Webchat with Anna Soubry on Brexit and beyond - Tuesday 22 January at 10.30am

[BojanaMumsnet]

Hello

We’re pleased to announce a webchat with Anna Soubry MP to discuss all things Brexit. Anna was a Remain campaigner and currently supports calls for a second referendum. Anna made headlines a couple of weeks ago when she was harassed outside Parliament and urged the police to take more action.

Anna has been the Conservative MP for Broxtowe since the 2010 General Election. After more than a year attending Cabinet as Minister of State for Small Business, Anna chose to return to the backbenches in July 2016, be able to represent her views on the “positive benefits of immigration and the EU.”

Please do join the chat on Tuesday at 10.30am, or if you can’t make it, leave a question here in advance.

We’re expecting this to be a busy webchat, so only existing Mumsnet users are able to post on this thread.

As always, please remember our webchat guidelines - one question per user, follow-ups only if there’s time and most questions have been answered and please keep it civil. Also if one topic is overwhelmingly dominating a discussion with a guest, mods might request that people don't continue to post what's effectively the same question or point. Rest assured we will ALWAYS let the guest know that it's an area of concern to multiple users and will encourage them to engage with those questions.

And finally - we did have a pro-Brexit webchat guest lined up for this week (Jacob Rees Mogg) but they cancelled on us so we’re trying to line up a replacement as we speak.

Many thanks.

The official portrait of Anna Soubry is used under an Attribution 3.0 Unported licence - image may be cropped for purpose.

[Pumpkintopf]

Thank you Anna

[JustineMumsnet]

Big thanks to Anna and to everyone who participated in this chat. We're going to close it now to avoid confusion. Very much hope it was helpful and enlightening. We'll no doubt be having more Brexit related chats soon so we can hear from all sides of the debate.

[AnnaSoubryMP]

Thanks everyone for all your excellent questions! Thanks Mumsnet for everything you do. My only complaint is that you've made me eat biscuits throughout our session (they were good tho - but no ginger nuts...) Happy to come back anytime for another griling.

[Pumpkintopf]

A follow up if there's time-

Is the Cooper/Grieve bill/amendment scheduled into the Parliamentary timetable for a vote? How can we be sure it will be?

Thanks, will understand if you don't have time to answer this one.

[AnnaSoubryMP]

@RhubarbIsEvil

Anna

You are the only sane voice amongst this carnage.

My question: will the world ever take the U.K. seriously again? I am so embarrassed to be British at the moment 🤦‍♀️

Please stand for PM.

There isn't a vacancy! I think people have had enough of 62 year old Tory women!!

Turning to your serious point, I don't disagree, as I said in Parliament only yesterday, we are in danger of becoming a laughing stock. That's why Parliament needs to take control of this process and we need a people's vote.

[birdonawire1]

Can you look into your crystal ball and say what you think the U.K. will look like on April 1st?

[AnnaSoubryMP]

@KennDodd

Thank you so much for speaking up about the madness of Brexit and I'm sorry about the abuse you receive. I am truly ashamed of what my country has become thanks to David Cameron's referendum.

My question is -
What is the big deal about the Tory party splitting? So what if they do. It seems to me the major concern of Teresa May, and David Cameron before her, and what drove this whole divisive referendum in the first place was trying to keep the Tory party together, country came way down in comparison. Why is that and why is the Tory party treated as if it is more important than the country?

I believe your country should come first and that is what I will continue to do.

[AnnaSoubryMP]

@Catmint

Hi Anna,

I'd like to know why on earth you think it is a good thing to spend £56billion plus on HS2 without a shred of evidence that it will bring any benefits to the East Midlands particularly given the recent woeful environmental and equality impact assessments 'consulted' upon by HS2, the illegal purchase of land by HS2, the inflated projected passenger numbers, ( the poor dears have never heard of wifi, I feel sorry for them) and now the assertion that trains on the line will go slower to cut costs.

Stop HS2.

I'm a big supporter of HS2 especially as the East Midlands hub will be sited in Broxtowe at Toton Sidings. The evidence shows this project will bring considerable economic benefits. It's vital we have a new high speed rail line - it's all about capacity. And as a regular user of the current line to London (Midland Mainline) there's no doubt HS2 is worth every penny. As the local MP I am campaigning for a tunnel from just before Long Eaton to just beyond Nuthall.

[ColdBrexitWithMilkForBreakfast]

I'm aware of this and have already raised it with the Home Secretary as I have a couple of constituents who fall into this category - so we do need to change the rules. I'm in no doubt as to how so many fellow EU citizens who have lived in the UK for decades feel - and it is wrong to make them feel this is no longer their home.

Thank you. As someone affected by it, I think it's very unfair (and sexist). I had no idea and thought I was able to apply after having been in the country this time five years.

I could have applied previously when living and working in the country (before moving away for several years) if I had known that it was a requirement that would affect me after having children (or that Brexit was a possibility).

[SingingBabooshkaBadly]

No, sorry, it was me being a bit dense. I’m blaming lack of sleep as no one here can prove otherwise...

[frumpety]

And it assumes we are leaving...


Which you don't think will happen ? Excellent, me either


Was really cross on your behalf when you were surrounded by those thugs, although I did think you could have out run most of them

[Motheroffourdragons]

I'm sorry you seem to be answering other people's questions but not mine.
Although you have said why you won't support a labour amendment on a PV - is there another amendment with a PV that is preferable or is there too much fear by rebels that by actually voting for a PV the damage done will split the party?

[lljkk]

Norway+ was always my best case scenario for a Leave Result. A X-party committee constructing slow careful plan to implement Norway+ would have made me mostly forget about Brexit.

Why do so few politicians listen when Mrs. May or Mr. Gove talk about why the EU very much doesn't want the backstop to go on forever, and why a WA is necessary before we can get to negotiating the Canada++ /Norway+/whatever terms? I thought Gove had influence in Brexiter circles, at least.

[ColdBrexitWithMilkForBreakfast]

I couldn't possibly comment.

Ah go on

[AnnaSoubryMP]

@ColdBrexitWithMilkForBreakfast

Will there be a change to the rules that state people need to be privately insured or working if they wish to become citizens, this directly affects stay at home parents who have been living here for years (and working most of them)

I'm aware of this and have already raised it with the Home Secretary as I have a couple of constituents who fall into this category - so we do need to change the rules. I'm in no doubt as to how so many fellow EU citizens who have lived in the UK for decades feel - and it is wrong to make them feel this is no longer their home.

[AnnaSoubryMP]

@frumpety

Thank you for your answer , although it didn't actually answer the question I asked, which was how long do you think it would take the UK to re-join the EU if we leave with no deal ? Weeks ? Months or years ?

I don't know - first of all, we'd have to want to re-join and no doubt we'd have to have a referendum to do that. Sadly I think this is largely an academic question. And it assumes we are leaving...

[Pumpkintopf]

Thank you Anna, I hope it passes the house. Thanks for answering.

[AnnaSoubryMP]

@SingingBabooshkaBadly

Thank you for answering my question Anna.

Sorry - I’m a little confused. Did you mean No Deal is not a crime? I agree no Brexit is not a crime - I’d consider it a blessing

Thank you again for everything you continue to work towards in the face of unacceptable personal attacks. The HoC needs many more people like you.

It was another poor joke from me - apologies

[AnnaSoubryMP]

@Pumpkintopf

Hi Anna, I have huge respect for you standing up for your principles even at massive personal cost.

My question is, as TM's plan B appears to be a rehash of plan A, how do we ensure the clock isn't allowed to run down and we crash out on March 29th as a default?

That's why Yvette Cooper's bill and Dominic Grieve's amendment are gaining masses of support.

[birdonawire1]

As a lukewarm Leaver, Norway + sounds good to me 🙂

[AnnaSoubryMP]

@lljkk

I'm afraid that a narrow Remain victory in a People's Vote will make Britain more divided than ever. Your comments?

Look there is never going to be happy solution for this. We just have to do what is right for our country.

[AnnaSoubryMP]

@mybrainhurtsalot

I would like to thank you for having the courage to speak out on Brexit. I have never voted Conservative but if you were in my constituency I would vote for you over many of the current Labour MPs.

There seems to be a scarily large number of people who say just go for no deal. I think the phrase no deal has the unfortunate connotation of having the upper hand, being in control and being tough. Also so many are just sick of the endless Brexit discussion and logjam in parliament, so mistakenly think no deal will mean it’s all done and dusted and we’ll never hear anything about it again.

How can the reality for no deal be conveyed?

Would it be possible to arrange a trial run of no deal so we can see what we are letting outselves in for??

I sometimes feel like saying "Okay, have your wretched hard deal in all its ghastliness" but that would be so irresponsible and we have to put our national interest first, and getting rid of no deal is the absolutely the right thing to do.

[twofingerstoEverything]

Whoops! Cross post! Thank you :)

[AJewell]

Anna,

Firstly thank you for your continued efforts as an MP. Your strength and resolve are a light to us all especially with some of the abuse you have been subjected to.

I was just wondering if you could comment on the wording of the Conservative 2015 manifesto which seemed to suggest that the Referendum would only be called once a "new settlement" had been negotiated with the EU. As we know David Cameron came back with nothing but he still moved the referendum.

www.conservatives.com/manifesto2015
Page 72: Real change in our relationship with the European Union:

"Our plan of action:
... We will negotiate a new settlement for Britain in the EU. And then we will ask the British people whether they want to stay in on this basis, or leave. ... "

[AnnaSoubryMP]

@bellinisurge

I'm sorry you had to endure that horribleness. There is obviously a groundswell of anger arising from the government's austerity programme which right-wing nutters are tapping into and trying to hijack. How do you propose we tackle the problems that austerity has brought? Assuming we leave AND if we don't leave, after all.

I don't agree there is a groundswell of anger. Certainly not in my constituency.