I wonder if I could put one point to the noble and learned Lord before he sits down. As ever, what he said was intellectually lucid and stimulating. I just want to jog back to what he said about consensus and agreement. It is a very important distinction and I am sure it will be interesting to all his ministerial colleagues in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and to diplomats around the world. How does this distinction translate into other languages? Does he think that our interlocutors in Brussels regard what we appeared to accept in December as a consensus or as an agreement? Does he think that they will now be quite relaxed if we walk away from some of what was a consensus because it was not an agreement? I should like to be a little clearer on this. It is going to be very important as we go through this debate when we are told that things are part of a consensus and not part of an agreement. If, with his usual intellectual authority, he could explain that to naive, one-time make-believe diplomats like me, I should be grateful.
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill
Proceeding contribution from
Lord Patten of Barnes
(Conservative)
in the House of Lords on Wednesday, 7 March 2018.
It occurred during Committee of the Whole House (HL)
and
Debate on bills on European Union (Withdrawal) Bill.
About this proceeding contribution
Reference
789 c1083 Session
2017-19Chamber / Committee
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2018-03-08 14:28:22 +0000
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