Unfortunately neither of the main debates are being held on the day they would ideally prefer. Yesterday was of course St. David’s Day the Patron Saint of Wales and the annual debate on Welsh affairs is one of the two debates scheduled by the Backbench Business for debate today. The other is a debate to mark International Women’s Day which actually takes place on 8th March. That date is the scheduled date for the budget so today is as near as we could get.
As I predicted the House of Lords amended the Brexit Bill yesterday by including a clause guaranteeing European Union citizens a right of residence here in the UK without any reciprocal rights for UK citizens being agreed. No basis to go into the negotiations. I expect the amendment will be reversed by the House of Commons and the Bill sent back to the Lords.
The Bus Services Bill was given it’s Second Reading. As a member of the Panel of Chairs I have been appointed as one of the two co-Chairmen of the Bill at Committee Stage along with the Labour MP Albert Owens.
David Nuttall 
Interesting to read today that a cross-party group of MP’s are asking the government to do the decent thing and accept our moral obligation to unilaterally guarantee the rights of EU citizens to remain in the UK. Apparently they describe the government policy as “unacceptable”.
These MPs include Michael Gove, Dominic Raab and Peter Lilley, all Brexit advocates who say that the current policy is causing great “anxiety” and “uncertainty” to people who work hard in the UK, pay their taxes and deserve immediate reassurance about their futures.
For me it is morally intolerable that citizens should be used as “bargaining chips” in negotiations over Brexit and it is heartening that some people in parliament seem to agree.
Perhaps you might reconsider Mr Nuttall ?
PS Interesting that they do not seek to blame the EU for this as you did.
The English built an Empire – we didn’t do it by being ‘nice’. Having properly negotiated many thousands of times in the real world deals worth at times millions – you do not declare your hand as you sit down at the table – you lisren first. – by the way do you know the definition of the word – “the agreement of business terms by discussion” if the E.U won’t discuss anything until the Article 50 trigger – there’s nothing to discuss!
In the referendum campaign, Peter Bone, the Tory MP and co-founder of leave campaign group Grassroots Out, told the PoliticsHome website: “Clearly any EU citizen that is legally here if we come out of the EU would absolutely have the right to remain here. Any other suggestion is just absurd.
“It is a scare story, full stop. It just shows how desperate the government and the remain campaign are.”
Can you please tell us Mr Nuttall why your government now take a different view ?
Mr Bone must deal with his own integrity. Perhaps Mrs Bone has told him what to do !
I suspect Peter never thought the other countries in the EU would not immediately agree to the proposal the Prime Minister has made that both the EU and the UK guarantee rights of residency. It is disappointing the EU are insisting that the issue wait until after the Article 50 notice has been given but as that will happen at some point this month hopefully the EU will be able to confirm the status of all UK residents and we can do likewise. Simple really.
But Mr Bone made no reference to his commitment being anything to do with negotiations. He said EU citizens would have their rights protected ‘full stop’.
You seek
to blame the EU.
But it seems to me that we are losing our moral compass as a nation using people’s future as a bargaining chip to further our own ends. You will realise I find this wrong and another sad step in the decline of a great nation. We are better than that.