MP, Leader of the , response to ’s Brexit statement in the House
of Commons.
I thank the Prime Minister for the advance copy of her statement.
These 26 pages are a testament to the failure of the Tories’
bungled negotiations. 19 extra pages, but nothing has changed.
The only certainty contained within these pages is that the
transition period will have to be extended or we will end up in
the backstop with no exit.
It represents the worst of all worlds: no say over the rules that
will continue to apply and no certainty for the future.
There is no change to the Withdrawal Agreement no unilateral pull
out mechanism, no concessions on the backstop which would create
a new regulatory border down the Irish Sea.
Mr Speaker, did the EU not receive the amendments and
improvements promised by the Leader of the House?
A little over a year ago we were confidently told by the
Government that by the end of the Article 50 period we would have
a trade deal. The International Trade Secretary said it would be
the “easiest in human history”.
Instead, we have 26 pages of waffle.
This empty document could have been written two years ago. It is
peppered with phrases such as “The parties will look at” … “The
parties will explore”. What on earth has the government been
doing for the last two years?
They have managed less than one page per month since the
referendum.
The Prime Minister said: “Nothing is agreed until everything is
agreed”. It’s clear from this document that indeed nothing is
agreed.
This is the ‘blindfold Brexit’ we all feared - a leap into the
dark.
It falls far short of our – Labour’s - six tests.
This government could have negotiated a new and comprehensive
customs union, giving certainty to business and securing
manufacturing industry and jobs.
Instead, they are more interested with dog-whistling on
immigration.
I hope the Prime Minister will abandon the sort of poisonous and
divisive rhetoric about “EU nationals jumping the queue”.
EU nationals have contributed to this country across all industry
and public services, while it is this government and this Prime
Minister as Home Secretary who built a “hostile environment” for
non-EU migrants.
Chequers has been chucked. There is no common rulebook and no
mention of frictionless trade. Our participation is downgraded in
a number of European agencies or we are out of them entirely.
After more than two years of negotiations, Mr Speaker, there is
no clarity over our status with a range of European-wide
agencies.
The Erasmus scheme, the Galileo project, Euratom, the European
Medicines Agency, the European Chemicals Agency, and the European
Aviation Safety Agency. On none of these do we know our final
status.
Take for example space: in section 107 of the document it says
“the parties should consider appropriate arrangements for
cooperation on space”. Well, what a remarkable negotiating
achievement that is.
This is waffle. The blindfold Brexit of a government that spent
more time arguing with itself than negotiating for Britain.
Mr Speaker, on Fisheries the Prime Minister and the Environment
Secretary have been saying Britain will leave the common
fisheries policy and become an independent coastal nation.
Yet this agreement sets an aspiration to establish a new
fisheries agreement on access to waters and quota shares by
summer 2020.
Mr Speaker, that sounds to me like we are replacing membership of
the commons fisheries policy with a new common fisheries policy.
It’s clear that during what will now inevitably be an extended
transition period, there will be no control of our money, our
laws and our borders, or indeed our fishing stocks for a very
long time.
The Prime Minister stood on the steps of Downing Street and said
a deal has been agreed between the UK and the European Commission
and it was now up to the EU 27.
Mr Speaker, until this Parliament has debated and voted there is
no UK agreement.
This half-baked deal is the product of two years of botched
negotiations in which the Prime Minister’s red lines have been
torn up, Cabinet resignations have racked up, and Chequers has
been chucked.
This is a vague menu of options. It is not a plan for the future
and is not capable of bringing our country together.
