Extract from PMs
statement on the Informal European Council
(Moray)
(SNP):...As we have already established, the Prime
Minister wants no hard borders on these islands; she wants the free
movement of peoples on these islands and the safeguarding and
boosting of trade on these islands, and we on these Benches
wholeheartedly support these aims. But given the great importance
that the Prime Minister gives in the White Paper to the Union of
the United Kingdom and what we are told is a partnership of equals,
she will surely have briefed her European colleagues while she was
in Malta about the progress of negotiations with the other
Governments on these islands. So did she confirm that she will work
with the Scottish Government to secure continuing membership of the
European single market? Did she tell her European colleagues that
we value EU citizens living in our country, that their presence
will be guaranteed, and that she is prepared to learn the lessons
from Canada, from Australia and from
Switzerland, where it is perfectly possible to have different
immigration priorities and policies within a unitary state? Did the
Prime Minister remind European colleagues that in Scotland we voted
by 62% to remain in the European Union and that only one Member of
Parliament representing a Scottish constituency voted for her
Brexit legislation?
Ms (Ochil and South
Perthshire) (SNP): What discussions did the Prime
Minister have in Malta on trade deals? She will of course be
aware that all Members of the European Parliament will be able to
vote on the EU-Canada trade deal, but her Government have gone
back on their promise to hold a debate on the Floor of the House.
Given the prominence given to the comprehensive economic and
trade agreement in her very brief Brexit White Paper as an
example of what we can expect from future trade deals, why are
the Government running so scared of parliamentary scrutiny? This
Government are not about taking back control for the people of
the whole country; they are about taking back control for
themselves.
The Prime Minister: The CETA deal, as I
understand it, will be discussed today in European Committee B,
of which the hon. Lady is a member. She will therefore be able to
contribute to that debate.
Extract from Committee
stage (Lords) of the Digital Economy Bill
(Con):...The Royal Statistical Society’s primary
objection to this is that it provides no subsequent mechanism for
the ONS to secure access to the data. It is also unclear to it
what the process means in practice, which part of the legislature
will deal with that correspondence, what it is expected to do
with it and what sanctions it can apply for non-disclosure. The
RSS has been asking why this is in place and whether it is
justified, especially as other countries, such
as Canada, operate with less burdensome
arrangements. I should say that I am very grateful to the Royal
Statistical Society for its briefing, otherwise I would be really
lost...
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