Charlie Elphicke: I supported remain in the referendum. My constituents voted to leave. My country voted to leave. The mandate and instructions that I have as a Member of this House are clear. Each and every one of us has that same instruction, and we should execute it and do the right thing. It is clear that this House is at an impasse. Those on the Government Benches want to get Brexit done and move forward,...
Charlie Elphicke: rose—
Charlie Elphicke: I thank my right hon. Friend for her powerful statement and the seriousness with which she has taken this very serious matter. She will be aware that small ports and airfields have long been known to be a problem and security weakness; indeed, the former Prime Minister proposed a volunteer force to patrol them. May I urge her not to have a Dad’s Army set up like that but instead to have...
Charlie Elphicke: Is my right hon. Friend not struck by the irony that those who voted against the programme motion in the hope of cancelling Brexit have in fact made a no-deal departure, which they supposedly fear, much more likely? Does he agree that a departure with a deal is more preferable? Will he introduce a programme motion tomorrow so that the House can sit for as long as it takes—all through the...
Charlie Elphicke: I thank the Prime Minister for giving way; he is being incredibly generous. He will no doubt have heard, as I have, the dire warnings in certain quarters that if we leave the European Union, there will be problems at Dover and chaos on the roads of Kent. Can he assure the House, and me, and my constituents, that with this deal there will be no problems at the channel ports and no problems on...
Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what powers he has to sanction tobacco manufacturers for failing to control their supply chain and prevent contraband tobacco entering the UK.
Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of tobacco manufacturers’ ability to control their supply chain to prevent contraband tobacco coming into the UK.
Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with tobacco manufacturers on the adequacy of controls in their supply chains.
Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with tobacco manufacturers on preventing the smuggling of their product into the UK.
Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with tobacco manufacturers on the control of their supply chain.
Charlie Elphicke: I thank my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, the Secretary of State for Transport, their teams and officials, and particularly the hard-working civil servants and officials in Kent who have worked tirelessly on this important project to make sure that we are ready. I have had blood-curdling warnings of chaos at Dover and the channel ports and of gridlock on Kent’s...
Charlie Elphicke: Does the Leader of the House agree that it is a bit rich for Members of this House who voted for the emergency procedure to be used for the surrender Bill to pass it in a day to now say, “Oh, but we need more time to discuss this deal.”? They like it when it suits them, and they do not like it when it does not. They are trying to subvert democracy and the democratic will of the British people.
Charlie Elphicke: At the Dover frontline, we have long been ready to leave the European Union in any eventuality—deal or no deal—but we now need certainty, because uncertainty is dragging on and becoming economically damaging. Has the Secretary of State received any representations from the Labour party as to how it will assist with getting on with Brexit, or has he only ever heard, as I have, that it...
Charlie Elphicke: Does my right hon. Friend agree that the shadow Home Secretary’s speech does not add up—not for the first time—not only on scrapping Ofsted, which has been instrumental in ensuring that there are improvements in 27 schools in my constituency, but on police numbers, because Labour went into the previous election saying that there should be cuts in the police, whereas this Home Secretary...
Charlie Elphicke: Will the right hon. Lady give way?
Charlie Elphicke: As the Minister will know, in a deal or a no-deal Brexit, the use of the transit convention will mean that there will be no need for any infrastructure checks or controls at the Dover border. Could that not be applied to Northern Ireland as well? May I also ask whether the Minister agrees that all that the House really needs to know is what discussions Members of the House who are not members...
Charlie Elphicke: Is the Chancellor aware that the chief executive of the port of Dover has said that we are 100% ready to leave the EU, and will he help that readiness by bringing forward plans to dual the A2 to the port of Dover?
Charlie Elphicke: I backed remain in the referendum, but my constituency and my country decided otherwise, so I thought it was my duty, as a Member of this House, to accept those instructions and that mandate and to execute them faithfully. After three years, my constituents say that this Parliament has achieved nothing—it is a rump Parliament. What representations has the Prime Minister had from the minor...
Charlie Elphicke: In applying this new legal principle that has been created or invented by the Supreme Court, how many Prorogations in the last century would have passed muster to the test that has been created? How can this longest Session of this House since the civil war now be lawfully brought to an end, and a Queen’s Speech lawfully brought forward? Finally, is Royal Assent a proceeding in Parliament?
Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 12th February to Question 218262 on UK-France Migration Committee, for what reason the dates and locations of those meetings were not provided in the answer.