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PMQs: May faces Corbyn after economic Brexit analysis is published - Politics live PMQs: May faces Corbyn after economic Brexit analysis is published - Politics live
(35 minutes later)
Corbyn says after eight years of making the UK poorer through austerity, this “botched Brexit” will deliver more of the same. He says the report from the UN’s Philip Alston said, for the government, the impact of Brexit on poverty was an afterthought. Who is backing her plan? Rachel Reeves, the Labour MP and chair of the business committee, raises a point of order. Why is Philip Hammond not hear to answer the UQ, she asks. She says he should be here on a such an urgent issue. He has had lots of time for broadcast interviews, she says.
May mentions different groups that back her plans. On the economy, she says youth unemployment is at a record low. And today the number of children in workless households is at a record low, as is the proportion of workless households. Labour’s Liz Kendall says she has never heard a government say its policy will make people poorer. Is that what May came into politics for?
Corbyn says the Alston report said there were 14m people living in poverty. A private CBI email said it was not a good deal. May is just committed to working for frictionless trade. She used to guarantee frictionless trade. Now she is offering friction - and less trade. What is best? Extending the transition, or falling into the backstop? May says she does not accept this. The economic analysis shows the economy will continue to grow, she says.
May says there is an exit from the backstop. But the government does not want to be in it in the first place. The EU cannot sign trade deals until the UK leaves. She says within a year the EU and the UK turned a short outline agreement into 560 pages of legal text. So in the two years available it will be possible to agree a deal, she says. Peter Bone, the Tory Brexiter, gets one of the final questions at PMQs. He says a Lords committee said the UK could leave the EU without having to pay anything to the EU. But May says the opposite. Who is right?
Jeremy Corbyn also praises Lady Trumpington. And he says he wants to pay tribute to Harry Leslie Smith too. He was an irrepressible campaigner, and was passionate about healthcare for all. May says the Lords committee did say that. But there is a different opinion. She says the other view is that the UK will have legal obligations. She thinks the UK should meet its obligations.
He says Jeremy Hunt said on Sunday that Brexit deal mitigates most of the negative impacts of Brexit. Which ones does it not mitigate? PMQ - Snap verdict: God help us all if the five-day debate on Brexit is anything like this. Anyone looking for insight into what will, or will not happen, when the UK leaves the EU from these exchanges will be disappointed. May has had a relatively easy time of it so far, compared to some of her other recent Commons outings. She has had relatively little criticism from Brexiter Tories, and it was Jeremy Corbyn who put her under most pressure, although even these exchanges weren’t particularly decisive because he did not push as hard as he could done on certain issues. His quote from what May said about Blair being under an obligation to publish the Iraq legal advice was effective, although he did not make the obvious point that it is hypocritical for a government committed to letting parliament take back control to be defying the Commons. And he did not fully exploit the huge gap between what Philip Hammond is saying about how Brexit will make the UK poorer and what May is saying about how it won’t (because, she argues, there will be some growth anyway in the future). Hammond is not in the chamber (locked away in a cupboard by No 10 aides?) and the biggest takeway from the session is the split between 10 Downing Street and 11 Downing Street over how to spin the economic analysis report. May had a couple of good retorts to Corbyn, about Labour’s Brexit plan being shorter than her shopping list (which is quite possibly true - Labour has not published anything like a detailed plan for Brexit, and, as an accomplished cook, May’s shopping list may be quite extensive) and about the number of resignations from Corbyn’s front bench. What was also telling was that MPs seem to have given up asking May what she will do if she loses her vote. She has dodged this question so often that any further questions seem superfluous. We will just have to wait until 12 December to find out.
May says the analysis does not show that the UK will be poorer in the future. What would make the UK poorer would be Corbyn’s policies. Simon Hoare, a Conservative, asks about rural communities and banking.
Corbyn says May said this was the best deal, and the only deal. It is not hard to be the best deal if it is the only deal. On that basis, it is also the worst deal. Does May agree with Hammond this will make people worse off? May says she recognises that free access to cash is important in rural communities.
May says this is the best deal which delivers on the result of the referendum. She says the political declaration is not a wishlist. It sets out ambitions for a broad partnership. What does Labour have to offer? Six bullet point. Her weekend shopping list is longer than the, she says. The SNP’s Douglas Chapman jokes about how Scots will be dancing in the streets about May’s visit. What lessons has May learned from Brexit to speed things up when Scotland votes for independence?
Douglas Ross, a Scottish Conservative, says he has concerns about the Brexit deal. What assurances can May give to the fishing industry and for the union? May says the vote in 2014 settled this.
May says she is a committed unionist. She will ensure the UK becomes an independent coastal state. The UK will decide who gets access to UK waters. And fishing access will not be traded for anything else. Theresa Villiers, the Tory former cabinet minister, asks for more funding for the police.
Labour’s Rosie Cooper asks about the “misery” inflicted on passengers by Northern Rail. There can be no more excuse. This fiasco began in May. Isn’t it time to end this franchise? May says the police have been given extra money. But she recognises the importance of this issue.
May says she is clear that the performance in the north following the timetable changes was “unacceptable”. Passengers are not getting the services they deserve, although there are more services now than there were. Where operators are at fault, the government will take action. Tracy Brabin, the Labour MP, asks about a constituent, Matthew, who waived his anonymity to speak about abuse he suffered at the hands of a clergyman. Will May agree to mandatory reporting of abuse in all areas, including in the church?
Theresa May starts by paying tribute to Lady Trumpington. May says the child abuse inquiry has shown that too many people have suffered from this.
Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question at PMQs. The government looked at mandatory reporting when she was home secretary. She says the evidence was mixed. There was some evidence saying it led to genuine cases being overlooked.
PMQs will start soon. Anne-Marie Trevelyan, a Tory Brexiter, asks May if she agrees that, if her Brexit deal gets voted down, the UK should have a clean Brexit and leave without paying £39bn to the EU.
I normally do a snap verdict as soon as Jeremy Corbyn has finished, because for many people what matters most at PMQs is how Theresa May and Corbyn perform against each other. May defends her deal.
But, with the Brexit vote looming, what matters most is May v the Commons, and so I will post a verdict towards the end, squeezed in just before the economic analysis UQ. The SNP’s Ian Blackford wishes everyone a happy St Andrew’s Day for Friday.
Here is the key table from the government’s economic analysis. He says the government analysis says real wages will fall under Brexit. Does May agree this will leave people poorer than the status quo?
The government’s Brexit economic analysis is out. It runs to 90 pages and it is available here (pdf). May says she does not accept that. It shows this is a strong economy that continues to grow. And the model that best delivers on the referendum result is her plan, she says.
It is one of five government papers out today analysing the deal. You can find them all here. Blackford wonders if May has read the report. It clearly shows people will be poorer. He says May is taking us back to the Thatcher era; she thinks economic damage is a “price worth paying”. He says May is going to Scotland today. People in Scotland voted to remain. They are not prepared to give up their rights.
Philip Hammond, the chancellor, will not be responding to the urgent question about the Brexit impact assessment, according to Labour. He will send his junior minister, Mel Stride, in his place. May says there have been 3.3m jobs created under this government. Employment is at a record high. The Scots voted to stay in the UK and for 13 Tory MPs.
Despite being able to do an extensive media round, @PhilipHammondUK is refusing to come to the House of Commons and answer questions on the Govt’s own analysis of various Brexit scenarios. He’s sending out @MelJStride in his place. #HidingFromScrutiny https://t.co/ZZucoutGE4 John Lamont, a Scottish Conservative, asks an easy question about small business day.
May says she would like to visit some of the excellent shops Lamont mentioned.
Corbyn says, when May was in opposition in 2003, she said legal advice on the Iraq war should be published. So why won’t she practise what she preached on Brexit?
May says the advice any client receives from a lawyer is privileged. The government will publish a summary.
Corbyn says MPs should see the advice, warts and all. He says 20 ministers have resigned. “This is the most shambolic government in living memory.” She wants MPs to vote on a wishlist. It is clear parliament won’t back her plan. So she should make way for an alternative government.
May says Corbyn has seen 100 resignations. She says John McDonnell told an audience last night he wanted to seize on a referendum and vote remain. That would be a betrayal of the many by the few.