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David Davis
13 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.”
David Davis (born 1948) first seen 1985 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: New Projects: Beware of False Economies", published in (March 1985)
“If a democracy cannot change its mind, it ceases to be a democracy.”
David Davis (born 1948) first seen 2012 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 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.”
David Davis (born 1948) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 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.”
David Davis (born 1948) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Government wants Brexit 'national consensus' BBC News (5 September 2016)
“There will be no downside to Brexit, only a considerable upside.”
David Davis (born 1948) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 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.”
David Davis (born 1948) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 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”
David Davis (born 1948) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 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.”
David Davis (born 1948) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 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.”
David Davis (born 1948) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 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.”
David Davis (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“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...”
David Davis (born 1948) first seen 2022 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 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.”
David Davis (born 1948) first seen 2023 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From an interview, as quoted in "David Davis: 'The right to demonstrate includes the right to disrupt'" New Statesman (27 May 2023)
“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. ¶ 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. ¶ 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.”
David Davis (born 1948) first seen 2002 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: House of Commons Debates (Hansard), 26 November 2002, column 201