Brexit: European Travel Information and Authorisation System

Debate between Lord Spicer and Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

Wednesday 17th January 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords—

[The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Evans of Bowes Park) (Con)]

My Lords, it is the turn of the Conservative Benches.

[Lord Spicer]

My Lords, can I ask an even more helpful question than has come forward so far? So far, we have been discussing the signed agreements to the main treaty. Is it not becoming increasingly apparent that the real loser from not signing most of these agreements will be the EU itself?

Brexit: Revocability

Debate between Lord Spicer and Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

Wednesday 20th December 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord Spicer (Con)]

My Lords—

[The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Evans of Bowes Park) (Con)]

My Lords, many eminent noble Lords want to speak. We will hear from the noble Lord, Lord Faulks.

European Council

Debate between Lord Spicer and Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

Monday 18th December 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord Spicer (Con)]

Was there any agreement, either in the margins of the meeting or in the meeting itself, as to what would happen if the full terms of Article 50 were applied in the event of there being no agreement in the discussions?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

The discussions in relation to us leaving the EU were very constructive. We have now agreed to move on to phase 2 and to start to talk about our future relationship, which is extremely welcome.

European Council

Debate between Lord Spicer and Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

Monday 24th October 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

I think that with his questions the noble Lord has identified the scale of the challenges we have ahead. The Prime Minister was very clear about that: indeed, it was in the Statement I have just read out. We know that it will be a challenge, that there will be difficult moments, and that it will require give and take. Obviously we are at only the very beginning of this process. We are looking to work constructively with countries across the world in order to come up with trade deals. We will of course learn from the experience we have had as part of the EU in terms of the negotiations we have been involved in there, but we are also striking out on our own. As I have said, there is no precedent for a country leaving the EU so read-across from other negotiations is not directly comparable. We will of course aim to get the best deal for the UK with the EU, but also with other countries around the world.

[Lord Spicer (Con)]

My Lords, was there any discussion at the Council of the City of London? In particular, was there discussion of the restrictive measures being planned by some EU members, had we intended to stay in the EU, to bring down the City of London from its present dominant position?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

As I mentioned, our discussion of Brexit and the UK’s position was not a formal agenda item, so it was not discussed with all the other member states. Obviously issues like the City of London and the Irish border show that there are a lot of key issues that we need to think about. We have seen in responses that I have made here and that other Ministers have made that we want to ensure that all these issues are talked about, and that we come to the best outcome that we can.