Contributions
485 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDEU RelationsI repeat what I have already said: threats have been made by both sides. Our position is unchanged; I made that clear in the Statement. Our position is to try to find a negotiated…10 Nov 2021HANSARDEU RelationsMy Lords, obviously I very much agree with the thrust of the question. There is a lot of commentary about the situation in Northern Ireland that does not engage with the reality…10 Nov 2021HANSARDEU RelationsMy Lords, I think the exchanges that we have had in the last few minutes show the point I was making earlier: that there are in fact starkly divided views in Northern Ireland…10 Nov 2021HANSARDEU RelationsMy Lords, I do not think that I said that I was planning to present my own figures in this respect, merely that I was sceptical about the many judgments that had been made…10 Nov 2021HANSARDEU RelationsI thank the noble Lord for his advice; I am certainly taking it, in that we should carry on negotiating—that is what we are trying to do, including this week and, I hope, beyond…10 Nov 2021HANSARDEU RelationsThe noble Lord makes an extremely important point. I have said before, and say again, that Article 16 is not an on/off switch for the protocol. It is not a sort of…10 Nov 2021HANSARDEU RelationsI thank my noble friend for the question. We are beginning that process. Obviously, we do not wish to pre-judge whether Article 16 is used and, as I said, we want to proceed with…10 Nov 2021HANSARDEU RelationsIt is probably not helpful for me to get into speculating about what polls may or may not show about outcomes months or years from now. To be honest, I am not sure there is a very…10 Nov 2021HANSARDEU RelationsMy Lords, those are very good points. They are based on the fact that, ultimately, the protocol says that Northern Ireland’s position in the UK’s internal market must be respected…10 Nov 2021HANSARDEU RelationsMy Lords, obviously I agree with my noble friend’s question. I said in my Statement that the West needed to think about what it had in common, for exactly these reasons—and that…10 Nov 2021HANSARDProtocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland: Impact on TradeMy Lords, I very much wished to go to that reception. Unfortunately, as colleagues know, I was not well on Tuesday and could not attend, but my office was there and represented…21 Oct 2021HANSARDProtocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland: Impact on TradeMy Lords, the difficulty we have with the protocol is not so much the sovereignty issue, because the territorial integrity of the UK and the integrity of the internal market of…21 Oct 2021HANSARDProtocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland: EU ProposalsMy Lords, I am in regular contact with Vice-President Šefčovič about the full range of issues relating to the UK-EU relationship. Most recently, I met him in Brussels on 15…21 Oct 2021HANSARDProtocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland: Impact on TradeMy Lords, my noble friend identifies an important point, which is that trade in both goods and services is subject to a lot of noise at the moment—the ongoing Covid pandemic, the…21 Oct 2021HANSARDProtocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland: Impact on TradeMy Lords, I think the question is based on a slight misconception that the legal text that we sent in represents some new stage or evolution in our position. It does not. It…21 Oct 2021HANSARDProtocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland: EU ProposalsMy Lords, as a Government we obviously have our own dialogue with the US Government that does not depend on messages in the New York Times . I refer back to the statement made by…21 Oct 2021HANSARDProtocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland: EU ProposalsMy Lords, the protocol has always been a somewhat separable bit of the withdrawal agreement, in the sense that it was renegotiated after the first version of the withdrawal…21 Oct 2021HANSARDProtocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland: EU ProposalsMy Lords, my team has been in discussion with the EU on this subject all week. We are seeking to understand the detail that underlies some of the headline claims that the EU has…21 Oct 2021HANSARDProtocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland: EU ProposalsMy Lords, we are obviously engaged in a very intensive dialogue on this question, both at my level and among teams and beyond that. As I said, obviously we talk to senior…21 Oct 2021HANSARDProtocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland: Effect of Renegotiation on Other Trade NegotiationsMy Lords, the Government are implementing a successful programme of trade negotiations around the world. Agreement in principle was announced with New Zealand overnight, and we…21 Oct 2021