Tuesday 8th January 2019

(5 years, 4 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Chris Grayling Portrait Chris Grayling
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I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for his comments. I give him an absolute assurance that I will continue that work. Frankly, the tragedy is that the Labour party seems to have abandoned interest in the national interest.

Tom Brake Portrait Tom Brake (Carshalton and Wallington) (LD)
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The train timetable fiasco, the drone disruption, the Manston lorry park carry-on and, now, ferrygate—the Secretary of State is the embodiment of the Peter principle.

On the earlier point about competition, can the Secretary of State explain the

“extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable by the contracting authority”?

Can he explain what was unforeseeable about no deal, for which the Government have been planning for the past couple of years and to which they have referred many, many times in this place? What was unforeseeable about that?

Chris Grayling Portrait Chris Grayling
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Sadly, what was unforeseeable is the attitude of many hon. Members, mostly Opposition Members, towards the Prime Minister’s sensible agreement. The agreement meets all their requirements, and they are now saying they oppose it anyway.