Conduct of negotiations

Part of European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill – in the House of Commons at 12:53 pm on 8 February 2017.

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Photo of Paul Blomfield Paul Blomfield Shadow Minister (Exiting the European Union) 12:53, 8 February 2017

I will make some progress. As my hon. Friend Mike Gapes pointed out, the only real way to reduce numbers substantially is to crash the economy; that may be the effect of the Government’s negotiations, but assuming that that is not their plan, they need to come clean to the British people. As Dame Caroline Spelman argued last week, and as Stephen Crabb argued over the weekend, they need to come clean about this red line. What is their plan? If taking control of immigration defines this Government’s approach to Brexit, the Minister needs to make the Government’s intentions clear in his closing remarks.