Afternoon summaryCan I ask the prime minister to explain to the House and to the country in exactly what way this deal returns sovereignty over any field of law-making to these Houses of Parliament?Cameron replied:This deal brings back some welfare powers, it brings back some immigration powers, it brings back some bailout powers, but more than that, because it carves us forever out of ever closer union, it means that the ratchet of the European court taking power away from this country cannot happen in future.Later Vote Leave said Cameron was wrong to say powers would be returned to the UK under the agreement. It said:No powers will be brought back by this agreement. The decision states that ‘The competences conferred by the Member States on the Union can be modified, whether to increase or reduce them, only through a revision of the Treaties with the agreement of all Member States.’ Since there will be no Treaty, no powers will be returned to the UK. Before the agreement, the EU had 28 legislative competences over the UK. Today, it still possesses 28.
  • Priti Patel, the employment minister and one of the “gang of six” ministers who attend cabinet and who are voting to leave the EU, has put out a statement effectively criticising what Cameron said in the Commons. (See 5.27pm.) The remarkable move illustrates how divided the Tories are over the EU. The BBC says more than 100 Tory MPs will vote to leave the EU, and in the Commons at times Cameron got a noticeably better reception from Labour MPs than from his own side. This is from the Sun’s political editor, Tom Newton Dunn.
But the Tory MPs who did criticise Cameron did not get personal, and by and large the most blatant display of animosity (concealed under humour) came when Cameron was criticising Johnson. It was also noticeable that at least two Tories generally seen as strongly Eurosceptic, Sir Roger Gale and David Morris, announced they would be supporting Britain remaining in the EU.
  • Cameron has defended using a Downing Street civil servant to lobby businesses to support the campaign for Britain to stay in the EU. MPs heard a letter signed by organisations supporting Remain is due to appear in a national newspaper on Tuesday, with No 10’s business relations adviser Chris Hopkins co-ordinating the project. As the Press Association reports, political blog Guido Fawkes reported it had obtained a draft of the letter sent to FTSE 100 bosses by Hopkins. Questioned about the letter, Cameron said the government has a “full-throated view” to support Britain staying within a reformed EU - and it can use the civil service to put this before voters.
That’s all from me for today.Thanks for the comments.
Übersetzen in Englische Sprache Zeige Original