Leaving the European Union Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Exiting the European Union
Bambos Charalambous
Main Page: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)Department Debates - View all Bambos Charalambous's debates with the Department for Exiting the European Union
Leaving the European Union
Bambos Charalambous Excerpts(5 years ago)
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Martin Whitfield
I very much agree; we cannot have enough democracy. One of the questions that needs to be answered is what sort of democracy we want going forwards. We have looked at the referendum, and a group of people say, “The original referendum is sacrosanct; we can’t have another.” We have people who say, “We’ve had a general election—it’s sacrosanct, and we’re not going to change it.”
Very serious constitutional questions need to be addressed urgently. One way to do that is to create a space for that discussion to happen. The request to revoke article 50 does not mean that we will never leave the EU; it means that we can start to reconcile the country away from screaming and shouting and towards a situation in which discussion takes place and we can move forward together.
Bambos Charalambous (Enfield, Southgate) (Lab)
Businesses are affected, and many of them do not know who they will employ in the future, what supply chains they will use and which regulatory regime they will use. Surely we need to have space to allow them to have certainty.
Martin Whitfield
Absolutely; I agree. The handling of the no-deal nightmare cliff edge has not been the greatest moment in parliamentary history. We can have a great moment in that history by opening up the discussion again and trusting our voters—the public—to take it forward.