European Council

Stephen Hammond Excerpts

Monday 26th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

As we have put in a number of proposals, we need to ensure that once we have left the European Union, we recognise the sovereign legal order of the United Kingdom. Obviously, we recognise the legal order that will pertain for the EU27. We will be negotiating the details of issues such as the European arrest warrant as part of the security partnership and treaty that we will negotiate for the future.

[Stephen Hammond (Wimbledon) (Con)]

I commend my right hon. Friend for the progress that she made last week. She will know that the financial services industry particularly welcomes the implementation period and the commitment in the guidelines for a trade in services based on market access and allowing rights of establishment. Is the British Government’s ambition to achieve that under mutual recognition or standards regulatory alignment?

Oral Answers to Questions

Stephen Hammond Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd November 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I know this is an issue that a number of Members have been concerned about and I recognise that the result of the review was not what some Members and families were hoping for. It was a comprehensive, independent scientific review of the available evidence by experts. All the meetings of the expert working group were attended by Nick Dobrik, as an invited independent expert from the Thalidomide Trust and at the request of the patient group, the Association for Children Damaged by Hormone Pregnancy Tests. I am informed that the overall conclusion is that the scientific evidence does not support a causal association, but that does not detract from the very real suffering experienced by the families. I recognise that these conclusions are hard to accept, but the Department of Health is focused on implementing the review’s recommendations which will strengthen detection and better communicate the risk of medicines during pregnancy.

[Stephen Hammond (Wimbledon) (Con)]

Q10. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the right revised offer to the EU, far from throwing money away, will be worthwhile to secure the UK’s future trade relationship with our European neighbours?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend raises an important issue. I set out in my speech in Florence that the UK will honour the commitments we have made during our period of membership. We do not want our European partners to fear that they will have to receive less or pay more during the current budget plan as a result of our leaving the European Union, but we can only resolve the financial implications of the UK’s withdrawal as a part of the settlement of all the issues I spoke about in Florence. Once that is done, of course, the days of Britain paying vast sums of money to the EU every year will end.

European Council

Stephen Hammond Excerpts

Monday 23rd October 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman knows very well that that is in the Florence speech.

[Stephen Hammond (Wimbledon) (Con)]

I thank my right hon. Friend for her statement and warmly welcome the progress she has outlined towards the deal that both we and our European partners require. I also welcome the statement about EU citizens. I note that my right hon. Friend says in her statement that “there are a small number of issues that remain outstanding”. What progress might be made in front of the December Council on those matters, because resolution of that would represent a real Christmas present for many EU citizens in my constituency and elsewhere?

[The Prime Minister]

I think both sides see the possible options for moving to that agreement, and I hope we can make rapid progress on that over the coming weeks leading up to the December Council.