(Cardiff West) (Lab): We have heard it all now: it is
just, according to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, “an
unfortunate sequence of events”, otherwise known as the Lemony
Snicket defence—all the fault of evil uncle Olaf and his foreign
friends. But on the serious point about this, consider how it will
affect, for example, our musicianswho go on tour.
They are usually not part of large operations. They might take
their instrument, fly on a budget flight, try to sell some of their
merchandise, cross a few borders in the European Union—that is how
they scrape a living. They are making no money now. Will he please
consider the consequences of no deal, admit that this is not a
frivolous issue but a matter of people’s livelihoods, and seriously
engage with it rather than take this frivolous and superficial
approach?
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the
Cabinet Office (): I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman, but I
certainly would not take a frivolous approach towards the
livelihoods of anyone, whether they are freelance
musicians or anyone else who contributes to the
health, prosperity and economy of this country. That is one of
the reasons why we are so anxious to secure an agreement with the
European Union and why we have been working so hard and in such a
dedicated fashion in the Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee. I
mentioned earlier that as a result of the progress that we have
made with Vice-President
