Contributions
485 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDProtocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland: Power-sharingMy Lords, the institutions in Northern Ireland are, of course, extremely important, including for delivery in a range of domestic policy areas—health, transport and so on—and it…16 Sept 2021HANSARDProtocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland: Power-sharingMy Lords, I very much agree with the thrust of my noble friend’s question. Protecting the Belfast/Good Friday agreement is our top priority; it was the overriding purpose of the…16 Sept 2021HANSARDProtocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland: Power-sharingMy Lords, as I think is well known, there was at the time in 2019 quite a degree of consultation as we developed our negotiating position but, unfortunately, the outcome of that…16 Sept 2021HANSARDBrexit OpportunitiesThis is obviously a very significant issue and why we put forward the proposals that we have in the Command Paper to try to deal with the problem. Our proposals for dual standards…16 Sept 2021HANSARDBrexit OpportunitiesMy Lords, I am certainly happy to update the House. The Partnership Council met before the summer, as the noble Lord noted. I would expect it to meet again before the end of the…16 Sept 2021HANSARDBrexit OpportunitiesMy Lords, we certainly recognise the urgency of the situation and very much share the noble Lord’s anxiety on this question. The relative stability in Northern Ireland is because…16 Sept 2021HANSARDBrexit OpportunitiesMy Lords, my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Transport has of course set out proposals in this area, and I am confident that they will deal with the situation…16 Sept 2021HANSARDBrexit OpportunitiesMy Lords, the purpose of these reforms is, in the long run, to improve the productivity of the UK by putting in place regulations that are tailored to our conditions, rather than…16 Sept 2021HANSARDBrexit OpportunitiesMy Lords, the matters that my noble friend raised in his question are germane to the consultation on the regulatory framework, which I touched on and which obviously is still…16 Sept 2021HANSARDImports from EU to GB: Business PreparationMy Lords, it has been very evident over the early autumn that there are challenges with maintaining supply chains, and these are not limited to the UK. There are shortages of HGV…16 Sept 2021HANSARDImports from EU to GB: Business PreparationMy Lords, on 14 September I announced a pragmatic new timetable for introducing certain controls for goods imported from the EU to the UK to give businesses more time to adjust.…16 Sept 2021HANSARDImports from EU to GB: Business PreparationMy Lords, it has of course been an extraordinary year to 18 months economically. We have been dealing with a pandemic of unpredictable quality, and it is very clear that there are…16 Sept 2021HANSARDImports from EU to GB: Business PreparationMy Lords, we face a complex set of interacting economic facts at the moment, and the decision that we took responds to that. We maintain the controls that are right for us, and we…16 Sept 2021HANSARDImports from EU to GB: Business PreparationI thank the noble Baroness for that question. She is of course correct that our consultation on involving industry and civil society more generally in the implementation of the…16 Sept 2021HANSARDImports from EU to GB: Business PreparationMy Lords, I agree of course with my noble friend that an aspiration for a world-class border is very important; that is where we intend to go. Indeed, we hope that the so-called…16 Sept 2021HANSARDImports from EU to GB: Business PreparationI am sure that we all share the aspiration for borders that are as freely flowing as possible. Obviously, we are dealing with the consequences of a pandemic, and that requires…16 Sept 2021HANSARDBrexit OpportunitiesMy Lords, I do believe those things. I have two points in response. On industry support for regulation, one reason that we intend to set up our standing commission is to make sure…16 Sept 2021HANSARDImports from EU to UK: Grace PeriodMy Lords, as I have noted, the Government have set out a pragmatic new timetable for introducing full import controls for goods imported from the EU to the UK. This revised…16 Sept 2021HANSARDImports from EU to UK: Grace PeriodMy Lords, there are some things that are best not delved into, I think. I am sorry that the noble Lord feels that an agreement with the EU which restores democracy to this country…16 Sept 2021HANSARDImports from EU to UK: Grace PeriodMy Lords, as I frequently note, there are obviously many things going on in the global economy and in global supply chains, including the pandemic, increased costs and so on, and…16 Sept 2021