European Union (Withdrawal) Bill

I suspect we will find out. To me personally, this is an extremely sad moment. When I was ambassa...

Can the noble Lord explain to us why it is not in the interests of our European partners—100% in ...

I am coming to that. I agree entirely that co-operation is in everyone’s interests. This is one o...

My Lords, following on from what my noble friend has just said, I should like to ask a favour of ...

My Lords, we will come to the issue of children’s rights later in the Bill: the right to educatio...

My Lords, I will be brief because most of the points have been made. I am grateful to the noble L...

My Lords, I thank you all very much indeed for contributing to a genuinely extremely interesting ...

Could the noble Baroness reassure me that there is a negotiation going on on the future relations...

The noble Lord will understand that I am a very lowly mortal and that I am not privy to the detai...

The noble Baroness has said, and it keeps being implied, that these are not issues for this Bill....

Yes. My position that I advance to the noble Baroness—I was just going to come to this in my spee...

Will the noble Baroness give way? I shall be very quick.

My Lords, I would be happy to give way later, but I am quite anxious to make progress. Important ...

We have, effectively, a willing buyer and a willing seller when it comes to security and defence....

This is like the fair in Paisley: things coming from one side, interventions coming from the othe...

It is crucial that we understand that the Prime Minister proposed in Munich a treaty for what was...

There seems to be an inescapable distinction between these two positions. In relation to the inte...

The Minister has just mentioned the matter of our withdrawing from the permanent membership of th...

I am sorry, I think that I may have been misunderstood. I did not talk about the United Kingdom w...

Before the Minister sits down, perhaps I may say to her that she will have responded to this deba...

My Lords, of course I shall withdraw the amendment, but I shall make a couple of comments. It is ...

My Lords, I think it is against the rules and the spirit of this Chamber to criticise a Member of...

I apologise for being perhaps a little stronger than I should have been in this respect. On the e...

Would the structure not be NATO?

The noble Lord may not know, but, as I have quoted, we have been involved in some 15 EU operation...

Moved by

Baroness Ludford

13: Clause 1, page 1, line 3, at end insert—

“( ) Reg...

My Lords, the Prime Minister’s speech in Munich 10 days ago, which was cited in the previous deba...

My Lords, I added my name to the noble Baroness’s amendment for two reasons. The second was that ...

My Lords, perhaps I might carry on after the noble Lord, Lord Cormack, because I too served on yo...

My Lords, there cannot be anyone in this House who does not agree that the security of this count...

My Lords, Amendment 209, which is in my name, follows directly from the remarks of my noble frien...

My Lords, one of the themes that has come through in the debates on many of the amendments so far...

My Lords, at the end of all these proceedings, some months down the road, there will be a vote in...

My Lords, it is two or three years ago now, but I had the privilege of chairing a House of Lords ...

My Lords, I follow the noble Lord, Lord Inglewood, in a plea that we do not go back to the system...

My Lords, my name has been added to the amendment in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Massey ...

My Lords, until a short time ago I was Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, having served for...

How do you make that effective if you do not have the European Court of Justice at the apex?

The noble Baroness is in a far better position than I am to talk about the law, so I am not sure ...

My Lords, before my noble friend the Minister winds up this debate, I would like to address the p...

I totally agree with what my noble friend is saying. It is very important that that point is made...

My noble friend is absolutely right. Of course, the EU is watching all this extremely closely bec...

My Lords, I have six amendments in this group. They refer to the United Kingdom having continued ...

Before the noble Lord leaves that point, does he also agree that asking the Government to explain...

I entirely agree, and I hope that the noble Lord will say that to the noble Lord, Lord Lamont, wh...

Does my noble friend accept that the reason the Government will not disclose their negotiating ob...

Is the noble Lord, Lord Liddle, making an intervention? I want to be clear what the order of spea...

I was responding to my noble friend’s point.

I think your noble friend thought that he had been usurped.

My noble friend’s intervention is excellent and gives the Minister more to respond to. I know he ...

This is Committee stage. We are allowed to go back and forth. What are the Government saying to o...

My Lords, I apologise for not speaking at Second Reading; I took the view that I was unlikely to ...

My Lords, as we have heard, these amendments relating to reciprocal issues are key to continuing ...

I thank all noble Lords and noble Baronesses who have contributed to what has been a fascinating ...

Can the Minister answer the question put by the noble Lord, Lord Thomas, as to which Minister is ...

I will come to that later in my speech, but I will answer that question.

In that same paper...

Can the Minister tell us if the European Union has appointed anybody to represent the 27 other co...

Michel Barnier is the EU chief negotiator. I thought that that was fairly obvious.

Finally,...

Do I understand the Minister to be saying that the people conducting the trade negotiations will ...

There are lead negotiators on each side but they are supported by a whole range of officials and ...

But is the withdrawal agreement the same thing as the treaty or are they separate?

No, the treaty will be a separate piece of legislation when we negotiate it. I hope I have tackle...

May I just ask the Minister about his comments on the European Court of Justice? Is there anythin...

We have been clear that respecting the Brexit vote means delivering on having control of our own ...

I should briefly like to thank all speakers in this extremely valuable debate, especially the co-...

Is the noble Baroness talking of the European Court of Justice as though there would be no change...

There obviously will be a change, in that there will not be a British judge or British Advocate-G...

Moved by

Lord Goldsmith

13A: Clause 1, page 1, line 3, at end insert—

“( ) Regu...

My Lords, we now come to the first group of amendments that deals with the exclusion from the Bil...

Is the noble and learned Lord going to come on to explaining why it was, when he was Attorney-Gen...

Oh!

I can see noble Lords opposite are all very well briefed. I predicted this at Second Reading. I w...

Answer!

No, I will make some progress on the arguments which matter. As the Constitution Committee of thi...

Would the noble and learned Lord tell the Committee whether he is contemplating that the charter ...

I am suggesting that the charter is brought into domestic law in the same way as all the other pr...

Does the noble and learned Lord accept that perhaps we are being tied in knots by his argument? T...

I am grateful to the noble Baroness for the intervention. Of course it is not the charter which p...

Lamont!

10 pm

I apologise to both noble Lords. The proposition is that the charter does no more than codify exi...

The noble and learned Lord identifies the fact that certain rights are no longer protected adequa...

They were, because the charter provided for them. The Human Rights Act incorporated one set of pr...

Just take one of the rights that is precisely mirrored in the convention. Is it suggested that he...

That will depend on the shape of the Bill when it is completed—in particular, what is said about ...

So if that protection is more powerful, the entire British structure relating to human fertilisat...

The noble Baroness raises two different points. Some of the rights in the charter plainly do not ...

I promise that I will not intervene again—I loathe intervening. But does the noble and learned Lo...

I am grateful to the noble and learned Lord and I know that this is a point that troubles him, bu...

So the right to dignity would exist in the context of EU law, but not otherwise? Is that really h...

The noble and learned Lord knows that I took Article 1 as an example only because it is the very ...

I find this very difficult to understand. If you look at the charter, you find reference to the U...

The noble and learned Lord will recall that, whenever he opposed me with that argument from his p...

Is the noble and learned Lord telling the House that these principles are going to be actionable ...

The noble Lord knows that that is not the position in relation to the principles: they are guidan...

I apologise for interrupting the noble and learned Lord a second time. We have listened to what h...

My Lords, I was about to come to that and I am grateful to the noble Lord.

Oh!

I said that I would come back to it, and that is what I intended to do. A number of things have h...

My Lords, I wish to speak to Amendments 14A, 20A and 25A in this group, which stand in my name. I...

The reason that the Labour Party says that nationalisation of the railways would cost nothing is ...

Yes, I know that is what he has said but I ask noble Lords to think about the impact on those who...

My Lords—

I am just going to finish this point and then I will give way. It is at that point that Article 1...

My noble friend will know that Article 1 of the first protocol of the European convention does pr...

So there is an overlap, and the question is one of remedies. As my noble friend will know, the re...

My noble friend seems to be saying that we need to incorporate this into British domestic law to ...

That would have to get through both Houses, which would be at least some check on the process. Th...

My Lords, may I respond to some of the objections that have been raised to the points made by the...

In those circumstances, does my noble friend agree that the result of that is that we are hencefo...

My answer is very simple: yes, of course. The whole point of the Bill is to read across the EU la...

There is, I think, a fourth question. As a layman, I have been listening for 51 minutes to extens...

I am grateful to the noble Lord. The reason I am smiling is that he clearly has not read this Bil...

If I may—

I am sorry; let me complete the point. The noble Lord has made a point and he is simply wrong. Th...

My Lords, it does the opposite of what my brilliant former pupil the noble Lord, Lord Pannick, ha...

I am sorry to say to the noble Baroness that that is exactly what this Bill achieves in relation ...

My Lords, I rise to speak to Amendment 35 standing in my name and that of the noble Baroness, Lad...

I am reluctant to interfere. My noble friend Lord Listowel, who is sitting next to me, knows more...

I hear what the noble Baroness says. All I would say is that by ensuring that we incorporate thin...

My Lords, I rise as a co-signatory to Amendment 35. I usually come to these debates feeling that ...

My Lords, I want to speak in favour of Amendment 34 and in support of the other amendments in thi...

My Lords, I speak as a co-signatory to Amendment 63A, which is also in the name of the noble and ...

My Lords, I am sure that the Committee will be greatly moved by what the noble Lord, Lord Cashman...

My Lords—

My Lords, may I speak to Amendment 63A?

I stood up before the noble Lord, Lord Faulks, sat down as I knew he was coming to an end. He men...

The Government’s position has been made quite clear: they have no intention of repealing the Huma...

The Conservative manifesto said:

“We will not repeal … the Human Rights Act while the proce...

No Parliament can bind its successor; one would expect every Government to consider human rights ...

My Lords, I will speak to Amendment 63A, which is in my name and has already been spoken to with ...

My Lords—

My Lords, I do not think I am going to give way to the noble Lord because I have been trying to s...

It is the turn of my noble friend.

My Lords, I shall speak to Amendment 14, the effect of which is to retain the charter as part of ...

In fact, this country accepted that the charter would become part of EU law in the Lisbon treaty—...

Against the noble and learned Lord’s will. There was also an attempt to get an opt-out, which the...

Would the noble Lord accept that there are many areas of EU law which this country has opposed bu...

That is very much my argument. For reasons that I wish to develop, I agree very much with the nob...

My Lords, I am being persistent this evening because I want to point out the glaring contradictio...

I did my best.

There is a confusion in this country that comes up quite frequently. We like to think—we are brou...

My Lords, it is very late and I shall be brief. My noble friend Lady Deech is absolutely right: w...

Before the noble Lord sits down, I know how concerned he is about the rights of children, but I w...

I am sorry; it is late. I would like in principle to retain the charter. The UN Convention on the...

My Lords, as the tail-end Charlie in this debate, I too shall be brief. I believe that there is n...

Does the noble Lord recall that the Magna Carta was in 1214, and that the first Parliaments began...

The Magna Carta was imposed on King John by the Barons, as I understand it—the Barons being Membe...

My Lords—

Minister!

My Lords—

This side!

There are several more speakers, I am afraid, including me.

My Lords, in briefly supporting those amendments that seek to retain the charter, I owe your Lord...

My Lords, the Benches opposite have been well filled to harry the noble and learned Lord, Lord Go...

I will make one brief point that no noble Lord has yet made about Northern Ireland, which I know ...

I will make a point that has not been made before. The charter has never been scrutinised by this...

My Lords, if I appear faint in my defence of the Bill it is due to a lack of food rather than a l...

My Lords, the noble and learned Lord quite rightly draws our attention to the distinction between...

Quite simply because, as I indicated earlier to the Committee, the rights underpinning the charte...

I am sorry to interrupt, but the analysis by the Joint Committee on Human Rights to which the nob...

We have considered that analysis, and that is why I indicated that we were still looking at this....

I put it to the noble and learned Lord that there is no other area of retained EU law where the G...

Because this is the only case in which we have identified that situation. There is no other reaso...

If, as the noble and learned Lord said on numerous occasions in his reply, the rights established...

I must compliment the noble and learned Lord on his second sight. As I was about to say, the next...

The noble and learned Lord is right in that assertion, but it does not follow that retained Europ...

I entirely agree with the noble Lord as to what this Bill is about. With regard to the charter, t...

My Lords, can the noble and learned Lord give us any indication of when he thinks that that exerc...

The potential answer is no, and the note says that my time is up. Nevertheless, and be that as it...

My Lords, I am very grateful to all noble Lords and noble Baronesses who have taken part in the d...

My Lords, we have been debating Clause 1 for 18 hours and three-quarters. That is probably enough...