"I am grateful to the noble Lord for his clarification. However, he talks about trust, and I have to say to him that the reason why the British people have lost trust in politicians to represent them in Europe is that over many years they have seen politicians stand up …..." Lord Blackwell - View Speech
"I thank the noble Lord for his intervention. Actually, I am fully aware of the nature of these amendments, all of which attempt to undermine the purpose of the Bill, which is to require a referendum if there is a major change to the treaties or a major shift in …..." Lord Blackwell - View Speech
"This is the one amendment this evening with which I confess that I have some sympathy. My interpretation of Clause 4(4)(a) is that it talks about the codification of practice under an existing competence. It does not talk about the codification of an existing competence but the codification of practice. …..." Lord Blackwell - View Speech
"I said that I had some sympathy with the amendment, and I very much hope that the Minister will be able to reassure me. To my mind, that was an example of a practice coming into effect which could then be claimed was an existing practice that simply needed to …..." Lord Blackwell - View Speech
"I confess that I am having some difficulty following the noble Lord’s argument on this point and I wonder whether he can help me. As my noble friend Lord Lamont has said, the EU already has exclusive competence in the area of international agreements. It has competence over the single …..." Lord Blackwell - View Speech
"My Lords, before contributing to this debate I should mention my business interests and their international operations set out in the register. It is a great privilege to speak in this important debate at the start of a new Government. Like others, I am delighted to follow on from the …..." Lord Blackwell - View Speech