European Union (Withdrawal) Bill

Countess of Mar Excerpts

Wednesday 14th March 2018 Lords Chamber

[The Countess of Mar (CB)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for giving way. Paragraph 4.36 of the Companion suggests that:

“In debates where there are no formal time limits, members opening or winding up, from either side, are expected to keep within 20 minutes. Other speakers are expected to keep within 15 minutes”.


The noble Lord has spoken for 18 minutes. I wonder whether he would consider the tolerance of the House and wind up his speech.

[Lord Browne of Ladyton]

I am grateful to the noble Countess. As it happens, I had a one-sentence paragraph left at the point at which I took her intervention. I just say that these young people deserve a few minutes of our time, because it is their future and their life that we are discussing.

I wind up by saying that these young people reported to us that, the day before we met them, they had met with Shailesh Vara, Member of Parliament and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. They conveyed these same messages to him and asked how he was going to deal with the challenges of the border. They reported to us that they were told that there was, “going to be some creative thinking”. I invite the Minister to share that creative thinking with us, so that we can tell them how they can look forward to a future that is as rosy as the one they thought they had.