2019 April 02

On Friday 29 March 2019 the Opposition voted down the Government’s attempt to force through their failed Brexit plan by separating the Withdrawal Agreement and the Political Declaration. Both the Prime Minister and the EU have said before that these two documents cannot be separated. Pushing through the Withdrawal Agreement without any certainty over our future relationship with the EU would be an unacceptable risk to jobs, rights and the economy. The Opposition will not take that risk and will not leave the terms of our future relationship to be decided by the outcome of a Conservative leadership contest. The Withdrawal Agreement was rejected by 58 votes (Ayes: 286, Noes: 344).

On Tuesday 2 April 2019 I responded to the Deputy Leader of the House in a debate on the First Report from the Committee of Privileges.