"My Lords, the effect of these amendments, whether one agrees with their precise wording, is to give the new Administration time to pause, to reflect, and to consider the best way of dealing with the issues that arise from the protocol. The new Administration need that time. There is no …..." Lord Howard of Lympne - View Speech
"Does not the noble Lord think that it is slightly odd that his justification in law for supporting the Bill is not the Government’s?..." Lord Howard of Lympne - View Speech
"If the Government wish to take action to remedy the situation the Minister has identified, why do they not take that action by invoking Article 16 of the protocol, which provides a perfectly legal route for such action to be taken?..." Lord Howard of Lympne - View Speech
"My Lords, I am genuinely grateful for the opportunity to follow the noble Lord, Lord Dodds, for whom I have much respect, and indeed I have a good deal of sympathy with the concerns which he has expressed. But, as I hope to explain, this Bill is not the way …..." Lord Howard of Lympne - View Speech
"Is not my noble and learned friend rather missing the point? None of us has suggested that the doctrine of necessity plays no part in international law. What we are saying is that it is not justified by the Government’s approach in this particular instance...." Lord Howard of Lympne - View Speech
"My Lords, does my noble and learned friend simply not understand the damage done to our reputation for probity and respect for the rule of law by those five words uttered by his ministerial colleague, in another place, on Tuesday— words that I never thought I would hear from a …..." Lord Howard of Lympne - View Speech
"My Lords, the noble Baroness, Lady Chakrabarti, asked my noble friend whether he could identify any precedent for a country handing over such a wide range of vital issues affecting its national interest to a panel of arbitrators. Does he have an answer to that question?..." Lord Howard of Lympne - View Speech
"I am very grateful to my noble friend for giving way. Under Article 50, the United Kingdom has a unilateral, untrammelled right to leave the European Union. Under the backstop provisions of the withdrawal agreement, the United Kingdom can leave only with the consent of the European Union. How can …..." Lord Howard of Lympne - View Speech
"My Lords, is my noble friend aware of the report commissioned by the European Parliament, no less, and produced by Mr Lars Karlsson, the very distinguished former head of the World Customs Organization? It makes it very clear in some detail that technology solutions are available which make it completely …..." Lord Howard of Lympne - View Speech