Prime Minister's Update

Lord Dodds of Duncairn Excerpts

Wednesday 25th September 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My right hon. Friend speaks with great wisdom and experience of this place, but I cannot believe that in all his time here he has ever seen a Leader of the Opposition actively forgo and turn down, in full view of the British public, the opportunity to have a general election. But that is what has happened twice. There can only be one possible explanation—that he does not think he can win.

[Nigel Dodds (Belfast North) (DUP)]

There will be many people, not least the families of senior judges who were murdered in Northern Ireland—many of them, including a Lord Justice of Appeal—who will wish that the Leader of the Opposition had really put his words today into action much, much earlier in his career, when he supported a terrorist organisation that murdered judges. We talk about respect for the rule of law; it should have been respect for the rule of law through the decades of the troubles in Northern Ireland as well.

On Brexit, the reality is that, despite everything, the fundamentals remain unchanged. We need to deliver on the Brexit referendum, but we must do so—ideally and if possible—with a deal, and we want to get that deal through this House. Does the Prime Minister agree that the way to do that is to deal with the anti-democratic backstop—the trap and the issue of consent that he talks about, which we will work with him on—but that all the shenanigans in this House undermining the leverage of the Prime Minister are actually in danger of bringing about the very result feared by those who do not want a no deal?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for what he has just said. Of course, I agree profoundly with his condemnation of terrorism. I make no comment on the support of the Leader of the Opposition for those organisations because I have made that point many times before.

The right hon. Gentleman speaks with great maturity on the negotiations. There is a chance to make progress. It will not be easy, but it clearly is not helped by the surrender Act. [Interruption.] That is what it is, because it would require us to take no deal off the table. But neither the right hon. Gentleman nor I are going to be daunted by that Act and I think our confidence is growing. We will work flat out to get a deal by 17 October. The House will then indeed have a chance to pronounce on it, as it was always intended that it should.