David Davis

Sir David Michael Davis KCB (born 23 December 1948) is a British politician who served as Shadow Home Secretary from 2003 to 2008 and Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union from 2016 to 2018. A member of the Conservative Party, he has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Haltemprice and Howden, formerly Boothferry, since 1987. Davis was sworn of the Privy Council in the 1997 New Year Honours, having previously been Minister of State for Europe from 1994 to 1997.

Quotes

 * Project managers who believe that closing down a project will wreck their careers are tempted to carry on in the hope they will have a slight chance of saving their reputations. Both courses carry the risk of disaster for those responsible for a project, but one—abandonment—is often far better for the company.
 * "New Projects: Beware of False Economies", published in (March 1985)


 * There is a proper role for referendums in constitutional change, but only if done properly. If it is not done properly, it can be a dangerous tool. The Chairman of the Public Administration Committee, who is no longer in the Chamber, said that Clement Attlee—who is, I think, one of the Deputy Prime Minister's heroes—famously described the referendum as the device of demagogues and dictators. We may not always go as far as he did, but what is certain is that pre-legislative referendums of the type the Deputy Prime Minister is proposing are the worst type of all. &para; Referendums should be held when the electorate are in the best possible position to make a judgment. They should be held when people can view all the arguments for and against and when those arguments have been rigorously tested. In short, referendums should be held when people know exactly what they are getting. So legislation should be debated by Members of Parliament on the Floor of the House, and then put to the electorate for the voters to judge. &para; We should not ask people to vote on a blank sheet of paper and tell them to trust us to fill in the details afterwards. For referendums to be fair and compatible with our parliamentary process, we need the electors to be as well informed as possible and to know exactly what they are voting for. Referendums need to be treated as an addition to the parliamentary process, not as a substitute for it.
 * House of Commons Debates (Hansard), 26 November 2002, column 201


 * If a democracy cannot change its mind, it ceases to be a democracy.
 * David Davis MP speech "Europe: It's Time To Decide" (19 November 2012)


 * It is time for Britain to take control of its own destiny.
 * EU deal gives UK special status, says David Cameron BBC News (20 February 2016)


 * If we do a free trade agreement with Europe it will be beneficial for both sides, as it were, on its own two feet, without having to pay anything to do it. That's what we're aiming for.
 * Government wants Brexit 'national consensus' BBC News (5 September 2016)


 * There will be no downside to Brexit, only a considerable upside.
 * David Davis brushes off Brexit retaliation fears (10 October 2016)


 * The simple fact is that the mandate (in June's referendum) was to leave the European Union - full stop. We need to keep that in mind when we are going through that process.
 * Labour says MPs are entitled to Brexit plan details BBC News (7 December 2016)


 * Our laws will then be made in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast and interpreted not by judges in Luxembourg but by judges across the United Kingdom
 * Brexit: UK sets out plans to replace all EU laws BBC News (30 March 2017)


 * Nobody has ever pretended that this will be easy. I have always said that this negotiation will be tough, complex and, at times, confrontational.
 * During his statement on the progress of EU exit negotiations made in the House of Commons (5 September 2017).


 * You can change the leader, you can't change the numbers. We've got to focus on the issue here, which is delivering on the Brexit demand of the British people. That means leaving the customs union and leaving the single market.
 * Brexit: Minister rejects 'May should quit' reports BBC News (10 March 2019)


 * [E]very law we write must be written on the presumption that it will be a government very unlike ours who will be in charge at some point in the future.
 * Free speech is one of our fundamental rights — it is not a gift from the state to be withdrawn at the whim of a government, but the birth right of our citizens. I sympathise with the aims of this government to maintain law and order — but that must not be at the expense of our precious rights and freedoms...
 * "The Public Order Bill poses a significant threat to freedom of expression" The Times (13 December 2022)


 * [On concerns over reputed rising authoritarianism in the UK] We're never going to leave the European Convention on Human Rights, despite all the waffling on about it. It's not going to happen. So there’s always that backstop.
 * From an interview, as quoted in "David Davis: 'The right to demonstrate includes the right to disrupt'" New Statesman (27 May 2023)

Quotes about David Davis

 * He works incredibly hard but he always likes to take August off.
 * Andrew Mitchell, Davis's leadership bid campaign manager, talking about his failure to win the 2005 contest (14 March 2017)


 * He's the only man I know who can swagger while sitting down.
 * Anonymous Tory colleague (Date unknown)


 * DD [David Davis] is manufactured exactly to specification as the perfect stooge for [Cabinet Secretary Jeremy] Heywood: thick as mince, lazy as a toad, & vain as Narcissus.
 * Dominic Cummings, the former campaign director of the Vote Leave campaign, talking about Davis's apparent lack of involvement in, or preparation for, the second round of Brexit talks with his EU counterpart, Michel Barnier (17 July 2017)