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1,127 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDUpdate to ParliamentMy Lords, with the leave of the House, I shall now repeat a Statement made by my right honourable friend the Prime Minister in another place. The Statement is as follows: “With…25 Sept 2019HANSARDUpdate to ParliamentI thank the noble and learned Lord for that contribution. He is absolutely right that this has significant implications. We accept the judgment and accept that we lost the case,…25 Sept 2019HANSARDUpdate to ParliamentI thank the noble Baroness, Lady Smith, and the noble and learned Lord, Lord Wallace, for their comments. First, can I say that this Government have the highest respect for our…25 Sept 2019HANSARDUpdate to ParliamentI thank my noble friend for his comments; he made his point forcefully and I am sorry about the way he feels. I assure him that we are working hard and flat out to get a deal.…25 Sept 2019HANSARDUpdate to ParliamentAs I said, I went to the Privy Council meeting as requested and I did so in good faith. At that point, until the judgment of the Supreme Court, the advice was lawful and the…25 Sept 2019HANSARDUpdate to ParliamentThe reaction of the noble Lord, and this House, to the Statement have been quite clear. There is not much I can say: I am repeating the Statement, but I have heard what the House…25 Sept 2019HANSARDUpdate to ParliamentI thank my noble friend. He is right that progress is being made. I am not saying that there are not significant hurdles still to get through—there are; but we are having…25 Sept 2019HANSARDUpdate to ParliamentI thank the noble Baroness and pay tribute to her work and the support she has shown in this area as well. I am very aware of the environment within which we are all working in…25 Sept 2019HANSARDUpdate to ParliamentMy noble friend spoke to me following the most reverend Primate’s comments earlier, and I look forward to reading the words that he said; I know that he has said a lot on this…25 Sept 2019HANSARDUpdate to ParliamentFirst, the Prime Minister and this Government have made it clear—it was the first thing that I said in response to the first comments—that we have the highest respect for our…25 Sept 2019HANSARDUpdate to ParliamentAll I can say to the noble Lord is that we acted in good faith and in the belief that our approach was lawful and constitutional. I know that the noble Lord is extremely concerned…25 Sept 2019HANSARDUpdate to ParliamentMy noble friend is right that this was a complex matter. As I said in an earlier answer, there were differing views among different courts and senior and distinguished lawyers.…25 Sept 2019HANSARDUpdate to ParliamentI did not ask for the advice; I accepted the word of the senior law officer that in his view it was lawful and constitutional. I am not a lawyer and I took that in good and sound…25 Sept 2019HANSARDUpdate to ParliamentWe have made very clear our continuing commitment to the Belfast agreement in ensuring that we do everything to uphold it. We have also been very clear about the importance of the…25 Sept 2019HANSARDUpdate to ParliamentThe Supreme Court looked at the evidence before it and at the Government’s case and unfortunately the judgment went against the Government. The Supreme Court has made its…25 Sept 2019HANSARDUpdate to ParliamentThe noble Lord makes a powerful point and does so extremely well. It will certainly be reflected on. I have already made a commitment to the House that I will pass on to my…25 Sept 2019HANSARDUpdate to ParliamentAs I have said repeatedly to noble Lords, we did act in good faith. The Supreme Court has found against the case that we put forward and we accept that. We will reflect on that…25 Sept 2019HANSARDUpdate to ParliamentIn the other place, the Attorney-General said: “The Supreme Court has made new law … from now on, the prerogative power”, can be a justiciable subject and the implications, “for…25 Sept 2019HANSARDUpdate to ParliamentThe Prime Minister has been making it very clear to our European colleagues that the biggest issue MPs in the other place had in relation to the withdrawal agreement that was put…25 Sept 2019HANSARDUpdate to ParliamentThe noble Lord is absolutely right. I know he has been doing a lot of work in this area. A lot of work has been going on, both in working groups within government and externally.…25 Sept 2019