let's listen to kenneth clarke, the father of the house, first of all.reconsider the suggestion he made, that we pause the progress of the bill tomorrow? i congratulate him on winning approvalfor the bill tomorrow? i congratulate him on winning approval for the deal he negotiated and actually, i think i said in the house once i would apologise to him and congratulate him if he actually got it, and he has achieved it, and the second reading vote was the approval of his deal. the argument is, how long the house is allowed to take over considering it. i can't quite see the logic of pausing progress on the bill when the whole house is expecting the next two days to be spent on it, it would enable us to see how quickly the house is actually proceeding, what sort of time is being looked for, and it might enable then, if people start filibustering, which i hope they won't, for the government to get a majority for a timetable motion, if it came back, which was a modest adjustment to the one he had, because i think three or four days more would certainly do it.|j

kenneth clarke! -- r. speaker, the frrm prime minister began his speech by saying how rare it has been for the people to support federalism and the united states as well. i entirely agreement federalism and the belief in the

the speaker paid his own tribute to kenneth clarke, the longest continuously—serving mp, known as theinterruption, i for one want to salute him. the right honourable and learned gentleman is one of the most popular and respected politicians in ourcountry... applause. for his service to this place, for his service to his constituents, and for his service to our country, he deserves the warmest appreciation. for my part, i thank him for his support and friendship over decades. the right honourable and learned judgement as i think most sensible people will know whether they agree with him or not is a great man. mrjonathan reynolds. john bercow, paying tribute to veteran conservative ken clarke, who's one of more than 50 mps standing down in december‘s election. and that's it from me for now. i'll be back at the same time tomorrow as this parliament draws to a close. but for now from me, alicia mccarthy, goodbye. hello. south—western reaches of the uk have had fairly relentless rain in the last couple of days. cornwall, the channel islands and devon were grey and dank yesterday. fairly so

kenneth clarke! >> mr. speaker, the frrm

clark. bercow: kenneth mr. clark: the prime minister began his

kenneth clark. >> mr. speaker, the prime minister began his statement by saying how rare it had been in this house ever for people to support federalism and the united states. and i entirely agree with that. federalism and the belief in the superstate are as rare in this country as they are nowadays in every one of the other 27 member states. but would he accept, would he accept, that for the last 50 years, the conservative party, the vast majority of the conservative party and all four conservative prime ministers in whose government i served believe that membership of the european union gave us a stronger voice politically in the world as one of the three leading members of the european union. and gave us access to the free trade market that enabled us to build a strong and competitive economy. so, would he reassure me, as i assured him i will vote for his deal once we have given legislative weight to it, that when he goes on to negotiate the eventual long-term arrangements, he will seek a sluice where w

kenneth clarke! -- r. speaker, the frrm prime minister began his speech by saying how rare it has been for the people to support federalism and the united states as well. i entirely agreement federalism and the belief in the superstate are as rare in this country nowadays as it is in every member of the other 27 states. will he accept that for the last 50 years, the conservative party, the vast majority of the conservative party and all four conservative prime ministers in whose governments i served believed that membership of the european union gave us a stronger voice politically in the world as one of the flee leading members of the european union and gave us access to a free trade market but enabled us to build a strong and combative economy. so would he reassure me, as i assure him i will vote for his deal once we are given -- when he goes on to negotiate the eventual long-term arrangements, he will seek a conclusion -- solution where well the same completely open access across the channel, across the

thank you, point of order, the father of the house, mr kenneth clarke.speaker, we have had one hour and a half minutes —— 30 minutes and we might have a farcical performance tomorrow as well! could you use the chair of the house to persuade the channels to presume there are meetings and have a sensible timetable for the bill that we have before us so that this house can resume discussion of these serious matters and come to a resolution on the deal which, personally, matters and come to a resolution on the dealwhich, personally, i repeat, i will vote for, and if it reaches the reading, as i think it will, and it could well be that we could get back to the orderly government which i think the general public are dearly wishing we would rapidly do. i have noted what he has said and! rapidly do. i have noted what he has said and i am open to any such discussions, but it does require willing participants. and it remains to be seen with the passage of time whether that be so. but i think everyone will be attentive on this occasion, as of every other, to what t

clark. bercow: kenneth mr. clark: the prime minister by sayingstatement how rare it had been in this house ever for people to support federalism and the united states of law. i entirely agree. rare in this as country as it is nowadays in the other 27 member states. accept that for the last 50 years the conservative party, the vast majority of the conservative party, and all four conservative prime ministers, believed membership of the european union gave us a stronger voice politically in the world as one of the three leading members of the european union, and gave us access to a free-trade market that enabled us to build a strong and competitive economy. me, as ieassure assured him i will vote for his deal once we have given -- to it, that when he goes on to negotiate the eventual long-term arrangements he will seek a solution where we have the same completely open access across the channel, across the irish border, to trade and investment in both directions with the european union that we have now? even if we

kenneth clarke standing down after 49 years as an mp. who is with me now. your party has obviously enjoyed a lot of influence in this hung parliament with the conservatives. i mean, they problem for you, or the risk i suppose, is that if the conservatives come back with a majority that they will not need you any more? i hope that during the time we were here, we tried to get things for northern ireland and northern ireland has benefited economically as a result of the confidence and supply arrangement we had. we also use our influence to stop things happening that would be detrimental to northern ireland. i don't know what the next election is going to produce, a hung parliament or a clear majority for one party or another. what we are doing, and a message to voters in northern ireland will be, return as many democratic unionist party members as possible because in the eventuality there is a hung parliament, the stronger the unionist block, the more power we will have. do you think the campaign in northern ireland will be dominated by th

tom: william hague and kenneth clark are talking about the need for more time.line to a late november election? does that decision await? sebastian: i think it is too late for a late november election. legislative periods that need to play out before an election. after december 12, that is written off because of christmas parties. people bucking out the rooms will be used for voting and counts. there is not the money to pay the insurance in case we have to count. soon, itsn't happen gets pushed forward to the spring. a better time to campaign because you cannot knock on doors after dark. it is a better time to campaign properly. one party it would not play well for is labour, because their voters do not come out when it is cold and rainy. sunny today, it is sebastian salek joining us from westminster. joining us now, andreas utermann. there is this assumption we are almost over the line. is that correct? andreas: why do we have that perception? the government is telling us they want to get brexit done. it is complex and we have not even brexited. if we leave the

mr kenneth clarke.eeds, in the reasonable and statesman—like way i would hope for, then he can go on, ina would hope for, then he can go on, in a month or two is time, to actually deliver brexit before having a general election on the sensible basis of a mandate for a government on the full at negotiations that will follow. so will my right honourable friend firstly get over his disappointment and accept that october the 31st is now halloween, it is devoid of any symbolic or political content, and will fade away into historical memory very rapidly, so will he, having reflected, let us now that he is about to table a reasonable timetable motion so that this house can complete the task of finalising the details of the withdrawal bill so we can move on on a basis which might begin to reunite the nation once again for the future? prime minister! mr speaker, my right honourable friend makes a very reasonable case that, alas, we cannot now know what the eu will do in response to the request from parliament, i

what about kenneth clarke, the father of the house, going out as an independent rather than a conservativeers who backed him over so many years? there is a lot of calculation that goes into this but i think at the end of the day for someone that has been so anti boris johnson's programme which for someone that has been so anti borisjohnson's programme which can crack inevitably is because of his very europhile position i think they felt as impossible for him to agree with the government programme and therefore he had to stay independent rather than back in the conservative party. what about those labour mps to mount on the backbenchers who we re to mount on the backbenchers who were deeply opposed to this general election who want a people's vote and some of them in very tight marginals in leave constituencies? he is going to need to step up to the plate in the coming weeks. it is not a great way to go into an election campaign. no but i think there are a lot of mps where this will be the fight of their lives. it will be the fight of their lives. it will be the fight of their lives. it wil

mr kenneth clarke. or the public, it was a compromise between the eu between president macron and rest and was plucked out of the air. so will he agree me that what matters is we get the right withdrawal agreement carried with the tenuous majority of the government may have through second reading and third reading so it‘s form is actually settled, and then we can proceed in a way which future generations, if we get it right, or if we get it wrong, will regard as much more important than whether we actually made it for a particular day in october 2019? the reality is, mr speaker, the date was set by the previous european council and it isn‘t a unilateral decision for the uk parliament as to whether that date is changed. previously in this house, the father of the house has said what mattered was avoiding no deal. the prime minister has secured a deal that does that. so what matters now is that we end the uncertainty for businesses, the uncertainty for businesses, the uncertainty for businesses, the uncer

mr kenneth clarke.state are as rare in this country as they are nowadays in every one of the other 27 member states. would he accept that for the last 50 years, the conservative party, the vast majority of the conservative party and all four conservative party and all four conservative prime ministers, in whose government i served, believe that membership of the european union gave us a stronger voice politically in the world, as one of the three leading members of the european union, and gave us access toa european union, and gave us access to a free trade market which enabled us to a free trade market which enabled us to bring a strong and competitive economy. would he reassure me, as i show him i will vote for his deal, once we have given legislative effect to it. when he goes on to negotiate the eventual, long—term arrangements, he will seek a solution where we have the same com pletely solution where we have the same completely open access across the channel, across the irish border to trade and in