"I am concerned about the position in Northern Ireland, and the Secretary of State quoted me on this earlier. It is true that I and the Labour party had reservations about the backstop—I am not sure that there were many people who did not have reservations about it—but on analysis, …..." Keir Starmer - View Speech
"I agree, and that is a point that I will develop. In recognition of the previous Prime Minister, although she said that, I always felt that she had a profound sense of public duty, that she properly recognised the real risks of no deal, and that ultimately she would not …..." Keir Starmer - View Speech
"There have to be checks, and they have to be done at the border with England, Scotland and Wales, or Northern Ireland—there is no getting away from that. The argument that the Prime Minister tried to deploy earlier that he is not putting a border in the Irish sea is …..." Keir Starmer - View Speech
"I do, and I am deeply concerned, because I am proud of our manufacturing base and the revival that it has gone through...." Keir Starmer - View Speech
"I have taken a lot of interventions and will take more later, but first I will make some progress.
It is important that we work through not just the technicalities of the deal, but where it leads us politically, because this is about the direction of travel for our country. …..." Keir Starmer - View Speech
"Because the Labour party and other Opposition parties would never countenance it, and I do not think the Government would either. [Interruption.]..." Keir Starmer - View Speech
"I have never accepted the proposition that insuring the country against no deal undermines the negotiations. I remind Members that at no point in the two years of the negotiating window that closed on 29 March did the House take no deal off the table. The entire negotiations were carried …..." Keir Starmer - View Speech
"Of course we would, but the point is this, and it has not been answered by any of these interventions. Since the current rule allows you to have higher standards, why do you write into the deal that you want to diverge?..." Keir Starmer - View Speech