European Union (Withdrawal) (No. 5) Bill

Moved by

Lord Robertson of Port Ellen

1: Clause 1, page 1, line 2, leave out “after t...

My Lords, along with Amendment 1, I shall also speak to Amendments 2 and 3. As the Leader of the ...

Moved by

Lord Robertson of Port Ellen

2: Clause 1, page 1, line 2, after “Assent” ins...

Moved by

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

4: Clause 1, page 1, line 10, after “date” insert “, ...

My Lords, Amendment 4 seeks to insert a restriction on the date referred to in line 10:

“wh...

My Lords, I oppose the amendment. It would frustrate the very purpose of the Bill, which is to le...

My Lords, I support my noble friend’s amendment for two reasons. First, this remains a wretched B...

My Lords, there may be some flaws in the Bill—hence the support from these Benches for some of th...

My Lords, noble Lords are saying that it is for the other place to set a date. My understanding i...

My Lords, we should be grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Rolfe, for her amendment and ...

My Lords, in rising to support my noble friend, I am somewhat confused because this is a Private ...

My Lords, what has just been demonstrated is that the Bill has many parents and very wide support...

My Lords, I apologise for having failed to speak in the debate on Second Reading. I had to leave ...

My Lords, may I respectfully remind the noble Viscount that we are debating Amendment 4?

I am well aware, and I thank the noble Lord for his advice.

However, I congratulate my nobl...

My Lords, like the noble Viscount, I was not able to be here for the debate on Second Reading. I ...

I hear that the noble Lord thinks that, but I regret that I take a different opinion. I have apol...

My Lords—

No, I would like to finish so I will not give way to the noble Lord again. It is therefore strang...

My Lords, I rise purely in a spirit of helpfulness. Perhaps the noble Viscount could keep in mind...

I thank the noble Lord for his helpful advice. Nevertheless, I find it strange that the Speaker m...

I must remind my noble friend that, under paragraph 4.45, it is incorrect for Members of this Hou...

I thank my noble friend for his correction.

3.30 pm

My Lords, I take the place of my noble friend Lady Hayter today. She, like my noble friend Lord R...

If the circumstances are exceptional, why does that mean it has not created a precedent?

I think it speaks for itself. We have not found ourselves in this sort of situation before. Other...

Could the noble Lord help us understand what the word “exceptional” means? On Thursday we had fiv...

That was the view the House took on each of those closure Motions.

To deal with the substan...

The noble Lord says we should not put constraints on the other place when we consider these amend...

I will not attempt definitions of words; I am a lawyer, not a grammarian.

The Government distinguished by the leadership of Lady Thatcher came into office on the basis of ...

I am grateful for the support I have had for my amendment and for the echo that uncertainty in th...

Given that my noble friend has put uncertainty at the heart of her remarks, does she not think th...

I will move on, rather than try to be Prime Minister for the afternoon. Clearly, I was concerned ...

Moved by

Lord Goldsmith

5: Clause 1, page 1, line 21, leave out subsections (6) and (...

My Lords in moving this amendment, with the permission of the House I will also comment on Amendm...

My Lords—

I will not give way because the noble Lord has not even heard what I am trying to say.

The ...

My Lords—

I will give way to the noble Lord, but this will be the last time.

It may be the only time I ask. The noble and learned Lord started his remarks by using the phrase...

I respectfully invite the noble Lord to read fully the debate at Second Reading, where that was e...

If the noble and learned Lord’s Amendment 5 is carried and Amendment 7 is carried as well, is it ...

So far as domestic law is concerned, in any event there will need to be a statutory instrument to...

My Lords—

My Lords—

I give way to whoever would like to speak on the opposite Benches.

I entirely agree with the noble and learned Lord that it is most important that there should be a...

The noble Lord is quite right that that is a very important point. It was raised at Second Readin...

My Lords, I tabled Amendment 6.

It is not grouped with this one.

I would be the mover of Amendment 6. I originally proposed with the Public Bill Office precisely ...

My Lords, I am rather confused as to what is going on here. Who is answering these important poin...

The Minister.

No, it is not for the Minister to answer them, as it is not a Government Bill. I do not know whet...

My Lords, the noble Baroness, Lady Deech, accepted that Amendments 5 and 7 remove the concern tha...

Has it?

It is not on the list, but as I understand it, there have been suggestions that it would be helpf...

They are not grouped.

They are not grouped on the Marshalled List, but I was informed that the Table Office had been in...

Does this not reveal the chaos of the current procedure?

My Lords, I will do whatever the Chief Whip thinks is most appropriate in these circumstances, as...

I thank the noble Lord. The papers for today were prepared when, at a rather late hour, someone a...

Take them together.

As the sponsor of the Bill, I suggest that they are taken together.

My Lords, I can sense the mood of the House, and I am grateful to all noble Lords, particularly t...

I entirely understand the point about the Prime Minister agreeing to a proposal coming from the E...

This is a negotiation. It would be very odd to say she can agree a date but she cannot seek one. ...

If I may assist, Clause 1(4) would require the Prime Minister to seek an extension of the period ...

I entirely accept that.

It is necessary to have legal certainty on the retention of the Pri...

My Lords, I have listened with care to the speeches of the noble and learned Lord, Lord Goldsmith...

My Lords, perhaps I could assist the noble Lord, Lord Howard, to see this situation in a differen...

It is not the Minister.

Perhaps if noble Lords listened to the end of a sentence they would understand what the speaker w...

My Lords, I think we should remember that there is no precedent, no parallel, to the situation in...

My Lords, I had not intended to speak. I do not think that this is a good Bill. There have been m...

Does the noble and learned Lord accept that, with an unwritten constitution, it is impossible to ...

Of course it will be used by others. Lawyers use bad precedents constantly, but it does not mean ...

The noble and learned Lord tells us that it improves the Bill. Does it not change the Bill so mat...

No, it does not. We have to face the context, which is that the Commons has passed the Bill. So w...

The noble Lord, Lord Pannick, and the noble and learned Lord, Lord Judge, have helpfully identifi...

Could the noble Lord enlighten me, at least, as to which amendment he is referring to?

I am referring to Amendment 7.

Amendment 7 does not fetter. It actually says the opposite.

4.15 pm

The amendment says, “nothing … prevents”, which I suppose could be said to be saying that the roy...

Will the noble Lord answer the points of concern of the noble Lord, Lord Pannick, as to why Amend...

I do not want to misrepresent what the noble Lord said, but he suggested that there might be some...

My Lords, I am yet another lawyer. I apologise for that. I will not detain the House for long.