David Davis's evidence to the Brexit committee - Summary
Here are the key points from David Davis’s evidence to the Brexit committee.
- Davis, the Brexit secretary, said the government would not publish the Brexit plan it promised last week until February at the earliest. Asked when it would come, he said:
It won’t be next month. The policy work is still underway; there are quite a few decisions still to be made.
We’ve carried out or are in the midst of carrying out about 57, I think, sectoral analyses, each of which has implications for individual parts of 85% of the economy, and some of those are still to be concluded; we have work still to be done on justice and home affairs, so there is a fair number of things still to do. So it will be as soon as we’re ready.
- He said that he would back a transitional deal, provided it was about “implementation”. Davis and others have said Brexit could involve two forms of transitional deal: an implementation deal, that would bridge the gap between the end of the two-year Brexit talks and the start of a final new trade arrangement; or a transition period to extend the exit talks following the failure to agree a final deal in two years. Davis said he could see the case for the first sort of deal.
Whatever the transitional arrangement is, we need to know where we’re going before we decide on the transition. If you build a bridge, you need to have both sides established before you build the bridge. So we need to know where we’re going; it seems to me perfectly possible to know what the end game will be within two years.
When pressed on whether he would agree to a transitional deal, he said: “An implementation phase? If it is necessary and only if it is necessary.”
On Monday, in evidence to the Commons Treasury committee, Philip Hammond, the chancellor, said there should be a transitional deal. But, unlike Davis, Hammond hinted that he would favour a transitional deal even if it were only a ‘creating extra time’ one.
- Davis raised the possibility of article 50 (the process that starts the two-year withdrawal process) being revoked. He stressed that he did not see this as at all likely, but he did not say it was impossible. He said:
It is very, very difficult to see [article 50] being revoked. We don’t intend to revoke it, and it may not be revocable, I don’t know.
This is significant because until now the government has insisted that article 50 cannot be revoked, even though many experts, including the person who drafted it, say it could be revoked if EU leaders decided that is what they wanted. The situation is ambiguous because article 50 was never expected to be used, and so it is silent on the subject of whether or not it can be reversed.
- Davis said he thought it was possible to conclude the entire Brexit talks, covering withdrawal and a new trade relationship, within a year and a half. (Officially two years is available, but in practice the commission has said the talks will have to be concluded within 18 months, to allow time for ratification.) He said the public wanted this done quickly.
The British people want this done with some degree of expedition, they want it done properly and soon and that is what we are trying to do.
Michel Barnier, the European commission’s Brexit negotiator, has said that he thinks the UK has to negotiate EU withdrawal before it negotiates its new trade arrangement with the EU, not in parallel as Davis wants.
- Davis suggested that details of Britain’s new immigration rules might not be decided until after Brexit. The talks would just focus on ensuring Britain gets control of immigration, he said. How immigration rules would then work would not be part of the negotiation, he suggested.
- He refused to say whether the government’s Brexit “plan”, when published, would take the form of a white paper. And he refused to say how long it would be, or whether it was more likely to cover just two pages, or run to about 40. He said he had to decide on the content first. He would only publish information that would not undermine the government’s negotiating position.
- He refused to commit the government to giving MPs a vote on the Brexit plan.
- He said the government was determined to keep the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland open and that Norway/Sweden might provide a model for how this could be done.
There is an example of how that might be done that the committee might look at, the Norway/Sweden border. They are both in the single market but they straddle the customs union. And it’s a very open border, with particular arrangements designed to make the border a free border.
Davis said he was optimistic that the EU would be helpful on this point. Barnier raised it with him when they met, he said. He also dismissed the idea that not having border controls at the Northern Ireland/Ireland border could allow people to evade UK border controls.
There are 50m people land at British airports every year. It is a very long-winded way to get into the UK to come via Dublin.
Instead, he hinted that a solution might involve the Irish beefing up their own security.
I also went to Dublin. They were equally keen to maintain this, and we may well have discussions with them at some point about their own incoming security, so that we’ve got some watchlist-type thing there. But that’s for them to decide, not me.
- He said the government was looking at four possible options for the UK’s relationship with the customs union. They were: being fully in; fully out; a partially inside Turkish model of being inside the customs union but outside the single market; and a Swiss model of being outside the customs union but with customs arrangements.
- He confirmed that, if Britain had a trade deal with the EU, it would have to follow the decisions of an external arbitration body. Hilary Benn, the committee chairman, suggested this undermined leave claims that leaving was about taking back control. But Davis said a trade arbitration body would only cover trade, unlike the European court of justice.
- He said that in future he might brief the Brexit committee in private on the government’s plans.
- He said that he expected his department to be wound up within two and a half years.
That’s all from me for today.
Thanks for the comments.
Updated
Here’s a line from the evidence I missed about 15 minutes ago.
David Davis tells MPs govt doesn't know if Article 50 process can be stopped once it starts - whether its 'revocable'
— Laura Kuenssberg (@bbclaurak) December 14, 2016
Summary coming soon ...
Hilary Benn is wrapping up.
Q: Will the great repeal bill be published in draft?
Davis says he cannot give that assurance, but he will write to Benn about that.
Q: Can you commit to giving parliament a vote on the final Brexit deal?
Davis says the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act covers this, and that the government will obey the law to the letter.
And that’s it. The hearing is over.
I’ll post a summary soon.
Labour’s Seema Malhotra goes next.
Davis says ministers in his department have seen 130 companies to discuss Brexit since the summer. In other departments ministers have seen companies too.
He is trying to work out what the problems are in each area. He asks people to quantify the problems, and to propose solutions.
Q: Could the government cut corporation tax or regulations to make the UK a more attractive location, if the European commission tries to punish us?
Davis says Gove makes a good point, but that he is not a natural mercantilist.
The Conservative Michael Gove goes next.
Q: It is sometime said that the European commission will want to punish the UK to stop other countries leaving. What is the worst that they could do?
Davis says he does not want to give them ideas.
Labour’s Pat McFadden goes next.
Q: Is the government still committed to getting net migration below 100,000?
Davis says the prime minister and the home secretary have said this is still the goal. But they have stressed this will take time.
Q: Is is reasonable for people to expect this target to be met?
Davis said it is reasonable to expect this to happen “but over time”.
Here is the start of the Press Association story about the hearing.
Brexit Secretary David Davis has said he is ready to accept a transitional arrangement to implement the terms of Britain’s withdrawal from the EU “if it’s necessary and only if it’s necessary”.
And he indicated that the government is working on four possible outcomes from the Brexit talks in relation to the European Customs Union.
These range from being fully or partially inside the Union to having a free trade agreement and customs arrangement with the remaining EU to being “completely outside”.
Chancellor Philip Hammond said earlier this week that businesses, regulators and “thoughtful” politicians on both sides of the Channel recognised that a transition deal would be “generally helpful” to avoid the shock of a sudden cliff-edge switch to new arrangements post-Brexit.
But Davis told MPs on the Commons Exiting the EU committee that voters wanted Brexit delivered “properly and soon”.
“A transitional arrangement means many things to different people,” said Davis.
“An implementation phase? If it is necessary and only if it is necessary.
“But the British people want this done with some degree of expedition, they want it done properly and soon and that is what we are trying to do.”
Joking that “I hope you can classify me as a thoughtful politician”, the Brexit secretary said he believed Hammond’s comment related to politicians in other EU states.
On the spectrum of possible outcomes being considered by the government, he said: “The four I have in mind are inside the Customs Union; a ‘partially inside’ Turkish model; outside with a free trade agreement and a customs arrangement; and completely outside.”
Davis revealed that the Government’s plan for Brexit will not be published before February.
MPs voted last week for the plan to be made public before the triggering of two-year withdrawal talks under article 50 of the EU treaties, which prime minister Theresa May has said she will evoke by the end of March.
Asked when MPs and voters can expect to see the plan, Davis said: “As soon as we can, once all of the research and policy is completed.
“It won’t be next month. The policy work is still under way, there are quite a few decisions still to be made.”
And he made clear that - while he wanted to be “as open as we can” in revealing the government’s intentions - May will continue to hold some of the UK’s cards close to her chest.
“We have got to be careful about what we do publish,” said Davis.
“I want to be as open as we can be, but we must be sure we are not undermining our own position.”
The Conservative Alistair Burt goes next.
Q: You talked about a closed session with the committee earlier. So will you come back to brief us in a closed session?
Possibly, says Davis.
He says sometimes in these negotiations information is sensitive, and needs to be kept private, for a few days.
Q: Is it helpful to you for MPs to tweak the tail of the EU by writing letters. (That is a reference to this letter from Tory MPs.)
Davis says he is far too much of a pro to answer a question like this.
(In other words, he won’t be drawn into slagging off his colleagues.)
Hilary Benn goes next.
Q: Would a trade deal involve the UK having to accept the verdict of an arbitration body?
Yes, says Davis.
Q: So what is the difference between being subject to that, and being subject to the European court of justice?
Davis says one just affects trade, while the ECJ has an impact on what happens in the UK.
- Davis says after Brexit UK may still be bound by the decisions of an international arbitration body.
Q: Could we end up with an immigration system that gives preferential treatment to EU citizens?
Davis says the government has to respect the outcome of the referendum. Parliament must take back control of immigration.
Q: Could you differentiate between low-skilled immigration and high-skilled immigration?
Davis says this will not necessarily have to be decided before the UK leaves.
- Davis suggests full details of new immigration rules may not be decided until after Brexit.
Q: Will avoiding falling back on WTO terms be an explicit goal? And will the article 50 letter say that?
Davis says he is still thinking of what to say in the article 50 letter, and whether to make it long or short.
Q: Do you know what the other side expects? Do they expect much detail?
Davis says he has an idea what they expect. But he will not say more.
Q: The Canadian free trade agreement took seven years.
Davis says in most free trade agreements people spend a lot of time negotiating over common standards. With the UK and the EU, standards will be identical on the day of separation.
Other agrements also have an “entry into force” period, a harmonisation period. That is another problem the UK will not have.
That is why he thinks a trade deal can be struck in two years.
- Davis says he thinks a trade deal can be struck in two years, because the UK and the EU start from the same place.
Labour’s Emma Reynolds goes next.
Q: You told a Lords committee that these would be the most complicated negotiation of all time. So does that mean a “quickie divorce” taking six months would be impossible.
Davis says he wants the best possible access to EU markets, and the best possible security arrangements. He says it will not be possible to do this in six months.
Q: Will powers coming back to the UK be devolved?
Davis says his preference is for devolution where possible.
Plaid Cymru’s Jonathan Edwards goes next.
Q: Will this committee have time to scrutinise the great repeal bill?
Davis says he cannot give that assurance. There will be a timetabling issue.
He says there will be consequential legislation following on from it, some primary and some secondary.
Q: If the government then wants to get rid of bits of EU law?
Davis says if this involves significant changes, there will be primary legislation.
Q: How long will the plan be?
Davis says he does not know. He has to decide first what he can put in it without compromising the negotiating position.
Q: A couple of pages? Around 40 pages?
Davis says he cannot say.
Davis declines to commit government to giving MPs a vote on Brexit plan
Labour’s Stephen Timms goes next.
Q: You said you could not confirm the plan would be a white paper. Could it be?
Davis says he wants to work out what the content will be first, before deciding the format.
Q: If it were not a white paper, what status would it have?
Davis says he does not know.
The public care about the content, not the format.
Q: Would it be put out to consultation?
Davis says there would be a debate on it.
Q: Do you think having objectives endorsed by parliament will strengthen the hands of ministers in talks.
Davis says he does not think that will be a major factor.
He says the collective interests of both sides will be key.
Q: Wouldn’t it help to have a document backed by parliament.
Davis says he can see where Timms is going, and will not go there. (Davis is referring to the possibility of a Commons vote.)
- Davis declines to commit government to giving MPs a vote on the Brexit plan.
The Conservative Peter Lilley goes next.
Q: Once article 50 has been triggered, how will it be sequenced?
Davis says that has not been addressed yet.
Q: Article 50 implies that you cannot negotiate withdrawal until you know what the framework for the future relationship will be.
Davis says Lilley is making a good point. He will talk to Michel Barnier about this. He has known him for 20 years. He will be a “tough negotiator”, but he wants the best outcome for the UK and the EU.
Q: Do EU states see this as the UK sailing away from the convoy, while the EU carries on as normal?
Davis says it varies. The ministers he has seen regret the UK leaving, because the UK supports a certain viewpoint in the EU.
Q: What do other EU countries think about the fact their citizens have not been offered a referendum?
Davis said this is a particular worry for the commission. That has led to an - “aggressive” is the wrong word, but a view that the UK cannot do to well out of Brexit.
- Davis said European commission is worried about other countries following the UK out of the EU.
The Conservative John Whittingdale goes next.
Q: Is it right that UKRep in Brussels reports to you?
Davis says UKRep (British officials who liaise with the EU) report to the Foreign Office on bilateral matter, but to his department on general matters.
Hilary Benn steps in.
Q: Gibraltar already has a special status. It is not part of the customs union.
That’s right, says Davis
Q: Can you have a deal giving Gibraltar and Northern Ireland separate arrangements?
Davis said he would be “loath” to go down that route. Northern Ireland sees itself as part of the UK. And Gibraltar too.
Q: What assurances were given to Nissan?
Davis says Greg Clark, the business secretary, is giving evidence to a committee this afternoon. Clark knows the detail.
He says the government did not promise to compensate Nissan for the impact of any tariffs. That would be illegal.
Davis says Michel Barnier is “an old sparring partner” of his.
He says Barnier is aware of the importance of finding a solution to the Irish border problem.
He says he does not think people would try to use Dublin as a route for coming into the UK. That would be a very long-winded way of coming into the country.
Davis suggests that Dublin government might operate some sort of "watchlist" for U.K. Government to enable free soft land border to continue
— Faisal Islam (@faisalislam) December 14, 2016
Updated
Q: Are there any limits to how much you would pay into the single market?
Davis says that saying something is an option is not the same as saying the government will do it.
The SNP’s Joanna Cherry goes next.
Q: What are your objectives?
Davis says the government wants to respect the views of the people, in terms of taking back control of laws, borders and money.
It also wants the best outcome on trade.
And it wants the best outcome on security, replicating as closely as possible the current arrangements.
Q: Do you want to stay in the single market?
Davis says the government wants maximum possible access to the single market.
People often conflate access and membership. What matters is access, he says.
Q: What is going to happen about Gibraltar?
Davis says the government has made it clear that it will always respect the wishes of the people of Gibraltar on sovereignty.
Davis says the government will not give one part of the country a veto. But it wants to ensure that every country gets the best possible option.
Davis likening Brexit to chess: "I can only tell you about the opening, not the end game or the mid game" depends on others... @Kasparov63
— Faisal Islam (@faisalislam) December 14, 2016
Davis says in future he may brief Brexit committee in private on government's Brexit plans
Alistair Carmichael, the Lib Dem MP, goes next.
Q: When you told MPs that you were considering paying for access to the single market, did you mean past a transitional deal?
Davis says at this stage he wants to keep all his options open. So when he says he is not ruling something out, he is not ruling it in either.
He says near the time when the talks starts, he may be able to give the committee more information. But he might brief it in a closed session, he says.
- Davis says he may brief Brexit committee in private on the government’s plans in the future.
Davis says the government is still talking to the pharmaceutical industry about what to do about the European Medicines Agency, which is based in London.
Davis says it is relatively easy to work out the impact of tariffs. It is harder to work out the impact of something like the loss of passporting rights for City firms.
Jeremy Lefroy, a Conservative, goes next.
Q: How much emphasis are you putting on relations with EU countries?
Davis says he is slightly constrained by the European commission’s refusal to allow formal talks before the Brexit process starts.
But he has been meeting fellow EU ministers, he says.
He says Crispin Blunt got into trouble last week for saying no plan survives contact with the enemy. People were right to object to the idea of EU leaders being enemies. But Blunt was right about the fact the Brexit plan will need to adjusted as the negotiations go on.
Davis says the government is talking to the devolved bodies about problems that matter particularly to them.
For example, for the UK agriculture accounts for about 1.5% of the workforce. But in Northern Ireland it is 9%.
Maria Caulfield, a Conservative, is asking the questions now.
Davis says a committee called JMC (EN) has been set up - joint ministerial committee (European negotiations). That allows the government to coordinate with the devolved administrations.
Davis said that the the government is looking at the Norway/Sweden border as a possible model for how the border could work between Ireland and Northern Ireland.
.. Also on Customs Union specifically, Davis says Govt is not looking at a different option for Northern Ireland to help avoid hard border
— Faisal Islam (@faisalislam) December 14, 2016
Updated
Q: Will there be a contingency plan for if the UK has to leave the EU without a trade deal?
Davis said that is not what the government wants. But it is making contingency plans for different options.
Davis says he would back a transitional deal covering Brexit “implementation”
Davis says he would support a transitional deal if it covered the “implementation phase” - ie, if it is clear what the final outcome will be.
He says, if the UK has two years to negotiate Brexit, it should be possible within that time to know where the UK is going.
- Davis says he would back a transitional deal covering Brexit “implementation”.
Q: Philip Hammond said on Monday thoughtful politicians wanted a transitional deal. Are you one?
Davis says he hopes people would see him as thoughtful.
On the subject of a transitional deal, he says the government wants a smooth Brexit, with the maximum access to the single market and the minimum disruption.
Q: Will it be a white paper?
Davis says the government will decide the format nearer the time?
Davis says government’s Brexit plan will not be published until February at earliest
Hilary Benn, the committee chair, asks when the government will publish its Brexit plan.
It will be as soon as the government is ready, Davis says. But it won’t be next month.
- Davis says government’s Brexit plan will not be published until February at the earliest.
Davis says the DeXEU department is doing 57 studies covering 85% of the economy, which is why plan not finished yet
— Faisal Islam (@faisalislam) December 14, 2016
Updated
David Davis questioned by Commons Brexit committee
David Davis, the Brexit secretary, is about to give evidence to the Commons Brexit committee. It is his first appearance before them.
As a curtain raiser, here is an extract from the memo the Financial Times published last week, written by someone from the City of London Corporation, summarising a meeting it had with Davis in November. This is the summary.
David Davis is bullish and not receptive to negative special pleading. He sees Brexit as a positive opportunity. But he is not close-minded. Well-constructed, factual solutions to problems can be made to him and he will be receptive. He is enjoying his role and appears to have a decent relationship with the prime minister. If anything he sees himself as a more flexible-minded problem solver than her. We can engage him but it needs to be in a way that he responds to positively.
Updated
May v Corbyn at PMQs - End of year verdict
In the arts it is not unusual for people to find nothing ever quite lives up to the success of their first novel or album. Theresa May’s prime ministerial career probably has quite a long way to go, but at the moment she’s still struggling from the fact that none of her PMQs have been quite as impressive as her debut.
It is not that she’s bad. After her first outing, and her astute “remind him of anybody?” line (which, intentionally or not, contained a clever double entendre about her and Margaret Thatcher, as well as being about Jeremy Corbyn and bad bosses), May persisted with jokes for several of her PMQs, but found that they tended to fall flat. Now she has settled on a more restrained, workmanlike style. She has authority, she knows her brief (which is not always the same as having an answer) and she can avoid obvious traps relatively easily. Corbyn has managed to get the better of her on several occasions, by highlighting problems to which the government does not have a good response, but he has never once left her looking hopeless, or not up to the task of being prime minister.
But that doesn’t mean that 2016 hasn’t been a good year for Corbyn at PMQs. He is looking far more comfortable in this arena now than he ever was when he was up against David Cameron and in recent weeks he has often had May on the defensive. He is never particularly good at the witty or forensic come-back, but he has been focusing on important issues and asking relevant, pertinent questions. His whole approach to PMQs seems more disciplined than it used to be. The longer governments stay in power, the more things tend to go wrong and Corbyn has been helped by the fact that, on issues like grammar schools, health and social care, May has been vulnerable. He also benefits from the fact that May has little or no appetite for the harsh, alpha male leadership bragging that Cameron used to engage in. (It was never edifying, but in a crude way it often worked.) Corbyn does not put in dazzling performances at PMQs, and he probably never will. But there was a period when he was clearly failing in this arena, and that is no longer the case.
Overall, then, neither May nor Corbyn has achieved a mastery of PMQs, but they are both doing okay. For Corbyn, considering where he was a year ago, that counts as a success. May herself has also come a long way in the last 12 months, but she may be hoping to find a surer touch at the despatch box in 2017.
As usual, I missed the questions from Angus Robertson, the SNP leader at Westminster, because I was writing up the snap verdict. So here they are.
Robertson asked about arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
In the last 24 hours the US has stopped the supply of precision guided munitions to Saudi Arabia to bomb Yemen. When will the UK follow suit?
May gave the standard government response.
We do have a very strict regime of export licences in relation to weapons here in the UK, we exercise that very carefully and in recent years we have indeed refused export licences in relation to arms, including to Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
Robertson then pressed her on the same point.
The UK has licensed £3.3bn worth of arms to Saudi Arabia since the beginning of the bombing campaign. What will it take for the UK to adopt an ethical foreign policy when it comes to Yemen?
In her response, May said that the Saudi intervention in Yemen had UN backing and she stressed the importance of Britain’s security relationship with Saudi Arabia.
We do have a relationship with Saudi Arabia, the security of the gulf is important ... The intelligence we get from Saudi Arabia has saved potentially hundreds of lives here in the UK.
I’ve taken the quotes from PoliticsHome.
That’s it. PMQs is meant to last half an hour. John Bercow, the Speaker, has now managed to extend its length by 50%.
Philip Davies, a Conservative, says by 2020 the aid budget will be £15bn a year. Will May take some money from their to help elderly people in this country.
May says it is important for the UK to spend money on helping people around the world. The record this government has on overseas aid spending is second to none. We should all be proud of that. We have a moral responsibility, she says.
Tim Farron, the Lib Dem leader, says every day since Brexit has been a good day to bury bad news since Brexit. Yesterday the health secretary said the NHS needed more money. But there was no extra money for health and social care in the autumn statement.
May says Farron should wait for the communities secretary’s statement tomorrow.
Sir Hugo Swire, a Conservative, says most of the better care fund money will not be available until 2019. Will the government make it available earlier?
May says the communities secretary will make a statement on this tomorrow.
The Green MP Caroline Lucas says May does not understand how much pain rail travellers in Brighton are suffering. Chris Grayling has no intention of dealing with this. Will she sack him and ensure GTR loses its franchise?
May lists the measures being taken to help travellers. But she says only one body is responsible for the current strike: Aslef. Lucas should condemn Aslef, she says.
Lucy Frazer, a Conservative, asks what steps are being taken to tackle racial hatred. She mentions hundreds of racists turning up to a rally in a village in her constituency. (That seems to be this case.)
May says the Home Office has done a lot to combat racial hatred.
Labour’s Gisela Stuart says she wants to guarantee the rights of EU citizens in the UK. This will be the largest administrative task the Home Office has ever undertaken.
May says she also wants to protect the rights of EU citizens in the UK.
Derek Thomas, a Conservative, asks about a lifeboat tragedy in Mousehole 35 years ago.
May says everyone in the Commons would want to pay tribute to the RNLI.
Updated
Mike Weir, the SNP MP, asks about the EU scheme that protects food associated with place names, like the Arbroath smokie.
May says this will be considered during the Brexit process.
Labour’s Justin Madders says the Conservatives said they would let people veto excessive council tax rises. Yet the government’s new social care policy means this promise has been broken, because the government is not funding care properly.
May says Conservative councils like her local one in Windsor and Maidenhead are keeping council bills low.
Robert Jenrick, a Conservative, says he has had a text message from his colleague Nick Boles, who is ill. This is one he is happy to have read out. (A joke about Boles’ texts during the Tory leadership contest.) He wants to ensure his local hospital A&E stays open.
May says she wishes Boles well. The process taking place in his Grantham constituency is about listening to what people want from the NHS, and about deciding what is best for the community.
Labour’s Lucy Powell asks if May agrees with George Osborne that what is happening in Syria is a failure of Western leadership.
May says we must all take responsibility for the actions we take, whether in government or as MPs. The UK has been pushing for action in the UN security council, she says. The most recent meeting took place yesterday. Russia has vetoed six security council resolutions, he says.
Anna Soubry, a Conservative, says people accused of a criminal offence, but then cleared, cannot be compensated for the effect of having their name in the papers. Does May agree with the Met police commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe that the law should be changed so that, in most cases, people cannot be named until they are charged.
May says normally people should not be named. This is a delicate issue. The College of Policing is looking at this and will produce new guidance for the media in the new year, she says.
The SNP’s Ian Blackford says mobile coverage in the UK is worse than in Romania. In the Highlands it would often be better to use carrier pigeon.
May says the issue of decent mobile coverage does not just affect the Highlands. The government has very strong commitments in relation to this.
Helen Whately, a Conservative, asks for a ban on lorries parking in unauthorised places.
May says she is aware of the issue, particularly in Kent. The roads minister is looking at this.
Labour’s Nick Smith asks about “rip-off interest rates” on consumer goods, affecting people, for example, who need to buy furniture. Will the government cap them?
May says action has been taken in relation to some of these activities, but she will look at this.
Victoria Prentis, a Conservative, asks about Syria.
May congratulates those who took part in Singing for Syrians. The government is spending money on refugees. It will ensure humanitarian aid is put to good use.
Snap PMQs verdict:
Snap PMQs verdict: Corbyn had the better of the exchange, although not by a lot. His final question, the clip which will be used on the news, was clear and powerful and - doubtless to many people - unanswerable too. May seems to have been focusing more and more on social care in recent weeks and, whereas she gave the subject a brush-off answer just a few weeks ago, today she had a reasonably substantial answer about the government’s short-, medium- and long-term plans. She also, quite rightly, said that both parties have failed to address this properly in the past. But her transparent attempt to duck the question about social care budgets being cut in the last parliament allowed Corbyn to score a direct hit, and, although she promised that her government will be the first for decades to “get a grip” and address this properly, nothing the government has said (so far?) makes this pledge particularly credible.
Corbyn says the government has cut social care. And raising council tax has a different outcome in different parts of the country. In Windsor and Maidenhead it raises a lot of money. In Liverpool it raises less. This is a crisis for elderly people, he says. And it is a crisis for the NHS too. Why doesn’t May do something bold? Cancel the corporation tax cut and put the money into social care.
May says in Newcastle, quoted by Corbyn, there were almost no delayed discharges. That shows councils can deliver on the ground. Yet Ealing is very different. There is a 2--fold increase between the best and worst. That is not about money; that is about delivery.
Corbyn says the social care system is deep in crisis. The crisis was made in Downing Street, by the government. He quotes people saying the issue cannot be ducked. Why won’t May listen to those in local government, the King’s Fund, Conservative councillors. People are being led into a horrible, isolated life. The government should get a grip and fund social care properly.
May says governments have ducked this for too long. This government will get a grip, she says. She lists the various Labour government reports on this. Yet by 2009 they were still on another green paper. Thirteen years and no action whatever.
Corbyn says the government should take responsibility. How much was cut from social care in the last parliament.
May says the government is putting more money in. It accepts that pressures exisit. But this is not just about money. If we are going to give people the reassurance that they need, then a way forward has to be found.
Corbyn says £4.6bn was cut from the social care budget in the last parliament. And giving councils the power to raise 2% of council tax is a nonsense; it raises just 3% of the money needed for social care. Yet billions is being given away to corporations.
May says many councils have used the precept, and as a result more people are accessing care. Some Labour councils have not taken the chance to use the precept. She says when Labour was in government the secretary of state said there would be not a penny more for councils.
Jeremy Corbyn starts by wishing everyone, including those who work in the Commons, a happy Christmas.
He says Jo Cox will not be celebrating Christmas. He encourages people to download the Christmas charity song in memory of her.
May agrees. It is a very important cause. Cox was a fine member of this house, and would have carried on making a big contribution.
Corbyn thanks May. Social care is crucial, he says. It allows people to live with dignity. But 1.2m older people are not getting the care they need. Does May accept there is a crisis?
May says she has consistently said care is under pressure. More money is going into care through the better care fund, and that will be worth billions by the end of the parliament. Local authorities have the precept. And there are immediate pressures, which the communities secretary will address in a statement tomorrow. But it is also important to spread best practice. And a long-term solution is needed. That is what the government is working on - short-term problems, the medium term and the long term.
Amanda Milling, a Conservative, says her region has an ambitous future. How will the government’s plans help?
May says communities have a bright future. She will produce a modern industrial strategy. That prosperity must be spread.
Peter Dowd, the Labour MP, starts by wishing everyone happy Christmas. In the light of Boris Johnson’s display of foot in mouth disease, does May now accept that putting FO against his name should have been an instruction, not a job offer?
Theresa May also wishes everyone a happy Christmas. She will be back on Monday for a statement about the EU council meeting. Johnson is doing an “absolutely excellent job”. He is an FFS - a fine foreign secretary.
PMQs
Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question at PMQs.
#PMQs in 10 minutes. Questions on the Order Paper pic.twitter.com/21YMU3nZ9W
— John Rentoul (@JohnRentoul) December 14, 2016
Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, got the Andrew Neil treatment on the Daily Politics this morning. In her speech in the Syria debate yesterday she said the government should consider the use of “unmanned drones or GPS-guided parachutes” to deliver aid to civilians in Aleppo. Neil pointed out that Britain does not have unmanned drones that can deliver aid, or GPS-guided parachutes. Andy McDonald, the shadow transport secretary who is on the programme, did not challenge Neil on these points, but said Thornberry was stressing the importance of looking at all options.
Gordon Brown is calling for Rupert Murdoch’s proposed takeover of Sky to be blocked until the second part of the Leveson inquiry has been carried out, my colleague Jane Martinson reports.
Here is an extract from the story.
Having given evidence to the first part of the Leveson inquiry, Brown says that evidence of wrongdoing beyond phone hacking has still not been properly investigated. “It’s very important that this is aired now,” he told the Guardian.
In his letter to Bradley, Brown argues that there is a “new body of evidence” about the extent of abuses beyond voicemail interception, which include impersonation or “blagging”, email hacking, burglary and unauthorised access to confidential records, and make the need for the promised follow-up “unanswerable”.
The new information cited by Brown in his letter has been gathered by the investigative journalist Peter Jukes and Hacked Off, which acts for victims of press abuse. It is expected to be submitted to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on Wednesday. It includes fresh evidence involving Mazher Mahmood, the undercover reporter currently serving a 15-month sentence after being found guilty of tampering with evidence in the collapsed drug trial of the singer Tulisa Contostavlos.
Karen Bradley, the culture secretary, is consulting on whether or not to go ahead with part two of Leveson, the proposed inquiry into the specifics of phone hacking at News of the World and elsewhere. Brown may have a strong argument, but most commentators think that the chances of the government wanting to provoke another fight with Murdoch, and the press generally, by going ahead with Leveson two are close to zero.
Sadiq Khan, the major of London, has released figures showing that the three second-hand German water cannon bought by Boris Johnson from Germany when he was mayor have now cost the taxpayer more than £320,000, Buzzfeed reports. Buying them only cost £85,000, but the overall cost has risen almost fourfold because of the cost of transport, storage and maintenance. But they cannot be used, and Khan is going to sell them.
Updated
Tomorrow the government will announce plans to bring forward planned council tax increases to help fund social care, Sky’s Beth Rigby is reporting. Here’s an extract from her story.
Mr Osborne announced in November 2015 that councils would be able to raise council tax by 2% a year between 2016/17 to 2019/2020 to raise almost £2bn in social care. But under the new proposals, councils are expected to be allowed to front-load those planned increases to bring in more money sooner.
Senior government sources told Sky that councils will be allowed to add 3% to council tax bills next year and a further 3% the year after as long as the money is spent on social care.
There are two good articles in the papers today shedding some light on what is going on behind the scenes as the government draws up its plans for Brexit.
All important decisions on Brexit have been deferred until next year amid reports that members of a key cabinet committee are struggling to reach agreement ...
Decisions are expected to start being made before Article 50 is triggered in March, although some issues such as the customs union may be deferred beyond then.
Coates’ story also contains some revealing insights into how the cabinet is considering this.
Significant power over Brexit is held by the European Union Exit and Trade committee, which has 12 permanent members and is chaired by the prime minister. The committee meets fortnightly and typically discusses two approximately 80-page documents, such as details of World Trade Organisation rules and agricultural subsidies.
Mrs May is keen to shift policy development from the civil service to cabinet committees, making them a more important feature of her style of government. One person involved said: “She will start a meeting and turn to David Davis and ask him to introduce his paper. Everyone chips in, the PM sums up and everyone staggers out saying how difficult it is.”
A senior government figure was critical of the process: “If you could see it you would be depressed by the quality of the contributions in cabinet.
“Philip Hammond is the only one that makes sense. All the rest spent a good deal of time praising the secretary of state for DexEU [Mr Davis, whose department takes the lead in most cabinet committee papers] for his frankly poor quality papers or the Brexiteers saying it’s going to be a success.”
The prime minister has ordered ministers not to give “a running commentary” on Brexit plans, but Mr Hammond is setting out his goals in plain sight — to the discomfort of Mrs May’s inner circle and the relief of British business.
Number 10 was wrongfooted by Mr Hammond’s frank support for a transitional deal, saying: “Fundamentally, no decisions have been taken — this is an issue that will have to be addressed in the negotiation.”
But while Number 10 has been willing to “slap down” other ministers — for example,rebuking foreign secretary Boris Johnson last week after he criticised Saudi Arabia — Mr Hammond is treated with much more caution.
Parker also says the Treausury is winning the argument on Brexit in the government.
Along with Brexit minister David Davis, Mr Hammond is viewed by Mrs May as taking a detailed, economic view of Brexit. “The Treasury is the only department with the capacity to analyse the issues,” says one Whitehall mandarin.
“The arguments are running in the Treasury’s direction because it is trying to inject some reality into the discussions. The closer you get to engaging with the rest of the EU, the more reality will set in.”
Mr Davis was originally regarded in the Treasury as being a business-baiting Brexiter who was excessively bullish about the Leave vote; now he meets Mr Hammond regularly and the two are said to share a mutual respect.
Parker also quotes a Labour MP saying, with only mild irony, that Hammond is “my hero” and that “the hopes of liberal Britain rest on his shoulders.”
Parker does not name the MP. But, on the basis of what Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, said in his speech yesterday, it could be Starmer himself. Judging by the speech, Starmer’s position on Brexit is now remarkably similar to Hammond’s.
Here’s my colleague Angela Monaghan’s story about the unemployment figures.
My colleague Graeme Wearden has more on the unemployment figures on his business live blog.
Unemployment falls by 16,000
Here are the headline unemployment figures.
- Unemployment fell by 16,000 to 1.62m (4.8%) in the three months to October.
- The claimant count increased by 2,400 last month to 809,000.
- Average earnings increased by 2.5% in the year to October, 0.1% up on the
previous month.
And here is the Office for National Statistics bulletin with the full details.
An MEP says Farage talked about the dictatorship of the courts. Does that mean he does not accept the independence of the judiciary?
Farage says some of the judges on the supreme court should not have participated in the article 50 case because of their pro-EU views.
In the European parliament Nigel Farage, the Ukip leader, is speaking, in a session about preparations for this week’s EU summit.
Farage says EU leaders do not seem to have learnt from the events of 2016, Brexit and the election of Donald Trump.
And he says he is alarmed about plans to enhance military cooperation in the EU. He says Trump is not a threat to Nato; it is Jean-Claude Juncker, the European commission president, who is a threat to Nato, he says.
He says he hopes that Theresa May stops “dithering” about Brexit.
He says he looks forward to even bigger shocks next year.
For “nation state democrats”, it is going to be a very happy new year, he says.
It’s the last PMQs of 2016. In normal circumstances you might expect that to be the most interesting parliamentary event of the day, but with Brexit overshadowing all UK politics (it is probably now safe to chalk up Theresa May’s comment about not wanting her government to be defined by Brexit as a fail) the most important session is likely to be David Davis’s evidence to the Commons Brexit committee at 2pm. I will be covering both in detail.
Here is the full agenda for the day.
9.30am: Unemployment figures are published.
9.45am: Prison governors give evidence to the Commons justice committee.
10.30am: Sir Michael Fallon, the defence secretary, gives evidence to the Commons defence committee on MoD support for troops facing legal action.
12pm: Theresa May faces Jeremy Corbyn at PMQs.
2pm: David Davis, the Brexit secretary, gives evidence to the Commons Brexit committee.
2.15pm: David Mundell, the Scottish secretary, gives evidence to the Scottish affairs committee.
2.30pm: Greg Clark, the business secretary, gives evidence to the business committee.
As usual, I will also be covering the breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web. I plan to post a summary after PMQs and another in the afternoon.
If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @AndrewSparrow.
I try to monitor the comments BTL but normally I find it impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer direct questions, although sometimes I miss them or don’t have time. Alternatively you could post a question to me on Twitter.
