argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-10-23
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome the right hon. Gentleman’s comments on the Iran nuclear deal. It is important that we agree across the House that we should continue to support that deal. I also agree that what we of course want to see in Libya is a peaceful settlement that can enable that country to be stable and peaceful into the future. It is important that we all support the work that is being done by UN Special Envoy Salamé on this particular issue The right hon. Gentleman asked about the Brexit bill. What I set out to the European Council was what I set out in my Florence speech and what I have just repeated in my statement. He talked about us making no real progress. But: "We haven’t reached a final agreement, but it’s going to happen." And: "I’d have a degree of confidence that we’ll be able to get to the point of sufficient progress by December." After the Florence speech, it was said "there is a new momentum." And the Florence speech was "a step forward". There "should be a positive response to the willingness to work on the interim period". And: "There has been established a momentum." As it happens, those are not my words; they are the words of Chancellor Merkel, the Taoiseach, the Swedish Prime Minister, the Italian Prime Minister, the Polish Prime Minister and the Danish Prime Minister respectively, so I can assure the right hon. Gentleman that progress was indeed made. The Labour party talks about the need to move ahead in the negotiations. If Labour thinks it is so important, why did Labour MEPs vote against moving ahead in the negotiations The Leader of the Opposition talks about the withdrawal Bill as if it is something that Labour is very eager to see before the House. If it is so eager, why did it vote against the Bill on Second Reading and, in doing so, vote against bringing workers’ rights and environmental standards into UK law Finally, the Leader of the Opposition spent a long time talking about no deal. Well, I can only assume that the Labour party wants to talk about no deal because it simply does not know what sort of deal it wants. It cannot decide whether it wants to be in the single market or not. It cannot decide whether it wants to be in the customs union or not. It cannot decide whether it wants a second referendum or not. It cannot decide whether it agrees with the continuation of free movement or not. And, worst of all, it says it would take any deal, whatever price it is asked to pay. That is not the way to get a good deal for the UK; it is the way to get the worst possible deal for the UK.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-10-23
Topic: International Affairs
Kenneth Clarke (Conservative, Centre-right): Is it not clear that damaging delay will be caused if we do not make progress soon? The main problem is that other European leaders can see that a noisy minority in the Cabinet and on the Back Benches of the Prime Minister’s own party have persuaded themselves that no deal at all is completely desirable, which causes European leaders to doubt whether she is able to produce a clear picture of where she eventually wants to go and whether she is able to produce a majority here for any agreement they have with her Has the Prime Minister considered appointing some trusted Minister—she may have already done so—to make approaches to leading Opposition Members to see whether they will live up to some of the things the Leader of the Opposition appears to say, and perhaps to do better, so that we can have consensus in this Parliament, in the national interest, at least on the outline of a transitional deal that will enable us to negotiate final details and arrangements that the majority of this House could agree are in the long-term interests of the United Kingdom?
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-10-23
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): That sounds rather like a job application It is clear from my interaction with European leaders that they recognise that the vision I set out in the Florence speech—for a deep and special partnership for the future, and also for an implementation period—did bring clarity on the thinking of the United Kingdom. The 27 have agreed that it is now for them to consider what they want to see from the future of that relationship so that the next stage of negotiations can begin.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-10-23
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): First, may I say to the right hon. Gentleman that I have spoken to Prime Minister Rajoy on the issue of Catalonia on a number of occasions, including when I saw him at the European Council? We are absolutely clear that the referendum had no legal basis. We want to see people upholding the rule of law and upholding the Spanish constitution On the wider issue the right hon. Gentleman talks about—the future relationship of the United Kingdom with the European Union—I have set out the vision we have for that. As I have just said in answer to the Leader of the Opposition, the EU27 will now be looking at their vision for this. I am sorry to have to repeat again to the right hon. Gentleman, because he has raised this issue in the past, that full membership of the single market and of the customs union go with the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice and freedom of movement, and they were issues that were voted against when people voted to leave the European Union. They would effectively mean that we would remain in the European Union, and we are going to leave in March 2019.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-10-23
Topic: Foreign Trade
George Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): May I say to my right hon. Friend that she may wish to answer some of those who want certainty by reminding them that you cannot have agreement on an implementation period until you have something to implement? That is first and foremost. Secondly, during the course of her private discussions, —the ones that the acting President of the European Union, Martin Selmayr, has not put into the papers—did she remind her colleagues in the European Union that to reach a proper free trade arrangement they will need to have concluded those discussions before the summer of next year, otherwise it will be difficult to get things through in time, both in the European Union and here? Did she get an answer, therefore, about when they might like to start?
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-10-23
Topic: Foreign Trade
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my right hon. Friend, because he is absolutely right; as we have said on a number of occasions, the point of the implementation period is to put in place the practical changes necessary to move to the future partnership, and in order to have that you need to know what that future partnership is going to be. Obviously, in my discussions with other leaders I have raised the issue of the timetable we have, and of course the ultimate timetable that was set by the Lisbon treaty. He talks about knowing the details of the trade deal by next summer. Of course Michel Barnier himself has suggested that October 2018 might be the point at which it would be necessary to know that, but my right hon. Friend is absolutely right that of course there will need to be a period of time for ratification of any future arrangements by the various national Parliaments—and, as we know, this can be more than one in some of the countries concerned.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-10-23
Topic: Foreign Trade
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): This is a negotiation and there will be different levels of detail at different stages of the negotiation. I have set out the vision for our future partnership and, as I have said in response to a number of remarks now, what happened at this European Council was that the EU27 agreed that they will now start the work of preparing their vision of what that future partnership will be, so that when we come to open those trade negotiations formally both sides have got that agenda and clearly know what those negotiations will cover.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-10-23
Topic: Foreign Trade
John Alan Redwood (Conservative, Centre-right): Given business’s understandable wish to deal with uncertainty, does the Prime Minister agree that the best course for a business that trades with Europe would be to prepare for a smooth transition to World Trade Organisation terms, which the Government can and will guarantee unilaterally, but to expect the Prime Minister to have good luck in bringing back something better?
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-10-23
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): It is absolutely right and important that business prepares for a smooth and orderly move to the future relationship we have. That is why I have proposed an implementation period, which I believe is in the interests of businesses not only in the United Kingdom but in the European Union. As my right hon. Friend says, we are working to get the good deal that will also be not just in our interests but in the interests of the EU27.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-10-23
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): As I just said in my response to my right hon. Friend the Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Mr Duncan Smith), an implementation period is about a period of adjustment to the future relationship. That is the basis on which I have put it forward to the European Union, and that is the basis on which we will be negotiating an agreement on it.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-10-23
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): As my hon. Friend knows, I have been clear that one of the intentions of people who voted for the UK to leave the EU was to ensure that in future the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice no longer covered the United Kingdom. We will of course have to negotiate the basis of the implementation period. If we are going to ensure that we have the greatest possible certainty for business during that period, it will be necessary for us to see as little change during that period as is commensurate with that certainty for business. Indeed, one of the purposes of the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill is to bring the EU acquis—the EU law—into UK law to give that certainty to businesses and individuals here.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-10-23
Topic: Technology
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): The United Kingdom continues to lead in the debate on the creation of the digital single market. We believe that it is important for the EU27 and it is important for the UK in or out of the European Union. We will therefore continue to encourage the completion of the digital single market while we are members of the European Union. It will be important for us, once we have left the EU, that that digital single market has been created. We will forge a new relationship and partnership with it.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-10-23
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): We have of course been engaging with and listening to business. I was clear that the implementation period was something that business was very keen on having to ensure that businesses had that smooth and orderly process of withdrawal, but we are in a negotiation with the EU27, and it is important to remember as part of that negotiation that we want to get a good deal for the United Kingdom, but the best way to get a bad deal for the UK is to say that we will accept anything that they give us, regardless. We have to be clear that we are working for a good deal, and I am optimistic about that because we have made some progress and I believe that the good deal we are seeking is in the interests of both sides.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-10-23
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): I set out in my Florence speech the concept of the implementation period, and, of course, we have to discuss that with the EU27. I am confident that we will get a good deal precisely because getting a good deal is not just in our interests, but in the interests of the EU27 of the remaining European Union. That is what we are working for, and that is what our effort is going into.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-10-23
Topic: International Affairs
Edward Julian Egerton Leigh (Conservative, Centre-right): May I commend the Prime Minister’s approach based on the Florence speech, which is entirely sensible, pragmatic and moderate? Given that we are being entirely open about our negotiating tactics, which is that no European nation, or indeed any European citizens, should be worse off, may I encourage her to be more transparent and open with Parliament on the figures? I know that the reserve position of Whitehall is that Parliament is a nuisance, but what else was Brexit about except reviving parliamentary democracy? We still have no idea what we have offered or what is being demanded. We could do with some more information because, ultimately, there will be a vote on this in the House and that will be a vote that counts.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-10-23
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): Of course we have said that there will be a vote on the deal in this House and we expect that vote to take place before the European Parliament votes on the deal. I have also said—I said this in my Lancaster House speech in January—that when we are able to make information available, we will do so. As my hon. Friend and others may recall, I also said that we will not give a running commentary on the details of the negotiations. We must not put this country in a position where we set out publicly everything that we are looking for in these negotiations, because that just hands the cards to the other side. This is a negotiation, and both sides will have to move on it.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-10-23
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): The premise of the right hon. Gentleman’s question is false. He seems to be suggesting that the purpose of the Government’s negotiations is to, somehow, engineer a no-deal scenario; it is not. In terms of our future relationship with the European Union, we are working towards a deal and a good, deep and special partnership that covers both trade and security.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-10-23
Topic: International Affairs
Nicky Morgan (Conservative, Centre-right): May I follow that up? The tenor of the Prime Minister’s negotiations last week and of her statement in the House today is very much, as she says, to seek a creative and pragmatic approach to a new, deep and special partnership. "Partnership" is the key word, is it not, because no partnership would be possible without dialogue within this House, with our European neighbours, with our fellow member states and within the Cabinet? Will she assure us that those talks will continue and that she will not listen to those, unfortunately sometimes on these Benches, who want talks to stop and us to go on to WTO rules?
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-10-23
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): I can assure my right hon. Friend that the negotiations are continuing. As I have said, we want to ensure, as we are doing, that we work towards getting a good deal. The purpose of my Florence speech was to set out a vision for that deep and special partnership in the future, and it is that partnership that the Government are working towards.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-10-23
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): There are a number of areas where agreement has been reached, such as payments on pensions and healthcare arrangements for both EU citizens here in the UK and UK citizens in the EU. There are a small number of areas where we have yet to reach agreement but, as I said in my statement, it is clear from both sides—from the UK and from Michel Barnier and the European Union—that we can see the shape of that deal and that we are within touching distance of getting there.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-10-23
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): It is very important that all sides are clear that we must ensure that the Belfast agreement is put into place, recognised and respected in its entirety. It is also important that we ensure that the peace programmes that have been possible through our membership of the European Union can continue. When it comes to resolving the issue of the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic, it will be for us to work with the Republic of Ireland Government and the European Union more generally to find a solution that we all want to see, whereby there is no physical infrastructure at the border and no return to the borders of the past.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-10-23
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend for the confidence that he has shown in me. I am sure that all members of our party want to ensure that we get the best possible deal for the United Kingdom. That is what the Government are working to, and I look forward to everyone on the Conservative Benches supporting us.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-10-23
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): As it happens, on this occasion, Russia was not one of the subjects on the agenda of the European Union Council. As I say, we did discuss a number of foreign policy issues—North Korea and Turkey were on the agenda, but Russia was not.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-10-23
Topic: International Affairs
Julian Murray Lewis (Conservative, Centre-right): If our EU friends were to demand a sum of, say, £1 trillion, rather than £100 billion, the position of the Opposition would have to be to accept that, because they would not walk away under any circumstances. Given that the Government would walk away under unacceptable circumstances of that sort, can the Prime Minister reassure us that all necessary preparations will be made so that we can walk away without a deal if we need to, which will, of course, maximise the prospect of getting a good deal and not having to walk away?
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-10-23
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): Can I say to my right hon. Friend that, indeed, we are ensuring that the Government are preparing for all contingencies? That is a sensible, pragmatic approach for any Government to take. Of course, we are working for a deal, as I have set out in answer to earlier questions. Can I also thank my right hon. Friend for very graphically illustrating the position that has been taken by the Labour party, which is that it would simply pay any price for a deal, whatever?
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-10-23
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): No, the hon. Lady obviously failed to recognise the progress that was made at the European Union Council and the decision that was taken—that the EU27 will now be preparing their position in the negotiations on the future partnership and an implementation period in the lead-up to that partnership. In the Florence speech, I set out our vision for what that future partnership would look like, and it is now for them to look at what they believe that partnership should be in the future, and that is exactly what they are doing.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-10-23
Topic: Foreign Trade
Owen William Paterson (Conservative, Centre-right): Last year, the European Union had a surplus with us of £71.8 billion. A report last week said that if we moved to tariffs, the German auto industry alone would lose 29,000 jobs. Was there any realisation at all, during my right hon. Friend’s discussions, of the impact of not discussing free trade arrangements, because it is massively in the interests of our partners to maintain reciprocal free trade? Do they understand that they would lose far more if we moved to WTO than we would?
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-10-23
Topic: Foreign Trade
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): It is very clear that, across the European Union, it is recognised that we need to look at what a trade relationship in the future might be, precisely because, as I, my right hon. Friend and others have said, this is not just about the United Kingdom’s future position; it is also about jobs in the economies in the EU27. As I say, the EU27 are now looking at what they think that partnership could be for the future, and, of course, as I am sure my right hon. Friend is aware, there are a number of organisations on the continent now starting to talk about the importance of this relationship for their businesses in the future.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-10-23
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): The intention of the implementation period is, as far as possible, to ensure that there is not a cliff edge so that people are able to operate on the same basis as they do at the moment as they put in place the necessary changes leading up to the future partnership. Of course, that implementation period, which is now going to be looked at by the EU27, will be part of future negotiations.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-10-23
Topic: International Affairs
John Flasby Lawrance Whittingdale (Conservative, Centre-right): Does my right hon. Friend agree with the Committee on Exiting the European Union that it would be in the best interests of both sides if we could conduct the negotiations on the divorce settlement in parallel with those on our new relationship? Does she therefore agree further that any flexibility on the size of our exit payment must be linked to flexibility in other areas to be negotiated?
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-10-23
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): I, and the Government, have been very clear that the whole question of the financial settlement cannot be finally settled until we know what the future partnership will be. It is not that we are going to sign up to a deal and then negotiate what that future partnership will be, so once the formal negotiations on the future of the trade relationship, and of course the security relationship, have started, there will continue to be negotiations on issues which were initially identified as being in phase 1.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-10-23
Topic: International Affairs
Stephen Crabb (Conservative, Centre-right): Does my right hon. Friend agree that the progress achieved at the Council meeting demonstrates again that there is a weight of logic on both sides, both ours and the EU’s, that lends itself to a deal being done? Will she reassure the House that in the important weeks ahead every ounce of effort will be marshalled right across members of her Government to achieve that end?
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-10-23
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): I absolutely agree with my right hon. Friend that this is in both our interests. I can reassure him that Government as a whole, collectively across every Department, are putting the necessary effort into looking at what legislation we need to bring forward but also at preparing for all eventualities once these negotiations have finished. The whole effort of Government is being put into this.