Global Positioning System
Lord Bowness Excerpts(2 years ago)
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Lord True (Con)
My Lords, I have referred to space weather and the solar cycle, and I agree with the noble Viscount that it is important because at the height of the solar cycle it can disrupt or block access to GPS. We are expanding our space weather monitoring capability, and this will contribute to active correction of GPS as the authorities improve their accuracy. We are also undertaking the other measures that I have mentioned to allow back-up resilience.
Lord Bowness (CB)
My Lords, in a Written Answer in January 2022, the Government stated that they were “considering the findings” of the space-based positioning, navigation and timing programme
“to determine the next steps as part of the business planning process.”
Is the Minister able to tell us what they have decided, or when they expect to decide on the next steps? Regarding the noble Lord’s question about OneWeb, am I to assume that we do not expect OneWeb to play any part in this important decision, particularly since our shareholding, as I understand it, has now been reduced from the proclaimed 45% when we bought it to 17% now?
Lord True (Con)
My Lords, there were several questions there. I referred to the position on OneWeb earlier. I also said that the Cabinet Office review had now concluded and that we were working towards a system-of-systems approach. The UK has a range of PNT-related programmes in development across a number of departments: the National Timing Centre at BEIS; a robust global navigation solution that MoD is working on; and the space-based augmentation service for aviation and maritime safety, which DfT is working on. There are a number of other science and technology investments, but I do not wish to take too much of your Lordships’ time.
Space Industry
Lord Bowness Excerpts(3 years, 1 month ago)
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Lord Bowness (Non-Afl) [V]
My Lords, I welcome the Minister and look forward to his maiden speech. There are many questions about the £400 million purchase of OneWeb, a bankrupt UK company trading in the US that required a ministerial direction for the purchase to proceed. Have all the US court consents to the purchase now been obtained? Is the manufacturing capability to be transferred from the US to the UK and when will that happen? Will we ensure that satellite launches are not dependent on the Russian Roscosmos agency? How does the purchase of OneWeb fit with the work of the space-based navigation and timing programme, which is exploring new ways of delivering satellite navigation to the UK? What part in our space policy will be played by the international agreement between the UK and the US on technology safeguards associated with US participation in space launches from the UK? When will that be debated in the House? If we are to develop an alternative version of Galileo or GPS, what is the estimated cost and how long will it take?
EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement
Lord Bowness Excerpts(3 years, 3 months ago)
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Lord Bowness (Non-Afl) [V]
My Lords, it would be quite possible to use the two minutes to highlight the failure of Parliament to adequately scrutinise the Bill —now an Act—which implemented the agreement we are attempting to scrutinise today. In the period of negotiations, Ministers oft replied that the answer to questions depended on the outcome of negotiations with the European Union. Well, they are over, and we have an agreement of sorts. I have two specific questions and hope I may now get some specific answers.
First, when the Government had the opportunity to opt out of pre-Lisbon treaty police and criminal justice decisions, the UK took that option, but had the option of rejoining measures that the Government believed to be in the interests of the United Kingdom. The then Home Secretary, Theresa May, opted back in to some 35 or 36 measures. Specifically, how many of those are retained by this agreement?
My second question relates to the failure of the agreement to secure visa-free entry to the EU for more than 90 days in any period of 180 days. In winding up the debate on the Bill, and again today, the noble Lord, Lord True, said that a more ambitious agreement on movement of business travellers—which would include musicians—was rejected by the European Union. There has been some confusion in Answers I have had to Written Questions. On 24 March, the Home Office Minister replied that UK nationals wanting to stay in the Schengen area for longer than 90 days may need a visa from the relevant member state. The arrangements are not dependent on whether the Government conclude a free trade agreement with the EU. But on 5 May, the Foreign Office told me that it depends on the approach taken by the EU or the relevant member states. Does this have to be negotiated with the European Union or with individual member states? If the latter, how many of the 27 have we approached, and what is the state of the negotiations?
EU: Future Relationship
Lord Bowness Excerpts(3 years, 7 months ago)
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Lord Bowness (Con) [V]
My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Judd, who has reminded us in a timely fashion that the whole idea of the European Union is about more than trade and visiting the continent. His words need to be listened to.
I thank the Government for providing this debate, even if it is overdue. I know and understand that they do not wish to give a running commentary on negotiations, but our citizens and Parliament are entitled to know where we are headed, particularly since there is such a short time until 31 December, and an even shorter time until the Prime Minister’s October deadline.
We started this Parliament with the famous oven-ready deal, which was negotiated, at least to a small extent, by the Prime Minister. That agreement is now enshrined in the withdrawal Act and was accompanied by the political declaration, which was also changed from that negotiated by Mrs May. However, the Prime Minister’s declaration nevertheless contains ambitious aspirations for our future relationship with the EU. The Government should tell us openly and honestly how many of the hopes expressed in the political declaration have now been abandoned. It appears that the security partnership has been set to one side for now, and obviously the concept of a level playing field envisaged for trade agreement has vanished. What else are we not pursuing?
For those who have always wanted no deal or who have been relaxed about its prospect, this may be of no great concern. However, for others, who may have been supportive of Brexit or who, like me, have had to accept the reality of Brexit, the dash for the door and the apparent desire to cut as many of our ties with the EU because it is the EU is unnecessary and undesirable. There is a temptation, to which the Government seem willing to succumb, to blame everything on the EU negotiators. Perhaps we have never understood that the EU is a law and rule-based union, so the negotiator has to stay within his mandate until it is changed by the other 27. Nor do we seem to acknowledge the special position we occupy by geography and more than 40 years of membership. We are not just an ordinary third country. The withdrawal agreement especially and the political declaration are assumed to be settled and binding upon the parties, and there is a presumption that we will see them in the same way. That we do not is evidenced by the Internal Market Bill. Indeed, I say no more than has been said by Sir John Major and Theresa May, who both brought to the office of Prime Minister the dignity and integrity that we expect. They have been supported by other eminent Conservatives from both sides of the Brexit/remain debate.
Although we understand that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed, I urge the Minister to persuade his colleagues in government to let us have some kind of statement setting out what has been discussed to date, what has been agreed in principle and what in the political declaration is no longer an aspiration. Many of the issues are of importance to individuals. If you visit the Government’s website on visiting Europe from 1 January 2021, it tells you, as set out by the noble Lord, Lord Hain—I will not repeat what he said—all the possible problems that you will face as a traveller to Europe post 31 December. I will take one example only, which is the problem you will have trying to take your dog with you. The site advises you that it may take four months to make the arrangements, but we will be out by then. Four months has long since gone. I am told that some matters in the list are for bilateral agreements, but where are we with the 27 on drivers’ licences and disabled people’s blue badges? Which member states have been able to agree the same arrangements? Almost every aspect of the negotiation process gives cause for concern.
We were assured during the passage of the Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill that EU citizens with settled status and social security rights are safeguarded by the withdrawal agreement and the Act passed by this Parliament, and I have been assured that Clause 5 of that Bill could not be used to change their benefit entitlement unfavourably with EU citizens. I read the Government’s Factsheet 4 on that Bill; it is not easy to read and seems to have a number of perhaps unintended ambiguities. It says that the Bill contains a power to
“amend the retained EU social security co-ordination rules and deliver policy changes at the end of the transition period.”
It says that the SSC regulations may be changed and modified by “an appropriate authority”, and that
“The EU (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 establishes a cohort of citizens to whom the EU’s current social security co-ordination rules will continue to apply after the end of the transition period, whether or not a future relationship … is agreed”.
However, it says that changes to these rules will be made only under the Bill and
“will not be applied to this group for as long as they remain in scope of the Withdrawal Agreement.”
What, in the view of the Government, does that mean? We have already seen that they have read certain agreements in their own way when it did not actually suit. The factsheet says:
“The government would require clause 5 to repeal those areas of the retained regulations not covered in a reciprocal agreement with the EU.”
So where are we on no deal? These are all matters where clarity, openness and honesty are needed. I pose the question again: can Clause 5 of that Bill, in any circumstances at all, be used to leave EU citizens with settled status in a less-favourable situation than UK citizens?
It is not easy to have trust in the Government in the light of their abandonment of the aspirations of the political declaration signed by the Prime Minister, either in ignorance or with the notion that “Well, it’ll all be all right, and we can change it if we desire it.” I wish that we had stayed with the words of the political declaration, where we were
“determined to work together to safeguard the rules-based international order, the rule of law and promotion of democracy, and high standards of free and fair trade and workers’ rights”,
and many other things. In that position we would have established a broad, deep and flexible partnership. That is what we should have with our near neighbours and friends.
EU: Non-financial Services
Lord Bowness Excerpts(3 years, 7 months ago)
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Lord True (Con)
My Lords, the Government’s target is to seek friendly agreements with the widest possible range of nations, including the European Union, and I am confident that the figure that the noble Lord cites will be greatly exceeded by the end of the year.
Lord Bowness (Con) [V]
There are 120 days until 31 December. We know what has not been agreed, because that is in the newspapers, and we know what the Government have chosen not to pursue in the agreement—namely, security and defence—but we do not know what has been raised and what has been agreed, subject of course to “Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed”. Will my noble friend undertake to provide a Statement to Parliament setting out exactly what has been agreed, which aspirations we have put forward and which have been completely rejected? This is not interfering with the negotiations; it is informing Parliament and the public.
Lord True (Con)
My Lords, the Government are not giving a running commentary on the negotiations. We remain in close contact with our EU counterparts. There were discussions yesterday and we look forward to the next round of talks in London next week. I can promise my noble friend that we will publish the agenda for that next round towards the end of the week as usual.
EU: Trade and Security Partnership
Lord Bowness Excerpts(3 years, 10 months ago)
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Lord True [V]
My Lords, I try not to criticise any aspect of the European Union from this Dispatch Box but, that apart, I agree with that the noble Lord has just said.
Lord Bowness (Con) [V]
Does my noble friend the Minister accept that we signed a political declaration? Do the Government still consider themselves bound by that declaration, which reflected the fact that. while we keep talking about being a sovereign nation, we have nevertheless been involved deeply with the EU over the last 40-plus years? That reflects many of the existing arrangements. Secondly, when will the Joint Committee next meet? Will it recognise that the circumstances are now totally different from those at the time of the referendum—or indeed the general election—and that an extension is badly needed to achieve what the parties want by way of future relations?
Lord True [V]
My Lords, the Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee next meets on 12 June. I repeat that the Government do not consider an extension of the transition necessary or desirable. It will not happen from a UK Government point of view. The political declaration sets out the potential scope of our future relationship. We and the EU signed up to it, but any agreement based on it must be balanced and represent a balance of benefits to both sides.
Beyond Brexit (European Union Committee Report)
Lord Bowness Excerpts(3 years, 11 months ago)
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Lord Bowness (Con)
My Lords, I too congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Boswell, and indeed his successor, the noble Earl, Lord Kinnoull, on the work of the European Union Committee, and in particular this report. I agree with its recommendations. However, I think it would be a little more fruitful if we had actually been discussing a report on the withdrawal agreement and political declaration negotiated by the present Prime Minister.
My questions to my noble friend the Minister arise out of the changes which were made in that withdrawal agreement and what has happened subsequent to the election. What do the Government actually believe is the status of the withdrawal agreement and the political declaration negotiated, with much fanfare, by the present Prime Minister? What has happened to the close relationships that were envisaged in the opening paragraphs of that political declaration? What has happened to the matters referred to by the noble Lord, Lord Ricketts, of police and criminal justice co-operation and police and judicial co-operation? These are all now being replaced by our own new legislation. We are told that what we are aiming for by the end of December is a simple free trade agreement, but a simple free trade agreement will not, in my view, cover any of those issues. Indeed, the question is whether it will cover services.
I hope my noble friend the Minister will, on this occasion, answer my next question. Why, in the light of the current circumstances, and the likely economic fallout from coronavirus, do we not accept that circumstances have changed and seek the extension that, in my view, all reasonable people want? This is not trying to reverse Brexit; this is trying to make things better for the United Kingdom. I regret to say that, as we go forward, I have no confidence in the way that the Government are dealing with this issue.
European Union: Future Relationship
Lord Bowness Excerpts(4 years ago)
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Lord True
My Lords, there were several questions there, but it is always welcome to hear from the noble Baroness. The Government are determined to reach a constructive and amicable relationship with the EU, to maintain that and to reach an amicable agreement. These negotiations have only just begun. There were good areas of convergence in the first discussions, as well as areas of disagreement; that is normal in a negotiation. On legal texts, we have always said that we would consider whether it is appropriate to publish certain documents during the course of negotiations and whether it is useful to make them available more widely. However, those decisions will be taken at the appropriate time.
Lord Bowness (Con)
Can my noble friend the Minister explain why, in the interests of flexibility, the Government are refusing even to consider an extension to the transition period given that we do not know what situation we will be in next week, never mind the situation we will be in by December this year? Secondly, can he say whether, in the interests of flexibility, the Government will seek to join European Union Ministers in discussions on co-ordinated steps to open up tourist traffic with the rest of the European Union, of which we are still part?
Lord True
My Lords, as the Prime Minister said yesterday, various decisions on future arrangements under the Covid crisis will be considered in due course. On my noble friend’s main question, there is a clear mandate from the British people to leave the European Union. We have left the European Union and Parliament has enacted that the transition period will end on 31 December. The Government are conducting themselves in accordance with the direction of the British people and the direction of Parliament.
European Union: Negotiations (European Union Committee Report)
Lord Bowness Excerpts(4 years, 1 month ago)
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Lord Bowness (Con)
My Lords, like other noble Lords, I thank the noble Earl, Lord Kinnoull, and the EU committee for producing this report and enabling us to have this debate. While I acknowledge that the Government are rightly concerned about and occupied with the coronavirus situation—and so are the media—Brexit nevertheless remains of vital importance and we must not let it go off our radar.
I refer to Brexit because I am tired of the statement that Brexit “has been done”. As witnessed by this afternoon’s debate, the important and heavy-lifting part of Brexit remains undone and the most important elements of our future relationship remain to be settled. It might even be that, given the economic consequences of coronavirus, it will be even more important than we can envisage at the present time. A simplistic free-trade agreement, as in Command Paper 211, might not be a good substitute for the existing deep relationship with our near neighbours. I say to my noble friend Lord Hamilton that it is not about 22 miles across the water: it is about 40-plus years of integration of our economy and much of our personal interests and activities that make us a different kind of third country from other third countries.
Lord Hamilton of Epsom
Would that not make a free-trade agreement easier rather than more difficult?
Lord Bowness
I just do not agree: I do not think it makes any of the Brexit negotiations easier. We have had that integration. The noble Lord, Lord Anderson of Ipswich, talked about family law, as I was going to do later on in my speech, but thankfully, from his knowledge, he has touched upon that particular issue. I just cannot accept the idea that it makes it easier. We are a unique third country as a result of the 40-plus years that we have been members of the European Union.
I do not know what happened to the ambitions of the political declaration: that talked about a broad, deep and flexible partnership across trade and economic co-operation, with a comprehensive and balanced free-trade area. It talked about security and law. Those ambitions seem to have gone away and I am afraid that I am not proud—I say to my noble friend Lady Noakes —of the Government’s approach to this matter: I am alarmed by their approach. I remain unconvinced—and I hope that my noble friend Lord True might be able to convince me—that this Government, and many of their prominent members, actually want a deal or anything other than the most basic agreement. If they do, then surely the attitude they take towards an extension—especially in the current climate—would be rather different.
There are so many matters that give me cause for concern and make me wonder what our objectives are. The debate in your Lordships’ House this afternoon has been about some of the major issues. I have been —I was going to say “wasting my time”—occupying my time over the last few weeks asking some Written Questions. It is a triumph of hope over experience because even if the Questions were silly, the Answers—with great respect to those who have given them—were even sillier. They did not advance matters one iota. I asked these Questions because of the involvement that we as individuals—not necessarily as corporations or financial institutions—had with the European Union.
I have been seeking answers to some simple questions, such as whether the Government are going to negotiate mutual recognition of the European Health Insurance Card and of driving licences. People from the EU in this country have exchanged their national driving licence for a British driving licence. They cannot easily change it back, but they will nevertheless go home from time to time. That is a matter that ought to be on the agenda of the Government.
What about mutual recognition of disabled persons’ blue parking badges—I declare an interest in that my wife has one. I was referred in the reply to one Parliamentary Question to the Written Ministerial Statement of my noble friend the Leader of the House, who made a statement some time in February. I was told that it was covered, in terms of when it was going to be negotiated, under some vague heading of “Other Provisions”, but in fact it does not appear in Command Paper 211 at all, so I am now asking, and awaiting an answer, as to which chapter or part of Command Paper 211, or in which group in negotiating terms, these things are covered. Because I do not get any answers, and because I get the distinct impression that it is all a bit of a nuisance and people are thinking, “I do wish the noble Lord would go away”, I wonder how seriously these matters are being taken.
We have talked in the past about participation in agencies. We have heard already this afternoon from other noble Lords about the European safety agency. I pose the same question: why did we take the decision to set up our own, and at what annual cost compared to the contributions currently made to the European agency? Part 2 of Command Paper 211 talks about the UK and EU agreeing a bilateral safety agency. What is the real position about this? Are we going to have a joint enterprise, or are we going to build our own castle in the air?
I have asked about family law. The noble Lord, Lord Anderson of Ipswich dealt with this. I remember when I chaired the Law and Institutions Sub-Committee of your Lordships’ EU committee: a lot of work was done because—again, I refer to my noble friend Lord Hamilton of Epsom—after 40-odd years, many nationals of one state have married nationals of another. They may have property in one or other of their countries—or, indeed, a third country. They have family disputes. Members of the family die and they need to deal with inheritance tax matters. All these things are important for people; they cannot be dismissed with “Brexit is done” or just washing our hands of them to satisfy some ideological requirement, or some macho desire to meet a self-imposed deadline.
I do not know where the Government are going on these matters. I hope that I am wrong in my perception of the way they are going, but would it not be a gesture of incredible good faith to many of our citizens who need and want to travel to the EU if the Government were to try to establish equality of treatment between EU citizens visiting the UK, who I understand will get a six-month visa, and UK citizens who, at the moment, when visiting the EU after the end of December, are very likely, depending on the state, to get only 90 days? I should have thought that we should try to resolve that matter for the benefit of our citizens, who are now going to lose a benefit as a result of leaving the European Union.
Lastly, I turn to the amendment of the noble Baroness, Lady Hayter. I support it and cannot understand the objection to it. It does not prescribe how; it refers to a committee. This could be any kind of committee: a Joint Committee, a Select Committee, or any other that is devised. It does not ask for a veto; it asks for information. If a Parliament does not want information, then that Parliament might as well go home. But it complained, very loudly, when it was sent home, and it had better make sure that it is here to do things that are worth while.
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill
Lord Bowness Excerpts(6 years, 2 months ago)
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Lord Bowness (Con)
My Lords, like other noble Lords I accept that if there is to be Brexit, there has to be a Bill for legal certainty. But it must not give rights to the Executive at the expense of Parliament, and it must be sufficiently flexible to cope with circumstances which over the period of our negotiations may change. It must also ensure that our future is determined by Parliament. In the words of the noble and learned Lord, Lord Hope of Craighead, the Bill is in a sorry state and Members have the right to support, speak for and, if necessary, vote for amendments within the constitutional parameters of this House. We should not be frightened off by my noble friend Lord Dobbs: this is not “House of Cards”.
It is very easy to answer questions by accusing the questioner of trying to thwart the will of the people. I, like many others, feel I have been the victim of a prolonged hijack, and I believe that hard Brexit is a minority interest. In 2010, David Cameron opposed a referendum, but eventually, after pressure and rebellion, capitulated, and in the 2015 election promised the in/out vote on the reform he had negotiated. How was it that immediately after the referendum the Government adopted an extreme position of no to the single market, no to the customs union, and no to an EFTA, EEA, Norway or Switzerland-type arrangement? We heard a great deal about the Government’s need for the freedom to negotiate without disclosing their hand to Parliament, but at a stroke we declared to a bewildered world that we wanted out of everything yet wanted a deep and special relationship with the EU—the “have your cake and eat it” position. This was maintained at the 2017 election and is now portrayed as the choice of the people because of the referendum and general election votes.
In neither of these campaigns did anyone explain the effect of these policies. To be fair to hard Brexiteers, perhaps they have only just become apparent. The hijackers, as I see them, seem to be in denial about the existence of problems despite the evidence, and the attacks upon the Chancellor and, indirectly, the Prime Minister suggest that their fervour for a hard Brexit is undiminished. Was the Ireland/Northern Ireland situation explained? Frictionless borders mean nothing when it comes to the detail. Did we explain that new arrangements for trade will need a mechanism to resolve disputes? How is a tribunal which is not a UK court different in principle from the Court of Justice of the European Union? Did anyone explain that if there was no deal, customs delays would have a serious impact on the pharmaceutical and motor industries, to name but two? In such industries, small, frequent and rapid shipments are the name of the game.
We were assured that no deal is better than a bad deal and that we could trade on WTO rules, but who explained that tariffs are only part of the story? The UK and the EU cannot grant each other more favourable terms than each is prepared to grant other World Trade Organization countries. We are told that we should have no problem dealing with the EU on WTO rules, as do the US and China, but were we told about mutual recognition agreements—MRAs—which are principally concerned with non-tariff barriers, and are arguably more important than tariffs? The United States has 135 such agreements with the European Union. Without a deal we would not only have no agreements with the European Union but also abandon the MRAs that the EU has with countries like the US and China. The MRAs are not simply WTO rules: they have to be negotiated.
The noble Lord, Lord Hain, has already referred to the 60 or so free trade agreements that the European Union has with other countries. We cannot just pick these up at will. There will have to be negotiations between the European Union, ourselves and third countries. It already appears that a joint submission to the World Trade Organization by the European Union and the UK on the division of quotas has been objected to by the United States, Australia and New Zealand. Perhaps the Minister will bring us up to date on how well that is going?
Let us have no more of how easy it will all be if we revert to WTO rules. That claim is in the same category as the £350 million on the side of the bus. However good a deal we get, it cannot be as good as the one we have now as members of the European Union. This game, as I said in an earlier debate, is just not worth the candle, so it makes sense that, if there is to be Brexit, the changes to the current arrangements should be as small as possible. Even at this late stage, the idea of the single market, the customs union, membership of EFTA or the EEA, or even the status quo should be not be removed from consideration.
It is therefore vital that the Bill before us gives Parliament, and principally of course the House of Commons, the opportunity to extend the proposed leaving date, to establish a meaningful transition or implementation period, and to have a meaningful vote, including rejecting any deal and certainly no deal. I am certainly attracted to the idea of the Government seeking a mandate, as outlined by the noble and learned Lord, Lord Falconer. It is a matter for Parliament and, although I share many of the sentiments of the noble Lord, Lord Adonis, I cannot support calls for a referendum when we have so recently seen how flawed and misleading such campaigns can be.
Like millions of other citizens, this hijacked citizen wants to be freed. I do not want to be on a ship which is steering a course through dangerous waters to a place unknown when there is a known and safe haven available. I want reality to dawn and our citizens to be told the consequences of the policies that we have adopted to implement their decision. Yes, we can leave the European Union if we must, but we can head for a safe haven—there is no need deliberately to sail into uncharted and rocky waters.