Scotland would remain outside the European Union.

[Kate Hoey (Vauxhall) (Lab)]

I am sure that the Prime Minister will be pleased to know that millions of Labour supporters across the country will be delighted and will share her and my pleasure at the legal decision taken by Parliament. Did the right hon. Lady have any chance at the Council to discuss informally with EU leaders the position of British citizens in other countries? Are those leaders sticking up for our citizens there in the way we are sticking up for their citizens here?

[The Prime Minister]

I have had several discussions with European leaders on that point. That is why I said in response to an earlier question that there is good will on both sides about dealing with the issue and about recognising the needs not only of UK citizens living in other EU member states but of EU citizens living here in the UK. There is good will, but, as has been made clear in the past, no discussion can happen until the negotiations have been formally triggered.

Informal European Council

Baroness Hoey Excerpts

Monday 6th February 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. With his particular constituency interest, he is very aware of the issues around migrants being in the camp at Calais and the pressure that that puts on Dover, particularly when people are trying to get through to the United Kingdom. We will make every effort to work with the French Government to ensure that we do not see a return to the sort of camps that we saw last year in Calais before they were cleared.

[Kate Hoey (Vauxhall) (Lab)]

Is the Prime Minister disappointed that the mantra of nothing will be agreed until everything is agreed has been adopted as far as EU citizens in all our countries are concerned? Is it not possible for her to have an informal letter with the Prime Ministers of Spain and France to agree informally, as soon as it is technically possible after the start of article 50 negotiations, to bring in that reciprocality?

[The Prime Minister]

It is not the case that people are saying that, in this particular issue, it can only be agreed at the end of the deal when everything else is agreed. What they have said is that they do not believe that negotiations and discussions on it should not start until article 50 has triggered the formal negotiations. I have every expectation, from the good will that I have seen from others, that it will be possible to get an early agreement on this matter to give people the reassurance that they need.

European Council

Baroness Hoey Excerpts

Monday 24th October 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

All I would say to my hon. Friend is that, regardless of which side of the debate Members were on before 23 June, we should all accept the voice of the British people and put that into practice.

[Kate Hoey (Vauxhall) (Lab)]

I congratulate the Prime Minister on her handling of her first European Union summit. I will not ask her whether she enjoyed it, but does she accept that millions of people who voted to leave—including, let us not forget, millions of Labour voters—will only believe that we are really leaving when we invoke article 50? Will she assure the House that she will not be taken in by those who want to delay and delay and delay in the hope that somehow, somewhere, they will get another referendum?

[The Prime Minister]

I have made it very clear that there is no question of another referendum. While I felt that it was right for us to take some time to prepare before the start of the negotiations through the invoking of article 50, it is also true that, as the hon. Lady says, members of the public will want to see article 50 invoked so that they know that this is going to happen. That is why I think that the timetable for invoking it by the end of March 2017 is the right one.