Theresa May urges MPs to back Brexit deal
The UK prime minister is under pressure to pull next month's parliamentary vote on her revamped agreement as overwhelmingly negative response to her Monday speech has dashed Downing Street’s hopes of success. She says there must first be votes on what divides the House.
Footage: Parliament tv
Transcript
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THERESA MAY: We're now making a 10-point offer to members across the House. 10 changes that address the concerns raised by honourable and right honourable members. 10 binding commitments that will be enshrined in legislation, so they cannot simply be ignored. And 10 steps that will bring us closer to the bright future that awaits our country once we end the political impasse and get Brexit done.
First we will protect British jobs, by seeking as close to frictionless trade in goods with the EU as possible, while outside the single market and ending free movement. Second, we will provide much needed certainty for our vital manufacturing and agricultural sectors, by keeping up to date with EU rules for goods and agri food products that are relevant to checks at the border.
Third, we will empower Parliament to break the deadlock over future customs arrangements. Fourth, to address concerns that a future government could roll back hard won protections for employees, we will publish a new workers' rights bill. Fifth, the new Brexit deal will also guarantee there'll be no change in the level of environmental protection when we leave the EU. And we will establish a new and wholly independent Office of Environmental Protection, able to uphold standards and enforce compliance.
Sixth, the withdrawal agreement bill will place a legal duty on government to seek changes to the political declaration that will be needed to reflect this new deal. I'm confident we will be successful in doing so. Seventh, the government will include in the withdrawal agreement bill at introduction a requirement to vote on whether to hold a second referendum. I've made my own view clear on this many times. I am against a second referendum.
Eighth, parliament will be guaranteed a much greater role in the second part of the Brexit process, the negotiations over our future relationship with the EU. Ninth, the new Brexit deal will legally oblige the government to seek to conclude the alternative arrangements process by December 2020, avoiding any need for the Northern Ireland backstop coming into force. And finally 10th, we will ensure that should the backstop come into force, Great Britain will stay aligned with Northern Ireland. We will prohibit the proposal that a future government could split Northern Ireland off from the UK'S customs territory.
Mr Speaker, in time, another prime minister will be standing at this despatch box. But while I am here, I have a duty to be clear with the House. I have a duty to be clear with the House about the facts. If we are going to deliver Brexit in this Parliament, we are going to have to pass a withdrawal agreement bill. And we will not do so without holding votes on the issues that have divided us the most.
That includes votes on customs arrangements and on a second referendum. We can pretend otherwise and carry on arguing and getting nowhere. But in the end, our job in this House is to take decisions, not to duck them. So I will put those decisions to this House because that is my duty, and because it is the only way that we can deliver Brexit. So let's demonstrate what this House can achieve. Let's come together, honour the referendum, deliver what we promised the British people, and build a successful future for our whole country.