Intelligence Oversight

Theresa May Excerpts

Wednesday 20th December 2017 Written Statements

[The Prime Minister (Mrs Theresa May)]

I have today laid before both Houses a copy of the final annual reports from the Intelligence Services Commissioner, the Interception of Communications Commissioner and the Chief Surveillance Commissioner. These reports are the last reports to be completed under the previous system of judicial intelligence oversight. On 1 September 2017 the Investigatory Powers Commissioner assumed responsibility for oversight of the use of investigatory powers by public authorities.

These three annual reports demonstrate that the security and intelligence agencies, law enforcement agencies and other relevant public authorities show high levels of operational competence combined with respect for the law. The introduction of the Investigatory Powers Commissioner, as created by the Investigatory Powers Act 2016, will only further strengthen the system of oversight and the world-leading level of transparency that these reports represent. I would like to place on record my thanks to the commissioners and their staff for their work.

I would also like to thank the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament, which has published its 2016-17 annual report today. This is a thorough annual report covering threats to national security, the Committee’s assessment of the UK’s approach to counter-terrorism and cyber-security and in-depth scrutiny of the resources and expenditure of the agencies and Government Departments. The level of detail contained in the report, obtained through the Committee’s regular access to written material and evidence sessions with the heads of agencies and Secretaries of State is testament to the quality of UK parliamentary intelligence oversight. The report includes 26 conclusions and recommendations, many of which the Government support and are already implementing, such as continuing efforts to tackle the extremist narrative, working with the technology industry to promote secure operating systems in smart devices, attracting technical specialists into agency roles and ensuring that the strongest possible European security co-operation continues post-Brexit. The Government are committed to improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the agencies’ and will consider the Committee’s recommendations about administration and expenditure as part of those wider Government efforts.

Finally, I would also like to respond to the Intelligence and Security Committee’s report on targeted airstrikes which was published on 26 April 2017 before the general election. On 7 September 2015, the then Prime Minister informed the House that on 21 August 2015, an RAF remotely piloted aircraft targeted and killed Reyaad Khan, a UK national, in the Raqqah area in Syria in an act of UK self-defence. Two other individuals, both Daesh associates, were also killed. On 29 October 2015, the Intelligence and Security Committee announced that it would be investigating the intelligence basis for the airstrikes and the threat that Reyaad Khan posed.

The Intelligence and Security Committee concluded that there was

“no doubt that Reyaad Khan posed a very serious threat to the UK”.

The Committee reviewed classified intelligence reports that showed how Reyaad Khan and his associates had encouraged multiple operatives around the world to orchestrate attacks, including at high-profile public commemorations in the UK in 2015. They had offered instructions for the manufacture of improvised explosive devices and locations of possible targets. The intent to murder British citizens was clear and the Intelligence and Security Committee concluded

“it is to the Agencies’ credit that their investigation of Khan’s activities revealed these plots which they were then able to disrupt, thereby avoiding what could have been a very significant loss of life.”

A precision airstrike against a British citizen is one of the most difficult decisions a Government can take. It is the last resort in a host of counter-terrorism measures to prevent and disrupt plots against the UK at every stage in their planning. These include powers to stop suspects travelling, to pursue terrorists through the courts and to assist coalition partners in counter-terrorism activity overseas.

However, if there is a direct threat to UK citizens like that posed by Reyaad Khan, I, like my predecessor, will always be prepared to take action. In August 2015, there was no alternative to a precision airstrike in Syria. There was no Government that the UK could work with, and no military on the ground to detain Daesh operatives. There was also nothing to suggest that Reyaad Khan would desist from his desire to murder innocent people in the UK. The Government had no way of ensuring that all of his planned attacks would not become a murderous reality without taking direct action.

As the then Prime Minister informed the House in September 2015, a rigorous decision-making process underpinned the airstrike. A direct and imminent threat was identified by the intelligence agencies and the National Security Council agreed that military action should be taken. The Attorney General was consulted and was clear that there would be a clear legal basis for action in international law. For the reasons outlined above, an airstrike was the only feasible means of effectively disrupting the attack planning and so it was necessary and proportionate for the individual self-defence of the UK. On that basis, the Defence Secretary authorised the operation, which was conducted according to specific military rules of engagement that complied with international law and the principles of proportionality and necessity.

The UK continues to thwart terrorist attacks. Countering the threat has always been a crucial part of the work of this Government. We have introduced measures to disrupt the travel of foreign fighters, passed the Investigatory Powers Act which ensures the police and security and intelligence agencies have the powers and tools they need to keep the public safe, and increased counter-terrorism budgets. We continue to work with technology companies to remove terrorist material online and to share UK intelligence with international partners to track down terrorists. But sadly this year has shown that the threat from terrorism cannot always be contained. Too many innocent families’ lives have been ruined across the UK from international terrorist attacks. The Government will continue to do what is necessary to keep citizens safe.

[HCWS378]

Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe: UK Delegation

Theresa May Excerpts

Wednesday 20th December 2017 Written Statements

[The Prime Minister (Mrs Theresa May)]

The United Kingdom delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe is constituted as follows:

European Council

Theresa May Excerpts

Monday 18th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister (Mrs Theresa May)]

With permission, Mr Speaker, I will make a statement on last week’s European Council.

Before turning to the progress on our negotiations to leave the European Union, let me briefly cover the discussions on Russia, Jerusalem, migration and education. In each case, the UK made a substantive contribution, both as a current member of the EU and in the spirit of the new deep and special partnership we want to build with our European neighbours.

Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea was the first time since the second world war that one sovereign nation has forcibly taken territory from another in Europe. Since then, human rights have worsened. Russia has fomented conflict in the Donbass and the peace process in Ukraine has stalled. As I said at the Lord Mayor’s banquet, the UK will do what is necessary to protect ourselves and to work with our allies to do likewise, both now and after we have left the EU. We were at the forefront of the original call for EU sanctions and, at this Council, we agreed to extend those sanctions for a further six months.

On Jerusalem, I made it clear that we disagree with the United States’ decision to move its embassy and recognise Jerusalem as the Israeli capital before a final status agreement. Like our EU partners, we will not be following suit, but it is vital that we continue to work with the United States to encourage it to bring forward proposals that will re-energise the peace process. That must be based around support for a two-state solution and an acknowledgement that the final status of Jerusalem must be subject to negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians.

On migration, when we leave the European Union, we will be taking back control of our own borders and laws, so we will be free to decide our own approach, independently of the EU. But as part of the new partnership we want to build, I made it clear at this Council that we will continue to play our full part in working with the EU on this shared challenge. We will retain our maritime presence in the Mediterranean for as long as necessary, we will work with Libyan law enforcement to enhance its capability to tackle people-smuggling networks, and we will continue to address the root causes of the problem by investing for the long term in education, jobs and services in countries of origin and transit.

On education, our world-leading universities remain a highly attractive destination for students from across the EU, while UK students also benefit from studying overseas. UK and EU universities will still want to work together after we leave the EU and, indeed, to co-operate with other universities around the world. We will discuss how to achieve that in the long term as part of the negotiations on our future deep and special partnership, but in the meantime I was pleased to confirm at the Council that UK students will continue to be able to participate in the Erasmus student exchange programme for at least another three years, until the end of this budget period.

Turning to Brexit, the European Council formally agreed on Friday that sufficient progress has been made to move on to the second stage of the negotiations. This is an important step on the road to delivering the smooth and orderly Brexit that people voted for in June last year. I want to thank Jean-Claude Juncker for his personal efforts, and Donald Tusk and my fellow leaders for the constructive way they have approached this process.

With Friday’s Council, we have now achieved my first priority of a reciprocal agreement on citizens’ rights. EU citizens living in the UK will have their rights enshrined in UK law and enforced by British courts, and UK citizens living in the EU will also have their rights protected. We needed both and that is what we have got, providing vital reassurance to all those citizens and their families in the run-up to Christmas.

On the financial settlement, I set out the principles for the House last week and the negotiations that have brought this settlement down by a substantial amount. Based on reasonable assumptions, the settlement is estimated to stand at between £35 billion and £39 billion in current terms. This is the equivalent of about four years of our current budget contribution, around two of which we expect will be covered by the implementation period, and it is far removed from some of the figures that had been bandied around.

On Northern Ireland, as I set out in detail for the House last week, we have committed to maintain the common travel area with Ireland; to uphold the Belfast agreement in full; and to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, while upholding the constitutional and economic integrity of the whole United Kingdom. We will work closer than ever with all Northern Irish parties and the Irish Government as we now enter the second phase of the negotiations.

The guidelines published by President Tusk on Friday point to the shared desire of the EU and the UK to make rapid progress on an implementation period, with formal talks beginning very soon. This will help give certainty to employers and families that we are going to deliver a smooth Brexit. As I proposed in Florence, during this strictly time-limited implementation period, which we will now begin to negotiate, we would not be in the single market or the customs union as we will have left the European Union. But we would propose that our access to one another’s markets would continue as now, while we prepare and implement the new processes and new systems that will underpin our future partnership. During this period we intend to register new arrivals from the EU as preparation for our future immigration system. We will prepare for our future independent trade policy by negotiating, and where possible signing, trade deals with third countries which could come into force after the conclusion of the implementation period.

Finally, the Council also confirmed on Friday that discussions will now begin on trade and the future security partnership. I set out the framework for our approach to these discussions in my speeches at Lancaster House and in Florence. We will now work with our European partners with ambition and creativity to develop the details of a partnership that I firmly believe will be in the best interests of both the UK and the EU.

Since my Lancaster House speech in January, we have triggered article 50 and begun and closed negotiations on the first phase. We have done what many said could not be done, demonstrating what can be achieved with commitment and perseverance on both sides. I will not be derailed from delivering the democratic will of the British people. We are well on our way to delivering a smooth and orderly Brexit. That is good news for those who voted leave, who were worried the negotiations were so complicated it was never going to happen, and it is good news for those who voted remain, who were worried that we might leave without being able to reach an agreement. We will now move on with building a bold new economic relationship, which together with the new trade deals we strike across the world can support generations of new jobs for our people, open up new markets for our exporters, and drive new growth for our economy. We will build a new security relationship that promotes our values in the world and keeps our families safe from threats that increasingly do not recognise geographical boundaries. We will bring our country together: stronger, fairer, and once again back in control of our borders, our money and our laws.

Finally, Mr Speaker, let me say this. We are dealing with questions of great significance to our country’s future, so it is natural that there are many strongly held views on all sides of this Chamber. It is right and proper that we should debate them, and do so with all the passion and conviction that makes our democracy what it is. But there can never be a place for the threats of violence and intimidation against some Members that we have seen in recent days. Our politics must be better than that. On that note, I commend this statement to the House.

[Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North) (Lab)]

I thank the Prime Minister for an advance copy of her statement.

On Jerusalem, I also condemn the actions of the United States President. I welcome the Prime Minister’s commitment to maintaining a maritime presence in the Mediterranean, but as a humanitarian mission to save lives.

As I said last week in response to the Prime Minister’s previous statement, we welcome progress to the second phase of negotiations but that should not hide the fact that this agreement comes two months later than planned and many of the key aspects of phase one are still unclear. These negotiations are vital for people’s jobs and for the economy; our future prosperity depends on getting this right.

The agreement reached on phase one was clearly cobbled together at the eleventh hour after the Democratic Unionist party vetoed the first attempt, as is evident in the vagueness of the final text, which underlines the sharp divisions in the Cabinet. As we head into phase two, the truth is that the Government must change track. We cannot afford to mishandle the second stage. The Prime Minister must now sort out the contradictions. We were told last week that the Prime Minister’s humiliating loss on giving Parliament a final say on a Brexit deal made her weak, and the Daily Mail, which previously branded the judiciary “enemies of the people”, is now whipping up hatred against Back-Bench rebel MPs. Threats and intimidation have no place in our politics, and the truth of it is that it is division and in-fighting in her own Cabinet and their reliance on the DUP that makes them weak. So will the Prime Minister welcome Parliament’s vote to take back control?

We have already seen Ministers in the Prime Minister’s Cabinet, such as the Brexit Secretary and the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, give the impression that the agreement can be changed or ignored—that it effectively does not amount to a hill of beans. It is not very reassuring that this is the end product of eight months of negotiation. Will she set out which parts of the financial settlement agreed between the UK and the EU will be paid if a final deal between the EU and the UK cannot be struck? Given the delays to the phase one deal, can the Prime Minister now see that cementing in statute a time and date on which Britain will leave the European Union could hinder negotiations?

I am glad that the Prime Minister now seems determined to follow Labour’s call for a transition period to create stability—[Interruption.] In case Government Members do not want to hear it, Mr Speaker, I will repeat the sentence. I am glad that the Prime Minister now seems determined to follow Labour’s call for a transition period to create stability as we leave the European Union. It is necessary that we remain in the single market and customs union for a limited period, allowing a smooth transition for British business. However, there was more Government confusion on this over the weekend. Will the Prime Minister clarify whether we will remain subject to the rules of the single market and the customs union during this transition period? Does she envisage that the UK will also remain a member of the common agricultural policy and common fisheries policy, and can she clarify whether it will be possible under the phase one agreement to sign trade deals during the transition period?

There were also worrying reports over the weekend about what some senior Cabinet Ministers will demand from the Prime Minister to support a phase one deal. These demands were reported to include that Britain should leave the working time directive. Can the Prime Minister state now, categorically, that she will face down this push from some in her Cabinet and that Britain will maintain the standards of the working time directive both during a transition period and beyond? Will she also guarantee that the Government will not seek to use Brexit to water down any other working or social rights in this country? Will she commit to maintaining access for UK students to the Erasmus programme beyond the current budget period?

These issues are important to people’s jobs and living standards. It is becoming clear that many on the Government Benches want to use Brexit to rip up rights at work, environmental standards and consumer protections, and to deregulate our economy. For many of them, Brexit is a chance to make Britain a tax haven for the super-rich. Let me be clear: Labour will do everything in our power to stop that.

The choice is becoming clear: a Tory Government who will use Brexit to protect the very richest, slashing corporation tax and the regulations that protect working people, or a Labour vision that would protect jobs, the economy and investment by building a relationship with our closest trade partners, and not starting a race to the bottom in which people’s jobs and living standards will suffer.

[The Prime Minister]

First, I welcome the fact that the Leader of the Opposition has said that threats and intimidation should not form part of our political life. I agree with him, but what he said will seem a bit rich to those of my colleagues who were candidates in the general election, and who suffered from the Labour party.

The right hon. Gentleman asked a number of questions about the date of our leaving and phase 1. He said that the phase 1 agreement was vague. In fact, it is the result of significant work over a number of months. If the right hon. Gentleman looks at it carefully, he will see that it is detailed in relation to citizens’ rights. It gives reassurances to EU citizens here in the United Kingdom and UK citizens living in the EU 27 that they can carry on living their lives as they have done, and that their life choices will be respected.

The right hon. Gentleman claimed that the transition period—the implementation period—was somehow a Labour idea. He should look at the Lancaster House speech, in which I was very clear about the need for a smooth departure from the European Union. The financial settlement that we agreed in phase 1 is in the context of agreeing the final deal and reaching the final agreement. He talked about dates for our leaving. I note that he said that we should have triggered article 50 the day after the referendum. That would have meant that there was no time to prepare our negotiating position and we would be leaving the EU in six months without having done the proper work to make sure that there was that smooth and orderly progression, and that we did not disrupt our economy in the ways that the right hon. Gentleman has talked about.

The right hon. Gentleman asked whether trade deals could be signed. I referred to that in my statement. He asked about the transition period, and about the common fisheries policy and the common agricultural policy. We will be leaving the European Union on 29 March 2019, and we will therefore be leaving the common fisheries policy and the common agricultural policy on that date. The relationship that we have with the European Union on both those issues continuing through the implementation period will be part of the negotiation of that period, and work will start very soon.

Then, of course, the right hon. Gentleman asked about workers’ rights. Again, I set out in my Lancaster House speech, and have confirmed on a number of occasions since, that this Government will not only maintain but enhance workers’ rights. If the right hon. Gentleman is so worried about workers’ rights, why did the Labour party vote against the very Bill that brings workers’ rights in the EU into UK law?

[Mr Iain Duncan Smith (Chingford and Woodford Green) (Con)]

I agree with my right hon. Friend that attacks on MPs’ family members, particularly in vulnerable conditions, should be absolutely outlawed from the very beginning.

May I ask my right hon. Friend whether she has read Mr Barnier’s statement—made in the last couple of days—in which he set out the EU’s position in the run-up to the next two phases of discussion? Can she confirm that the Government have neither discussed that nor agreed it, and that therefore it is not Government policy?

[The Prime Minister]

I had noticed Michel Barnier’s comments, particularly in relation to the negotiations on the trade deal. We will start the negotiations on that as a result of the decision taken last Friday by the European Union Council. I can tell my right hon. Friend that one of the senior members of the negotiating team has today made it clear that the United Kingdom can indeed have its own bespoke agreement for a future trade relationship with the European Union. Indeed, that point was also made by the Prime Minister of Italy, Paolo Gentiloni, in an article he wrote in the Financial Times last week. If anybody cares to think about it, every trade agreement is a bespoke agreement between the parties concerned—they have similar elements, but are specific to the various countries concerned. That is certainly what we will be looking for in our negotiations with the EU.

[Ian Blackford (Ross, Skye and Lochaber) (SNP)]

I thank the Prime Minister for advance sight of today’s statement.

Scottish National party Members welcome the progress to phase 2 of the negotiations, as agreed by all EU member states, but Council President Donald Tusk was not kidding when he commented that phase 2 will be “dramatically difficult”. It is imperative that the devolved Administrations are included in phase 2 negotiations, and I call on the Prime Minister to agree to that today.

Much of the conclusion from last week’s summit should be welcomed across the House. We on these Benches especially welcome the EU’s reiteration of its firm commitment to a two-state solution in the Israeli-Palestine conflict. We should all unreservedly condemn Donald Trump for his recent actions.

I must give special attention to the agreement on the social dimension, including commitments by member states to implement the European pillar of social rights and to follow up on the priorities of the EU action plan to tackle the gender pay gap.

Decisions on education and culture are also extremely welcome. An extended and more inclusive Erasmus+ programme, the creation of a European student card and stronger partnerships between higher education institutions across Europe, allowing students to obtain a degree by combining studies in several EU countries, are great moves forward for European collaboration. These decisions will not only bring much social progress to national politics across all member states but, more importantly, provide enormous opportunities for future generations. Erasmus is one of the EU’s biggest success stories, and it has benefited hundreds of thousands of young Scots. Will the Prime Minister take this opportunity to reassure young people on Erasmus now, and those aspiring to take part in the programme, that the UK will maintain participation in it?

[The Prime Minister]

As the right hon. Gentleman knows, we have been in discussions with the devolved Administrations through the process of phase 1. We will continue to engage with them as we move into the second phase of negotiations. My right hon. Friend the First Secretary meets the Scottish and Welsh Governments regularly to discuss issues of concern to them and how the negotiations are proceeding. Indeed, the last meeting of the Joint Ministerial Council was held on 12 December.

As I have said, we have committed to the Erasmus programme for the period of the current budget plan. Erasmus is exactly the sort of programme that we will be discussing in the second phase of these talks.

[Anna Soubry (Broxtowe) (Con)]

I commend the Prime Minister for her success in the negotiations and the statement. I remind the Leader of the Opposition that the merits of a transition period were first advanced on this side of the House, notably by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. On that note, as a former Business Minister, may I say to the Prime Minister that what business really wants is certainty? How soon does she think that we will be able to announce that the transition period has been agreed so that we can give that certainty to business?

[The Prime Minister]

My right hon. Friend makes an important point from the point of view of business. Significantly, it was accepted at the December Council not only that there should be such an implementation period, which in fact reflects the guidelines set out by the EU Council last April, but that we would start negotiating that very soon. We are looking to have those negotiations concluded in the first quarter of next year.

[Hilary Benn (Leeds Central) (Lab)]

On 10 December, the Brexit Secretary described the phase 1 joint agreement as

“more a statement of intent than it was a legally enforceable thing.”

However, last Friday’s European Council guidelines state:

“negotiations in the second phase can only progress as long as all commitments undertaken during the first phase are respected in full and translated faithfully into legal terms as quickly as possible.”

Can the Prime Minister therefore confirm that all the commitments she made in the phase 1 joint agreement, including in respect of the border in Northern Ireland, will be written into UK law?

[The Prime Minister]

As the right hon. Gentleman knows, there will now be a process of completing some of the details behind the withdrawal agreement such that the withdrawal agreement can then be put to this House, to this Parliament and to the European Parliament. We have always been clear that there will be a meaningful vote for this House. Subsequently, as we have stated to the House, we will have the EU withdrawal agreement and implementation Bill, which will put the various provisions of the withdrawal agreement legally into UK law. That was a key element in relation to citizens’ rights in the phase 1 negotiations.

[Sir William Cash (Stone) (Con)]

May I urge my right hon. Friend to give equal consideration, in the Cabinet and elsewhere, not only to the vital issues of our trading relationships and regulatory divergence, but to the perpetual, ever-escalating, undemocratic centralisation of the EU itself, which remoaners, reversers, status quo-ites and the Opposition seem incapable of grasping, and which absolutely proves how right the voters were in June last year in voting to escape from the European Union?

[The Prime Minister]

I can assure my hon. Friend that in the negotiations that we hold with the European Union, we will ensure that the British national interest is represented and that we come away with a deal that is in the interests of the UK. I believe that that will also be in the interests of the EU. How the European Union develops once we have left is, of course, a matter for the EU27. As he suggests, a number of recent speeches have suggested an increased centralisation of the European Union, but that will be a matter for the 27, not for us.

[Sir Vince Cable (Twickenham) (LD)]

As the Government embark on far-reaching trade negotiations with the European Union and beyond, will the Prime Minister explain who will provide independent arbitration in legal disputes, given that the Government have rejected the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice and that her friend, President Trump, is rejecting the authority of the World Trade Organisation and making its dispute panels unworkable? Is this not a recipe for anarchy in international trade?

[The Prime Minister]

As the right hon. Gentleman will know, dispute resolution is part of any trade agreement negotiations, and that will be exactly the same with all the trade agreements that we will negotiate now.

[John Redwood (Wokingham) (Con)]

Will the Prime Minister confirm that no binding offer about the money will be made until there is a general agreement that Parliament accepts, because I do not see how else we can proceed?

[The Prime Minister]

The joint progress report, which was published by the UK and the European Union prior to the December Council, made it absolutely clear that the settlement within it was set out in the context of going forward and having agreement on the future relationship.

[Yvette Cooper (Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford) (Lab)]

Does the Prime Minister now agree that the meaningful vote to which she referred should take place on a statute, as set out in the terms of amendment 7 to the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill, before any withdrawal terms can be implemented? Does she also agree that those who voted for amendment 7 did so in good faith to ensure that power would not be too heavily concentrated in the hands of the Executive, and that it was completely wrong to do what the Daily Mail suggested and accuse them of treachery?

[The Prime Minister]

If we look at our debates on the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill, and indeed on other matters in this House relating to Brexit, such as article 50, it is clear that the will of Parliament overall has been to deliver on the vote of the British people. We were always clear with the House that there would be a meaningful vote on the question of the withdrawal agreement—[Interruption.] Yes, we were always clear that there would be a meaningful vote on that but, as I have just indicated to the right hon. Member for Leeds Central (Hilary Benn), there will subsequently be the process of this Parliament agreeing the withdrawal agreement and implementation Bill. It will be that which will bring the withdrawal agreement into UK law.

[Mr Owen Paterson (North Shropshire) (Con)]

Further to the Prime Minister’s reply to the right hon. Member for Leeds Central (Hilary Benn) on the guidelines issued by the European Council on 15 December, will she confirm categorically that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed, and that it will be the final settlement, combined with phase 1, that she will bring forward as legislation for us to approve in this House?

--- Later in debate ---

[The Prime Minister]

The fact that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed is actually in the joint progress report that was published by the UK and the European Union. There will be various stages at which this Parliament will be able to vote on matters relating to our leaving the EU. I just referred to the withdrawal agreement and implementation Bill, and there will be other pieces of legislation as well. Separate from the formal withdrawal agreement that will bring those matters into UK law, we will of course be able legally to sign our new trade agreement with the EU once we leave the EU.

[Kate Hoey (Vauxhall) (Lab)]

If we will no longer be in the internal market and the customs union during the implementation period, why can we not negotiate, sign and implement new trade deals before the end of that period?

[The Prime Minister]

The purpose of the implementation period is to ensure that businesses and individuals do not have to make two sets of changes because of a new relationship that is put in place as part of our future partnership with the EU. That is why, as we look at the implementation period, I and the Government are clear that although we will be formally out of the customs union and the single market, we expect to be able to operate on the same terms as we currently do. That is what limits the ability to implement new trade deals elsewhere.

[Vicky Ford (Chelmsford) (Con)]

I congratulate the Prime Minister and the entire negotiating team on the progress made to date. However, given that leaving the EU without a deep and special relationship on trade and security would also bring risk, does she agree that we should be using all our political energy in the months ahead to find that new relationship and that we should not get distracted by other squabbles?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The Government’s focus will clearly be on ensuring that we can negotiate that deep and special partnership for the future. That is not just in our interests; it is in the interests of the EU and the EU27 as well. That is why I am optimistic and ambitious about the trade deal that we can achieve.

[Chuka Umunna (Streatham) (Lab)]

Last year, the Prime Minister wrote to me giving the same general assurance on workers’ rights that she just gave to the Leader of the Opposition. She did not actually answer his specific question today, however, so I ask her again: given that her Cabinet colleagues are now agitating for some of those rights to be done away with, will she guarantee that none of the working time regulations—importantly, the 48-hour working week—will be done away with by her Government after we leave the European Union?

[The Prime Minister]

We are bringing those rights into UK law though the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill. I have said that we will maintain, and indeed enhance, workers’ rights.

[Mr Jacob Rees-Mogg (North East Somerset) (Con)]

Will my right hon. Friend clearly reject the negotiating mandate handed out by the European Council, paragraph 1 of which undermines the principle of nothing being agreed until everything has been agreed, and paragraph 4 of which would make the United Kingdom in the transition phase no more than a vassal state, a colony, a serf of the European Union—[Interruption.]

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I urge my right hon. Friend to model herself on her predecessor, the late noble Baroness Thatcher, and to show real mettle and steel in rejecting the EU’s rather hostile negotiating terms.

[The Prime Minister]

The negotiation is between two parties. We will be very clear about the future partnership we want to have with the European Union on both trade and security matters, and I set out the framework for that in my Florence speech.

My hon. Friend has asked me before about the relationship between the UK and the European Union during the implementation period. As I have just indicated in response to the hon. Member for Vauxhall (Kate Hoey), the purpose of the implementation period is to ensure that businesses and individuals can continue to operate, and to be reassured of the basis on which they operate, while the necessary changes are put in place that will lead to the future trade agreement that we will have achieved.

I have also said before in this House, and in my Florence speech, that there may be elements of the arrangement that we will be able to bring forward. For example, if we are able to bring forward a dispute resolution mechanism during that period, we will look to do so.

[Mr Chris Leslie (Nottingham East) (Lab/Co-op)]

I urge the Prime Minister to reject the notion that we should get all the way to exit day and not have the full details of the future trade arrangement between the EU and the UK. If all we have is a sketch of the framework of a possible trade deal, it would not be acceptable to the public or to businesses. It is simply unacceptable to have something that looks like less than a half-baked arrangement.

[The Prime Minister]

We are working to ensure that we are very clear and have details of our future arrangement with the European Union at the point at which we leave.

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Richard Drax (South Dorset) (Con)]

Mr Speaker, I am speechless.

Will my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister confirm to me and the country that, when we leave the EU in March 2019—yes, there will be an implementation period; I understand why—we will have left the EU in its entirety?

[The Prime Minister]

We will have left the European Union. We will have the implementation period, and I would expect us to be able to continue to trade with the European Union on the same basis as now in order to ensure that businesses and individuals have the reassurance of knowing where they stand and how they operate while the practical changes that will need to be made as we move to our future relationship, such as our new immigration rules, are put in place. We will be leaving the EU on 29 March 2019.

[Nigel Dodds (Belfast North) (DUP)]

The Prime Minister will have heard some confusing and conflicting statements from Opposition Members about the need for a second referendum and their desire to have one—some say one thing; others say another. Does the Prime Minister agree that a second referendum is the surest way of finding that the European Commission and the European Union make the hardest and most difficult deal possible for the United Kingdom? What people want is to get on with delivering on the first referendum.

[The Prime Minister]

I understand that, in the space of one day over the weekend, the shadow Home Secretary rejected a second referendum and the deputy leader of the Labour party said that a second referendum was still on the table. My right hon. Friend the Member for Belfast North (Nigel Dodds) is absolutely right about this particular issue. The best way to get the worst deal would be to suggest that we are going down the route of a second referendum, but it is more than that—I think it would actually be betraying the British people. This Parliament gave the British people a vote, and it is up to us to deliver on the result.

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

Will the Prime Minister give the British people a huge Christmas present by stating that, on 29 March 2019, we will leave the European Union, end the free movement of people and remove the jurisdiction of the European Court, and that the £39 billion we plan to give the European superstate to squander will be spent instead on the NHS, social care and maybe even cutting taxes?

[The Prime Minister]

We will be leaving the European Union on 29 March 2019. We will now be moving quickly to negotiate the details of the relationship during the implementation period which, as I have said, we expect to last for up to, or around, two years. The reason why we will have that implementation period, and why we would expect to continue to trade and operate with the EU on a similar basis to today, is to give businesses the certainty of knowing the basis on which they will be able to operate and so that they will not have to make two sets of changes to their arrangements, such as in relation to customs. There will only be one point at which businesses move to the new partnership. I think that that is a practical matter that most people will understand and appreciate.

[Stephen Doughty (Cardiff South and Penarth) (Lab/Co-op)]

The Prime Minister has admitted today that we are looking at a £40 billion bill for Brexit. The Chancellor is already spending billions on contingency preparations, and we have two Cabinet Ministers jetting around spending lots of taxpayers’ money. Has she seen the analysis today from the Financial Times showing that rather than getting the £350 million for the NHS that was promised on the red bus, there will be a cost of £350 million per year—[Hon. Members: “Per Week.”] That would be the cost to the British economy, as economic output is 0.9% down?

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[The Prime Minister]

When we have left the European Union—I have set out the commitments that we have negotiated as far as the financial settlement is concerned in the negotiations in phase 1—we will no longer year in and year out be spending vast sums of money in the European Union and sending those vast sums to the European Union. That is in direct contrast to the Labour party, which would pay any price and carry on paying to the EU, year in and year out.

[Rachel Maclean (Redditch) (Con)]

I congratulate my right hon. Friend on all the hard work she has put in to get us to this point—I think it is fantastic. We know there is a lot of hard work ahead, but does she welcome this opportunity to focus on her priority agenda of social justice, including higher educational standards and housing for our country, now that we can see that Brexit is moving ahead?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for her comments. She is absolutely right. We have just heard a reference to sums of money being paid to the European Union. When we do leave the EU, the money that we will no longer be paying year in and year out to the EU will be available to us to spend on our priorities, such as housing, education and the NHS. I was clear at the EU Council about the importance of the university sector. We want to ensure that we continue to have good-quality higher education in this country.

[Joanna Cherry (Edinburgh South West) (SNP)]

Last week, the Spanish Prime Minister, Mr Rajoy, said that as well as having a veto over any future agreement between the EU and the UK over the issue of Gibraltar, he also wants one over the issue of Gibraltar for the transitional period. Will the right hon. Lady give a firm commitment to the people of Gibraltar that she will not countenance any agreement for the transitional period that will not preserve their existing rights and arrangements?

[The Prime Minister]

We have been very clear throughout, and indeed in the discussions and continued interaction that we have with the Government of Gibraltar, that we are seeking the best deal for Britain and that deal must work for Gibraltar as well. They will be part of the exit negotiations. They will be covered by our exit negotiations and we will fully involve them as we leave the EU.

[Robert Neill (Bromley and Chislehurst) (Con)]

I congratulate the Prime Minister on the very real success she achieved in Brussels last week and urge her to stick to the pragmatic approach to these negotiations that brought that success about. Let me follow up on the point just made. As well as committing firmly to Gibraltar being included in these arrangements, will she undertake that her Government will work to strengthen, to the maximum extent possible, the trading arrangements between Britain and Gibraltar, both in the implementation period and after we have left the EU?

[The Prime Minister]

Let me say to my hon. Friend, who has long championed the interests of Gibraltar in this House, that when we negotiate our exit from the EU, when we negotiate the trade deal that we will have, we will be considering Gibraltar as part of our negotiations. So they will be there. We will be discussing with them as we move through those negotiations to ensure that we get a deal that is right for not only the United Kingdom, but Gibraltar.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

If I have this right, the agreement says that nothing has been agreed until everything has been agreed, so the agreement is not an agreement at all—it is just a kind of pending operation. May I ask the Prime Minister about Russia? She rightly said at the beginning that, “We were at the forefront of the original call for EU sanctions”. Britain has wanted to be tough in relation to Russia, and I praise her for that. But how are we going to do that in the future if we are no longer in the room?

[The Prime Minister]

It is perfectly possible for this country to maintain our position on Russia. I have set out the UK’s position on Russia—I did it in my speech at the Lord Mayor’s banquet. We will continue to work with our European colleagues on the approach that we take and we will continue to work through other international organisations, such as the United Nations, on these matters.

[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

How likely is it that the Prime Minister would ask the EU27 to extend the article 50 deadline?

[The Prime Minister]

Sorry—I did not hear the beginning of my right hon. Friend’s question.

[Sir Desmond Swayne]

How likely is it?

[The Prime Minister]

I think everybody is now looking very clearly at the timetable that has already been set. Donald Tusk, the President of the European Council, has expressed the view that we need to accelerate the progress because we need to get the agreement in place and the arrangements negotiated very speedily. We will be leaving on 29 March 2019.

[Angela Smith (Penistone and Stocksbridge) (Lab)]

Will the Prime Minister give a simple answer to a simple question? Will the working time directive be transposed and embedded into British law—yes or no?

[The Prime Minister]

The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill brings the workers’ rights that are currently in EU law into UK law, which is why that sort of thing is a bit rich coming from Labour MPs who voted against bringing them into UK law.

[Simon Hoare (North Dorset) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that as the process evolves, the terms hard Brexit and soft Brexit seem increasingly redundant? The cocktail that the Prime Minister seems to have deployed—her personal pragmatism coupled with some rather good Tory common sense—seems to be winning the day. I encourage her to continue.

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for his comments. As he may recall, I have said in this House before that I do not accept the terms hard Brexit and soft Brexit. We are negotiating the best possible deal for the United Kingdom.

[Ann Clwyd (Cynon Valley) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister has agreed with me three times over the past year about the important role the European Parliament has in the negotiations, because it has the power of veto at the end of the day. Eighty-six MPs have signed a letter that urges the Prime Minister to address a plenary session of the European Parliament. When will she do that?

[The Prime Minister]

We have been in discussions with the President of the European Parliament about the interaction that I will have with that Parliament. I had hoped to be able to speak to the Conference of Presidents at the end of November, but unfortunately that proved not to be possible from a European Parliament point of view. Nevertheless, we are still discussing a date on which I can go, and I keep in regular contact with President Tajani.

[Rebecca Pow (Taunton Deane) (Con)]

Might I say what a fillip the good news from the Prime Minister and Mr Juncker on Friday gave to all the people I met around Taunton Deane over the weekend? It really did change the temperature. The businesses I spoke to do not want to be disrupted, so will the Prime Minister confirm that in the transition period they will be able to carry on trading as they do now, and that they will also be able to think about negotiating deals for when we leave?

[The Prime Minister]

I am happy to give my hon. Friend that reassurance. As I have said before, the point about the implementation period is to give that reassurance to businesses in particular that they will know the basis on which they can carry on trading. That is why we would expect the arrangements for the trading relationship during the implementation period to be much as they are now. Although we will be outside the customs union, the single market, the common agricultural policy and the common fisheries policy, as I said earlier, we need to be able to continue to operate during the implementation period as we prepare for whatever the new arrangements are going to be at the end of that period.

[Mike Gapes (Ilford South) (Lab/Co-op)]

Further to the Prime Minister’s answers to the hon. and learned Member for Edinburgh South West (Joanna Cherry) and the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill), will she confirm that the implementation or transition phase will be exactly the same for Gibraltar as it will be for Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK?

[The Prime Minister]

I thought I had made it clear that as we negotiate these matters we will be negotiating for the UK, but that includes negotiating to ensure that the relationships are there for Gibraltar as well. We are not going to exclude Gibraltar from our negotiations for either the implementation period or the future agreement.

[Giles Watling (Clacton) (Con)]

Given that 72% of my constituents in Clacton voted to leave the EU, will my right hon. Friend give an assurance to them that there will still be a smooth and seamless exit despite the vote on amendment 7 last Wednesday, thus giving them and many others a very happy Christmas indeed?

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[The Prime Minister]

I am happy to confirm to my hon. Friend, as I did a little earlier, that we will be leaving the European Union on 29 March 2019 and that we will be negotiating a smooth and orderly process, so that people can carry on living their lives and conducting their business with confidence about that and about the future relationship that we will negotiate with the EU.

[Holly Lynch (Halifax) (Lab)]

Last week, I understand that the Fisheries Minister, who was representing the Government at the annual Fisheries Council in Brussels, was recalled to Westminster as early as Tuesday to take part in the votes on the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill. I am incredibly concerned that this Government prioritise seeking to deny Parliament a final vote on the Brexit deal over representing our fishing interests in Europe, missing crucial talks on sea bass and Celtic sea cod. Can the Prime Minister confirm that that was the case and will she explain who took over as the UK’s lead negotiator in those vital discussions?

[The Prime Minister]

There are many occasions in this House when Members on the hon. Lady’s Benches, and indeed sometimes on my Benches, stand up and promote the primacy of this House and of Parliament. As Members of Parliament, obviously, we have a responsibility to be here in this House, although my hon. Friend the Minister balanced the requirements of being able both to represent the United Kingdom and to be present in this House.

[Alex Chalk (Cheltenham) (Con)]

This weekend, I met representatives of the Romanian community in Cheltenham. On their behalf, may I thank the Prime Minister for her determination to secure an agreement on the rights of EU and British nationals, which has provided enormous reassurance? Does she agree that this shows, first, what can be done and, secondly, that whatever deal is struck, our values of respect and tolerance for foreign nationals in our country will endure?

[The Prime Minister]

I am very happy to agree with my hon. Friend, particularly on that final point. What we have seen over the phase 1 negotiations is that, with commitment and perseverance on both sides, we can achieve agreement. That should give reassurance to EU citizens living here and indeed to UK citizens in the EU 27. As we move forward, we will indeed continue to abide by our values, particularly our values of tolerance and respect.

[Mary Creagh (Wakefield) (Lab)]

Is not the result of this European Council that there will be no negotiations with the EU until March next year and no deal concluded between now and March 2019? The tragedy is that there is no deal that the Prime Minister can get with the EU that will be as good as the one that we have now.

[The Prime Minister]

I am afraid that the hon. Lady is wrong in her question. In fact, the discussions with the European Union will be starting very soon, both on the implementation period and looking ahead to the future partnership.

[Wendy Morton (Aldridge-Brownhills) (Con)]

I welcome the progress that the Prime Minister has made in moving the negotiations forward. In speaking to my constituents over the weekend, I know that they welcome that progress, too. When it comes to security, can she confirm that we will continue to work with our allies to protect ourselves both now and when we leave the EU?

[The Prime Minister]

I am happy to give my hon. Friend that reassurance. We envisage negotiating a separate treaty to cover the security arrangements. There are a number of programmes and operations in which we are involved in the European Union that we think it would be beneficial for us to continue to be able to access precisely to maintain the security of people here, but also in the EU 27.

[Stephen Kinnock (Aberavon) (Lab)]

Referring to the transition period, the conclusions of the European Council make the position clear. It says:

“In order to ensure a level playing field based on the same rules applying throughout the Single Market, changes to the acquis adopted by EU institutions and bodies will have to apply both in the United Kingdom and the EU.”

Will the Prime Minister please confirm, therefore, that the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice will apply in precisely the same way now as it will during the transition period?

[The Prime Minister]

I have answered a question on that in previous statements that I have made in relation to the matter. We would expect, yes, that the European Court of Justice jurisdiction would start very similarly at the beginning of that implementation period, but as I said in response to one of my hon. Friends earlier, we are also clear that, if it is possible to negotiate, for example, the dispute resolution mechanism at an earlier stage and introduce it at an earlier stage, we would do precisely that.

[Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (The Cotswolds) (Con)]

I congratulate the Prime Minister on having got the negotiations so far. Will she confirm that two of the announcements that she has made today—namely, that we will have a humanitarian presence in the Mediterranean and will continue to provide official development assistance to Africa—signal this country’s intention to work with our European allies as closely as possible once we have left the EU?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The area of migration is a good example of how we will be continuing to work with our friends and allies in the European Union, even after we have left. This issue affects us all. We can have a greater impact if we all work together and we will continue to do that.

[Mr Pat McFadden (Wolverhampton South East) (Lab)]

The dog that has not barked so far in these discussions has been the voice of the service industries. They dominate our economy and make up 45% of our exports, and we trade in surplus with the rest of the EU in them. Does the Prime Minister accept that any future agreement aimed only at tariff-free access for goods would be selling Britain short, and that the benchmark for judging success must be the same market access that we have now for our global, world-leading service industries such as education, the creative industries and the financial services?

[The Prime Minister]

The Government and I have said all along that we are looking for an agreement that is right for both goods and services because we recognise the important role that services play in the economy of the United Kingdom. We will be going in and negotiating for services and for goods.

[Will Quince (Colchester) (Con)]

I very much welcome the Prime Minister’s statement, particularly her comments on workers’ rights and our intention to enhance them post-Brexit. Does she agree that, despite the bluster from the Labour party, this Government backing the Parental Bereavement (Leave and Pay) Bill is the first step in getting not just European-wide workers’ rights, but the best workers’ rights in the world?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend makes a point about a matter that I know is of particular interest to him. He has campaigned on the issue and been a champion of these rights, and he is absolutely right. We will be looking to enhance workers’ rights. The Government have already taken steps to enhance workers’ rights in a number of other areas, including by commissioning the Matthew Taylor report. That is our commitment. It is not just words; we actually act.

[Mr Alistair Carmichael (Orkney and Shetland) (LD)]

If we are to leave the common fisheries policy in 2019 and if we are not then going to trade away access to UK waters for non-UK fishing vessels, what else is there left to talk about as far as fisheries are concerned?

[The Prime Minister]

We will be leaving the common fisheries policy—and, as I indicated, the CAP—on 29 March 2019. The arrangements that pertain to fisheries during that implementation period will, of course, be part of the negotiations for that implementation period. Leaving the CFP and the CAP gives us the opportunity, post-implementation period, to introduce arrangements that work for the United Kingdom. The Environment Secretary is discussing with the fishing and agriculture industries what those future arrangements should be.

[Mr Simon Clarke (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Con)]

People in Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland will give a warm welcome to the progress that has been made with the talks, and I thank the Prime Minister for that. They will also have noticed the scarcely concealed disdain from the Opposition for the progress that has been made. Does she agree that we are actually paving the way to delivering precisely what we want, which is good trade access without compromising control of our borders and laws?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. He puts it succinctly and very well indeed. We want to maintain good trade access, but we also want to be able to take back control of our borders and laws, and that is what we will do.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

I congratulate the Prime Minister on the applause she got at the EU dinner—something that even George Osborne would never have predicted. But would not the assurance on the rights of EU nationals have been more useful 18 months ago? As we now hear that a compromise is being cooked up to stave off yet another rebellion, were humble pie and fudge on the menu?

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[The Prime Minister]

A number of Members of this House urged me and the Government unilaterally to make declarations about EU citizens’ rights for those living here in the United Kingdom. I was always clear that a UK Prime Minister and a UK Government should have a duty of care to UK citizens living in the EU. The key to the agreement that has been reached is that it is reciprocal, so we can give confidence not only to EU citizens living here, but to UK citizens living in the EU 27.

[Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)]

One reason 70% of my constituents voted to leave was their concern about the free movement of people. The Prime Minister referred to registering new arrivals from the EU. During the implementation period, will we be able to control those numbers? If that is not the case, will she be arguing that point during the negotiations?

[The Prime Minister]

Obviously, at the end of that implementation period, we will have worked up to putting into place fully the new immigration rules that we will have. So it will be possible for EU citizens to come to live and work in the UK during that implementation period, but there will be some differences in relation to that, registration being one of those. So there will be building blocks being put in place. This is exactly one of the sort of practical measures that I am thinking about when I say we need the implementation period, to be able to put practical steps in place that lead up to what our future arrangements and future rules will be.

[Emma Little Pengelly (Belfast South) (DUP)]

The Democratic Unionist party has long been a strong supporter of the people of Gibraltar. Can the Minister give a strong and clear commitment today that the people of Gibraltar will not be excluded from any transitional arrangements that may be agreed between the United Kingdom and the European Union?

[The Prime Minister]

I will say this again: we will be ensuring that decisions that we take at the various stages of these negotiations cover Gibraltar as well as the United Kingdom.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

Do the reciprocal rights for UK citizens in the EU extend simply to the country in which they reside or across the whole of the EU27?

[The Prime Minister]

The question of onward movement is one that will be looked at further in the second stage of the talks. This is reciprocal in terms of EU citizens’ rights here in the UK and UK citizens’ rights in the country in which they live in the European Union. There are further elements of that that we will be discussing in the later stages.

[Wes Streeting (Ilford North) (Lab)]

One of the most frequent criticisms of this place is that politicians are unable to give straight answers to straight questions, so can I give the Prime Minister another opportunity to answer the questions from Streatham and from Penistone and Stocksbridge? Can she guarantee that, after we leave the European Union, there will be no attempt to water down the 48-hour limit on the working week, provided for by the working time directive? It is a very simple yes or no question.

[The Prime Minister]

I have said on a number of occasions this afternoon that we will be bringing those workers’ rights that are in European Union law into UK law, so those rights will continue to exist. The party in this House that has voted against bringing those rights into UK law is the Labour party.

[James Morris (Halesowen and Rowley Regis) (Con)]

May I commend the Prime Minister for her statement? As she will be aware, the west midlands economy has been an export powerhouse for the UK, so as she moves towards vital trade talks in relation to us leaving the European Union, does she agree that it is important that west midlands business and west midlands regional government are engaged very much in those discussions so that the west midlands can maximise the benefit of Brexit?

[The Prime Minister]

I absolutely understand and recognise the importance of international trade to the west midlands, and I am very clear that, as we go forward in these negotiations, we will be ensuring that we are negotiating for the whole United Kingdom. We will be taking the interests of all parts of the United Kingdom, including the west midlands, into account.

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

For absolute clarity, will there be no watering down of the working time regulations and the ECJ judgments that relate to those regulations?

[The Prime Minister]

These rights are enshrined in EU law at the moment. They will be brought forward into UK law in the EU withdrawal Bill, which we are putting through this House at the moment. This Government are committed to workers’ rights and are committed to enhancing worker’s rights. That is why I commissioned Matthew Taylor’s report.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

May I congratulate the Prime Minister on the progress made? May I ask her, following the question from the right hon. Member for Wolverhampton South East (Mr McFadden), to state again that the best possible deal will include trade both in goods, in which we have a large deficit, and in services, which are vital to our economy and in which we have a surplus?

[The Prime Minister]

I am happy to reiterate that confirmation to my hon. Friend. What we will be looking for in our future partnership is obviously a trade arrangement and a security arrangement, but in the trade arrangement we will be talking about both goods and services. We recognise the importance of services to the UK economy.

[Paula Sherriff (Dewsbury) (Lab)]

In her statement, the Prime Minister pointedly referred to the abuse that her election candidates received. Unless she and everybody else in this House, and the Daily Mail, accept that abuse comes from all sides and from all political parties, we will not make any progress. If she so wishes, I can accommodate her this week by showing her the litany of abuse that I have received during the election and since. Please will she accept that unless we accept that this comes from all areas, we will not move forward?

[The Prime Minister]

What I said in the statement was this: “there can never be a place for the threats of violence and intimidation against some Members that we have seen in recent days. Our politics must be better than that.” I stand by that. All political parties in this House must be aware of the need to ensure that our politics is conducted in the right way and there is no place for threats and intimidation.

[Kelly Tolhurst (Rochester and Strood) (Con)]

I congratulate the Prime Minister on the way that she has worked with the EU over the past few weeks and how she has moved things on to the next stage. Does she agree that during any implementation period, it is important and right that we do indeed negotiate trade deals with other parts of the world to make the most of these new opportunities, to benefit British business, our economy and, most importantly, the British people?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Of course, the work on negotiating those trade deals—on looking to see what is possible—has already been started within the Department for International Trade by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and the Ministers there. Only earlier last week, I was discussing with the President of Mexico that country’s desire to have a trade deal negotiated with us. It is one of the first countries to say that it wanted that. The point of the trade deals is exactly as my hon. Friend says: it is about bringing jobs, bringing prosperity and improving people’s lives.

[Mr Ronnie Campbell (Blyth Valley) (Lab)]

Is the Prime Minister sure and confident that the EU negotiators will not put more obstacles in her way on the second agreement, because quite honestly I would not trust them as far as I can throw them?

[The Prime Minister]

I am very clear about what we want to achieve in our negotiations. We will be working with our European friends and allies to ensure that the result of that negotiation is indeed a good deal for the United Kingdom. [Interruption.] Well, I think they will, because a good deal for the UK is a good deal for the EU as well.

[Paul Masterton (East Renfrewshire) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that her phase 1 deal was a victory for pragmatism over purist ideology? Will she commit our Government to continuing in the same vein throughout these negotiations, putting jobs and economic prosperity at the heart of Brexit Britain?

[The Prime Minister]

I am very happy to give that commitment. What is important as we go through these negotiations is that we are very clear about what is in the British national interest, but willing to be very pragmatic and practical about that because we want to ensure that we get a good deal. I believe not only that we will get a good deal with the European Union, but that we have an ambitious and bright future for this country outside the European Union.

[Nick Thomas-Symonds (Torfaen) (Lab)]

On workers’ rights, the Prime Minister promised in her Lancaster House speech that she would ensure

“that the voices of workers are heard by the boards of publicly-listed companies for the first time.”

Why, in the past year, has she not introduced the changes to company law that would make that happen?

[The Prime Minister]

As the hon. Gentleman will know, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has published proposals to do exactly that.

[Robert Courts (Witney) (Con)]

I congratulate the Prime Minister on this agreement, particularly with regard to reciprocal rights for UK and EU nationals. Does she agree that both for UK nationals abroad and for much-valued European members of our communities here, such as those in west Oxfordshire, this agreement represents security and reassurance?

[The Prime Minister]

I am very happy to say exactly that to my hon. Friend. A number of hon. Friends have commented on comments that have been made by their constituents who are EU citizens that they do now feel reassured as a result of the phase 1 negotiation. I was clear that citizens’ rights should be one of the early issues that we addressed. We have done just that, and we have given people confidence for the future.

[Peter Kyle (Hove) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister has spent inordinate amounts of time reconciling the divisions within her own Cabinet, but no time whatsoever doing so for the public. Now that we are entering the most difficult part of these negotiations, what will she do specifically not only to deliver on the aspirations and excitement of those who voted leave, but to take into account the anxieties of people who voted remain?

[The Prime Minister]

Regardless of whether somebody voted leave or remain, I think the key focus for us all now is to ensure that we get the best possible deal for the United Kingdom as we leave the European Union. That is what the Government are focused on, and that is what we are going to do.

[Robert Jenrick (Newark) (Con)]

Never have my constituents in Newark been so grateful to wake up to Jean-Claude Juncker as they were a week ago on Friday, when they saw the Prime Minister shake hands with him. Looking to the future, as she goes to strike a comprehensive free trade deal, does she agree that although businesses in Newark would like a seamless transition, they would also like us to strike out and have enough capacity to become a more innovative country, rather than aligning solely with the European Union?

[The Prime Minister]

I think that there are many areas in which we in the UK are already showing our ability to innovate. We have great, world-leading businesses at the cutting edge of technology in, for example, the automotive industry, and in other areas. Of course, once we leave the European Union, I want to encourage that innovation and that creativity, because I want to ensure that we see a brighter future for this country, and exactly that sort of innovation and creativity can help to encourage that.

[Jonathan Edwards (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr) (PC)]

It is nearly a year since the Lancaster House speech, but the British Government have not published the detail of their preferred trade framework to replace membership of the single market and the customs union. Why has it taken the Prime Minister so long to summon the Brexit war Cabinet to start that work? Is it not the case that the Government and the Conservative party are split about what happens after transition?

[The Prime Minister]

No. There have been various stages to the negotiation. I set out the framework for that future trade relationship in my Florence speech in September, and we will of course now negotiate the further details of it.

[Kevin Foster (Torbay) (Con)]

I welcome the Prime Minister’s statement, and the progress that has been made in the negotiations. I was particularly pleased to hear reference to Russia and to the fact that we are looking to continue our co-operation. At the European Council, did she reassure our European partners that we maintain our absolute commitment to the defence of Europe, based on the bedrock of the north Atlantic treaty?

[The Prime Minister]

I can absolutely give that reassurance to my hon. Friend. We are unconditionally committed to maintaining Europe’s defence, and we will continue to play a key role in Europe’s defence. We will do so, obviously and crucially, through NATO, but we also want to continue to work with our European friends and allies.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

The Prime Minister has been toiling away in Brussels, trying to get on to the second stage. But when she came back, she must have seen, as my constituents did, her senior colleagues—including the Foreign Secretary—saying in the Sunday papers that she is leading us towards being a “vassal state”. Will she give my constituents, and people up and down the country, a crystal clear answer to this question: is she leading us towards being a vassal state, with a subservient role in Europe? If that is not the case, will she sack her Foreign Secretary?

[The Prime Minister]

No, and no.

[James Cartlidge (South Suffolk) (Con)]

I warmly congratulate my right hon. Friend on securing progress, which was strongly welcomed by businesses in South Suffolk. On the point raised by the right hon. Member for Wolverhampton South East (Mr McFadden) and my hon. Friend the Member for Stafford (Jeremy Lefroy) about services, does she agree that not only do we need to have services in the future agreement, but—given that our surplus with the EU is £15.5 billion and rising rapidly—we need to have the very best possible access for that dynamic part of our economy?

[The Prime Minister]

I absolutely agree, and I fully recognise not only the importance of the role that services play in our economy, but the fact that the balance of relationship with the European Union in services is different from that in goods. Services are a great part of our economy. I want to ensure that we continue to have good trading relationships in services and that we look at how we can enhance our trading relationships in services around the rest of the world.

[Tom Brake (Carshalton and Wallington) (LD)]

In the press this morning, there were reports that in advance of the meetings today and tomorrow, Ministers have received assessments of impact of the different models of Brexit—or, indeed, impact assessments. Can the Prime Minister confirm whether that is correct, and, if so, would she be willing to put them into the public domain?

[The Prime Minister]

We have been very clear that, as the right hon. Gentleman knows, what he refers to as impact assessments do not exist. The answer to his question is simply no.

[Mr Nigel Evans (Ribble Valley) (Con)]

I know I can be a little slow at times, but I am finding it incredibly difficult to discern what the policy of Her Majesty’s Opposition is to Brexit, as it changes depending on whom I am listening to—

--- Later in debate ---

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

To avoid, rightly, a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, the Prime Minister has committed the UK, if necessary, to

“maintain full alignment with those rules of the internal market and the customs union”

that are necessary. Will such full alignment apply just to Northern Ireland, or to the UK as a whole?

[The Prime Minister]

As the right hon. Gentleman knows, we believe that we can actually deliver on having no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland through the overall relationship that we negotiate between the UK and the European Union. Failing that, we will look at specific solutions that match the unique circumstances of Northern Ireland, and failing that, we will move to the concept of full alignment, which is about having the same objectives on both sides. If he carries on reading the progress report, it makes it clear how that would operate: it could be UK-wide or, with the agreement of the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly, it could be specific to Northern Ireland.

[Edward Argar (Charnwood) (Con)]

I welcome the sensible and pragmatic agreement on phase 1 that my right hon. Friend has secured. Opposition Members confidently, and wrongly, suggested she could not do that, and yet again, as on so much, she has proved them wrong. Just as she has delivered for the UK on phase 1, will the Prime Minister reaffirm her determination to prove them wrong again and secure a good trade deal in phase 2, in line with her Lancaster House speech?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, I can confirm to my hon. Friend that the principles set out in the Lancaster House speech continue to apply. Obviously, I elaborated on those in the Florence speech, and we will be continuing to do so as we move forward into those negotiations. I believe we will achieve an ambitious comprehensive free trade agreement with the European Union, because I think it is in their interests as well as ours.

[Chris Stephens (Glasgow South West) (SNP)]

I will try to be the seventh Member of the House to receive a crisp answer on workers’ rights. Will the Prime Minister confirm that there have been no discussions with the European Union or in her Cabinet, and that there are no planned discussions with the European Union or in her Cabinet, on scrapping the working time directive, the agency workers directive and the pregnant workers directive, as advocated by her Ministers in the recent past?

[The Prime Minister]

The negotiations that we have been having with the European Union have not covered workers’ rights. Workers’ rights as they exist in EU law will be brought into UK law through the Bill that is going through Parliament. We already have a situation in the United Kingdom where, in some areas, we have better rights for workers than exist in the European Union, and we will continue to enhance those rights.

[Matt Warman (Boston and Skegness) (Con)]

For the Prime Minister’s negotiations to be meaningful, they must of course include considering the possibility of a no-deal scenario, but does she agree with me that the pragmatism shown by both sides last week demonstrates that such an outcome is now considerably less likely?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is right. We have to prepare for all contingencies and continue to include among them the possibility of no deal, but what has been shown by the phase 1 negotiations is that, with perseverance and commitment on both sides, we can reach agreement.

[Ruth Cadbury (Brentford and Isleworth) (Lab)]

The majority of UK citizens would now prefer us to remain in the EU, because they are realising what many of us knew for a long time, which is that leaving the EU means greater costs to the economy and to UK taxpayers than staying in and that we will no longer have a voice at the table in Europe. Will the Prime Minister start leading the country, or will she continue to be led by the hard Brexiteers in her own party?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady seems to have forgotten one thing: this Parliament voted overwhelmingly for a vote to take place in a referendum on our membership of the European Union. That vote took place, and it was a close vote, but the majority voted to leave the European Union. I think—and I have always felt this—that in other circumstances when other countries in the EU held a referendum on new treaties and came out against them but the EU basically told them to go back and think again is not the right way. If the British people have voted to leave, we should leave.

[Nigel Huddleston (Mid Worcestershire) (Con)]

I congratulate the Prime Minister on the practical and sensible approach she has adopted towards the Brexit negotiations, as opposed to the flip-flopping, contradictions and wholly unrealistic expectations we have heard from the Opposition parties. Does she agree that if a party wishes to position itself as the party of remain, it ought just to be honest and come out and say so?

[The Prime Minister]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. The flip-flopping just this weekend from the Labour party shows that it cannot make up its mind what its view is on Brexit. That is all the more reason why it is a good job we are in government and not Labour.

[Mr Speaker]

Ingenuity and good order are not incompatible, as the hon. Member for Mid Worcestershire (Nigel Huddleston), at least, has just demonstrated.

[Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)]

Can the Prime Minister give an example of an EU border with a country outside the customs union where there is no hard border and there are no border checks?

[The Prime Minister]

I think what the hon. Lady is trying to get at is whether it will be possible to do what we have said we will deliver for Northern Ireland and Ireland. The answer is yes, and we have already set out some ways in which it could be done.

[Albert Owen (Ynys Môn) (Lab)]

I welcome the progress that has been made on the Irish question, but I am disappointed by the response the Prime Minister gave to my right hon. Friend the Member for East Ham (Stephen Timms). Will she state categorically that Welsh sea ports, including the port of Holyhead in my constituency, which is the busiest on the western seaboard, will have equal status with ports in Scotland, England and, indeed, Northern Ireland when it comes to trade and the movement of people?

[The Prime Minister]

The progress report that was agreed between the United Kingdom and the EU was clear about the significance not just of north-south trade but of maintaining east-west trade. I and the Government are very clear about the need to maintain not just the constitutional integrity of the United Kingdom, but the economic integrity of the United Kingdom.

[Jack Dromey (Birmingham, Erdington) (Lab)]

The mask slipped at the weekend, when the Foreign Secretary let slip that changes might be made for the worse to British workers’ rights on working time, even though they are already working the longest hours in Europe. The Prime Minister has today refused to give a cast-iron guarantee that there will be no changes for the worse. Does that not demonstrate that we can never, ever trust the Tories with workers’ rights?

[The Prime Minister]

I will tell the hon. Gentleman who cannot be trusted with workers’ rights—a Labour party that voted against bringing workers’ rights into UK law.

[Paul Flynn (Newport West) (Lab)]

How and when will Wales enjoy the alleged benefits of the regulatory alignment that will be enjoyed by Northern Ireland? How can it possibly work?

[The Prime Minister]

As I indicated in response to an earlier question, the reference to full alignment in the progress report is not the first option in ensuring that there is no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland. We believe that we can achieve that through the overall relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union. That is what we will be working for.

[Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)]

In her statement, the Prime Minister said that our “universities remain a highly attractive destination for students from across the EU”. The blunt reality is that the number of applications from EU students has gone down. On EU citizens’ rights, she said she was “providing vital reassurance to all those citizens and their families in the run-up to Christmas.” Just last week, the Select Committee on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs heard confirmation from a seafood supplier that at this moment in time, his employees do not feel any reassurance. To allow Scotland to take control of this situation, does she agree with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs that post-Brexit, Scotland should have control of its own immigration policy?

[The Prime Minister]

If I heard the hon. Gentleman correctly, he was not correct at the beginning of his question. In 2009-10, the number of non-UK EU higher education students in the UK was 100,275. In the 2015-16 academic year, the figure had gone up to 112,410.

[Clive Efford (Eltham) (Lab)]

The £39 billion is to pay for commitments that we entered into freely when we were a full, operating member of the European Union. If we fell out of the European Union and failed to pay that bill, what freedom would the European Union and independent European Union countries have under WTO rules to interfere with the trade agreements we would be negotiating with other countries?

[The Prime Minister]

As the hon. Gentleman says, we have negotiated in phase 1 a financial settlement that is representative of the commitments I said we would honour over this period. It is there in the context of the future deal being agreed, but I am optimistic we will agree that future deal.

[Neil Gray (Airdrie and Shotts) (SNP)]

If there are to be opportunities from Brexit and if we are to avoid the large potential pitfalls, it is crucial that all the nations of these isles have their priorities heard, listened to and acted on. How does the Prime Minister plan to expand consultation with the Governments of all the nations of these isles in the next phase, to avoid the very clear issues from the first phase of the negotiations?

[The Prime Minister]

Discussions and engagement with the devolved Administrations have already been enhanced over recent weeks and months. The First Secretary of State has regular meetings with the Scottish and Welsh Governments. That engagement will continue.

[Karin Smyth (Bristol South) (Lab)]

The phase 1 agreement rightly confirms the Government’s commitment to the Good Friday-Belfast agreement. Further to her answer to my right hon. Friend the Member for East Ham (Stephen Timms), will the Prime Minister assure my constituents that their rights to travel, work and study across the EU will be aligned across the United Kingdom?

[The Prime Minister]

When we leave the European Union, the position of UK citizens will change in relation to the European Union. In relation to Ireland, we will maintain the common travel area so that the rights of movement, which existed long before either Ireland or the UK were a part of the European Union, will continue.

[Sammy Wilson (East Antrim) (DUP)]

Michel Barnier’s comments this weekend indicate that he may wish to make the UK a vassal state of the EU after we leave. Is the Prime Minister encouraged, however, by the reaction of Italy and Belgium? They recognise the strength and significance of the UK, and believe a special relationship is desirable. What plans does she have to go to member states to sell the UK’s case for a good relationship after Brexit?

[The Prime Minister]

I was interested to note the comments, made by a number of other countries, that the future relationship we will negotiate with the European Union would, as the hon. Gentleman says, be a tailor-made or bespoke arrangement for the United Kingdom. I assure him that not only will I be having interaction with the other EU27 leaders, but that Government Ministers will be meeting their opposite numbers and talking to them about the significance of the continued relationship with the UK and the EU.

[David Linden (Glasgow East) (SNP)]

We know that Brexit will be an unmitigated disaster for young people across these islands. With regards to the specific reference to the Erasmus project in the statement, by the time first-year students at Lochend High School in Easterhouse get to university will they still be able to enjoy Erasmus?

--- Later in debate ---

[The Prime Minister]

I said in my statement that for the remaining three years of this budget plan, we will be maintaining access to the Erasmus programme. For the future, it is one of the programmes that will be a part of the negotiations on our future relationship.

[Alex Cunningham (Stockton North) (Lab)]

My constituency is home to world class chemical companies that are anxious that the European REACH––registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals—standards, which regulate their products and guarantee their markets, will still apply after they leave the EU and beyond the implementation period. As trade talks start, will the Prime Minister do something to assure them that that will be the case?

[The Prime Minister]

We recognise the importance of this particular industry. Part of the trade talks and negotiations will be looking at the basis on which trade will carry on between the remaining European Union member states and the United Kingdom. That is the same in any trade agreement that a country enters into.

[Mr Speaker]

It is no bad thing, either for the hon. Gentleman or for the House, if the Scottish National party Chief Whip is in the guard’s van.

[Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP)]

I had the underwhelming experience this morning of visiting the Brexit Reading Room. For each of the 39 documents, I was left with the very clear impression that they do not contain any commercially sensitive or negotiation-sensitive information, so why not share that experience with the country and put them in the public domain?

[The Prime Minister]

The papers have been provided for the Select Committee. The formal position is that once the papers are in the hands of a Select Committee, it is up to them whether or not they are published.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I thank all colleagues, in particular the 77 Back-Bench Members who questioned the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister for her extremely succinct replies.

Intimidation in Public Life

Theresa May Excerpts

Wednesday 13th December 2017 Written Statements

[The Prime Minister (Mrs Theresa May)]

Today, I welcome the publication of the report by the Committee on Standards in Public Life on its review of the intimidation of parliamentary candidates.

I would like to place on record my thanks to the Committee for its thorough consideration of these issues. In July, I asked the Committee to undertake this review into the issue of abuse and intimidation experienced by parliamentary candidates, including those who stood in the 2017 general election campaign. The issue was highlighted by those across the political spectrum. While robust debate is fundamental in an open democracy, threats to candidates and property go well beyond that which should be regarded as acceptable by those in public life, and abuse will not be tolerated.

The Committee has consulted widely and members of both Houses, from across all parties, were invited to contribute. Today’s report addresses the roles of the main actors—in social media, the law, policing and prosecution, and political parties—and proposes a package of recommendations for both immediate and longer-term action. We will be giving full and thorough consideration to its recommendations. The Government plan to issue a response to the review in due course. This House may also wish to debate and consider the Committee’s recommendations.

The Committee’s report provides a body of evidence showing the extent and seriousness of the problem. It considers the risks to freedom of speech, diversity, and debate and to our representative democracy if action is not taken. We need to protect our freedom of speech and the vitality of our political system, and the freedom and diversity of participation in that system, as well as ensuring the integrity of the democratic process.

The report finds that intimidation is not a new phenomenon, but its scale and intensity, which has been accelerated by social media, is a serious issue.

It is not just politicians who have experienced unwarranted abuse—it has included journalists and other prominent figures in public life. Everyone deserves to be treated with tolerance and respect, and the British liberties of freedom of speech and freedom of association must always operate within the law. All those in public life need to demonstrate their opposition to intimidation and call it out, and report it when they see it. We must all work together to combat this issue.

Copies of the report have been laid in the Journal Office, the Printed Paper Office and deposited in the Libraries of both Houses.

[HCWS344]

Brexit Negotiations

Theresa May Excerpts

Monday 11th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister (Mrs Theresa May)]

With permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to update the House on the negotiations for our departure from the European Union. On Friday morning, the Government and the European Commission published a joint report on progress during the first phase. On the basis of this report, and following the discussions I held throughout last week, President Juncker is recommending to the European Council that sufficient progress has now been made to move to the next stage and begin talks on the future relationship between the UK and the EU. President Tusk has responded positively by proposing guidelines for the next phase of the negotiations.

I want to pay tribute to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union and our whole negotiating team for their calm and professional approach to these negotiations. We have argued robustly and clearly for the outcomes we seek: a fair and reciprocal deal that will guarantee the rights of more than 3 million EU citizens living in the UK and 1 million UK nationals living in the EU, so that they can carry on living their lives as before; a fair settlement of the accounts, meeting our rights and obligations as a departing member state in the spirit of our future partnership; and a commitment to maintain the common travel area with Ireland, to uphold the Belfast agreement in full and to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland while upholding the constitutional and economic integrity of the whole United Kingdom. Let me set out for the House the agreements we have now reached in each of these areas.

More than 3 million EU citizens make an extraordinary contribution to every part of our economy, our society, our culture and our national life, and I know that EU member states similarly value the contribution of the 1 million UK nationals living in their communities, so from the outset I have made protecting citizens’ rights my first priority. But for these rights to be truly reciprocal, they need to be interpreted consistently in both the UK and the EU.

The European Union started by wanting all EU citizens’ rights to be preserved in the UK by a prolongation of EU law. They said these rights should not require any UK process to implement them, and that they should be supervised by the Commission and enforced by the European Court of Justice. Those proposals were not acceptable. When we leave the European Union, our laws will be made and enforced here in Britain, not in Luxembourg. So the EU has accepted that we will incorporate the withdrawal agreement into UK law, and citizens’ rights will then be enforced by our courts—where appropriate, paying due regard to relevant ECJ case law, just as they—[Interruption.] Wait for it: where appropriate, paying due regard to relevant ECJ case law, just as they already decide other matters with reference to international law when it is relevant.

In the interests of consistent interpretation of citizens’ rights, we have agreed that where existing law is not clear, our courts—and only our courts—will be able to choose to ask the ECJ for an interpretation prior to reaching their own decision, but this will be a very narrow remit and in a very small number of cases, and unlike now the courts will not be obliged to do so; this will be voluntary. The case itself will always be determined by the UK courts, not the ECJ, and there will also be a sunset clause, so after eight years even this voluntary mechanism will end.

The end point of this process is very clear. EU citizens living in the UK will have their rights enshrined in UK law and enforced by British courts, and UK citizens living in the EU will also have their rights protected. The jurisdiction of the ECJ in the UK is coming to an end. We are taking control of our own laws once again, and that is exactly how it should be.

Let me turn to the financial settlement. Following some tough conversations, we have agreed the scope of our commitments and the principles for their valuation. We will continue to pay our net contributions under the current EU budget plan. During this time, our proposed implementation period will see us continuing to trade on current terms, and we will pay our fair share of the outstanding commitments and liabilities to which we committed during our membership. However, this is conditional upon a number of principles we have negotiated over how we will ultimately arrive at a fair valuation of these commitments, which will bring the actual financial settlement down by a substantial amount. This part of the report that we agreed on Friday, like the rest of it, is also subject to the general reservation that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. This means we want to see the whole deal now coming together, including the terms of our future deep and special partnership, as I said in Florence.

These are the actions of a responsible nation honouring the commitments that it has made to its allies, having gone through those commitments line by line, as we said we would. It is a fair settlement for the British taxpayer, who will soon see significant savings compared with remaining in the European Union. It means we will be able to use that money to invest in our priorities at home, such as housing, schools and the NHS, and it means the days of paying vast sums to the European Union every year are coming to an end.

Our departure from the European Union presents a significant and unique challenge for Northern Ireland and Ireland, so it is absolutely right that the joint report makes it clear that we will uphold the Belfast agreement in full. This agreement, including its subsequent implementation agreements and arrangements, has been critical to the progress made in Northern Ireland over recent decades. Our commitments to those agreements, the principles that underpin them, the institutions they establish, and the rights and opportunities they guarantee remain steadfast. The joint report reaffirms our guarantee that there will be no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland. So much of daily life in Northern Ireland depends on being able to cross the border freely, so it is right that we ensure that no new barriers are put in place.

We have also been absolutely clear that nothing in this process will alter our determination to uphold the constitutional and economic integrity of the whole United Kingdom. It was right that we took time last week to strengthen and clarify the joint report in this regard, listening to Unionists across the country, including the Democratic Unionist party. On Friday, I reinforced that further by making six principled commitments to Northern Ireland.

First, we will always uphold and support Northern Ireland’s status as an integral part of the United Kingdom, consistent with the principle of consent. As our Northern Ireland manifesto at the last election made clear, the Government I lead will never be neutral when it comes to expressing our support for the Union.

Secondly, we will fully protect and maintain Northern Ireland’s position within the single market of the United Kingdom. This is by far the most important market for Northern Ireland’s goods and services, and Northern Ireland will continue to have full and unfettered access to it.

Thirdly, there will be no new borders within the United Kingdom. In addition to there being no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, we will maintain the common travel area throughout these islands.

Fourthly, the whole of the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland, will leave the EU customs union and the EU single market. Nothing in the agreement I have reached alters that fundamental fact.

Fifthly, we will uphold the commitments and safeguards set out in the Belfast agreement regarding north-south co-operation. That will continue to require cross-community support.

Sixthly, the whole of the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland, will no longer be subject to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice.

As the joint report makes clear, our intention is to deliver against these commitments through the new deep and special partnership that we will build with the European Union. Should this not prove possible, we have also been clear that we will seek specific solutions to address the unique circumstances of the island of Ireland. Because we recognise the concerns felt on either side of the border, and we want to guarantee that we will honour the commitments we have made, we have also agreed one further fall-back option of last resort. If we cannot find specific solutions, the UK will maintain full alignment with those rules of the internal market and the customs union that, now or in the future, support north-south co-operation, economic co-operation across the island of Ireland and the protection of the Belfast agreement. The joint report clearly sets out that cross-community safeguards and consent are required from the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly for distinct arrangements in that scenario, and that in all circumstances, Northern Irish businesses must continue to have full and unfettered access to the markets in the rest of the United Kingdom on which they rely. So there can be no question about our commitment to avoiding barriers both north-south and east-west.

We will continue to work with all Northern Irish parties and the Irish Government in the second phase of the talks, and continue to encourage the re-establishment of the Northern Ireland Executive so that Northern Ireland’s voice is fully heard throughout this process.

Finally, in my Florence speech I proposed an implementation period to give Governments, businesses and families the time they need to implement the changes required for our future partnership. The precise terms of this period will be for discussion in the next phase of negotiations. I very much welcome President Tusk’s recommendation that talks on the implementation period should start immediately and that it should be agreed as soon as possible.

This is not about a hard or a soft Brexit. The arrangements we have agreed to reach the second phase of the talks are entirely consistent with the principles and objectives that I set out in my speeches in Florence and at Lancaster House. I know that some doubted we would reach this stage. The process ahead will not be easy. The progress so far has required give and take for the UK and the EU to move forward together, and that is what we have done. Of course, nothing is agreed until everything is agreed, but there is, I believe, a new sense of optimism now in the talks, and I fully hope and expect that we will confirm the arrangements I have set out today in the European Council later this week.

This is good news for people who voted leave, who were worried that we were so bogged down in tortuous negotiations that it was never going to happen, and it is good news for people who voted remain, who were worried that we would crash out without a deal. We are going to leave, but we will do so in a smooth and orderly way, securing a new deep and special partnership with our friends while taking back control of our borders, money and laws once again. That is my mission. That is this Government’s mission. On Friday we took a big step towards achieving it. I commend this statement to the House.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Prime Minister]

I have to say to the right hon. Gentleman that the only posturing taking place has been on the Opposition Front Bench.

The right hon. Gentleman talks quite a lot about alignment. I set out our objectives for the Brexit negotiations very clearly in my Lancaster House speech, and I set them out further and in some more detail in the speech I gave in Florence. Meanwhile, the Labour party has had 12 different Brexit plans. In fact, the right hon. Gentleman has had so many Brexit plans he cannot even reach alignment with himself.

To answer the right hon. Gentleman’s questions, he started off by saying he wanted to uphold the referendum result. Later in his comments, however, he said he did not want to accept the leave date of 29 March 2019. We are leaving the European Union on that date. That is what the British people voted for, and that is what the Government are going to put in place.

The right hon. Gentleman asked about the financial settlement. We have agreed the scope of commitments, and methods for valuations and adjustments to those values. The calculations currently say that the valuation would be £35 billion to £39 billion, so the answer to his question is yes. He asked whether that was conditional on securing a deal. It is clear in the joint progress report, and I have repeated it in my statement just now, that the offer is on the table in the context of us agreeing the next stage and the partnership for the future. If we do not agree that partnership, then the offer is off the table.

The right hon. Gentleman asked how much we were going to pay into joint programmes. That is all part of the negotiation in phase 2, and it will be negotiated depending on the programme and depending on the agency, should we wish to remain part of it. He asked whether I would confirm that the European Court of Justice would oversee the rights of EU citizens for the next eight years. The answer to that is no, because it will not be overseeing the rights of EU citizens for the next eight years. I made it absolutely clear that citizens’ rights would be determined by the courts here in the UK. The right hon. Gentleman asked about the legal nature of that agreement. It will be brought into law in this country in the withdrawal and implementation Bill that will be presented to the House. He asked about the payment of pensions for UK citizens. Yes, that will continue. He asked whether the arrangements that were in place in relation to citizens’ rights in the ECJ would have an impact on other parts of the deal. Paragraph 41 of the joint report makes it very clear that this in no way prejudges discussions on other elements of the withdrawal agreement.

The right hon. Gentleman asked about alignment. What is necessary is that we have the same objectives. We may reach those objectives in different ways, but what we need to ensure—and this is not a theological argument; it is about the practical decisions that need to be made—is that the trade across the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland can continue, and that is what we will be looking at. The Taoiseach and I have been very clear in our discussions: we both believe that we should be working to ensure that that can be achieved through the overall agreement between the UK and the EU, and that is indeed what we should be aiming for.

The right hon. Gentleman asked about the trade deal, and about CETA-plus-plus-plus. We have always said that we are not looking for a deal that is Norway, and we are not looking for a deal that is CETA. What we are looking for is a deal that is right for the United Kingdom. Sadly, we know what a Labour approach to these negotiations would mean. It would mean paying the European Union billions of pounds every year in perpetuity. It would mean following EU roles with no say on them. It would mean no divergence whatsoever from EU rules in the future. It would mean zero control of immigration. I have to say to the right hon. Gentleman that that would not make a success of Brexit; it would be no Brexit at all.

[Mr Kenneth Clarke (Rushcliffe) (Con)]

Let me first congratulate the Prime Minister on her triumph last Friday. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear.”] I hope that that is maintained, because I have never previously known the days following a British Government’s entry into a treaty-like agreement with 27 friendly Governments to be followed by Ministers and their aides appearing to cast doubt on whether we have agreed to anything finally, and regard ourselves as bound at all.

Will the Prime Minister confirm that “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed” is a well-known phrase which means that details can be revisited once you have sorted out what the ultimate destination is, but which does not mean that you are going to tear everything up and start all over again on EU citizens and paying money and regulatory convergence if something goes wrong in the future? Will she confirm that we have settled the rights of EU citizens, that we know how we are going to calculate the financial obligation that undoubtedly falls on this country because of past commitments by British Governments, and that open borders do require some regulatory alignment in any country in the world if we are to have an open border—and we are committed to an open border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, which in part, of course, means between the United Kingdom and the European Union?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my right hon. and learned Friend for his positive comments about the stage that we have reached in the negotiations. The report that was issued is a joint progress report on the point that we have reached and the agreements that we have reached. As my right hon. and learned Friend said, it enables us to go on to the detailed negotiations on various of these issues. The area on which we have had perhaps the most detailed negotiations so far is that of citizens’ rights, which covers a range of issues relating to benefits and so forth for EU citizens who are here. Obviously, we have also had negotiations on the other elements, which are not just about Northern Ireland and the financial settlement, but about a number of issues connected with the withdrawal. Of course, that withdrawal agreement, as we have set out in this joint progress report, will be brought into UK law at the point at which that Bill is brought before this House, and this House will have an opportunity to vote on that Bill.

My right hon. and learned Friend made the point at the end about trade deals, and he is absolutely right that in any trade agreement there is a necessity for both sides to agree certain regulations, rules and standards on which they will operate. This will be no different from that; it will be different only in the sense that we are already operating on—mostly—exactly the same rules and regulations as the European Union, so we start from a slightly different place than we would do if we were negotiating with another country.

[Ian Blackford (Ross, Skye and Lochaber) (SNP)]

What a difference a day makes! Yesterday, the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union said that the agreement reached in Brussels on the UK’s withdrawal was “a statement of intent” rather than “a legally enforceable thing”. The Secretary of State was put in his place by the Deputy Prime Minister of Ireland, who tweeted:

“The commitments and the principles...are made and must be upheld in all circumstances”.

This morning, the Secretary of State hit the radio waves to reveal that the deal is “more than legally enforceable”. So, for the avoidance of any doubt, can the Prime Minister tell the House today that in no circumstances will we be returning to a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic? Let us make that commitment in this House today.

Last week, we had the humiliating scene of the Prime Minister being forced out of the original deal by the DUP, and rushing back to London. The Government had to rewrite the agreement so as to reach the DUP’s approval. We really have to wonder who is running the UK: is it Arlene Foster or the right hon. Member for Maidenhead?

While Members on the SNP Benches welcome both sides moving into phase 2 negotiations, the next phase will be significantly tougher and it is essential that all Governments across the UK are fully involved in the negotiations on the UK’s future relationship with the EU—something that has not happened to this point. The provisions relating to Northern Ireland in the agreement raise major new questions over proposed UK-wide frameworks. Let me be clear: any special arrangements for Northern Ireland must now be available to all nations of the UK. The SNP will continue to speak with one loud and clear voice. The Prime Minister must commit today to keeping the UK in the single market and the customs union; to do otherwise would be catastrophic for jobs, workers’ rights, people’s incomes and living standards.

[The Prime Minister]

The right hon. Gentleman asked me to confirm in this House that there will be no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland. I have to say to him that this is not the first time that I have made that statement in this House; he can google it and find from Hansard how many times I have said it. Indeed, if he had listened to and looked at my statement, he would have learned that I said that “the joint report reaffirms our guarantee that there will be no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.”

The right hon. Gentleman asks about the circumstances and anything that relates to Northern Ireland being given to Scotland. Northern Ireland is, of course, in a different position from Scotland: it is the only part of the UK that has a land border with a country that will remain in the European Union, and it is in fact already the case that there are a number of unique and specific solutions that pertain to the island of Ireland, such as the common electricity market and the single phytosanitary area. Various resolutions have already been put in place to recognise that physical relationship between Northern Ireland and Ireland.

The right hon. Gentleman asks yet again for the UK to stay in the single market and customs union. I said, again, in my statement that we will be leaving the single market and the customs union, and we will be doing that because we will be putting in place the vote that took place in 2016 to leave the EU. I repeat to the right hon. Gentleman: he talks about the statement I have made and the commitments of this Government, but it would be good for him to stand up and say he supports, as I have in this statement, the continued constitutional and economic integrity of the whole United Kingdom.

[Mr Iain Duncan Smith (Chingford and Woodford Green) (Con)]

I join my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (Mr Clarke) in congratulating my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on driving through an improved agreement on Friday, which many thought would not be feasible. She has been incredibly clear in the past about the fact that the two-year period that follows our departure will be an implementation period. Is it still the Government’s position that that implementation phase will be used to implement all that has been agreed, and not, as some say, just to carry on with no change at all?

[The Prime Minister]

The point of the implementation period is exactly as my right hon. Friend says—namely, to ensure that the changes necessary for the new relationship to work can be put in place. Examples include the registration of EU citizens here in the UK, which the Home Office will be running during that period. It is also about ensuring that businesses and citizens have the confidence and reassurance of knowing how they will be operating during that period, that there is no double cliff edge for businesses and that they have a smooth process of change. That is the point of the implementation period. Further details of it will be negotiated in the next phase, and I am pleased that the European Commission and the President of the EU Council are clear that that should start immediately.

[Hilary Benn (Leeds Central) (Lab)]

The most important part of this agreement is paragraph 49, which I welcome. It says clearly that

“the United Kingdom will maintain full alignment with those rules of the Internal Market and the Customs Union which, now or in the future, support North-South cooperation, the all island economy and the protection of the 1998 Agreement.”

Given that those words are prefaced by the words:

“In the absence of agreed solutions,”

can the Prime Minister please confirm to the House today that this crystal-clear commitment will apply in all circumstances, including if no trade deal is reached with the European Union?

[The Prime Minister]

The point of saying “In the absence of agreed solutions” in paragraph 49 is that we believe that the solution we find in relation to the issue of the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland will come from the negotiated trade settlement that we have with the European Union in the overall relationship of the UK and the European Union. If we fail to get it through that, specific solutions will be put in place for Northern Ireland. If we fail that—this is why I have described it as a last resort—we will look to the arrangement that is described in paragraph 49.

[Tom Tugendhat (Tonbridge and Malling) (Con)]

Unusually, I join my right hon. Friend Mr Duncan Smith and my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (Mr Clarke)—[Interruption.] Chingford, forgive me. I join my right hon. Friend the Member for Chingford and my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Rushcliffe in welcoming the Prime Minister’s achievements this weekend. Will she have spent as much time as I have in recent weeks and months speaking to European friends and reminding them that we are leaving the EU, not leaving Europe, and that the next stage should involve our working together to build a prosperous future together?

[Mr Speaker]

We should not forget Woodford Green. It would be rather unkind, and probably rather resented by the people of Woodford Green, if they were arbitrarily excised from reference to the right hon. Gentleman’s constituency.

[The Prime Minister]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Tonbridge and Malling (Tom Tugendhat) that we are leaving the European Union but not leaving Europe. This is a statement that we have made on a number of occasions. We will continue to work with our European allies in a whole variety of areas in the interests of Europe as a whole. Indeed, just this morning, I had a meeting with my opposite number from Bulgaria to talk about the work we can continue to do with Bulgaria on the western Balkans, where much work needs to be done by us in Europe. We will continue to do that whether we are in the European Union or not.

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Mary Creagh (Wakefield) (Lab)]

The Brexit Secretary has captivated the House with tales of regulatory impact assessments that do not exist. The Chancellor has said that the divorce bill will be paid in all circumstances, but the Brexit Secretary contradicted him at the weekend, saying that it would be conditional on a trade deal. The Prime Minister’s deal with the Taoiseach, promising full regulatory alignment, has been dismissed by the Brexit Secretary as a statement of intent. If she cannot even get her Brexit Secretary to agree with her, how on earth is she going to get a good deal that protects jobs, investment and growth in this country?

[The Prime Minister]

The Brexit Secretary and I—indeed, the whole Cabinet and the whole Government—are behind the agreement, the deal and the progress report that we have negotiated in relation to moving on to phase 2. We are of one accord on that. The only party that is not of one accord is the Labour party.

[Anna Soubry (Broxtowe) (Con)]

Across the Government Benches, there is complete unanimity about congratulating the Prime Minister on securing the agreement. If I may say so, it was a pitiful performance from the Leader of the Opposition, and I still do not know whether he actually welcomes the agreement, but he should support this major step forward. Looking to the future, around this time next year we should have begun to conclude the trade negotiations towards the trade deal, so does the Prime Minister anticipate that we will have details of our new trading relationship with the EU, or will there be a set of heads of agreement?

[The Prime Minister]

We have always said that we will be working to negotiate our full agreement on the future relationship that we have with the EU. Of course, it will not legally be possible for the EU to sign up to that agreement until after we have left and become a third country, because it is not possible for such an agreement to be signed while we are in the EU. The pieces of work that will now go forward will include the details of the implementation period, the details of the withdrawal agreement, which will have to go through certain parliamentary processes in European member states and will also be put to Parliament here in the UK, and our future relationship with the EU on trade, security and other areas.

[Sir Vince Cable (Twickenham) (LD)]

In order to strengthen the Prime Minister’s leverage in the next stage of negotiations, may I suggest that she suspend tribal politics and invite the Leader of the Opposition and his Front-Bench colleagues to join her negotiating team? Whatever their tactical differences, they agree with her on the fundamentals of Brexit and on withdrawal from the single market and the customs union—disastrous though that may be.

[The Prime Minister]

There is a huge assumption underlying the right hon. Gentleman’s question, because he says that the Labour party actually agrees with us on membership of the customs union and the single market, but there are many views on that in the Labour party. It is not at all clear that it agrees with the Government on the future relationship with the internal market and the customs union, because it keeps taking different positions. If the right hon. Gentleman has inside information on the Labour party’s position, I would be very glad to hear it.

[Sir William Cash (Stone) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend welcome the outbreak of unity on the Government Benches regarding the outcome of the progress report? Does she agree that a number of matters still need to be resolved? Serious questions will be addressed, and the European Scrutiny Committee will be paying serious attention to those questions. Does she also agree that the Opposition have demonstrated not only today but over past weeks a complete inconsistency on every point of principle and detail? They are simply a national disgrace.

[The Prime Minister]

I certainly agree with my hon. Friend, and I am grateful to him for his reference to the statement of unity. I know that the European Scrutiny Committee has always taken its role very seriously and will continue to do so. Its role is particularly important as we reach this point in time and as it considers these particular arrangements. Yes, there are serious issues that still need to be addressed and will be addressed in phase 2 of the talks, but the important thing was getting on to phase 2 so that we can look at such issues in much more detail. As he says, the Labour party has distinguished itself only by the fact that it has had 12 different Brexit plans over the past 18 months. It really does not know what its view is on this at all.

[Alison McGovern (Wirral South) (Lab)]

Last week, the Chancellor of the Exchequer told me that the Cabinet had never even discussed the decision to leave the single market and the customs union. As we move on, we need to be absolutely clear about the Cabinet’s view, so will the Prime Minister inform the House when the Cabinet last discussed the negotiating objectives for the final trade deal?

[The Prime Minister]

The Cabinet has had a number of discussions on various aspects of the negotiations, and it will continue to have those discussions. The Cabinet was united behind the Florence speech, which set out the objectives, and it was behind the Lancaster House speech. The objectives for the Government have not changed, and they have been agreed by the Government.

[John Redwood (Wokingham) (Con)]

I wish the Prime Minister every success in negotiating a comprehensive free trade deal. Does she agree that when we leave, with or without a deal, we will be trading under World Trade Organisation terms, which now include the extremely helpful and comprehensive trade facilitation agreement that allows good progress over borders for all WTO members? Does not that strengthen our position when she negotiates a good deal?

[The Prime Minister]

My right hon. Friend refers to the developments at the WTO, and they will of course be interesting to us as we look ahead and negotiate our deal for the future. I hope the optimism that has been shown by the European Union as we progress on to the next stage will give everybody confidence and reassurance that we can indeed agree the comprehensive free trade agreement we want for our future relationship with the European Union.

[Mr Pat McFadden (Wolverhampton South East) (Lab)]

For phase 2 of the discussions, the Brexit Secretary has set a benchmark of securing a free trade agreement with the exact same benefits that we currently enjoy. Does the Prime Minister agree with her Environment Secretary and many others that if the public do not like the terms of the final deal, they have every right to change their mind?

[The Prime Minister]

That is a misinterpretation of what the Environment Secretary said at the weekend. I have been very clear that there will be no second referendum on this issue. This Parliament overwhelmingly voted to give the British people the decision on membership of the European Union. The British people voted, and we will now deliver on their vote.

[Nicky Morgan (Loughborough) (Con)]

On behalf of the thousands of EU citizens living in the Loughborough constituency and across the country, may I thank the Prime Minister for the Christmas present she has given them by providing certainty about their future in this country? It is a shame that that part of last week’s deal has not had the coverage it should have had because of the other important issues. Does she agree that her work last week is testament to the power of continued dialogue between the parties, and that those who suggest that when things get tough, we should walk away do not represent the way she attacks these issues?

[The Prime Minister]

My right hon. Friend is right. I hope people will look seriously and carefully at the negotiated agreement on citizens’ rights, which is important. We are in a negotiation, which takes hard work on both sides. It also takes determination, and this Government have shown the determination to get it right for the UK.

[Mr George Howarth (Knowsley) (Lab)]

Does not CETA-plus-plus-plus amount to a similar—but not the same—set of arrangements to those in the single market and the customs union? Would not the Government have to accept a similar set of arrangements on free movement of labour?

[The Prime Minister]

The right hon. Gentleman and a number of others keep talking about membership of the single market and the customs union. The point is that the European Union has made it very clear that the four pillars are indivisible. We are leaving the European Union, and therefore we will be leaving the European single market and the European customs union. What we will negotiate is a separate trade deal, which we want to be as tariff-free and frictionless as possible.

[Michael Fabricant (Lichfield) (Con)]

Constituents of mine who have parents and grandparents living in the European Union are very concerned by comments made by the Labour party, which wanted to conclude an early deal that would rightly protect Europeans living in the United Kingdom, but would sell down the river those British citizens who live in Europe. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the primary role of the Prime Minister is to defend the interests of British citizens? Will she explain in a tiny bit more detail precisely what the protections will be for British people living in Europe after Brexit?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. It is important that not only I, as Prime Minister, but this Government give priority to UK citizens and ensure that they are not left behind. That is why we wanted to make sure that the agreement on citizens’ rights was reciprocal, as it indeed is. UK citizens will enjoy the rights they have on issues such as benefits payments and access to healthcare. All these issues have been addressed in this first phase of the negotiations and are reflected in the joint progress report that we have set out. What is important is that both EU citizens living here and UK citizens living in the EU27 will be protected.

[Nigel Dodds (Belfast North) (DUP)]

The Prime Minister said at her Friday press conference that the deal arrived at represented a significant improvement from Monday, and we on these Benches agree wholeheartedly with that. May I thank the Prime Minister for her personal devotion to working to get the text, as she put it today, “strengthened” in relation to the “constitutional and economic integrity” of the whole United Kingdom? Will she confirm that the text of this agreement now makes it clear that in the event of a deal, Northern Ireland will not be separated politically, economically or by any regulatory requirements from the rest of the UK—this is along with the aim of having no hard border on the island of Ireland—but that in the event of no overall deal, nothing is agreed?

[The Prime Minister]

May I say to the right hon. Gentleman that I am grateful for the contributions that were made, as I said in my statement, by the DUP and others who were concerned about the Union of the United Kingdom? The joint progress reported was strengthened to make it absolutely clear, as he says, that of course under the Belfast agreement we recognise the principle of consent, but nothing in that agreement will lead to a separation of Northern Ireland from the rest of the United Kingdom.

[Sir Roger Gale (North Thanet) (Con)]

I thank my right hon. Friend for her reaffirmation that British citizens resident throughout the EU will continue to receive uprated pensions and, as I now understand it, healthcare and health-related exportable benefits. May I ask her to indicate whether those will continue into the foreseeable future?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, I can. The point of the agreement is to ensure that those rights and obligations do carry on in the future. A number of these issues are set out in the joint progress reports; there are specific references to the rules on healthcare, on social security systems and so forth. We are very clear that it is important that those rights be available for UK citizens in the EU, and they will be.

[Mr Chris Leslie (Nottingham East) (Lab/Co-op)]

I wonder whether the Prime Minister will help us to clarify what is meant by “full alignment”. There was speculation in the newspapers this weekend that No. 10 had been selling it to the Foreign Secretary as a meaningless concept. I do not want her to say, “Full alignment means full alignment”; I want her to say whether she means it to apply to all areas of trade, or whether it is limited to agriculture and energy. Will she explain what she means by “full alignment”?

[The Prime Minister]

Full alignment means that we will be achieving the same objectives. I set out in my Florence speech that there are a number of ways in which we can approach this. There will be some areas where we want to achieve the same objectives by the same means. In others we will want to achieve the same objectives by different means. If we look at the areas covered currently by north-south co-operation, we see there are six of those areas. Two of them are not covered generally by the acquis—education and health—but there are other issues, such as the environment, waste and water management, the electricity market, agriculture, and questions relating to road and rail transport.

[Several hon. Members rose—]

--- Later in debate ---

[Nick Boles (Grantham and Stamford) (Con)]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I am no cricket fan, but may I tell my right hon. Friend that that was a performance worthy of Geoffrey Boycott? May I ask her to clarify an important point? When it comes to the settling of the accounts—the second batch of payments—it is little understood among my constituents that these payments will be made over 20 or 30 years as they fall due, and that there is never going to be a moment when she signs some humungous cheque to settle the accounts. It would be incredibly reassuring for people to hear that from her at the Dispatch Box.

[The Prime Minister]

For the avoidance of doubt, I should say to the whole House that I regard any reference to Geoffrey Boycott as a compliment. What is said in the joint progress report is that these payments will be made as they fall due, unless otherwise determined by the United Kingdom and the European Union.

[Kate Hoey (Vauxhall) (Lab)]

This is a little bit of repetition, but to be absolutely clear, will the Prime Minister confirm that leaving the single market—the internal market, as I prefer to call it—and the customs union is not an option, and that anyone who is pushing for that is really still trying to stay in the EU?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady asked me to confirm that anybody wanting to leave the single market and the customs union effectively wants to stay in the EU; I think she meant that anybody who wants to stay in the single market and the customs union wants that. [Interruption.] She is nodding her affirmation. Yes, that is absolutely right. It is clear that actually leaving the EU means leaving the single market and the customs union.

[Sir Edward Leigh (Gainsborough) (Con)]

Despite all the prophecies of doom and gloom, the Prime Minister, with her calm, true grit, has shown that Brexit can and will be done. We congratulate her on that. Of course it is a compromise, but when Brexiteers like me look at the alternative—namely, a Labour Government staying in the single market forever and having no control over immigration—it is amazing how our minds are concentrated in support of the Prime Minister. Will she confirm that, although as a great country we can of course choose to align our regulations with those of other countries, once the implementation period is over, we will have full regulatory autonomy?

[The Prime Minister]

That is the whole point. Once we are outside the European Union, we will be able to determine our regulations and where we wish to diverge from the regulations of the European Union. As I said in my response to my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (Mr Clarke), in any trade agreement there is an agreement about the rules, regulations and standards on which both sides will operate, but also an agreement about what happens when one side wants to diverge from them. The important point is that this Parliament will be the body deciding those rules and regulations.

[Chuka Umunna (Streatham) (Lab)]

Senior civil servants across Whitehall have reportedly been instructed from here on not to commit to writing any evaluation they make of the impact of Brexit on their industry sectors. Is that true? If so, why the cover-up?

--- Later in debate ---

[The Prime Minister]

No.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

At a time of intolerable financial pressure on defence, will the Prime Minister confirm that there can be no question of our paying billions of pounds to the European Union that we do not need to pay, unless as part of an overall trade deal?

[The Prime Minister]

As I said earlier, the offer in the progress report is there, as the report itself makes very clear, on the basis that we will be making an agreement with the European Union on our trading relationship, and on our relationship in other areas, such as security.

[Edward Miliband (Doncaster North) (Lab)]

In her reply to the hon. Member for Gainsborough (Sir Edward Leigh), the Prime Minister seemed to confirm that she believes that we will have full regulatory autonomy after we leave the European Union. Will she explain how that is compatible with regulatory alignment between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and no hard border?

[The Prime Minister]

The point I made in response to my hon. Friend the Member for Gainsborough (Sir Edward Leigh) was that decisions about the future rules and regulations on which this country operates will be made by this Parliament. We have said very clearly that we will avoid, and guarantee that we will not have, a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland. In any trade agreement, a decision will be taken as to those rules and regulations on which we wish to operate on the same basis, those areas where we have the same objectives but will operate on a different basis, and those areas that are irrelevant to the issue of the trade agreement.

[Stephen Crabb (Preseli Pembrokeshire) (Con)]

I congratulate the Prime Minister on the skill and pragmatism she has shown in steering a course to this point. Does she agree that the very positive response of business over the weekend underlines the importance of maintaining an approach that is both pragmatic and ambitious? Those are the qualities on which we need to stay focused if we are to land that free trade deal with the EU.

[The Prime Minister]

My right hon. Friend is right, and I am pleased that business has welcomed the progress we have made as we move on to the next stage of the negotiations. It is important that we retain that optimism and ambition for the future. It is possible to achieve a really ambitious comprehensive trade agreement with the European Union, and that will be not only to our benefit but to the benefit of the EU27.

[Joanna Cherry (Edinburgh South West) (SNP)]

We are told that this first-stage deal is a statement of intent that is not legally binding. Does the Prime Minister agree that the same could be said of her article 50 letter, and that if a satisfactory deal is not reached overall at the end of the day, it would be open to this sovereign Parliament, as a matter of EU law and in accordance with our constitutional requirements, unilaterally to revoke the article 50 letter?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. and learned Lady started off by referencing the issue of the status of this joint progress report. It is a joint progress report on the agreements that have been reached so far in the negotiations, which has enabled the European Commission to determine that sufficient progress has been made to pass on to the next stage of negotiations. Further details on certain aspects of withdrawal will need to be determined as we go ahead in the coming months, alongside the work on the implementation period and the future partnership with the European Union. As I have said on a number of occasions, that withdrawal agreement will be put into legislation here in this House.

[Mr David Jones (Clwyd West) (Con)]

I congratulate the Prime Minister on what has been achieved thus far, which we must hope will translate into mutually beneficial withdrawal and trade agreements, but given that that cannot be guaranteed, will she give instructions for the sum set aside by the Chancellor in his Budget last month to be expended on upgrading our customs infrastructure, in order to secure smooth international trade after Brexit and reassure business in this country?

[The Prime Minister]

As my right hon. Friend knows, in addition to the £700 million already allocated by the Treasury to the current year for the changes that will be needed for the contingency arrangements to be put in place, £3 billion was put forward in the autumn Budget. That will be allocated to Departments, obviously, according to their need and requirement. On the specific issue of customs arrangements, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs is moving forward on them, and will have in place what is necessary in order for us to have a customs system when we leave the European Union.

[Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)]

Frequently with this Prime Minister, we have found that when she says nothing has changed, everything has changed. In particular, this statement talks about residents of Northern Ireland being able to cross the border freely and there being no hard border. If she thinks that it is in the best interests of Northern Irish residents to continue to benefit from freedom of movement, why is she denying equal rights to my constituents?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady says that something significant has changed. I suggest that she looks back in history a little, because she will find that the common travel area has been in place since 1923.

[Several hon. Members rose—]

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for proving my point.

[The Prime Minister]

Full alignment means that we will ensure that we can operate in a practical sense on a basis that will enable that continued trade to take place between Northern Ireland and Ireland. We have put forward a number of suggestions in relation to the customs union arrangements that currently exist and the customs arrangements that we will have in the future. One of those included different arrangements in relation to the external tariff. We will ensure that there is no hard border, but I think that we can come to a customs arrangement that will mean that we can have that tariff-free and frictionless trade between the United Kingdom and the whole of the EU.

[Stephen Doughty (Cardiff South and Penarth) (Lab/Co-op)]

The Prime Minister said in her statement that “significant savings” would be made through the Brexit agreement. Will she tell us how she knows what those significant savings will be before she has reached an agreement? If she does know them, will she publish their value to allow the whole House to see what they are?

[The Prime Minister]

Of course, significant savings will be made when the United Kingdom leaves the European Union and is no longer paying the price of membership of the European Union to the European Union every single year.

[Philip Davies (Shipley) (Con)]

The Prime Minister said that there has been give and take in these negotiations. Of course she is absolutely right: we are giving the EU tens of billions of pounds, and the EU is taking them. She said that the money will not be paid unless there is a final agreement. By definition, that must mean that we are not legally obliged to make these payments because otherwise that option would not be available to us. Will she explain why she is paying tens of billions of pounds that are not legally due to the European Union when she is continuing a policy of austerity at home? Many of my constituents simply do not understand where all this extra money is coming from.

[The Prime Minister]

I said in my statement, and have repeated, that the offer we have made is in the context of us achieving that agreement on the future partnership between the United Kingdom and the European Union. I said in my Florence speech—I have repeated this on a number of occasions—that we are a country that honours our commitments, and it is important that we do that.

[Mike Gapes (Ilford South) (Lab/Co-op)]

The draft phase 2 guidelines say:

“negotiations in the second phase can only progress as long as all commitments undertaken during the first phase are respected in full and translated faithfully in legal terms as quickly as possible.”

When are we going to get the legislation?

[The Prime Minister]

We will get the legislation when we have agreed the details that are required to have that withdrawal agreement. The European Commission negotiator, Michel Barnier, has said that he wants to achieve that detailed withdrawal agreement by October next year.

[Vicky Ford (Chelmsford) (Con)]

I congratulate the Prime Minister on a very detailed agreement. Paragraph 73 says that the UK

“may wish to participate in some Union budgetary programmes…post-2020”

as a third country. Is it likely that those programmes could include co-operation on the three S’s—security, scientific research and student exchanges?

--- Later in debate ---

[The Prime Minister]

The simple answer is that those areas could be included. I have said—my hon. Friend will not be surprised by this, given my background— that we may wish to include a number of security programmes. We may also very well wish to remain involved in the other areas that my hon. Friend identifies. Those decisions will be part of the next stage of the negotiations, and they will be taken on the basis of what will be in the best interests of the United Kingdom.

[Hywel Williams (Arfon) (PC)]

I thank the Prime Minister for prior sight of her statement. On 26 October last year, I raised with her the danger of favouring particular sectors in any future trade deal. She replied:

“I will be cutting the best deal for the United Kingdom—all parts of it.”—[Official Report, 26 October 2016; Vol. 616, c. 281.]

On Sunday, the Brexit Secretary said that he would seek a trade deal that would be Canada-plus-plus-plus. Will the Prime Minister therefore identify the particular sectors referred to under “plus-plus-plus”?

[The Prime Minister]

There is no inconsistency in this. We want the best trade deal for all our trade with the European Union, and that is what we will be working to.

[Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Ind)]

Will the Prime Minister agree that finding agreed solutions is critical not just for the Northern Ireland border, but for the channel ports, including the port of Dover? Will she make it a key priority of the trade talks that we ensure that we have a smooth flow of trade and the option of diversity?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We recognise the importance of Dover as a border port and, indeed, that of other ports around the United Kingdom. The future customs relationship will be a key part of negotiating the trade deal. We have said that we want to be as tariff-free and frictionless as possible, and that is what we will be working to.

[Seema Malhotra (Feltham and Heston) (Lab/Co-op)]

The issue of regulatory divergence is an ongoing matter of concern for many sectors of our economy. When the Prime Minister read the summary outcomes of the Brexit sectoral analyses, did she happen to read about the impact of Brexit on chemicals? The Chemical Industries Association has today written to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to ask the Government

“to do all it can to remain within or as close as possible”

to the EU’s rule book for the sector, the exports of which are worth £50 billion a year. What reassurance will the Prime Minister give to the association?

[The Prime Minister]

We have been very clear that we were looking at a variety of areas in which the question will be asked as to whether we wish to retain the same arrangements, or arrangements that achieve the same outcomes but are not necessarily the same arrangements, or if we wish to diverge completely. We recognise the importance of the pharmaceutical industry to the United Kingdom—it is a key industry in the industrial strategy, which my right hon. Friend the Business Secretary published only a couple of weeks ago—but these will be matters for negotiation in the second phase.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

I congratulate my right hon. Friend on displaying almost Zebedee-like qualities of resilience in terms of the Brexit magic roundabout, but on the figure she has quoted of up to £39 billion, will she confirm that there will not be any more offered in the continued negotiations? Could she also set out a detailed cost-benefit analysis that I can present to my constituents?

[The Prime Minister]

As I indicated, if we look at the scope and analysis that has been done, the estimate is that the sum of money would be £35 billion to £39 billion, but we have said, as my right hon. Friend will have heard in answer to previous questions, that there may be some programmes of which we do wish to remain a member, and therefore we would be willing to pay an appropriate price for the cost of that. But a very good piece of work has been done on these financial arrangements, and, obviously, we take that forward, as I said, in the context of agreeing that future relationship.

[Wes Streeting (Ilford North) (Lab)]

Paragraph 49 of the agreement says very clearly:

“In the absence of agreed solutions, the United Kingdom will maintain full alignment with those rules of the Internal Market and the Customs Union which, now or in the future, support North-South cooperation, the all-island economy and the protection of the 1998 Agreement.”

In making that undertaking, can the Prime Minister provide the reassurance that British people, businesses and public services are looking for—that she has finally closed the door to the disastrous no-deal scenario that so many Government Members have advocated?

[The Prime Minister]

No. If the hon. Gentleman looks at the joint progress report, he will also see that these things are all set in the context of agreeing the future partnership and the future trade arrangement between the United Kingdom and the European Union, but I remain of the view that no deal is better than a bad deal.

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

I came to the Chamber today thinking that we were going to leave the European Union on 29 March 2019 and that the whole House agreed. We now know from the Leader of the Opposition that Labour wants to stay in indefinitely. Will the Prime Minister confirm that we will come out in 473 days’ time and that that date will be put in the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend, and I can confirm that we will be leaving the European Union on 29 March 2019. I think the fact, as he reflects, that the Leader of the Opposition was so equivocal about the Labour party’s view on this issue shows that the Opposition want to try to play to two houses: they want to say at the start that they are confirming the referendum and respecting it; and yet, at the same time, they do not want to accept that we will be leaving the European Union—and we will be leaving.

[Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)]

Will the Prime Minister confirm that Northern Ireland could have different customs arrangements from the rest of the UK?

[The Prime Minister]

No. What we have said is that we will put practical arrangements in place to ensure that there is no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, but we have also been clear that we will respect the internal market of the United Kingdom. That means no border down the Irish sea.

[Mr Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury) (Con)]

Does the Prime Minister agree that one of the many benefits of leaving the EU customs union is that we will be able to forge our own trade deals with countries across the world—deals that the EU has failed so far to strike? Is it not the case that that would benefit the whole United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland, which would actually lose out if it stayed in the customs union, because it would not then get that full benefit?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend makes a very important point. We will be able to strike those trade deals around the world, and Northern Ireland will benefit from those trade deals, as will the rest of the UK.

[Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)]

In answer to a question I asked about the tampon tax, the Financial Secretary to the Treasury said that the Government continue to press for a VAT zero rate for women’s sanitary products at EU level. If the Government cannot negotiate, in two years, a zero rate for the tampon tax, what hope do we have of a trade deal?

[The Prime Minister]

We are leaving the European Union and we will be able to make decisions of that sort for ourselves in future.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

I thank my right hon. Friend for confirming very clearly that the so-called EU divorce bill will be paid only if we are successful at negotiating an acceptable trade deal with the European Union. Does she agree that this will certainly focus the minds of EU negotiators and is our best chance of obtaining an acceptable outcome for the UK?

[The Prime Minister]

I am optimistic about getting that good trade deal for the United Kingdom with the EU, because actually it is in the EU27’s interests for their businesses to be able to continue to trade on good terms with the UK.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

The European Union says that we will stay in the single market and the customs union during the implementation phase. The Prime Minister is saying, I presume, that we will leave at the start of the implementation phase, but will she confirm that the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice will continue throughout the two years or so of the implementation phase?

[The Prime Minister]

As the right hon. Gentleman knows, the details of the implementation period are to be negotiated. Assuming that the EU Council takes the decision to move ahead on Thursday or Friday of this week, that will happen very quickly. He talks about leaving the single market and the customs union. We will do that when we leave the European Union in March 2019, but we will then have a relationship with the European Union during the implementation period to ensure that businesses and individuals have the reassurance of not needing to make two stages of adjustments to our future partnership.

[Mr Shailesh Vara (North West Cambridgeshire) (Con)]

May I congratulate the Prime Minister on her sheer determination and stamina in reaching the stage of having this joint report? To the extent that we do have an agreement in March 2019, and that thereafter, for many years to come, we do make payments to the EU as agreed, will she consider publishing the amount of money that we are not paying to the EU so that the British people can see the benefit that they are deriving in the years to come?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for his suggestion. I think that in due course we will be able to show not only the amount of money that we will not be spending through the European Union, but the positive ways in which we can spend that money here in the UK.

[Ian Paisley (North Antrim) (DUP)]

That little-known French newspaper, L’Opinion, today quotes Mr Verhofstadt as claiming that the Prime Minister is relying on “those little Protestant allies in the Democratic Unionist party”. Will the Prime Minister make it clear to Mr Verhofstadt that she is implementing the will of the British people unashamedly on behalf of all the British people, including those of us from Ulster? Will she also confirm that the trade negotiations will include control of our fishing policy going forward?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, I am very happy to say to the hon. Gentleman that what I and the Government are doing is delivering on the vote of the people of the United Kingdom to leave the European Union. In terms of going forward on the trade deals, when we leave the European Union, we will of course leave the common agricultural policy and the common fisheries policy, and we will have to determine arrangements in relation to those for the United Kingdom in the future.

[Mr William Wragg (Hazel Grove) (Con)]

My right hon. Friend has been very busy in recent days, but may I thank her very much indeed for the birthday card that arrived on my desk this morning? Sadly, Mr Juncker’s is yet to arrive.

The Prime Minister will know that many people in this country want us to get on with leaving the European Union, so what guarantee can she give that I will not have to suffer another significant birthday before that is achieved?

[The Prime Minister]

I am sure that the whole House will want to wish my hon. Friend a very happy birthday today. I hope that he and others will take reassurance from the fact that we have achieved sufficient progress and we can move on to the second phase. That shows that through determined work we can achieve what we want to achieve, which is a good withdrawal agreement, a good future relationship with the European Union, and leaving on 29 March 2019.

[Ian Murray (Edinburgh South) (Lab)]

Within a few paragraphs of the Prime Minister’s statement, she reaffirms that the UK will leave the single market and the customs union, says that the Government “will fully protect and maintain Northern Ireland’s position within the single market of the United Kingdom”, and says that there will be “no hard border” and “regulatory harmonisation”. Are not those three statements contradictory?

--- Later in debate ---

[The Prime Minister]

No.

[Antoinette Sandbach (Eddisbury) (Con)]

May I congratulate the Prime Minister on acting in the national interest? I urge her to continue to show the spirit of pragmatism and compromise when regulatory alignment will benefit businesses, for example in the north-west. I am thinking of the energy, aerospace, chemicals and pharmaceuticals sectors, all of which employ tens of thousands of people in the north-west.

[The Prime Minister]

We are very conscious of the impact of decisions that are taken. We want to ensure that the industries that are so important to my hon. Friend’s constituency, and to others in the north-west and elsewhere in the UK, are able not just to continue, but to grow, expand and be world leading in a number of areas. We will take those considerations into account as we look at our future trade arrangements.

[Clive Efford (Eltham) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister has negotiated a financial package for exiting the European Union. Can she confirm that there is a further bill to be paid for access in the future, and that there is absolutely no question of our leaving the European Union without settling our tab for the commitments that we made prior to the referendum?

[The Prime Minister]

We are not talking about paying for access to something in the future. There might be certain programmes and areas of which we do want to remain a member—[Interruption.] I have given examples in the past. In justice and home affairs, there may be some areas in which it makes sense for the United Kingdom to continue to operate with members of the European Union. The commitments that are set out in the joint progress report are very clear. This is about honouring the commitments that we have made in the context of agreeing the future partnership.

[Mr Jonathan Djanogly (Huntingdon) (Con)]

In congratulating the Prime Minister and the Brexit Secretary on this very significant achievement, may I point out that when the Brexit Committee met Mr Barnier recently, he spoke about decoupling future security discussions from future trade discussions? I would be interested to hear my right hon. Friend’s views on whether that is the right way forward.

[The Prime Minister]

As we move into the next phase, we will be negotiating our future relationship and future partnership with the European Union. That will be across all aspects of our current relationship with the European Union, so it will be about negotiating on trade and negotiating on security. I set out in my Florence speech that we expect to negotiate a separate treaty on our security arrangements and co-operation.

[Stephen Kinnock (Aberavon) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister has repeatedly claimed today that the financial settlement is subject to the conclusion of the future deep and special partnership. May I draw her attention to paragraph 96 of the progress report, which clearly states that the financial settlement is contingent only on conclusion of the article 50 withdrawal agreement and the transitional arrangements? Will she please provide some clarity on this vital issue and confirm that her precise understanding of paragraph 96 is that the settlement is contingent only on the withdrawal agreement and the transitional arrangements, not on the future partnership?

[The Prime Minister]

No, that is not my understanding of the joint progress report or the position that we will be in. It is very clear at the beginning of the joint progress report that this is a set of proposals that have been put forward in the context of negotiating that final agreement. I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reference to the framework for the future relationship in paragraph 96.

[Robert Neill (Bromley and Chislehurst) (Con)]

The Prime Minister has shown not only pragmatism and determination, but a lot of courage. I congratulate her on that, as do the 36% of my constituents who work in the financial services sector. Given the key importance of the sector to our economy, will she undertake to show the same pragmatism as we develop the proposals in paragraph 91 of the joint report, particularly when it comes to finding a pragmatic means of seeking regulatory co-operation and grandfathering existing services contracts, as suggested by TheCityUK?

[The Prime Minister]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for the reference he has made. Indeed, the paragraph he refers to is obviously one of those that set out a number of separation issues other than citizens’ rights, the financial settlement and the Northern Ireland border, which were discussed in phase 1. It is important, to pick up the point he made about pragmatism, that we adopt a practical, pragmatic approach to the future, ensuring that we have the relationship we want with the European Union that will be good for the United Kingdom, but also good for the EU27.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I thank the Prime Minister for her statement and also for her strength of character. Will she confirm that any regulatory alignment required to ensure north-south co-operation will not require either the United Kingdom or Northern Ireland to be a member of any single market or customs union?

[The Prime Minister]

I am very clear that we will not be a member of the single market or the customs union, and we were not proposing that any part of the United Kingdom will be a member of the single market or the customs union separate from the rest of the United Kingdom. The whole of the United Kingdom will be out of the internal market and the customs union.

[Richard Drax (South Dorset) (Con)]

I warmly congratulate my right hon. Friend on the progress she has made. We are getting there, but I shall be relieved when we get to March 2019. For clarity’s sake, may I ask whether, if no deal is struck on the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland come March 2019 and the issue is still on the table, I am right in assuming that when we leave the EU, Northern Ireland will still be influenced by EU regulations? I think that is what she said—or have I got that completely wrong?

[The Prime Minister]

No, the agreement that has been reached—the terms are set out in the joint progress report—is against the background of securing the agreement on the future relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union. Of course, we do want to ensure that there is no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, and we will be looking to ensure that in all circumstances.

[Heidi Alexander (Lewisham East) (Lab)]

When the Prime Minister and her colleagues were patting themselves on the back last week for surviving the first round of negotiations, Irish freight handler John Dunne told ITV News it was “a fudge”. He said:

“You’re either in the customs union or you’re outside of it. It’s like you can’t be a little bit pregnant, so either there is customs clearance required or there isn’t”.

He is right, is he not?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady will know that there are various aspects of the customs union, so actually it is not quite as simple as that. We have set out already—we did this in the summer—arrangements that we believe could be in place, which we will now be able to discuss in detail with the EU27 as we move into phase 2 of these negotiations. They would enable us to retain tariff-free and frictionless access across borders, while at the same time ensuring that we are not a member of the customs union and the single market.

[Mike Wood (Dudley South) (Con)]

While we recognise that Britain will respect any liabilities that are properly owed, will the Prime Minister reassure my constituents that the United Kingdom will not be making payments that are not paid by countries remaining in the European Union, so that there can be no question of punishment payments?

[The Prime Minister]

I am absolutely clear that we are not talking about punishment payments. I have said on a number of occasions that we will honour our commitments. We have come to an agreement about the scope of commitments and how those should be valued, but as I said earlier, this is in the context of agreeing the future partnership.

[Emma Little Pengelly (Belfast South) (DUP)]

I thank the Prime Minister for her strong statement of support for Northern Ireland as an integral part of the United Kingdom. Businesses in Northern Ireland do not want a hard border, and we in the DUP are fully committed to working closely with the Prime Minister to find solutions and a good outcome in relation to that. However, will the Prime Minister confirm and commit that, in finding solutions, not only will Northern Ireland businesses have full and unfettered access to the UK market, but UK businesses will have full and unfettered access to Northern Ireland markets?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, I am very happy to confirm that. What we are talking about is ensuring that the internal market of the United Kingdom is maintained, so that that flow for businesses both in Great Britain and in Northern Ireland can continue.

[Huw Merriman (Bexhill and Battle) (Con)]

I join colleagues in congratulating the Prime Minister on largely excluding the influence of the European Court of Justice; others said that could not be done. With respect to the eight-year period during which courts can refer to the ECJ, will that run from the date when the UK leaves the EU, the end of the implementation period or the date from which EU citizens apply to enforce their rights, which could of course be a later date?

--- Later in debate ---

[The Prime Minister]

I apologise, I have not found the specific reference in the report, but it will be at the point at which the citizens’ rights are implemented. The expectation is that it will be on the date when we leave the European Union.

[Vernon Coaker (Gedling) (Lab)]

The agreement between the UK and the EU contains many welcome and significant references to the Good Friday agreement. Does the Prime Minister agree that if the Good Friday agreement were included in the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill, that would help build confidence in the whole process?

[The Prime Minister]

I would hope that there is confidence in the process from our being so clear in the joint progress report, which has been published by us and the European Commission, about the importance of respecting the Belfast agreement. As a Government, we have said that consistently throughout the negotiations. There is no difference in our position: we are very clear that we will uphold the Belfast agreement.

[Alberto Costa (South Leicestershire) (Con)]

One year ago, I said in the Chamber to my right hon. Friend that it would be inconceivable for me to vote to take away the rights of my parents or other EU nationals. Incidentally, I understand that my parents are watching proceedings closely today. I thank the Prime Minister for honouring her commitment to me, which she gave earlier this year, in return for which I gave her my full loyalty. I look forward to the agreement in principle becoming a proper legal agreement in due course.

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for the attention that he has given to EU citizens’ rights throughout this period, and for the discussions that he and I have been able to have on the matter. I am pleased that the agreement has been reached, as reported in the joint progress report. I also congratulate my hon. Friend, who has recently been honoured by the Italian Government. Many congratulations.

[Mr Speaker]

Well done!

[Thangam Debbonaire (Bristol West) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister must have had a different ballot paper from the one we had in Bristol West last year. There was no mention on mine of the single market or the customs union, nor was there any mention of Euratom, to which item 89 of the report refers. Will the Prime Minister please tell us which other organisations she believes she has a mandate to sweep off the table as we go through the negotiating period?

[The Prime Minister]

What was in the decision that people took in the referendum—what they were asked to decide—was whether to stay in the European Union. [Interruption.] The hon. Lady shakes her head and says that it did not mention the single market or the customs union. It was made very clear during the debate what leaving the European Union meant, and the British people voted for it.

[Mims Davies (Eastleigh) (Con)]

Thank you, Prime Minister. It is no mean feat to balance remainers and leavers inside and outside the House, and to balance the rights of British citizens abroad—we think about that a lot, and my constituents have raised it with me—with those of the 3 million EU citizens here, many of whom work in our public services, as well as balancing people who live in the past and have not accepted the result. Does the Prime Minister agree that the agreement bodes well for the second phase and that all our constituents, and UK plc, should look positively to the future?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, I absolutely agree. We have shown that we can achieve what we want to achieve for the United Kingdom. That bodes well for the next phase of the negotiations. I am optimistic about that next phase and I hope others will be, too.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

In the light of the nearly £40 billion that we will now be spending to leave the EU, when does the Prime Minister anticipate our regaining our triple A credit rating?

[The Prime Minister]

Of course, the credit ratings are determined by external bodies, but one thing is certain: if the hon. Lady wants to ensure that we have good credit ratings in the future, we do not want a Labour Government and a run on the pound.

[Wendy Morton (Aldridge-Brownhills) (Con)]

The Prime Minister is to be commended for her perseverance and her commitment to delivering the result of the referendum for us all. We acknowledge that this is a vital step forward, so will she confirm that she remains absolutely committed to delivering the best deal for the whole of the UK?

[The Prime Minister]

I can absolutely confirm that. That is exactly what we are working to, and I am optimistic that it is exactly what we are going to achieve.

[Tony Lloyd (Rochdale) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister will understand that there is real scepticism about squaring all the various circles needed to deliver the frictionless border and the ambition she has set forward for our national interests—a proper agreement with the EU on the whole of Ireland. Will she give a guarantee to the House that there can be no veto, from those on her Back Benches or in the DUP looking for the maximum regulatory freedom, if that will put at risk a proper agreement on the island of Ireland?

[The Prime Minister]

We have set out in the report that we intend to ensure that there is no hard border. We are guaranteeing that we will do what is necessary to ensure there is no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland. I imagine that there is not a single person in the House who thinks that a hard border should be returned between Northern Ireland and Ireland. We are also clear that we need to retain the constitutional and economic integrity of the whole of the United Kingdom. I believe that it is possible to do that. We have already set some ideas out earlier this year on customs, and we are now able to move on—post Thursday and Friday, if the Council confirms that sufficient progress has been made—to discuss that in detail.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

May I thank the Prime Minister for her tremendous work and for the letter that she has written to citizens today, which is incredibly helpful? When does she think we will get a clear picture of what the transitional or implementation period will look like? Mr Barnier has mentioned that it will possibly be by March.

[The Prime Minister]

As I said earlier, assuming that the EU Council confirms on Thursday and Friday that we can move on to phase 2 of the negotiations, I expect that work on the transitional or implementation period will start immediately. There are some details to be sorted out, but the general agreement is that it will be agreed as early as possible in the new year. As my hon. Friend says, Michel Barnier has indicated that it could be during the first quarter.

[Jonathan Reynolds (Stalybridge and Hyde) (Lab/Co-op)]

I put it to the Prime Minister that if, for instance, the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Mr Duncan Smith) and the right hon. and learned Member for Rushcliffe (Mr Clarke) are in full agreement, than either one—or probably both—must be mistaken about what has really been agreed. With respect, the Prime Minister cannot have full autonomy and full alignment at the same time. Cross-border trade in services will require some sort of long-term regulatory co-operation to be in place. When, for instance, will we find out whether solvency II still applies, whether the prospectus directive is still in operation, and whether we are still in the single euro payments area? Those are all genuine questions for consumers and businesses, but we still have no idea about the answers.

[The Prime Minister]

The nature of those arrangements for future trade in goods and services will be negotiated in phase 2 of the discussions. If my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (Mr Clarke) and my right hon. Friend the Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Mr Duncan Smith) are in agreement, I think it suggests that the Government have done a good job.

[Rebecca Pow (Taunton Deane) (Con)]

I welcome the give and take that has been shown in these negotiations, especially the sense that we will not crash out without a deal, which gives a sense of optimism even to wannabe remainers. While Taunton Deane is a wonderful place to live, I have had several people come into my constituency office who also have homes in the EU. They are very concerned about whether their rights will be protected, and whether they will have to make a choice to stay there or come back here. Can the Prime Minister make it clear that even for them, we are making good progress?

[The Prime Minister]

One of the things we wanted to ensure was that we were not just coming to an agreement on the rights of EU citizens in the United Kingdom, but that it would be reciprocal for UK citizens in the EU27. That is exactly what we have achieved through these negotiations, and I am grateful to the negotiating team for the detailed effort that they have put in to ensure that UK citizens can have that confidence for the future.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister did not answer the second part of the question from the hon. Member for Wellingborough (Mr Bone), who has just resumed his place, about the exit date of 29 March 2019. He asked specifically if she was still committed to it being in the withdrawal Bill. Is she telling us today that under no circumstances will she countenance withdrawing the amendment the Government have tabled to put that date in the Bill?

[The Prime Minister]

We put that amendment down because we believe it is important to confirm, and so that people have the confidence of knowing, the date we will leave the European Union, which is 29 March 2019.

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)]

I welcome the progress made last week. Will the Prime Minister confirm that an ongoing role for the ECJ for eight years does not mean that EU nationals in the UK will have greater rights than UK nationals?

[The Prime Minister]

The basis on which we have agreed various arrangements relating to the rights that will apply to EU citizens here and to UK citizens in the EU27 is the principle that they can maintain the life choices they have already made. We want somebody who has moved here with a set of expectations to be able to carry on living as they have done and with the same expectations for the future.

[Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)]

If EU citizens’ rights were the Government’s No. 1 priority, it is frankly shocking that they have taken 18 months to get an agreement. The Prime Minister undercut that agreement by twice saying in her statement that “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed”. That insinuates that they still might be bargaining chips. So that I can give my constituents some sort of reassurance, will she tell me when the voluntary application process outlined in the technical note will be up and running?

[The Prime Minister]

We triggered article 50 in March this year, and we have been engaged in detailed negotiations. The hon. Gentleman refers to the phrase

“nothing is agreed until everything is agreed”,

which is in the joint progress report. It is language used by the European Union in relation to the negotiations going forward. One issue for EU citizens here has been the ease of the process of applying for settled status. The Home Office is developing that process and will bring it forward. It is very clear that it will be a very easy and light-touch process, so that nobody need have fears about the arrangements they will have to go through.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

As we move on to the trade negotiations with the EU27, may I seek assurances that aviation will be one of the priority areas? It is important to many of my constituents—indeed, to the whole country as an island trading nation.

[The Prime Minister]

I am very happy to give my hon. Friend that assurance. We are very clear about the importance of the aviation sector and maintaining the free flow of flights to the United Kingdom. It is a priority.

[Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)]

How will we control immigration in future when migrants from the EU can move freely across the Irish border into the United Kingdom?

[The Prime Minister]

We will be setting out the immigration rules that will apply. The Home Office is working on these issues. The question of movement of people between the United Kingdom and Ireland is not suddenly new because we are leaving the European Union—the common travel area has been in place since 1923.

[Tom Pursglove (Corby) (Con)]

Will my right hon. Friend confirm that once we leave the European Union we will no longer send billions of pounds a year to Brussels, a Brexit dividend that could instead be spent on our schools, hospitals and housing? Does she share my surprise that those on the Opposition Benches do not welcome the opportunity for more public spending on our public services? The Leader of the Opposition had nothing to say about it.

[The Prime Minister]

I absolutely confirm to my hon. Friend that once we have left the European Union we will not be paying huge sums of money every year to the European Union. That money will be available to us to spend on our priorities here. Perhaps the silence of the Leader of the Opposition on this issue, rather than welcoming that money potentially going into public services, is because the Labour party’s position is to be willing to pay any price to the European Union regardless of how big the bill is.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

A number of businesses in my constituency manufacture goods that they then ship direct to end customers in the Republic of Ireland. Will those businesses continue to benefit from a special deal or full alignment in the same way as businesses that manufacture in Northern Ireland?

[The Prime Minister]

As I have said, the full alignment position in paragraph 49 is the final backstop. We expect to get a good agreement on the relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union that will ensure not just north-south trade but east-west trade. It is not just about businesses here in the UK—the trade between Great Britain and the island of Ireland is more important to Ireland in financial terms than the trade from north to south. It is important that we do not have a hard border and that we maintain east-west trade.

[Carol Monaghan (Glasgow North West) (SNP)]

One issue that certainly was not debated during the run-up to the EU referendum was membership of Euratom. Will the Prime Minister now inform people working in nuclear medicine—such as my sister, and many of my constituents—where they will obtain radioactive sources to treat and diagnose cancer when we are outside Euratom?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady will know that membership of Euratom is linked to membership of the European Union. That is the legal position, and that is why, as we triggered coming out of the European Union, we triggered coming out of Euratom. However, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is putting in place arrangements that will ensure that we have the same capabilities and can operate in the same way as we do today. We recognise the importance of the issue; it will just be handled in a different way in future.

[Liz McInnes (Heywood and Middleton) (Lab)]

Will the Prime Minister provide some clarity about the progress of negotiations on the other border that we share with the EU, the border between Gibraltar and Spain?

[The Prime Minister]

We are continuing to work with the Government of Gibraltar. They are part of our considerations as we proceed with these matters. That issue will be part of the wider negotiation on the trade relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom in the future, and we will continue to work on it with the Government of Gibraltar.

[Gavin Newlands (Paisley and Renfrewshire North) (SNP)]

I thank the Prime Minister for her statement—it was certainly optimistic.

Last week the Irish Government showed the UK Government what effective negotiation looks like. Given that there was zero mention of any devolved Government in her 10-minute statement, may I ask the Prime Minister why the Irish Government have more influence on the UK’s position than the democratically elected Scottish Government?

[The Prime Minister]

We have regular dialogue with the Scottish Government about the negotiations and the future arrangements that we want between the United Kingdom and the European Union. Those arrangements will take into account the concerns and interests of the whole United Kingdom, and will constitute a deal that will be good for the whole United Kingdom.

[Matt Western (Warwick and Leamington) (Lab)]

The agreement, as written on Friday, states that commitments relating to Ireland will be

“upheld in all circumstances, irrespective of the nature of any future agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom.”

Can the Prime Minister confirm that that is absolute?

[The Prime Minister]

We are very clear about the fact that we will not see a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland. That is what we have put in place, and that is what we will be working to ensure that we deliver.

[Mr Speaker]

I am most grateful to the Prime Minister. She was at the crease for an hour and 45 minutes, which was a very substantial commitment, although I am not sure that Geoffrey Boycott would view it in those terms. He would probably think that it was a pretty short space of time for him to get his first few runs on the board.

Oral Answers to Questions

Theresa May Excerpts

Wednesday 6th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[Ruth George (High Peak) (Lab)]

Q1. If she will list her official engagements for Wednesday 6 December.

[The Prime Minister (Mrs Theresa May)]

I am sure the whole House will join me in offering condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Police Constable James Dixon from Thames Valley Police, who was killed while on motorcycle duty yesterday, and also to the family and friends of the passenger in the car involved in the collision. I am sure the whole House will also join me in offering condolences to the family and friends of the former Member of this House, Jim Hood, who was a former miner and a strong voice for Lanarkshire in this place for nearly 30 years.

This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in this House, I shall have further such meetings later today.

[Ruth George]

My constituent, Kate, has run a successful nursery for more than 14 years, but after two months on the Government’s funding for three and four-year-olds, she says that she cannot make it work. She is having to sell her home to pay her staff’s redundancy payments. More than 1,000 nurseries have already closed, and 58% say that they cannot continue. If nurseries close, parents cannot work. Please will the Prime Minister meet me and the nursery owners to discuss these widespread and critical problems?

[The Prime Minister]

I have indeed recently met some nursery owners to look at this issue, and they have given a clear message that there are parts of the country where local authorities are operating the system very efficiently and very well, and parts of the country where that is not happening. What underpins this issue is the decision taken by this Government to improve the childcare offer for parents so that they have a better opportunity to ensure that their children get into the childcare that they need.

[Sir Henry Bellingham (North West Norfolk) (Con)]

Q3. Will the Prime Minister give us a quick update on the Brexit negotiations? Does she agree that, post-Brexit, it will be absolutely crucial that we enhance skills and apprenticeships in the construction and housing sector? Does she also agree that now is not the time for the Construction Industry Training Board to be proposing to close its site at Bircham in West Norfolk, putting at risk 600 jobs in a rural area? Will she meet me to discuss this, and will she help me in my campaign?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is a great champion for his constituency, and he has been a great supporter of the CITB at Bircham. I am very happy to support his campaign; I wish him well, and I am happy to meet him.

My hon. Friend asked about Brexit, and what we are doing in the Brexit negotiations is ensuring that we can indeed build those houses and build the country for the future that we want to see. The principles that we are working to are that the text that is currently being discussed is a report on the progress of the negotiations, on which basis the European Commission will decide whether sufficient progress has been made to enable us to move on to the next stage of talks. It is for those future talks to agree precisely how we ensure cross-border trade while maintaining the constitutional integrity of the United Kingdom. We are leaving the European Union, and we are leaving the single market and the customs union, but we will do what is right in the interests of the whole of the United Kingdom, and nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.

[Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North) (Lab)]

I join the Prime Minister in expressing condolences about the police officer and the passenger who lost their lives in the tragic event yesterday. I also join her in paying tribute to the late Jimmy Hood, who represented Clydesdale and, later, Lanark and Hamilton East. He was a good friend of all of us, and he was a great fighter for the coal industry and the mineworkers union during the strike and after that, during his time here. We thank Jimmy for his work for the labour movement.

In July, the International Trade Secretary said that the Brexit negotiations would be

“the easiest in human history”.

Does the Prime Minister still agree with that assessment?

[The Prime Minister]

I am very pleased to report to the right hon. Gentleman that the negotiations are in progress, as I have just said, and very good progress has been made in those negotiations—[Interruption.] What the Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade, my right hon. Friend the Member for North Somerset (Dr Fox) has been focusing on is the trade negotiations for the future. Indeed, because we are already a member of the European Union, when we leave we will not have the same relationship with it as, say, Canada had in negotiating a trade agreement. We therefore expect to be able to get the deal that is right for the whole of the United Kingdom. To be able to do that, we need to move on to phase 2. If the right hon. Gentleman is so concerned about easing negotiations, why did his MEPs vote against enabling us to do that?

[Jeremy Corbyn]

The Prime Minister can always look behind her. She has not succeeded in convincing many people. Yesterday, one Tory donor told the papers:

“Yesterday proved beyond doubt that”

the Prime Minister

“is not only weak but that it’s her incompetence that is hobbling the UK.”

He was not very kind about the rest of her Front Benchers either, describing them as a

“bunch of jellyfish masquerading as the cabinet”.

This is truly a coalition of chaos. At the start of the week it all seemed to be going so well: the Prime Minister had scheduled a lunch with Jean-Claude Juncker, followed by a press conference, and then was to return triumphantly to the House to present her deal. [Interruption.]

[Jeremy Corbyn]

On the Prime Minister’s way back to Britain, someone forgot to share the details of the Irish border deal with the Democratic Unionist party. Surely there are 1.5 billion reasons why the Prime Minister really should not have forgotten to do that.

[The Prime Minister]

It was a little difficult to detect a question within that interruption. As President Juncker said on Monday, there are still a couple of things that we are negotiating, and he is confident that we will be able to achieve sufficient progress. But if the right hon. Gentleman wants to wonder about plans for negotiations, perhaps he should look at his own Front Bench. The shadow Chancellor used to say that staying in the single market was “not respecting the referendum”, but now he says that it is “on the table”. The shadow Trade Secretary used to say that staying in the customs union was “deeply unattractive”, but now he says that it “isn’t off the table”. We now know from the shadow Chancellor what their approach really is: it is not to have a plan at all. When asked what the Labour party’s plan was, he said, “Well, that’s difficult for us.” As we all know, the only thing that the Labour party is planning for is a run on the pound.

[Jeremy Corbyn]

The Prime Minister was unable to support her Brexit Secretary when he tried to explain that a deal was supposed to have been done in October but still has not been done by December. The leader of the DUP told Irish television that she got sight of the deal only on Monday morning, five weeks after she first asked for it. Two months after the original deadline for the first phase of talks, and after Monday’s shambles, is the Prime Minister now about to end the confusion and clearly outline what the Government’s position is now with regard to the Irish border?

[The Prime Minister]

I am very happy to outline to the right hon. Gentleman the position that I have taken on the Irish border with Northern Ireland; it is exactly the same position that I took in the Lancaster House speech, that I took in the Florence speech and that we have taken consistently in the negotiations. We will ensure that there is no hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. [Hon. Members: “How?”] We will do that while we respect the constitutional integrity of the United Kingdom, and while we respect and protect the internal market of the United Kingdom. [Hon. Members: “How?”] I say to those Labour Members shouting “How?”, that is the whole point of the second phase of the negotiations, because we aim to deliver this as part of our overall trade deal between the United Kingdom and the European Union, and we can only talk about that when we get into phase 2. We have a plan; he has none.

[Jeremy Corbyn]

Eighteen months after the referendum, the Prime Minister is unable to answer the question. On Monday, as she thought she was coming here to make a statement, it was vetoed by the leader of the DUP—the tail really is wagging the dog here.

The Brexit Secretary told the BBC’s “Andrew Marr Show” in June:

“In my job I don’t think out loud and I don’t make guesses… I try and make decisions. You make those based on the data. That data is being gathered. We’ve got 50—nearly 60—sectoral analyses already done.”

This House voted to see those analyses, but today the Brexit Secretary told the Brexit Committee that the analyses actually do not exist. Can the Prime Minister put us out of our misery? Do they exist, or do they not? Have they done the work, or have they not? That is surely one question she can answer after 18 months.

[The Prime Minister]

May I make a gentle suggestion to the Leader of the Opposition? He asked me a question on the Northern Irish border, and I answered the question. He then stood up and said that I had not answered the question. Perhaps he should listen to the answers that I give.

The House requested, as I understand it, 58 sectoral impact assessments. There were no 58 sectoral impact assessments; there was sectoral analysis. Over 800 pages of sectoral analysis have been published and made available to the Select Committee, and arrangements have been made available for Members of this House to see them. We are very clear that we will not give a running commentary on negotiations as they proceed, but what we will do is work for what this country wants. We will ensure that we leave the European Union in March 2019. We will leave the internal market; we will leave the customs union at the same time; and we will ensure there is no hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland when we do it.

[Jeremy Corbyn]

This really is a shambles. All the Government have done is offer a heavily redacted, abbreviated version, which has not been widely shared. The Brexit Secretary said in September that a £50 billion divorce payment was “complete nonsense.” The Foreign Secretary rejected any payment and said that the EU could “go whistle.” Can the Prime Minister put before the House a fully itemised account of any proposed payment that could be independently audited by the Office for Budget Responsibility and the National Audit Office?

[The Prime Minister]

We are at the point of progressing on to the next stage. Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed, so the final settlement will not be agreed until we have got the whole deal agreed. The right hon. Gentleman asked me earlier about hard borders. Half the Labour party wants to stay in the single market and half the Labour party wants to leave the single market. The only hard border around is right down the middle of the Labour party.

[Jeremy Corbyn]

Eighteen months since the referendum, there are no answers to the questions. Today, the Government have not yet concluded phase 1, and there are no answers to the questions and the DUP appears to be ruling the roost and telling the Prime Minister what to do.

Whether it is Brexit, the national health service, social care, our rip-off railways, rising child poverty, growing pensioner poverty or universal credit, this Government are unable to solve important issues facing this country. In fact, they are making them worse. The economy is slowing; more people are in poverty; and the Brexit negotiations are in a shambles. This Government are clearly not fit for the future. If they cannot negotiate a good deal, would it not be better if they just got out of the way?

[The Prime Minister]

Week in, week out, the right hon. Gentleman comes to this House making promises he knows he cannot deliver, and Labour Members keep doing it. At the election, he told students that they would write off their student debt, and then he said, “I did not commit to write off the debt.” But what is the Labour party doing? It is putting around leaflets that say, “Labour will cancel existing student debt”. It is time he apologised for the grossly misleading Labour leaflets.

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Michael Fabricant (Lichfield) (Con)]

Q5. What recent assessment she has made of the (a) economic performance and (b) level of provision of public services in the west midlands; and if she will make a statement.

[The Prime Minister]

I am pleased to say that employment in the west midlands has risen by 198,000 since the 2010 election. In the Budget, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor confirmed that people living and working in the west midlands will benefit from a second devolution deal and a £250 million allocation for regional transport projects.

[Michael Fabricant]

The devolution deal, the Budget and now the establishment of the national battery research and development centre in the west midlands put the whole region at the very heart of European autonomous-drive and electric-drive cars. So will my right hon. Friend commit to continuing to support this important industry? Will she make a very important promise to me? [Hon. Members: “Ooh!] Yes. Will she get rid of that gas-guzzler Jaguar of hers in No. 10 Downing Street and get a modern Jaguar, an electric one, from the west midlands, because we are the party of the future, not the old Labour dinosaurs opposite?

[The Prime Minister]

Perhaps I could just let my hon. Friend know that, sadly, the Jaguar in No. 10 Downing Street is not mine, but he is absolutely right that the west midlands is at the heart of this important industry. We are investing £31 million in the west midlands for the development of testing infrastructure for connected and autonomous vehicles, and we will also build on west midlands expertise in self-driving cars as we invest a further £5 million in an initial 5G testbed. I certainly look forward to seeing this technology developing further.

[Ian Blackford (Ross, Skye and Lochaber) (SNP)]

May I associate myself with the remarks of the Prime Minister regarding the late Jimmy Hood and pass on the condolences of Scottish National party Members to his family and friends?

I am sure the House will also want to join me in welcoming Billy Irving, one of the Chennai six, who has arrived back in Scotland this morning.

So now we know that the deal that was done with the DUP to keep the Prime Minister in office gave the DUP a veto over Brexit. It is embarrassing that it was being briefed on Monday morning that the Prime Minister had a deal, only to take this off the table after a call with the DUP. Is this a Prime Minister who is in office but not in power?

[The Prime Minister]

What we are doing is working for a deal that will work for the whole United Kingdom. There are particular circumstances for Northern Ireland, because it is the one part of the UK that shares a land border with a country that will be remaining in the European Union. But as we look ahead, and during the negotiations, as the right hon. Gentleman will know, we are consulting and talking to all parts of the UK—the Welsh Government and the Scottish Government. We want to ensure that we get the right deal for the UK. That is the deal that I have set out: we will be leaving the European Union; we will be leaving the single market; we will be leaving the customs union; but we will ensure that we get that good trade deal for the future.

[Ian Blackford]

The clock is ticking, and we need a deal that keeps us in the single market and the customs union—to do otherwise will devastate our economy and cost jobs. Will the Prime Minister recognise that such a deal will resolve the Irish border question and protect jobs throughout the UK? Anything less will be a failure of leadership.

[The Prime Minister]

The right hon. Gentleman continues to bark up the wrong tree. We are leaving the European Union. That means we will be leaving the single market and leaving the customs union. We will take back and ensure that we can do trade deals around the rest of the world. That will be important for us. He references jobs and it will be important in ensuring jobs in this country. We will get a good deal on trade and security, because this is not just about trade for our future relationship. I set out in my Florence speech the deep and special partnership we want to continue to have with the European Union. That is about a trade deal that ensures jobs and prosperity across the whole United Kingdom.

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Alex Chalk (Cheltenham) (Con)]

Q9. The bottle- neck on the A417 continues to cause dreadful accidents, as well as traffic misery in Gloucestershire. Following the leadership of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport and with the support of Members from Gloucestershire, the vital consultation stage on the shortlisted improvement proposals will begin shortly. Does my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister back the scheme, and does she agree that by committing hundreds of millions of pounds to this crucial project, the Government are backing the Gloucestershire economy?

[The Prime Minister]

I know that my hon. Friend has been working tirelessly on this issue. I understand the concerns and frustrations of drivers in his constituency and elsewhere about this vital strategic road, which is vital for not only Gloucestershire but the wider region. I am happy to assure him that we are backing the development of the multimillion-pound Air Balloon roundabout scheme, which was announced in 2014. A consultation will begin shortly, so that we can develop the right solution to tackle this pinch-point and continue our support, which, as my hon. Friend said, is good for the whole of Gloucestershire’s economy.

[Louise Haigh (Sheffield, Heeley) (Lab)]

Q2. The Prime Minister has been unable to provide us with a single plausible Brexit scenario that will meet her red lines and be acceptable to her Cabinet, to Ireland and to the DUP. Is it not therefore time that she dropped either her red lines, the DUP, or the pretence that she can govern this country?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady is just completely wrong. The Government have published a number of documents that set out the various options that can be taken forward with respect to the future trade relationship, that address the whole question of the customs relationship and that would address the issue of the Northern Ireland border. We have already published those proposals in detail. Those details are not part of the negotiations at the moment; they will become part of the negotiations when we move on to phase 2.

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

Q13. When the British people voted to leave the European super-state, they voted to end the free movement of people, to stop sending billions and billions of pounds to the EU each and every year, and to make our laws in our own country, judged by our own judges. Are we still on course to deliver that? If we have a problem, would it help if I came over to Brussels with the Prime Minister to sort it out?

[The Prime Minister]

I am always happy to spend time in my hon. Friend’s company. I hope that his petition on chicken farms went down well the other evening. The answer is, yes, we are on course to deliver what the people of this country voted for when they voted to leave the European Union.

[John Grogan (Keighley) (Lab)]

Q4. Will the Prime Minister support new trans-Pennine rail links, namely High Speed 3, and also the restoration of the Skipton-Colne link, which, as well as providing an economic boost to Pennine towns, has the additional merit of starting in the constituency of the Government Chief Whip, the right hon. Member for Skipton and Ripon (Julian Smith)?

[The Prime Minister]

We are of course looking seriously at and have been supportive of the concept of the trans-Pennine railway. As I understand it, we are waiting for specific proposals to be brought forward. We will of course look at those proposals very seriously.

[Sir Mike Penning (Hemel Hempstead) (Con)]

I am sure the whole House is aware that 40 years ago today, this House came together and voted for a new charity, Motability, which has transformed the lives of disabled people and their families. Does the Prime Minister agree that the success, started by Lord Goodman when he was chairman and now continued by Lord Sterling, should be carried forward? Motability gives a golden opportunity for disabled people to get into the workplace and enjoy the things that everybody else in this country does.

[The Prime Minister]

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for marking the 40th anniversary of Motability in this way, and I am very happy to join him in that. I am looking forward to becoming a senior patron of the charity, because it does excellent work for people with disabilities, enabling them to stay mobile and active. There are more people with a Motability car today than there were in 2010. I also wish my right hon. Friend well, as I understand that he will be going to the Palace tomorrow to receive his well-deserved knighthood.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

Q6. In the light of the news today and the reported terrorist threat on the Prime Minister and others, may I assure her of our prayers for her and Her Majesty’s Government and thank the security forces for their sterling efforts?Can the Prime Minister give a specific commitment that nothing will be done that creates any barrier, constitutionally, politically, economically or regulatory, between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his remarks. The simple answer to his question is yes. He will know, as will other Members of this House, that there are already areas in which there are specific arrangements between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland—for example, the single energy market that exists between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. We want to ensure that there is no hard border; that is exactly what we are working for. We are also working to respect the constitutional integrity of the United Kingdom and to protect the internal market of the United Kingdom, and I think that we share those aims.

[Douglas Ross (Moray) (Con)]

The Prime Minister will be aware of a Citizens Advice Scotland report, which was issued yesterday, that said that, in Scotland, up to a million consumers pay on average 30% more to have parcels delivered than the rest of the country. In my Moray constituency, this is a huge issue where ridiculous prices are put on to deliver to our area, and, in some cases, companies refuse to deliver at all. Will she tell me what the UK Government can do, with me, to ensure that we right this wrong once and for all?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise this issue and speak up on behalf of his constituents in this way. As I am sure he knows, Royal Mail does provide a universal postal service that includes parcel services five days a week at a uniform price throughout the United Kingdom, but there are commercial issues that play outside this service. I am sure that my right hon. Friend the Business Secretary will be happy to meet him and discuss the issue.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

Q7. The recognition by Donald Trump of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel will do grave damage to the prospects for a just and lasting peace settlement between the Israelis and the Palestinians, which has been British, and indeed American, foreign policy for decades. Was she consulted about that announcement, and, if so, what did she say? Will she, here and now, unequivocally and clearly condemn it?

[The Prime Minister]

I intend to speak to President Trump about this matter, but our position has not changed—as the right hon. Gentleman says, it has been a long-standing one. It is also a very clear one: the status of Jerusalem should be determined in a negotiated settlement between the Israelis and the Palestinians, and Jerusalem should ultimately form a shared capital between the Israeli and Palestinian states. We continue to support a two-state solution. We recognise the importance of Jerusalem and our position on that has not changed.

[Vicky Ford (Chelmsford) (Con)]

Today, GlaxoSmithKline joined Merck, AstraZeneca and many other companies and charities investing in British bioscience genetics. Does my right hon. Friend agree that this investment in science and research underpins not only jobs but a revolution in medical treatment, which will save lives and give hope to many patients for new treatments?

[The Prime Minister]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. She has highlighted a very important sector for the United Kingdom, and I welcome the investment to which she has referred. That is why this sector is one of the sectors that have been given such significance in the industrial strategy that my right hon. Friend the Business Secretary has published. It is exactly an area where we see benefits in the form not only of investment and jobs in the UK, but, as she says, of improving the treatments available for patients and of improving their lives.

[Dr Alan Whitehead (Southampton, Test) (Lab)]

Q8. When the Prime Minister rings up Donald Trump to express our concern about his moves concerning Jerusalem and the US embassy, will she also inform him that we will be proceeding to recognise the state of Palestine as a central part of keeping the two-state process in play?

[The Prime Minister]

We want to see a negotiated settlement between the Israelis and the Palestinians. We believe that that should be based on a two-state solution, with a sovereign and viable Palestinian state, but also a secure and safe Israel. That should be a matter for negotiation between the parties.

[Mr Andrew Mitchell (Sutton Coldfield) (Con)]

The whole House will support what the Prime Minister said about the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen during her visit to the middle east last week. Will she continue to provide the maximum amount of pressure to lift both the humanitarian and the commercial blockades, and use Britain’s good offices at the United Nations to secure a resumption of some sort of political peace process that is inclusive and that does not have any preconditions?

[The Prime Minister]

My right hon. Friend raises an important issue. I am sure that everybody across the whole House is deeply concerned about the spiralling humanitarian crisis in Yemen and the lingering threat of famine there. As he said, I raised my concerns when I visited Saudi Arabia last week. I made it clear that the UK wants to see Hodeidah port open not just for humanitarian vessels with aid able to get in, but for commercial vessels as well. This is crucial and important. My right hon. Friend referenced the need for peace talks. That is our top priority. The best way to bring a long-term solution and stability is with a political solution. We will continue to support the efforts of the UN special envoy and to play a leading role in diplomatic efforts to ensure that a political solution can be reached.

[Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)]

Q10. Due to the £1 billion deal, the Democratic Unionist party MPs revel in an analogy that each one is worth more than Ronaldo. When we look at the value of the Scottish Tories, we need to consider the £2.5 billion cut to Scotland’s budget, the £600 million rail shortfall, the £200 million in common agricultural policy convergence that has been stolen, and the £140 million VAT refund that we are still due. Each one of these Scottish Tories costs Scotland £265 million, so can we free transfer them?

[The Prime Minister]

It is time that the hon. Gentleman actually looked at the facts when he stands up to ask his questions. It is my Scottish Conservative colleagues who have ensured that we were able to take steps in the Budget in relation to the VAT status of Police Scotland and the fire services in Scotland. He obviously had not noticed—but I am happy to repeat this to him—that £2 billion extra will go to Scotland as a result of the Budget.

[Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan (Berwick-upon-Tweed) (Con)]

In 2010, the Conservative-led Government set out to reform the school curriculum in order to give our children the skills they need to succeed. Does the Prime Minister agree with me that yesterday’s reading standards results are a vindication of our reforms and our amazing teachers’ efforts, which will allow our children to forge a truly global Britain?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising an important issue. I am very happy to agree with her on this. Yesterday, we learnt how the UK’s revolution in phonics has dramatically improved school standards. I pay particular tribute to the Minister for School Standards, who has worked tirelessly to this end throughout his time in the House. I also pay tribute to the hard work of teachers up and down the country. I will just give the House the figures. In 2012, 58% of six-year-olds passed reading checks; that figure has risen to 81% this year. We are, indeed, building a Britain that is fit for the future.

[Deidre Brock (Edinburgh North and Leith) (SNP)]

Q11. In October, the Prime Minister wrote an open letter saying that“EU citizens living lawfully in the UK today will be able to stay.”But my constituent, Francoise Milne, was told this week by UK Visas and Immigration that she had to wait until Brexit was done and then take her chances. Will the Prime Minister tell us whether the EU citizens living here are just pawns in the Brexit negotiations, or will she change UKVI’s operating systems to ensure that EU citizens can stay?

[The Prime Minister]

The position on EU citizens that I set out in my open letter is the position of the United Kingdom Government. If the hon. Lady has a complaint about something that UKVI has said, I suggest that she sends that information to the Immigration Minister.

[Mr John Baron (Basildon and Billericay) (Con)]

Yesterday, the all-party parliamentary group on cancer held its annual Britain Against Cancer conference—the largest one-day gathering of the cancer community in the UK—to launch our report on the cancer strategy. We heard from the Government and NHS England about the many good things that are happening. But there is one issue that is causing real concern to frontline services: the delay in the release of the transformation funding to those frontline services, courtesy of an additional requirement applied to the funding after the bidding process closed. I have discussed the issue with the Secretary of State for Health, who is a jolly chap. Will the Prime Minister meet me to discuss the matter further?

[The Prime Minister]

Of course this is an important issue. As my hon. Friend said, we have seen great progress in providing higher standards of cancer care for all patients. Survival rates are at a record high and about 7,000 more people are surviving cancer after successful NHS treatment compared to three years ago. Of course we want to do more on this issue. He raised a very specific point. I understand that the Department of Health is adopting a phased approach to investment, as the national cancer programme runs for a further three years. I would be happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss the matter.

[Drew Hendry (Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey) (SNP)]

Q12. Contrary to the Prime Minister’s previous answer on this subject, only her Government can remove barriers to universal credit for terminally ill people in Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Will she answer the question again? Will she end the cruel requirement for people across the UK who do not want to know they are dying to self-certify on universal credit?

[The Prime Minister]

I will ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to look at this issue. As the hon. Gentleman knows, we are working on how universal credit is rolled out and how it is dealt with in relation to individuals. I am sure he will understand that if particular things within universal credit apply to people in particular circumstances, they can be applied only if the jobcentres are aware of those circumstances. I will ask the Department for Work and Pensions to look at the matter.

[Mr Jacob Rees-Mogg (North East Somerset) (Con)]

Before my right hon. Friend next goes to Brussels, will she apply a new coat of paint to her red lines, because I fear that on Monday they were beginning to look a little bit pink?

[The Prime Minister]

No, I happily say to my hon. Friend that the principles on which the Government are negotiating were set out in the Lancaster House speech and in the Florence speech, and those principles remain.

[Ms Karen Buck (Westminster North) (Lab)]

Q14. This morning, London MPs were briefed by the Metropolitan Police Service on the grave challenge of serious youth violence and violent crime, including the scourge of scooter-assisted crime. While robberies are up 30% in London, the police service in London faces a £400-million squeeze that will drive police numbers down to their lowest in 20 years, and my own borough has already lost 198 police officers. Does the Prime Minister still think that we have the police resources we need?

[The Prime Minister]

We are not reducing the Metropolitan police budget. We are protecting police budgets. They were protected in the 2015 spending review. I repeat what I have said in this House before: there is more money and there are more officers for each Londoner than is the case anywhere else in the country. Of course, it is up to the Mayor of London to decide how that budget is spent. The hon. Lady also raised the important issue of scooter or moped crime. I am pleased to say that my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has held a roundtable with police and others in the Home Office to look at how that can be better addressed.

[Lucy Frazer (South East Cambridgeshire) (Con)]

The industrial strategy identifies that the world will need 60% more food by 2050. As we leave the EU, will the Prime Minister commit to supporting our farmers?

[The Prime Minister]

I am very happy to commit to supporting our farmers. Markets for British food are growing around the world and we want them to grow even further. Leaving the EU means that we will have an opportunity to design a new approach to agricultural policy—one that supports our farmers to grow more, to sell more and to export more of their world-class products. We will ensure that we have an agricultural policy that actually meets the needs of the United Kingdom.

[Mr Adrian Bailey (West Bromwich West) (Lab/Co-op)]

Q15. This week, motor manufacturers announced a year-on-year drop in car sales of more than 11%. They blame confusion caused by the Government’s incoherent policy on clean air and diesels, Budget measures and uncertainty caused by Brexit. This industry is vital to both the national economy and jobs in the west midlands. What will the Government do to turn this around?

[The Prime Minister]

If the hon. Gentleman had listened to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Lichfield (Michael Fabricant), he would have heard how we are supporting the automotive industry—crucially, supporting the future of the automotive industry. We recognise its importance for the west midlands and its importance for the United Kingdom. That is why we are very clear in our industrial strategy that it is one of those sectors that we will be supporting so that we can support these jobs and its prosperity for the future.

[Mr Bernard Jenkin (Harwich and North Essex) (Con)]

Will my right hon. Friend confirm that she is aware of the very strong enthusiasm for free trade deals with the UK from countries like Canada, Japan, the United States and Australia, and even for UK participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership? But none of these opportunities will come our way if we remain shackled to EU regulation after we have left the EU.

[The Prime Minister]

I am very happy to say to my hon. Friend that I do recognise the enthusiasm out there around the rest of the world for us to do trade deals with other countries. I am happy to say that my right hon. Friend the International Trade Secretary was recently in Australia discussing just these opportunities. When I go around the world, I also hear the same message from a whole variety of countries—they want to do trade deals for us in the future. We want to ensure that we get a good trade deal with the European Union and the freedom to negotiate these trade deals around the rest of the world.

[Liz Saville Roberts (Dwyfor Meirionnydd) (PC)]

Diolch yn fawr, Mr Llefarydd. On Monday evening, during the opening speeches on the EU (Withdrawal) Bill, those on the Government Benches showed their true colours. Revealed were the imperial British Government’s intentions spelled out in red, white and blue. Would the Prime Minister care to echo the Chair of the Welsh Affairs Committee, who said, “It is a power grab, and what a wonderful power grab it is too”? Or would she admit that the scrabble to repatriate powers from Brussels provides a grubby excuse to deny our democratic rights in Wales?

[The Prime Minister]

I think the hon. Lady knows full well that what my hon. Friend was saying was that when we leave the European Union we will be grabbing powers back from Brussels to the United Kingdom, and that is exactly right. Following that, we expect to see a significant increase in the decision-making power of devolved Administrations as a result, and that is absolutely right. If Plaid Cymru Members are saying that they want to see powers rest in Brussels, we take a different view—we want those powers to be here in the United Kingdom.

[Jack Brereton (Stoke-on-Trent South) (Con)]

Today, shortlisted cities are making their final pitches in the campaign to be named UK city of culture in 2021. Will the Prime Minister join me in wishing the Stoke-on-Trent team every success in their bid to see Stoke-on-Trent become the next city of culture for Britain?

[The Prime Minister]

I have been very happy to visit Stoke-on-Trent on a number of occasions. My hon. Friend is a valiant champion for Stoke-on-Trent, and I wish it all the best, but I have to say to him that I have been asked about a number of other bids from cities around the United Kingdom. I am sure that all those cities that are bidding have extremely good cases to be recognised in this way.

Oral Answers to Questions

Theresa May Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd November 2017 Commons Chamber

[Thangam Debbonaire (Bristol West) (Lab)]

Q1. If she will list her official engagements for Wednesday 22 November.

[The Prime Minister (Mrs Theresa May)]

I am sure that Members on both sides of the House will wish to join me in congratulating Sarah Clarke on her appointment as Lady Usher of the Black Rod. She will be the first woman to hold this role in its over-650-year history, and we offer her our best wishes.

This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in this House I shall have further such meetings later today.

[Thangam Debbonaire]

The BBC is currently broadcasting “Drugsland”, a documentary series shot in my Bristol West constituency showing the catastrophic impact of drugs and drug laws on not just users, but the police and innocent bystanders. Will the Prime Minister commit to watching “Drugsland” and to setting up a royal commission on our drug laws, which are plainly failing?

[The Prime Minister]

I am pleased to say that the Home Office, under my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary, launched the Government’s drugs strategy only a matter of weeks ago. We recognise the importance of this issue. Drugs significantly affect people’s lives. Sadly, we also see people dying as a result of not only taking drugs, but the criminal activity that takes place around drugs. We take this very seriously; that is why we have launched our strategy.

[Nigel Huddleston (Mid Worcestershire) (Con)]

Q2. Divorce and family breakdown take an emotional toll on all those involved, but the family dynamic that is often overlooked is that between grandparents and their grandchildren. If access to their grandchildren is removed or blocked, some grandparents call it a form of living bereavement. Will the Prime Minister therefore join me, Dame Esther Rantzen and thousands of grandparents across the country in calling for a change to the law to give grandparents access rights to their grandchildren, as is the case in France?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right that grandparents do play an important role in the lives of their grandchildren. We can all, I am sure, sympathise with those who experience the anguish of being prevented from seeing their grandchildren if a parental relationship ends. Of course, when making decisions about a child’s future, the first consideration must be their welfare, but the law already allows family courts to order that a child should spend time with their grandparents. I understand that my hon. Friend has recently seen the Minister of State for Justice, and I am sure that the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Education will consider these points carefully.

[Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North) (Lab)]

I join the Prime Minister in congratulating the new Usher of the Black Rod. I am really pleased that it is at last a woman who has got that position.

I hope that the whole House will join me in sending solidarity following the atrocious suicide bombing that killed 50 people in eastern Nigeria. We should express sympathy to those who have lost loved ones for the obvious trauma they are all going through.

The Irish Prime Minister, who has discussed Brexit with the British Government, says:

“Sometimes it doesn’t seem like they have thought all this through”,

so can the Prime Minister reassure him by clearly outlining the Government’s policy on the Irish border?

[The Prime Minister]

First, I am glad that the right hon. Gentleman has welcomed the new Lady Usher of the Black Rod. I hope it will not be 650 years until the Labour party has a female leader. He also referred to the attack that has taken place in eastern Nigeria. Of course, I am sure that the thoughts and condolences of the whole House are with those who have been affected.

The right hon. Gentleman asked me to outline our policy in relation to the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. I am very happy to do so; I have done so on a number of occasions. We are very clear that in relation to the movement of people, the common travel area will continue to operate, as it has done since 1923. On trade, and the movement of goods and services across the border, we will not see the introduction of a hard border. We have been very clear that we will not put physical infrastructure at the border.

[Jeremy Corbyn]

Yesterday, the Foreign Secretary said:

“There can be no hard border. That would be unthinkable”.—[Official Report, 21 November 2017; Vol. 631, c. 848.]

Maybe, but the Government have had 17 months to come up with an answer to this question, and there still is no answer, because they have not engaged with the negotiations properly.

There is another person who does not think that the negotiations are going too well: the right hon. Member for Wokingham (John Redwood). He was a very enthusiastic campaigner for Brexit, but he also—he is a busy man—finds time to be the chief global strategist for Charles Stanley investments. He recently advised clients to invest elsewhere, as the UK is hitting the brakes. Does the Prime Minister take advice from the right hon. Gentleman, and does she agree with him?

[The Prime Minister]

On the first issue that the right hon. Gentleman raises, we have been engaging fully in the negotiations in relation to Northern Ireland and other issues, and indeed significant progress has been made. That is why, for example, I have said that we have got agreement on the operation of the common travel area for the future. He says that we have not put out any ideas about the border, but I have to say to him that we published a paper back in the summer on possible customs arrangements. We are very happy to move to further detailed discussions of the customs and trading relationship that will exist not just between Northern Ireland and the Republic, but between the United Kingdom and the European Union. That does mean moving on to phase 2, so the question for the right hon. Gentleman is: if he thinks that is so important, why did his MEPs vote against it?

[Jeremy Corbyn]

The EU’s chief negotiator said this week that the UK financial sector will lose its current rights to trade with Europe. It seems as though neither EU negotiators nor the Government have any idea where this is going. Last week, the Brexit Secretary said that he would guarantee free movement for bankers post Brexit. Are there any other groups to whom the Prime Minister believes freedom of movement should apply? Nurses; doctors; teachers; scientists; agricultural workers; careworkers—who?

[The Prime Minister]

I am very interested that the right hon. Gentleman has found that his appearances at Prime Minister’s questions have been going so well that he has had to borrow the question that the leader of the Liberal Democrats asked me last week. Perhaps the Leader of the Opposition should pay a little more attention to what happens in Prime Minister’s questions.

We have been absolutely clear that we will introduce new immigration rules. As we introduce those immigration rules, we will take account of the needs of the British economy. That is why my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has asked the Migration Advisory Committee to advise, as it always does, on the areas in which we need to pay particular attention to migration into the United Kingdom.

We want to get on to deal with the question of our future trading relationship with the European Union. I am optimistic about the opportunities that will be available to this country and about the deal that we can get from the negotiations. The right hon. Gentleman cannot even decide whether he wants to be in the customs union or out of it, and whether he wants to be in the single market or out of it. He needs to get his own act together.

[Jeremy Corbyn]

In April, the Brexit Secretary was confident that the European Banking Authority would be staying in London; now he cannot even guarantee that banks will have a right to trade with Europe. Last week, the Government voted down Labour amendments to protect workers’ rights. The Foreign Secretary has described employment regulation as “backbreaking”, and has repeatedly promised to “scrap the social chapter”. Why will not the Prime Minister guarantee workers’ rights—or does she agree with the Foreign Secretary on these matters?

[The Prime Minister]

We have guaranteed workers’ rights: we introduced a Bill in the House of Commons to guarantee workers’ rights, and the Labour party voted against it.

[Jeremy Corbyn]

The record is clear: this Government voted down our amendment to protect workers’ rights. The Environment Secretary said he wanted a “green Brexit”, but yet again Conservative MPs voted down Labour amendments to guarantee environmental protection.

On 5 December, the European Finance Ministers summit will address the issue of tax dodging, as exposed by the Paradise papers. There are three proposals on the table: blacklisting tax havens like Bermuda; new transparency rules for tax intermediaries; and mandatory country-by-country reporting for profit. Will the Prime Minister back those proposals, or is she still threatening to turn Britain into a tax haven?

[The Prime Minister]

I will take no lectures from the Labour party on dealing with tax avoidance and tax evasion—£160 billion more has been taken as a result of action taken by Conservatives in government; there are 75 new measures to deal with tax avoidance and tax evasion; and recently, I am pleased to say, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs won an important case on tax avoidance in the Supreme Court, which means a further £1 billion coming to the United Kingdom. The right hon. Gentleman may talk about tax avoidance and tax evasion; it is this Government who take action and make sure we collect it.

[Jeremy Corbyn]

The right hon. Lady’s predecessor blocked EU-wide proposals for a public register of trusts; again, Conservative MPs voted down Labour amendments to deal with tax avoidance.

When it comes to Brexit, this Government are a shambles. [Interruption.]

[Jeremy Corbyn]

I have much in common with Zen, Mr Speaker.

Seventeen months—[Interruption.] I understand that these days the Tory Whips are choreographing who shouts at whom in the Chamber—they are making a very bad job of it.

Seventeen months after the referendum, the Government say there can be no hard border, but have not worked out how. They say that they will protect workers’ rights but then vote against it. They say they will protect environmental rights but then vote against it. They promise action on tax avoidance, but vote against it time and time again. Once again, the Foreign Secretary has offered his opinion, as has the Environment Secretary, saying that “insufficient energy” is going into these Brexit negotiations—their words, not mine. Is not the truth that this Government have no energy, no agreed plan and no strategy to deliver a good Brexit for Britain?

[The Prime Minister]

The right hon. Gentleman talks about voting against tax avoidance measures, but it was the Labour party that refused to allow tax avoidance measures to go through in a Bill before we called the general election, so he should look at his own record.



The right hon. Gentleman talks about people having different opinions. I might remind him that on Monday, in the Bill—[Interruption] Perhaps the shadow Chancellor would like to listen to this. On Monday, when we were putting through that important piece of legislation on customs, taxation and Europe, 76 Labour MPs voted in a different Lobby from his and the Leader of the Opposition’s Front Benchers. The party in this Commons that has no clue on Brexit is the Labour party. But week in, week out, the right hon. Gentleman comes to this House and talks down our country and is pessimistic about our future. Well let me tell him that I am optimistic about our future. I am optimistic about the success we can make of Brexit. I am optimistic about the well-paid jobs that will be created. I am optimistic about the homes we will build. That is the Conservatives building a Britain fit for the future—all he offers is a blast from the past.

[Fiona Bruce (Congleton) (Con)]

Q4. Will the Prime Minister reassure people that this Conservative Government are committed to maintaining the United Kingdom’s strong commitment to the highest standards of animal welfare, both now and post-Brexit?

[The Prime Minister]

I am happy to give my hon. Friend that commitment. As she and others will know, we already have some of the highest animal welfare standards in the world, and as we leave the EU, we should not only maintain, but enhance them. We have already set out our proposals to introduce mandatory CCTV in slaughterhouses; to increase sentences for animal cruelty to five years; to ban microbeads, which damage marine life; and to ban the ivory trade to help bring an end to elephant poaching. We also recognise and respect the fact that animals are sentient beings and should be treated accordingly. The Animal Welfare Act 2006 provides protection for all animals capable of experiencing pain or suffering which are under the control of man. But I reaffirm to her that we will be ensuring that we maintain and enhance our animal welfare standards when we leave the EU.

[Ian Blackford (Ross, Skye and Lochaber) (SNP)]

Can the Prime Minister tell the House how many jobs have been lost this week with the departure of the European Medicines Agency and the European Banking Authority from London?

[The Prime Minister]

Of course, we are seeing those two agencies leave the UK and go elsewhere in the European Union. The right hon. Gentleman talks about the number of jobs being created, and under this Government we have seen 3 million jobs being created. That is a record I would have thought even he would be willing to welcome.

[Ian Blackford]

But of course the Prime Minister refused to answer the question. Let me tell her, just so that she is aware of the cost of the hard Tory Brexit, that losing the EMA and EBA means losing more than 1,000 jobs. The Bank of England has told us that the City will lose 75,000 jobs. Jobs are already gone and jobs are going; Brexit is already biting. Will the Prime Minister recognise that exiting the EU is losing jobs and sector excellence from the UK?

[The Prime Minister]

I recognise, as I said, that those two agencies are leaving the UK. The right hon. Gentleman talks about numbers of jobs being lost, so I repeat: since the Conservatives came into government 3 million jobs have been created—that is 3 million more people in work. That is 3 million more people able to provide an income for themselves and their families.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

Q5. Last year, housing associations generated £5.5 billion in cash surplus—this is money that could be used to build 48,000 new homes in this country. The accumulated reserves of housing associations come to £42 billion, which would mean that 36,500 properties a year for the next 10 years could be built. Will my right hon. Friend examine ways in which we could ensure housing associations use the money to build the new homes that people want, rather than having this sitting in the bank?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend raises an important point. He has campaigned strongly on the whole issue of housing, and on homelessness in particular. That approach is already taken by housing associations. As they are non-profit organisations, their surpluses are reinvested in the business, often in the next year. For example, in 2015-16 their investment in new and existing properties was more than double the surpluses they generated.

I recently announced an additional £2 billion of funding for affordable homes, including those for social rent. Last week, housing associations were reclassified to the private sector, taking £70 billion of debt off the country’s balance sheet and meaning greater certainty for housing associations in getting on with the job that my hon. Friend and I both want them to do, which is building more homes.

[Kirsty Blackman (Aberdeen North) (SNP)]

Q3. My thoughts are with my many constituents who have friends and family in Nigeria.The SNP has asked 140 times for the VAT paid by our police and fire services to be scrapped, and for the £140 million to be refunded. The Chancellor said only last month that legally, we would not be able to recover VAT and that the UK Government are now constrained by the VAT rules that are in place. Was he misleading us?

[The Prime Minister]

The SNP may have asked a number of questions, but of course it knew, when it took the decision to create a single police and fire authority, that this would be the VAT treatment.

[Kelly Tolhurst (Rochester and Strood) (Con)]

Q6. Given that revised housing proposals would force unprecedented numbers of homes, equivalent to the size of a new town, to be built on what is left of Medway’s green belt, will the Prime Minister assure me and my constituents that the necessary large-scale investment will be made to boost the public service infrastructure, which will have to cope with up to 100,000 more people?

[The Prime Minister]

That is an important point for people not just in my hon. Friend’s constituency but elsewhere. We do want more homes to be built, because I want young people to have the prospect of the future that their parents and grandparents were able to have through owning their own homes. We will go further in building more homes, but she is absolutely right that, as we do that, we need to make sure that the infrastructure is in place. We are putting in billions of pounds from central Government for economic infrastructure in every year up to 2021. That includes transport projects and fibre broadband connections. We recognise the importance of making sure that homes are supported by the right infrastructure.

[Joan Ryan (Enfield North) (Lab)]

Q7. I am proud that the last Labour Government lifted more than 1 million children out of poverty. This Government seem committed to doing the very opposite, with the Institute for Fiscal Studies predicting that an additional 1.2 million children will be pushed into poverty by 2021, and that comes on top of the 4 million in 2015-16. Is the Prime Minister proud of her Government’s record of failure on this issue, and does she think that that worrying forecast is acceptable?

[The Prime Minister]

Far from the way in which the right hon. Lady has portrayed the situation, since 2010 we have seen 600,000 fewer people in absolute poverty—a record low—300,000 fewer working-age adults in absolute poverty, and 200,000 fewer children in absolute poverty. We have also seen families getting into work: there are nearly 1 million fewer workless households as a result of the actions of this Conservative Government.

[Kirstene Hair (Angus) (Con)]

Q9. As the Prime Minister is aware, Scotland is lagging behind the rest of the United Kingdom in the roll-out of superfast broadband. My constituency of Angus is even further behind the poor Scottish average. A huge volume of my casework comes from one of my largest towns, Arbroath, where 20,000 of my constituents reside. It could hardly be deemed a remote area. Will the Prime Minister confirm that the next generation of UK funding to support the roll-out of Scotland’s full fibre broadband will bypass the shambolic Scottish Government and go directly to local authorities so that businesses and residents in my constituency of Angus get the broadband they deserve?

[The Prime Minister]

I am very happy to confirm that to my hon. Friend. She will know that we are making progress on this in Scotland, but we need to go further. Programmes such as local full fibre networks and 5G will allocate funding directly to local projects, based on the quality of the bids put forward. The Minister for Digital, my right hon. Friend the Member for West Suffolk (Matt Hancock), recently confirmed in the House that we will deliver the next generation of technology directly to local authorities in Scotland, rather than going through the Scottish Government. We will make sure that Scotland is not left behind.

[Yasmin Qureshi (Bolton South East) (Lab)]

Q8. In 2014, an inquiry was set up to look into the drug Primodos—it was given to millions of pregnant women in the ’60s and ’70s—which caused deformities. Documents show a clear cover-up. Last week, a report was published, which was condemned by MPs across the House as being a whitewash and misleading. Will the Prime Minister meet the victims and order a public inquiry, so that justice can finally be done for these people?

[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.

[Peter Kyle (Hove) (Lab)]

Q11. Every Prime Minister since 1946 has successfully appointed a British judge to the International Court of Justice. Why hasn’t she?

[The Prime Minister]

The British Prime Minister does not appoint judges to the International Court of Justice. There is a process that is undertaken in the United Nations. We wish all the judges who have been appointed by the votes through the United Nations to the International Court of Justice well.

[Andrew Bowie (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (Con)]

Q12. My right hon. Friend might be aware that in a Westminster Hall debate last week, Members of the Scottish National party declared that if the Scottish Government did not agree with the final Brexit deal they would push for another independence referendum. This obsession with breaking up our United Kingdom is damaging the Scottish economy and causing uncertainty, so will she join me today in calling for the SNP to drop, once and for all, its obsession with a second independence referendum?

[The Prime Minister]

The point my hon. Friend raises is very important. Scotland had a referendum in 2014. That referendum was legal and fair, and the result was decisive: the people of Scotland voted clearly to remain part of the United Kingdom. At the election, they sent a message that they did not want a second referendum on this issue. I say to the Scottish Government, as we prepare to leave the EU, that they should be working with the UK Government to get the right deal for the whole of the UK, not taking Scotland back to the divisive constitutional debates of the past. I agree with my hon. Friend that the SNP should take its unwanted proposal off the table once and for all.

[Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)]

Q13. Will the Prime Minister support steel jobs in Scunthorpe and elsewhere by guaranteeing that, if the current flexibility within the emissions trading scheme is not retained to March 2019, she will act immediately to ensure that British industry is not financially penalised?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman raises an important point about steel. Of course, the Government have done a considerable amount over the last few years to support the steel industry here in the United Kingdom, and I was very pleased earlier in the year to visit and meet steelworkers to talk about the prospects for steel in the UK. We will, of course, look carefully to ensure that the arrangements in place are in the national interest, and we have supported steel in the past.

[Crispin Blunt (Reigate) (Con)]

May I take my right hon. Friend back to the question from the hon. Member for Bristol West (Thangam Debbonaire)? Quite apart from commending the quality of the BBC programme she mentioned, may I draw my right hon. Friend’s attention to the fact that global policy on drugs prohibition is beginning to change, in the face of the evidential failure of the policy since the 1961 UN single convention on narcotic drugs? Will she look at the evidence that will emerge from the United States and Canada on the legalisation and regulation of cannabis markets there, as well as decriminalisation in Portugal and elsewhere—

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

Order. That was quite enough. We are very grateful to the hon. Gentleman.

[The Prime Minister]

When I was Home Secretary, work was undertaken by the Home Office on the experience in a number of countries and the different ways they approached the issue of drugs, but I am afraid that I have a different opinion from my hon. Friend on drugs, as would those dealing with people affected by drugs. I think of my constituent Elizabeth Burton-Phillips, who set up DrugFAM after the suicide of her son, who was a drug addict. I think of the work she is doing with families affected because a family member is on drugs, and of the incredible damage it can do to families and the individuals concerned. I am sorry but I take a different view from him. It is right that we continue to fight the war against drugs.

[Toby Perkins (Chesterfield) (Lab)]

rose—

[Toby Perkins (Chesterfield) (Lab)]

Q14. People with the most severe disabilities moving on to universal credit have discovered that they are up to £100 a week worse off because there is no severe disability component in the payment. Whatever happens about the delays in the next hour, does the Prime Minister realise that universal credit will continue to shame her Government so long as it pushes the most disabled into the worst poverty?

[The Prime Minister]

We spend more than £50 billion a year on benefits to support disabled people and people with health conditions—that has increased by more than £7 billion since 2010—and spending on disability benefits will be higher in every year to 2020 than in 2010. As regards universal credit, as I have said in the Chamber before, it is a simpler, more straightforward system, but, crucially, it is helping people to get into the workplace and making sure they keep more of the money they earn.

[Sir David Amess (Southend West) (Con)]

Will my right hon. Friend join me in congratulating the Leigh-on-Sea branch of the British Legion and local artists Beth Hooper and Mary Lister on using a lottery grant for school children in Southend to make 7,500 ceramic poppies and displaying them on Southend’s cliffs? Does she agree that that is a further good reason to make Southend-on-Sea a city?

[The Prime Minister]

I am very happy to join my hon. Friend in congratulating the Leigh-on-Sea branch of the Royal British Legion on its work in ensuring that young people recognise the importance of remembrance and the sacrifices made by previous generations for our safety and security. As to his second point, he puts in a very interesting bid. I know that Southend-on-Sea is close to his heart and that he champions it all the time. I am sure that his bid will be looked at carefully.

[Emma Hardy (Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle) (Lab)]

My constituent Hayley Crawley is receiving palliative care for bowel cancer, and she needs a specialist cancer drug that is available for other cancers. She waited for months to hear that her case for funding had been rejected by NHS England, and we are now waiting again for a reply to her appeal. Please will the Prime Minister write to NHS England to ensure that Hayley’s case is treated as a priority?

[The Prime Minister]

Obviously I am aware that that will be causing distress to Hayley while she is waiting for the appeal decision, and I am sure that the Secretary of State for Health will look closely at the case that the hon. Lady has raised. We were of course able to introduce the Cancer Drugs Fund, which has allowed some patients to have access to drugs that would otherwise not be available, but I recognise the concern and distress from which the hon. Lady’s constituent will be suffering while she waits for the decision.

[Mr Shailesh Vara (North West Cambridgeshire) (Con)]

The Prime Minister will be aware that under President Mugabe, British citizens living in Zimbabwe, especially landowners, suffered considerably. Can she assure the House that as we see a new regime coming to Zimbabwe, the British Government will do all they can to persuade that new regime to treat British citizens living lawfully in that country with respect, and to give them the safety and security that they should have, along with all other Zimbabwean citizens?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend has raised an important point as we see that change taking place in Zimbabwe. I think that the resignation of Robert Mugabe gives Zimbabwe an opportunity to forge a new path, free from the oppression that has characterised the past. We want to see a democratic, free, secure Zimbabwe, where people across communities throughout Zimbabwe are able to lead their lives without fear and oppression, and we want to see the country rejoin the international community. We have obviously given Zimbabwe some support in the form of UK aid, and, as the country’s oldest friend, we will do everything we can to support its change into a country that is free and democratic, and free of all oppression for all communities.

Bill Presented

Clean Air Bill

Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57)

Geraint Davies, supported by Hilary Benn, Eleanor Smith, Tim Farron, Derek Thomas, Wera Hobhouse, John Mc Nally, Mr David Lammy, Sir Edward Davey, Rosie Duffield, Chris Evans and Preet Kaur Gill, presented a Bill to require the Secretary of State to set, measure, enforce and report on air quality targets; to make provision about mitigating air pollution, including through the use of clean air zones; to make provision about vehicle emissions testing; to restrict the approval and sale of vehicles with certain engine types; and for connected purposes.

Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Friday 1 December, and to be printed (Bill 130).

Machinery of Government Change: Gender Recognition Act

Theresa May Excerpts

Thursday 16th November 2017 Written Statements

[The Prime Minister (Mrs Theresa May)]

This written statement confirms that responsibility for the Gender Recognition Act 2004 will transfer from the Ministry of Justice to the Government Equalities Office. This change will be effective immediately.

[HCWS253]

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe: UK Delegation

Theresa May Excerpts

Tuesday 14th November 2017 Written Statements

[The Prime Minister (Mrs Theresa May)]

This written ministerial statement confirms that the United Kingdom delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is constituted as follows:

Oral Answers to Questions

Theresa May Excerpts

Wednesday 25th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Afzal Khan (Manchester, Gorton) (Lab)]

Q1. If she will list her official engagements for Wednesday 25 October.

[The Prime Minister (Mrs Theresa May)]

I am sure that all Members from across the House will want to join me in wishing all the home nations teams the very best of luck in the rugby league world cup, which starts this week.

This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others, and, in addition to my duties in the House, I shall have further such meetings later today.

[Afzal Khan]

Social care services in England are in crisis. Since 2010, the local council in Manchester has had its annual social care budget cut by £32 million. By March, the Government will have taken £6.3 billion out of social care. Why will the Prime Minister not match Labour’s commitment and invest £8 billion in social care in next month’s Budget?

[The Prime Minister]

As I have said in this House before, we recognise the pressure on social care as our population ages. I have said before that there are short-term, medium-term and long-term answers to this. In the short term, we have made extra funding available to local authorities. The announcement made in the last Budget by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor was for an extra £2 billion for local authorities. In the medium term, we need to make sure that best practice is observed across all local authorities and NHS trusts. Delayed discharges are higher in some cases than they are in others, and we need to make sure that best practice is followed. In the long term, we need a sustainable footing for our social care system. That is why we will, in due course, be publishing a full and open consultation on ideas and proposals to ensure that we can have a sustainable social care system in the future.

[Kevin Foster (Torbay) (Con)]

Q3. The Prime Minister will be aware of the vital role that supported housing plays for many vulnerable people in Torbay. What reassurances can she give me about the ongoing support that the Government will give to those vital services?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend raises an important issue, and this is something that we have been looking at very closely over the past year since my right hon. Friend the First Secretary of State, the right hon. Member for Ashford (Damian Green) commissioned work on it in September last year, when he was Work and Pensions Secretary. I can confirm that we will be publishing our response to that consultation on Tuesday 31 October, and it will look at a wide range of issues. We need to ensure that the funding model is right so that all providers of supported housing can access funding effectively. We need to look at issues such as the recent significant increases in service charges, making sure that we are looking at cost control in the sector.

I can also say today that as part of our response to the review, we will not be applying the local housing allowance cap to supported housing; indeed, we will not be implementing it in the wider social rented sector. The full details will be made available when we publish our response to the consultation.

[Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North) (Lab)]

I join the Prime Minister in wishing the rugby league team all the very best in the competition. I hope they win it.

Last week, the House voted 299 to zero to pause the roll-out of universal credit. Will the Prime Minister respect the will of the House?

[The Prime Minister]

As I have said before, we acknowledge the fact that people have raised concerns with universal credit. That is why, as we have been rolling it out, we have been listening to those and changes have been made. Perhaps I could just update the House on where we are on the roll-out of universal credit. Currently, of people claiming benefits, 8% are on universal credit. By January of next year, that will rise to 10%. The roll-out is being conducted in three phases, and the intention is that it will be completed by 2022, so it is being done in a measured way, and I am pleased to say that four out of five people are satisfied or very satisfied with the service that they are receiving. Universal credit helps people into the workplace and it makes sure that work pays, and that is what the welfare system should do.

[Jeremy Corbyn]

I would have thought that if only 8% of the roll-out has taken place and 20% of the people in receipt of it are dissatisfied with it, that is a cause for thought and maybe a pause in the whole process. Last week, only one Conservative MP had the courage of their convictions to vote with us on suspending the universal credit roll-out. Then a Conservative Member of the Welsh Assembly, Angela Burns, said:

“For the life of me I cannot understand why a 6 or 4 week gap is deemed acceptable.”

She called universal credit

“callous at best and downright cruel at worst”,

and concluded by saying she is “ashamed” of her Government. Can the Prime Minister ease her colleague’s shame by pausing and fixing universal credit?

[The Prime Minister]

As I have said to the right hon. Gentleman, we have been making changes to the implementation of UC as it has gone through the roll-out, but let us be very clear about why we introduced universal credit. It is because it is a system—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Members are getting rather over-excited. The question has been put, and the answer will be heard.

[The Prime Minister]

We introduced universal credit as a simpler, more straightforward system that ensures that work pays and helps people into the workplace. Let us look at what happened in the benefits system under Labour. Under Labour, the low-paid paid tax and then had it paid back to them in benefits. Under Labour, people were trapped in a life on benefits for years. Under Labour, the number of workless households doubled, and Labour’s benefit system cost households an extra £3,000 a year. What the Conservatives have done is given the low-paid a pay rise, given the workers a tax cut and ensured we have a benefit system that helps people into work.

[Jeremy Corbyn]

Under Labour, 1 million children were lifted out of poverty. Under Labour, we introduced the principle of the national minimum wage—opposed by all Tories over there.

If the Prime Minister is not prepared to listen to Angela Burns, perhaps she could listen to the architect of universal credit, the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Mr Duncan Smith), who said:

“One of the reasons I resigned from Government was I didn’t actually agree with the additional waiting days. This is something the government needs to look at”.

Does the Prime Minister agree with him?

[The Prime Minister]

This is the answer that I have given not just three or four times in this PMQs but in previous PMQs: as we look at universal credit roll-out, we look at how we are introducing it. The right hon. Gentleman talks about what happened under Labour, and I am happy to talk about what happened under Labour—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. There is far too much noise and finger pointing on both sides of the Chamber. The responses from the Prime Minister will be heard, as will the questions from the Leader of the Opposition and every other Member without fear or favour.

[The Prime Minister]

The right hon. Gentleman is talking about rolling out new benefit systems, but let us think about what happened when Labour rushed to introduce tax credits. I was not the only Member of Parliament who had people in my constituency surgery who had filled the forms in properly and given information to the authorities only for the Government to come back years later and land them with bills for thousands of pounds. That is what happens when you rush into a system rather than introducing it properly, as we are.

[Jeremy Corbyn]

I thought that we had passed a threshold last week and that the Prime Minister was going to answer questions, but we obviously have not achieved that yet. Labour introduced working tax credits to help people on low pay out of poverty and it made a very big difference. The sad truth is that universal credit is in such a mess that councils are forced to pick up the Bill. Let me give an example. Croydon Council, which piloted the scheme, is now spending £3 million of its own budget to prevent tenants from being evicted due to rent arrears caused by universal credit. Does the Prime Minister think that it is right or fair that hard-pressed local authorities, having their budget cut by central Government, should have to dip into what little money they have left to prevent people from being evicted when they know full well that it is this Government and their system of universal credit that are causing the problem?

[The Prime Minister]

Labour introduced working tax credits and then clawed thousands of pounds back from people who were working hard. The right hon. Gentleman raises the issue of rent arrears and I know that Members have concerns about people who are managing their budgets to pay their rent. For the vast majority of people on universal credit, managing their budgets is not an issue. After four months, the number of people on universal credit who are in arrears has fallen by a third, but we recognise the issue so we are working with landlords. We have built flexibility into the system so that landlords can be paid directly, and I want to be clear that nobody can be legally evicted from social housing because of short-term rent arrears. That is an important point for us to get across to people, but I come back to the essential point about universal credit: this is about a welfare system that helps people into work, makes work pay and does not trap people in a life on benefits for years.

[Jeremy Corbyn]

I note that the Prime Minister could not say anything about people being evicted from the private rented sector because of universal credit problems. The costs in the benefit system are being driven by low pay and high rents. In 2015, the then Chancellor, her former friend, promised a £9 an hour living wage. However, in the March Budget it was sneaked out that the Government’s minimum wage would reach only £8.75. The welfare state was not created to subsidise low paying employers and overcharging landlords, so will the Budget in November put the onus back—[Interruption.]

[Jeremy Corbyn]

My question is this: will the Budget in November put the onus back on to employers to pay a decent wage so that workers can make ends meet?

[The Prime Minister]

Of course we want to ensure that there are higher-paid jobs in this country. That is precisely why we are investing in the economy for the future. It is precisely why we are investing in our infrastructure and investing in skills for young people, and it is why we are introducing a modern industrial strategy. The right hon. Gentleman says the welfare system was not created to subsidise employers who are paying low wages. That is exactly what Labour’s working tax credits system did.

[Jeremy Corbyn]

The Government’s own Social Mobility Commission reported that low pay was endemic in the United Kingdom. One in four workers are permanently stuck in low-paid jobs. That is why Labour backed a real living wage of £10 per hour to make work pay. The Government do not really know whether they are coming or going. The Conservative party and the Government say they have full confidence in universal credit, but will not vote for it. They say they will end the NHS pay cap, but will not allocate any money to pay for it. The Communities Secretary backs £50 billion of borrowing for housing, but the Chancellor says it is not policy. The Brexit Secretary says they are planning for a no-deal Brexit. The Chancellor says they are not. Is it not the case that the Government are weak, incompetent, divided and unable to take a decision—[Interruption.]

--- Later in debate ---

[Jeremy Corbyn]

Is it not the case that this Government are weak, incompetent and divided, and unable to take the essential decisions necessary for the good of the people of this country?

[The Prime Minister]

Of course we want to see people earning higher wages. Of course we want, as we are doing, to be able to ensure we can invest in our public services. But the way to do that—the way to have a higher standard of living, to have higher wages, to invest in our public services, to have a better future for people in this country—is to build and continue to build that stronger economy. You do not build a stronger economy by losing control of public finances. You do not build a stronger economy by uncontrolled borrowing. You do not build a stronger economy by hitting people with the highest taxes in our peacetime history. You do not build a stronger economy by voting against progress in our Brexit negotiations. You do not build a stronger economy by planning for capital flight and a run on the pound. That is what Labour would do and we will never let it happen.

[Mrs Sheryll Murray (South East Cornwall) (Con)]

Q5. Some people in Plymouth are campaigning, by way of a petition, to say that lifeboats must be launched immediately when a fishing vessel is overdue. I believe this is irresponsible and puts our valiant lifeboat crews in peril if they do not know where they are going. We know this in Cornwall. Will the Prime Minister look at making safety grants available, so that all fishing boats can have an AIS, or automatic identification system, locator beacon on board? This would cost well under £4 million, even if every registered fishing vessel under 15 metres got a grant to cover the whole cost. My late husband had one aboard his boat.

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising this issue. As she has just said, I know this is an area where she tragically has personal experience. I would like to commend her for the work she has done in this important area and for championing these causes. She is right: launching a lifeboat whenever a fishing vessel is overdue may be the wrong decision. It could, as she says, be dangerous for the crew involved. That is why the coastguard takes the time to gather valuable information before deciding how best to respond. On the issue she raises, a number of grants are available from various safety schemes. I encourage all those involved in fishing to make the most of the grants that are available.

[Ian Blackford (Ross, Skye and Lochaber) (SNP)]

Does the Prime Minister agree that migration is key to delivering sustainable economic growth?

[The Prime Minister]

What is absolutely key is ensuring we have controlled migration in this country. That is what the people of this country want and what the Government are delivering.

[Ian Blackford]

An American couple, the Felbers, moved to Scotland and invested £400,000 to run an award-winning guesthouse in Inverness. They contribute to their community and the local economy, yet they will be deported because of a retrospective change to Home Office rules. Will the Prime Minister meet me and their MP, my hon. Friend the Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey (Drew Hendry), to discuss this case and the systemic problems with UK migration?

[The Prime Minister]

There are no systemic problems with UK migration. My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary is happy to meet the right hon. Gentleman to discuss the case he has raised, but it is absolutely right that the Home Office work to ensure that the immigration rules are properly applied and that action is taken according to those rules.

[Mr Speaker]

Now it is time to hear Mr Simon Hoare.

[Simon Hoare (North Dorset) (Con)]

Q9. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I have composed myself. I was greatly cheered last week, as I am sure were many colleagues in the House, to hear the German Chancellor say that a final deal on Brexit was going to happen. Does my right hon. Friend agree with my assessment that we will get a good deal that works for our country, for the EU and, possibly more importantly, for my constituents?

[The Prime Minister]

I agree with my hon. Friend. Our job is to get the best Brexit deal for Britain. I believe we can get it and that it will benefit all parts of the UK, including his constituents, and that we will maximise the benefits of leaving the UK while maintaining the greatest possible access to EU markets. That is what we are continuing to work on and the vision I set out in my Florence speech, and as we know, the EU is now preparing its response.

[Jo Platt (Leigh) (Lab/Co-op)]

Q2. The Prime Minister has previously stated her commitment to apprenticeships. In my constituency, however, the apprenticeship levy has not been helping those for whom it was designed. What steps will she take to ensure that apprenticeships help those from lower-income backgrounds?

[The Prime Minister]

Apprenticeships are important. Under the Government from 2010 to 2015, we saw 2 million more apprenticeships created, and we are committed to a further 1.9 million being created. This is important. The important point about apprenticeships is that they are an opportunity for young people not to feel encouraged down an academic route when that does not work for them. When I meet apprentices, many say that it is the best thing they have done, and we want to make sure they are available for all those who could benefit from it.

[Victoria Prentis (Banbury) (Con)]

Q12. Cherwell tops the leader board for new housing. Will the Prime Minister assure me that the right roads, school places, post boxes and especially healthcare provision will be in place to support both my new constituents and the ones I have at the moment?

[The Prime Minister]

First, may I congratulate my hon. Friend and say how pleased I am that Cherwell District Council is doing what we want to do and what we recognise we need to do to tackle our dysfunctional housing market, which is to build more homes? She is right, however, that infrastructure is also an important part of that, which is why we have committed £15 billion for our road investment strategy, why over half a trillion pounds will be spent on the NHS during this Parliament, and why a record £41 billion will be spent on core funding for schools this year. That, I am pleased to say, is the record of Conservatives in government.

[Stewart Hosie (Dundee East) (SNP)]

Q4. In 24 hours, the people of Dundee will wave off the bid for the 2023 European Capital of Culture. It is a fantastic bid that will generate 1,500 jobs and add 5% to local GDP. Will the Prime Minister, notwithstanding her current difficulties with Europe, back this bid, given that it comes from the most innovative and forward-looking city in the whole UK?

[The Prime Minister]

Of course we are always willing to back bids from any city in the United Kingdom to become the European city of culture. I welcome the fact that Dundee has put forward a bid and is part of the process, but, as I have said, we want to support all cities in the United Kingdom that are submitting bids.

[Richard Graham (Gloucester) (Con)]

It is a criminal offence for those, such as teachers, who are in a position of trust to have sexual relationships with young people under 18. However, a constituent came to me recently distressed about exactly such a relationship between his 17-year-old daughter and a middle-aged driving instructor. While—if consensual—that is not illegal, I am concerned about the possibility that young drivers might be at risk of being groomed by predatory instructors. Does the Prime Minister agree that driving instructors are, by the nature of their work, in a position of trust, and should be covered by the same rules as teachers? If so, will she ask the relevant Minister to work with me on the issue?

[The Prime Minister]

I am concerned to hear about the constituency case that my hon. Friend has raised. I recognise the position, and the role that driving instructors play. I will ask the appropriate Department to look into the matter, and to get in touch with my hon. Friend to obtain further details of that case.

[Stephen Kinnock (Aberavon) (Lab)]

Q6. In March 2017, the Prime Minister told the House that Parliament would be given a meaningful vote on the terms of the Withdrawal from the European Union (Article 50) Bill. This morning, in the Select Committee on Exiting the European Union, the Secretary of State told us that that vote might not take place until March 2019. Will the Prime Minister please explain how it is possible to have a meaningful vote on something that has already taken place?

[The Prime Minister]

As the hon. Gentleman knows, we are in negotiations with the European Union. The timetable under the Lisbon treaty allows the negotiations to take place until March 2019, but, because it is in the interests of both sides, and it is not just this Parliament that wants to have a vote on the deal—there will be ratification by other Parliaments—I am confident that we will be able to achieve that agreement and that negotiation in time for Parliament to have the vote to which we committed ourselves.

[Robert Jenrick (Newark) (Con)]

We enter a week of commemorations of the centenary of the Balfour declaration. Will my right hon. Friend re-dedicate us to the pursuit of peace and justice for both the Israelis and the Palestinians, but will she also celebrate with pride our small national contribution to the creation of a democracy in the middle east, a sanctuary for those who have suffered from anti-Semitism and fear its rise again, and, in the state of Israel, a true friend of the United Kingdom?

[The Prime Minister]

We are proud of the role that we played in the creation of the state of Israel, and we will certainly mark the centenary with pride. I am pleased about the good trade and other relationships that we have with Israel, which we are building on and enhancing. However, we must also be conscious of the sensitivities that some people have about the Balfour declaration.

We recognise that there is more work to be done. We remain committed to the two-state solution in relation to Israel and the Palestinians, which is an important aim. I think it important for us all to recommit ourselves to ensuring that we can provide security, stability and justice for both Israelis and Palestinians through such a lasting peace.

[Tonia Antoniazzi (Gower) (Lab)]

Q7. Trying to get a decision on the Swansea bay tidal lagoon is becoming like groundhog day. Swansea is ready, and the investors are ready. May I ask the Prime Minister when she will be ready?

[The Prime Minister]

As the hon. Lady well knows, that raises a number of complex issues. We were grateful to Charles Hendry for his review. The relevant Department —the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy—is still considering his report, and we will respond in due course.

[Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan (Berwick-upon-Tweed) (Con)]

Does the Prime Minister agree that as we leave the EU and take control of our land management policy, our manifesto commitment to plant 11 million trees is a critical part of the holistic countryside management framework that we can now build to ensure long-term home-grown wood for our housing industry, as well as increasing our natural carbon capture potential and reducing flood risks?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right: we did commit in our manifesto to plant 11 million trees. We are putting that at the heart of our work to protect the environment for future generations. I am pleased to say that since April 2015 we have planted just over 2 million trees, but we do have much more to do, and we will be continuing to work with landowners and stakeholders on this issue. My hon. Friend is also right that it is not just about the look of the countryside; it is also about the role that trees play in reducing flood risks and helping to hold carbon dioxide.

[Mr Kevan Jones (North Durham) (Lab)]

Q8. The Prime Minister has spoken on mental health, and I thank her for that. When she was Home Secretary, she outlawed police cells being used for those in mental health crisis. Today, however, parts of our mental health system are in crisis. In my North Durham constituency children, young people and families are waiting two years for autism assessments. The Secretary of State agrees that that is unacceptable. What is the Prime Minister going to do to turn her well-intentioned statements on mental health into action?

[The Prime Minister]

As the hon. Gentleman knows, we are taking a number of courses of action in relation to mental health, but he raises the specific issue of the autism diagnosis, and the length of time that takes in his constituency. My right hon. Friend the Health Secretary has promised to look into this and will be doing so, because we are very clear that we want to ensure that adults and children should not have to face too long a wait for an autism diagnosis. The Department of Health is working with partners to help local areas address these issues where there are long waiting times for an autism diagnosis, and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published clinical guidance which sets out that assessments should begin within three months of referral. Obviously it is for the Department of Health to be working with those local areas to make sure it is possible to achieve that.

[Steve Double (St Austell and Newquay) (Con)]

Tomorrow at Cornwall Newquay airport the Bloodhound will carry out its first live test run in the next step on its quest to achieve the land speed record. Will the Prime Minister join me in wishing the whole Bloodhound team, especially driver Andy Green, a successful test run, and does she agree that such projects show that the UK continues to lead the world in innovation in science and engineering?

[The Prime Minister]

I am very happy to join my hon. Friend in wishing the Bloodhound team well; indeed, I have met some of the members of the team in the past. I also agree with my hon. Friend’s other point: this continues to show what a world leader in science and innovation the United Kingdom is. We have some of the world’s best universities, with four of them in the world’s top 10, and we have more Nobel prize winners than any country other than the United States. This is a record of which our country can be proud, and I am sure we will all be proud of the Bloodhound team and its achievements.

[Thelma Walker (Colne Valley) (Lab)]

Q10. Does the Prime Minister agree that the potential downgrading of Huddersfield Royal Infirmary— 479 professionals lost, over 300 hospital beds cut, and a 90-minute journey to the nearest A&E—is not in the best interests of my constituents? Will she meet me to discuss the detrimental impact this will have on Colne Valley and the surrounding area?

[The Prime Minister]

The principle that we want to base all these decisions on is that service changes should be based on clear evidence and led by local clinicians who best understand the local healthcare needs. I understand that Calderdale and Kirklees Councils have referred the proposed changes to my right hon. Friend the Health Secretary, and I know he will be considering the issues very carefully, and will be coming to a decision in due course.

[Nicky Morgan (Loughborough) (Con)]

Next year is the centenary of the first woman Member of Parliament. Will my right hon. Friend tell us what leadership and encouragement to the women and girls in his constituency to take part in public life the hon. Member for Sheffield, Hallam (Jared O'Mara) has shown in his remarks?

[The Prime Minister]

It is important that we mark this centenary next year, and recognise the role that women have played in this House and in public life. I want young women and women to be able to see this House as a place they actively want to come to—that they want to contribute to their society and respond to the needs of constituents and make a real difference to people’s lives. That is what I am in it for, that is why I have encouraged more women to come into this House, and I am pleased to say that we have more women on our Benches than ever before.

Finally, all of us in this House should have due care and attention for the way in which we refer to other people and should show women in public life the respect they deserve.

[Tommy Sheppard (Edinburgh East) (SNP)]

Q11. Yesterday, the Scottish Parliament voted by 91 votes to 28 to ban fracking in Scotland. May I ask the Prime Minister why she would not consider following Scotland’s lead and introduce a moratorium in the rest of the United Kingdom in order to carry out a full evaluation of the health and environmental consequences of this controversial technology, and in order for the public to be consulted?

[The Prime Minister]

This is an issue on which the hon. Gentleman and I are simply going to disagree. I think that shale gas has the potential to power economic growth in this country and to support thousands of jobs in the oil and gas industries and in other sectors. It will provide a new domestic energy source. We have more than 50 years’ drilling experience in the UK, and one of the best records in the world for economic development while protecting our environment. The shale wealth fund is going to provide up to £1 billion of additional resources to local communities, and local councils are going to be able to retain 100% of the business rates they collect from shale gas developments. We will be bringing forward further proposals in relation to this during this Parliament. This is an important potential new source of energy, and it is right that we should use it and take the benefits from it for our economy, for jobs and for people’s futures.

[Craig Tracey (North Warwickshire) (Con)]

I am sure that the Prime Minister is aware of the terrifying incident on Sunday in which a gunman held hostages at a bowling alley in my neighbouring constituency of Nuneaton, a facility that is enjoyed by my own constituents of North Warwickshire and Bedworth. Will she join me and my hon. Friend the Member for Nuneaton (Mr Jones) in praising the excellent work of Warwickshire police and the West Midlands ambulance service in ensuring that the situation was brought to a swift conclusion without any casualties?

[The Prime Minister]

Of course we were all concerned to hear about that incident as it was taking place, and I am happy to join my hon. Friend and my hon. Friend the Member for Nuneaton in commending the professionalism and bravery of the Warwickshire police in bringing it to a swift conclusion and of the ambulance service in ensuring that there were no injuries. Our emergency services do an amazing job in protecting us; they do not know, when they put on their uniforms in the morning, whether they are going to be called out to exactly this sort of incident. I was pleased to welcome a number of our emergency services personnel to a reception in Downing Street on Monday. What they always say is that they are just doing their job, but my goodness me, what a job they do for us!

[Alison McGovern (Wirral South) (Lab)]

Q13. On 29 March, I asked the Prime Minister whether she would help the people of New Ferry after the huge explosion that had devastated the town centre. She said that she was be happy to help and that support would be offered to the community in the future. Two weeks later she called a general election, and her Government seem to have all but forgotten about the people in New Ferry. Well, she may have forgotten but my constituents have not, so I ask her again: precisely when will her Government put their hands in their pockets so that the people in New Ferry can rebuild their town and their lives?

[The Prime Minister]

The Government have not forgotten about this issue. I understand from the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government that we are waiting for the local council to produce proposals and a business case for those proposals, and we will of course look at those proposals seriously.

[John Howell (Henley) (Con)]

In acknowledging the hard work that the men and women of RAF Benson in my constituency did in the Caribbean, will the Prime Minister also acknowledge that the Puma Mk 2 helicopter was ready and available for work in the Caribbean within a couple of hours of having arrived there?

[The Prime Minister]

I am very happy to commend the work of all those at RAF Benson and indeed all those in our military and the volunteers who were able to provide support after the devastating hurricanes that took place in the Caribbean. I am also happy to agree with my hon. Friend that, contrary to some of the stories that were being put about, we were there, we were there on time and we were able to act very quickly to give people that support.

[Joanna Cherry (Edinburgh South West) (SNP)]

Q14. We can all agree that no one should ever be persecuted on account of their sexuality. Last week at the PinkNews awards, the Prime Minister said that we had come a long way on LGBT+ rights, but there is still much more to do. May I ask her to start on that remaining work today by promising that the Home Office will never again deport LGBT+ asylum seekers to countries where they are likely to be persecuted with the instruction that they pretend to be straight?

[The Prime Minister]

This is an issue that we take seriously. Indeed, I think I am right in saying that it was a Conservative Government who actually changed the rules on asylum seeking to introduce the category of those who could face persecution in their country of origin because of their sexuality. I am pleased that that was able to be done, and I am sure that the Home Office treats all these cases—I want it to treat all these cases—with the sensitivity that is appropriate.

[Luke Graham (Ochil and South Perthshire) (Con)]

As of 2016, 17% of premises in Scotland were without superfast broadband, compared with just 11% for the UK as a whole. Will my right hon. Friend join me in calling on the Scottish Government to do more and to engage constructively with Departments here in Westminster to deliver this crucial service to communities in Scotland?

[The Prime Minister]

Can I say to—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. All sorts of very curious hand and finger gestures are being deployed, each trying to outdo the other in terms of eccentricity and, possibly, of prowess, but I am interested in hearing the Prime Minister’s reply.

[The Prime Minister]

I say to my hon. Friend that we all recognise the importance of broadband and of fast broadband being available to people in our constituencies. He is absolutely right—the Members of the Scottish National party come down here and spend a lot of time talking about powers for the Scottish Government, but actually it is time that the Scottish Government got on with using their powers for the benefit of the people in Scotland.

[Mr Mark Hendrick (Preston) (Lab/Co-op)]

Q15. In the past fortnight, we have heard the announcement of the loss of many hundreds of jobs in Lancashire at BAE Systems sites at Warton and Samlesbury, which comes as a hammer blow to workers and their families. Today, I want to raise the proposed closure of the Alstom factory on Strand Road in Preston, which will mean the loss of another 180 jobs. We keep hearing hype about the so-called northern powerhouse, so why are aerospace companies and train manufacturers in the north shedding jobs by the hundred?

[The Prime Minister]

I recognise that this is a worrying time for the workers involved. We will obviously ensure through the Department for Work and Pensions that they have the support they need to look for new jobs, and that does include the rapid response service, which gives particular support to people in these areas. However, in relation to the decision by BAE Systems, for example, I can assure the House that we will continue to promote our world-leading defence industry, and I hope that all Labour Members will continue to promote our world-leading defence industry. I am very pleased that just last month my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence signed a statement of intent with Qatar, committing it to the purchase of 24 Typhoons and six Hawks from BAE. Last year, the Ministry of Defence spent £3.7 billion with BAE and is working with it to maximise export opportunities for Typhoons and Hawks in the future to ensure that we can retain jobs here in the United Kingdom.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

When it comes to tackling homelessness, prevention is better than cure, so I am delighted that the Government backed my Homelessness Reduction Act 2017. However, one of the obstacles for people who choose to rent is putting together the deposit and getting help with the rent. Will my right hon. Friend look at a scheme that would provide 32,000 people a year with the opportunity to rent for an investment of £3.1 million a year? Not only would it do that, but it would save the public purse up to £1.8 billion over a three-year period.

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend. He has long campaigned on homelessness and its prevention, and I am pleased that we were able to support his Homelessness Reduction Act, which will be an important contribution in this particular area. On his specific issue, he has made a pre-Budget representation to the Chancellor, who I am sure will be looking at it very carefully. On the more general issue of helping people to buy and helping them with deposits, I am of course pleased that we have been able to announce an extra £10 billion for our Help to Buy scheme, which does make a real difference to people and enables them to get into homes.

[Nigel Dodds (Belfast North) (DUP)]

The workforce, the unions and the management at Bombardier in Belfast deserve enormous credit for the way in which they have responded to the threats to their jobs and livelihoods coming from the United States, and from Boeing in particular. Can the Prime Minister assure us that she will continue building on the good work that has already happened through herself, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and that she will continue to work with us, the unions and management to ensure that the threat of tariffs is removed, that the C series is a success story and that thousands of jobs in Belfast and across the United Kingdom are protected?

[The Prime Minister]

I am very happy to give that commitment. A lot of work has been done in relation to this issue by me, the Business Secretary, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and other Ministers with our opposite numbers in America and Canada. We will certainly continue that work. Obviously, the most recent announcement in relation to Airbus and the C series is important. We want to ensure that those jobs stay in Northern Ireland, because we recognise the importance of those jobs to the economy of Northern Ireland and, obviously, also to the people and their families.