Salisbury Incident Update
Lord Elystan-Morgan Excerpts(6 years, 1 month ago)
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Baroness Evans of Bowes Park
Knowing his previous profession, I am sure the noble Lord will understand that I cannot comment on individual cases.
Lord Elystan-Morgan (CB)
My Lords, in the case of Litvinenko a public inquiry was set up nine years after the event, when the trail had gone very cold. Will Her Majesty’s Government arrange for a public inquiry to be ordered immediately, as there is every prospect that it can cast a flood of light on this matter?
Baroness Evans of Bowes Park
As the Statement made clear, we have asked the Russian ambassador to respond within 24 hours to the questions that we have put to him, and I do not think it is right for me to prejudge any of the responses. I have made clear that we will be returning to the House once those conversations have been had and a decision is made as to how to proceed on the basis of the information received.
European Council
Lord Elystan-Morgan Excerpts(7 years, 1 month ago)
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Baroness Evans of Bowes Park
The Prime Minister has been very clear in saying that we need to move forward together as a country and that we want to heal the divisions caused by the referendum. The decision has now been made—we will be triggering Article 50—we need to come together, and Parliament will have a role in scrutiny and be involved in the discussions about what the future of Britain will look like. I think that it will be an optimistic and positive future, and that is something that we as leaders in the country need to get across to help give people the bright vision of Britain that I believe they will have.
Lord Elystan-Morgan (CB)
My Lords, the Minister rightly mentioned the significance of the single market. Does she agree that many economists take the view that almost equally important is the question of a single system of documentation that will allow egress into Europe, and thus guarantee a proper and steady flow of commerce?
Baroness Evans of Bowes Park
As I have said to the House, we are determined and optimistic about an excellent trade deal with the EU, and will do everything we can across the negotiations to ensure that we achieve that.
European Council: December 2016
Lord Elystan-Morgan Excerpts(7 years, 4 months ago)
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Baroness Evans of Bowes Park
Perhaps I can further reiterate on the deal that we want. We want to give companies the maximum freedom to trade with and co-operate in the European market and allow European businesses to do the same. We want to deliver the deepest possible co-operation to ensure our national security and the security of our allies. We want to ensure that we are a fully independent sovereign state and therefore able to make decisions of our own, such as how best to control immigration, and we want to make sure our laws are once again made in Britain. All members of the Cabinet agree on those issues.
Lord Elystan-Morgan (CB)
Is the noble Baroness aware that war crimes of the gravest calibre are still being perpetrated against the civilian population in Syria by Russia, Iran and by the Government of Assad? Can she assure the House that Her Majesty’s Government have used their good offices to the fullest possible extent to gather evidence while it is still available and fresh so that these people can indeed be brought to justice in adequate time?
Baroness Evans of Bowes Park
The noble Lord is absolutely right. We are deeply concerned by reports that the regime forces and their supporters are carrying out summary executions, including of women and children, and that hundreds of men have disappeared on leaving eastern Aleppo and entering regime-held areas. That is why we are very pleased that the UN Security Council has adopted a resolution today which demands full access across Syria and particularly requests that the UN monitors evacuations from eastern Aleppo. We are doing all we can to ensure that all parties fully comply with that resolution and to make sure that if crimes have been committed the perpetrators are indeed punished.
Brexit: Article 50
Lord Elystan-Morgan Excerpts(7 years, 6 months ago)
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Baroness Goldie
Not for the first time my noble friend has made a very eloquent and pithy point upon which I cannot improve.
Lord Elystan-Morgan (CB)
My Lords, can the noble Baroness cite to the House an instance of the exercise of the royal prerogative over the past 50 years in any grave and weighty context? Is it the case that the Government do not regard this issue as being grave and weighty, or is it a possibility that there is a flicker of doubt as to whether they might or might not be able to carry the matter in both Houses of Parliament?
Baroness Goldie
Let me try to cut to the chase for the benefit of the noble Lord. What happened as a result of the EU referendum was that the people of the United Kingdom delivered an instruction, and that instruction was to leave the EU. Quite simply, the first part of the process, the necessary key that needs to be put into the ignition to start that journey, is triggering Article 50. That is what the Government propose to do.
G20 Summit
Lord Elystan-Morgan Excerpts(7 years, 8 months ago)
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Baroness Evans of Bowes Park
My noble friend is right: there was no reference to Hinkley in the Statement but, as the Prime Minister has said, there is more to our relationship with China than Hinkley. She spoke to President Xi about the fact that we are reviewing the Hinkley deal because it is a complex, large-scale infrastructure project. It is only right that we look at the detail and consider all its component parts. The Prime Minister assured President Xi that a decision will be made in a timely manner.
Lord Elystan-Morgan (CB)
My Lords, the noble Baroness will appreciate that the Prime Minister said nothing at all at the summit on the position of EU nationals who have settled in the United Kingdom. Many people from all shades of politics are deeply disappointed about that situation because they consider that the United Kingdom Government have given those people a clear undertaking that they could remain in perpetuity if they so wished. Does the Leader of the House, who is very greatly respected, agree that the one thing that you cannot use as a bargaining chip, however great the temptation, is your word of honour?
Baroness Evans of Bowes Park
I assure the noble Lord that the Prime Minister has been clear that she is determined to protect the status of EU nationals already living here, and the only circumstances in which that would not be possible are if British citizens’ rights in European member states are not protected in return—and that is something that I find very hard to imagine.
Outcome of the EU Referendum
Lord Elystan-Morgan Excerpts(7 years, 10 months ago)
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Lord Taylor of Holbeach
Perhaps we can hear from the Cross Benches, then from the Labour, Lib Dem and Conservative Benches.
Lord Elystan-Morgan
My Lords, I am deeply grateful. Will the noble Baroness give an undertaking to the effect that before even contemplating activating the machinery of Article 50, the Government will first of all take into account the solemn voice of the two legislatures, and that failing to do so would be to abrogate and render nugatory the whole concept of parliamentary sovereignty? It is extremely sad and ironic that in the light of the European Union Act 2011 it is necessary for there to be a referendum and a parliamentary resolution before there can be any acquiescence to change. Indeed, it would be very strange that an act so existential as leaving the Union could take place without a parliamentary decision.
Baroness Stowell of Beeston
I am grateful to the noble Lord for his question but I am afraid I have nothing to add to what I have already said. In the interests of time, I will leave my comments at that.
House of Lords: Membership
Lord Elystan-Morgan Excerpts(8 years, 9 months ago)
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Implications of Devolution for England
Lord Elystan-Morgan Excerpts(9 years, 4 months ago)
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Lord Elystan-Morgan (CB)
My Lords, I respectfully invite Her Majesty’s Government not to panic in this matter. There are some 120 Members from Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, leaving some 530 Members from English constituencies. Therefore, first, does the noble Baroness agree that there is no immediate danger of English interests being mercilessly swept aside constitutionally? Secondly, will she undertake not to take any steps to create either an English Parliament or an English Parliament within a Parliament unless and until a full, detailed and mature study of the constitutional position has been conducted, thus avoiding some of the ludicrous matters which were brought before the House in the last four years?
Baroness Stowell of Beeston
We have no plans for an English Parliament. That is not contained in the Command Paper before us. We have options for addressing the very important issue of English votes for English laws, which has become more pronounced now that more powers have been devolved to Scotland. Clearly I listen very carefully to any advice that I receive from the noble Lord, but this matter has been around for a very long time. There has been a huge amount of thinking on it and we have now got to the point where we have some clear options, one of which we should implement.
Syria: Refugees
Lord Elystan-Morgan Excerpts(9 years, 5 months ago)
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The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Stowell of Beeston) (Con)
My Lords—order, order—we have not heard from the Liberal Democrat Benches so it is the turn of my noble friend Lady Falkner.
Lord Ashton of Hyde
I certainly did not make that clear. I am not prepared today to give details of Foreign Office policy, but I will consult with my colleagues and write to the noble Baroness about that issue.
Lord Elystan-Morgan
Further to the question asked by the noble Lord, Lord Cormack, can the Minister tell the House who it is that Her Majesty’s Government recognise as the legitimate Government of Syria at the moment and whether that recognition is de facto or de jure, according to the principles of public international law?
Lord Ashton of Hyde
My Lords, I hope that you will not object if I say that I will write to the noble Lord on this. I was here to talk about Syrian refugees, not Foreign Office policy.
Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament Report: Fusilier Lee Rigby
Lord Elystan-Morgan Excerpts(9 years, 5 months ago)
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Baroness Stowell of Beeston
My Lords, British Muslims want strong counterterrorism measures in this country so that everybody in this country who shares British values, whatever their faith, is safe. That is basically all I need to say to the noble Lord.
Lord Elystan-Morgan (CB)
My Lords, may I raise with the noble Baroness the question of people leaving these shores to join armed formations abroad—and, indeed, in the event of their return, what they might do? Is it or is it not the case that the Foreign Enlistment Act 1870 is still in force? If I am correct with regard to that, has any use been made of it in the last half century? Furthermore, have the Government given any thought at all to the question of incorporating any of its provisions in the new legislation now before the House? I regret that I did not give notice of these rather technical matters but it was only when she mentioned foreign enlistment that it rang a distant bell with me.
Baroness Stowell of Beeston
I regret that I am not able to provide the noble Lord with a comprehensive answer to that question. Probably the best thing would be for me to write to him.