Bill Esterson MP spoke out against the controversial Internal Market Bill in a debate in the House of Commons.
Sefton Central MP Mr Esterson said the public would blame the Prime Minister if here was no trade deal agreed with the European Union.
Mr Esterson said the UK’s standing in the world would be affected by the clauses in the Internal Market Bill that the government has admitted break international law.
Mr Esterson told the House of Commons in the debate on Monday (December 7): “We’re being asked to break international law albeit in a limited and specific way, it’s still breaking international law. It tears up a deal that was negotiated by this Prime Minister, that was put to the people of this country by this Prime Minister and was voted on by every single member of the governing party earlier this year.
“And it isn’t just about breaking international law. This is a breach of trust with the same partners who we are now 24 days away from ending a transition period with that we desperately need to conclude a deal with. And didn’t the members opposite who are sitting laughing at the prospect of no deal and the effects on the prosperity of their constituents.
“Didn’t they anticipate the reaction of the European Union to us proposing to breach international law? Didn’t they know that one of the key elements of negotiation is to understand what your negotiating partner will ask for? So it is any surprise that they have asked for the level playing field protections because of the breach of faith implicit in the breaking of international law?
“They all voted for this withdrawal agreement that they now want to abandon. And most people believed the guarantee of the Prime Minister when they voted for him in last year’s general election on the basis that he had an oven ready deal for them. And it wasn’t out of ignorance or dishonesty, it was a shameful, shameful abandonment of the trust of the people of this country, and if no deal is the consequence, people will remember that promise, that they all made, when they were elected last year on the back of the Prime Minister’s promise. So they must move on from this.
“They have 24 days left and the clock is ticking because no deal will be disastrous. It will be disastrous for those workers in the car industry, it will be disastrous for livelihoods, it will be disastrous for national security as well. And it will be disastrous for security in Northern Ireland if the Good Friday Agreement is upended too. It will be disastrous for the prospects of future trade agreements, the United States’ President-elect Biden has already made clear what it means to him if the Good Friday Agreement is put at threat by what this government is doing in this Bill.
“And as to our reputation and authority on the world stage, we will be in no position to lecture anyone on the world stage, will we, if we go ahead and break international law. Our credibility will be shot. And how will investors be able to trust that their investment will be safe in this country if we’re prepared to tear these things up so readily? Who will trust our word, who will believe anything we say, who will believe in this country from overseas? Our people deserve better than this.
“So for the sake of the jobs, the livelihoods of the people that I represent, the people that they on the government benches represent, do not allow no deal to happen. Because if they fail, the British people will remember who was responsible, and they will blame the Prime Minister, they will hold him responsible, and they will hold them responsible, too.”
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