EU Council

Lord Bridges of Headley Excerpts

Monday 17th December 2018 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

We have not had a vote on the deal yet. The vote is coming. To decide further courses of action before we have actually had a vote does not seem that sensible. As I have made clear, if the House of Commons chooses to reject the deal, there is a process set out which will be followed.

[Lord Bridges of Headley (Con)]

My Lords, I welcome the fact that the Cabinet is to discuss its preparedness for no deal tomorrow morning. In light of that, would it be possible for the Government to give a Statement to Parliament on their preparedness for no deal before Christmas?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

As my noble friend will be aware, the Government have regularly updated this House, the other House and Select Committees on our no-deal preparations, and we will continue to do so.

G20 Summit

Lord Bridges of Headley Excerpts

Monday 3rd December 2018 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

I thank the noble Baroness for her comments. I am sure she will recognise that two of the issues she raised are very close to the Prime Minister’s heart and that she has been a leader internationally in these areas. On modern slavery, the call to action has now been endorsed by more than 80 countries, including 13 of the G20, and we will continue to push that forward. We were very pleased with the G20 strategy as a positive step to tackling modern slavery and reducing exploitation. Indeed, it set out a number of commitments, particularly around global supply chains, where modern slavery unfortunately remains rife. The noble Baroness may well also know that Australia, for instance, is introducing legislation based on our Modern Slavery Act; so we are indeed leading the world and we will continue to push for this. As she rightly said, we will focus on empowering women and on gender equality: that remains a priority for DfID.

[Lord Bridges of Headley (Con)]

My Lords, I very much welcome the Statement and in particular the focus on future trade arrangements. However, before we get carried away with the future, will my noble friend take a moment to update the House on the progress that the Government have made on grand- fathering over existing EU/non-EU trade agreements? It is imperative that this is done before we leave. Furthermore, how are we doing with grandfathering over the 750—at the last count—trade-related agreements with 168 countries that are also important to keep trade flowing?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

I do not believe that that kind of detail was discussed at the G20, but I am very happy to investigate further and write to my noble friend.

Brexit: Negotiations

Lord Bridges of Headley Excerpts

Thursday 15th November 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bridges of Headley (Con)]

My Lords—

[Lord Lea of Crondall (Lab)]

My Lords—

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

The Prime Minister, supported by the Cabinet, has brought forward this deal, which has been negotiated with the EU, and it is the deal on the table. There will be a Council meeting later this month for both parties to agree it, and it will then be put to Parliament, which will, I hope, support it.

[Lord Bridges of Headley]

My Lords, I applaud the efforts of the Prime Minister in getting us this far, but I fear that my misgivings about what would happen in this process have been proven all too true—namely, the political declaration is meaningless waffle and, worse still, it is laced with the cyanide of the backstop. I understand what my noble friend says about us wishing to get more clarity in this political declaration, so maybe she can now tell the House what it means when it says that the future relationship will,

“build on the single customs territory”?

What does that mean? Does it mean that we will remain in some form of customs union with the European Union?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

No. It means that we want a frictionless border, and we will continue to work on that. However, once we leave the EU, we will be able to negotiate free trade agreements across the world and become a truly global Britain.

Brexit: Negotiations

Lord Bridges of Headley Excerpts

Monday 15th October 2018 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

We have been consistently clear that we are committed to avoiding a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. That is not new. We have been consistently clear we want to preserve the economic integrity of the UK in all scenarios. That is not new. That is what we have been saying to the EU throughout. And we have been clear from the beginning: the backstop proposal is not acceptable to us. As the Statement makes clear, the EU have responded positively by agreeing to explore a UK-wide customs solution, and that is what we will continue to discuss over the coming days and weeks.

[Lord Bridges of Headley (Con)]

My Lords, I agree with the sentiments expressed by the Prime Minister in her Statement this afternoon about maintaining the integrity of the United Kingdom. However, referring back to the statement agreed—I understood—by both the European Union and the UK Government in December, it said in paragraph 49:

“In the absence of agreed solutions”—


that is, as regards the Irish border—

“the United Kingdom will maintain full alignment with those rules of the Internal Market and the Customs Union which, now or in the future, support North-South cooperation, the all-island economy and the protection of the 1998 Agreement”.

In light of the Statement this afternoon, am I to take it the UK Government no longer stand by that statement?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

No, we are committed to ensuring that our future economic partnership should provide solutions to the unique circumstances of Northern Ireland and that the future relationship is in place by the end of the implementation period. We accept, however, that there is a chance of a gap, which is why the backstop is, in effect, an insurance policy for the people of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

European Council

Lord Bridges of Headley Excerpts

Monday 26th March 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bridges of Headley (Con)]

My Lords, I very much welcome the progress that has been made and I congratulate the Prime Minister and her negotiating team on what has been done. I am especially pleased by the passage in the Statement about the relationship we are seeking, which states that,

“it is essential that we have clarity about the terms of that relationship when we ask the House to agree the Implementation Period and the rest of the Withdrawal Agreement in the autumn”.

Therefore will my noble friend clarify and confirm that the Prime Minister will not accept any withdrawal agreement that does not set out clearly how the processes at the Irish border will operate, and therefore will be ruling out in that withdrawal agreement the backstop option, but will be putting in an option that the Prime Minister finds satisfactory?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

We have been very clear that we believe we will find a satisfactory position on the Irish border. We are clear about that and we believe it is bound up with the discussions around our future relationship. Noble Lords will have ample time and opportunity to discuss that in more detail when the Bill comes to the House.

European Council

Lord Bridges of Headley Excerpts

Monday 18th December 2017 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

What is most important is that we are now moving into phase 2 of the negotiations, with a united Government looking for the best deal that we will achieve for the UK and the EU.

[Lord Bridges of Headley (Con)]

My Lords, to pick up on the point that my noble friend has just made about phase 2, last week Monsieur Barnier said that the treaty that is likely to emerge from the end of this process,

“will be accompanied by a political declaration … which will describe the framework for our future relationship. A political declaration. But it cannot be anything else. In technical, legal terms it simply is not possible to do anything else”.

Does my noble friend agree with what Monsieur Barnier says?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

What I can do is read to my noble friend from the EU Council conclusions, which say:

“While an agreement on a future relationship can only be finalised and concluded once the United Kingdom has become a third country, the Union will be ready to engage in preliminary and preparatory discussions with the aim of identifying an overall understanding of the framework for the future relationship … Such an understanding should be elaborated in a political declaration accompanying and referred to in the Withdrawal Agreement”.

Brexit Negotiations

Lord Bridges of Headley Excerpts

Monday 11th December 2017 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

The implementation period will ensure that the changes necessary for the new relationship will be put in place, as well, as I have said, as a framework based on the existing structure of EU rules and regulations.

[Lord Bridges of Headley (Con)]

My Lords, I obviously applaud the Prime Minister for getting us to the base camp of the negotiations. It is much to her credit that she showed such persistence last week. Following on from the last question, however, I urge my noble friend to urge her colleagues to bring as much honesty and clarity as possible to the next phase of the negotiations. There is still talk of the implementation period being one in which we implement the final treaty. With due regard to the noble Lord, Lord Kerr, I struggle to find within Article 50 any reference that gives the European Union the remit to negotiate a full new treaty between now and the end of March 2019. Therefore my understanding is that at best the British Government would be able to negotiate a heads of terms with the European Union, but nothing more. Would my noble friend care to clarify whether that is or is not the case?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

My noble friend is correct that there will be many elements during the implementation period. We will now start to discuss that with the EU—hopefully come Friday, once we have made sufficient progress. We are extremely pleased that Donald Tusk has indicated that he wishes to get on with discussions on the implementation period as quickly as possible, because we need to clarify all these issues so that we can move on.