European Council Debate

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Department: Cabinet Office

European Council

Paul Flynn Excerpts
Monday 23rd October 2017

(6 years, 6 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Theresa May Portrait The Prime Minister
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Yes, there is hope for optimism. Obviously, we are negotiating a future partnership. One of the interesting issues is that the EU27 are themselves starting to think about their future and the nature of the relationship and arrangements they will have. We are working to negotiate that deal. As I indicated to the hon. Member for Penistone and Stocksbridge (Angela Smith), we will start those trade negotiations on the same basis of trading, which will make it easier for us, as it will not need to be as bureaucratic as it might in other circumstances.

Paul Flynn Portrait Paul Flynn (Newport West) (Lab)
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Given that the prestigious Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development reported last week that the British economy would be far stronger in the future without Brexit, and given that new horrors about Brexit are revealed on an almost weekly basis, is it not right that three years after the referendum, when we are thinking of taking this step, we allow the public to have a second opinion, in the knowledge that second thoughts are always superior to first thoughts?

Theresa May Portrait The Prime Minister
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This is about more than the decision to leave the EU; it is about whether the public can trust their politicians to put in place the decision they took. Any suggestion that we say to the public, “Oh, you’d better have a second referendum because we think you got it wrong,” is out of the question. We will be leaving the EU.