Brexit: Irish Border

Lord Howell of Guildford Excerpts

Tuesday 5th December 2017 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

My Lords, I am afraid, with that kind of approach, we will hear from the Conservative Benches.

[Lord Howell of Guildford (Con)]

My Lords, is there not some confusion here between regulatory alignment and regulatory recognition? Is not the latter principle one on which there is perfect freedom for the whole United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland, to make arrangements for outside trade in due course for continuing the smooth and reasonably frictionless low or non-border controls in Northern Ireland? What is the problem?

[Lord Callanan]

Of course, the wording is very important, but I am very clear that alignment is not the same as having no diversity.