Moved by Baroness Williams of Trafford That the draft Regulations
laid before the House on 29 January be approved. Considered in
Grand Committee on 15 March Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab) My Lords,
there is a story going around that— Lord...Request free trial
Moved by
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That the draft Regulations laid before the House on 29
January be approved. Considered in Grand Committee on 15
March
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My Lords, there is a story going around that—
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I am speaking on the regulations. There is a story going
around, which I am absolutely sure must be fake news,
that the proposed iconic blue passport is going to be
produced in France. Will the Minister confirm whether
that is true or not, because, if it is true, it must be a
great embarrassment for Her Majesty’s Government?
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My Lords, any questions about this issue should have been
raised in Committee. The question that the noble Lord
asks has nothing to do with the regulations.
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What is the answer to the question? This is an
opportunity to raise it. Surely the Minister must know
what the position is.
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My Lords, this is not an opportunity for noble Lords to
stand up and ask random questions.
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My Lords, I hope my question is not a random question.
This statutory instrument is about fees for passports, so
could I ask my noble friend: what would be the increase
in fees if our new passports were printed in the United
Kingdom, on the grounds of security, and not in France?
French passports are printed in France on the grounds of
national security.
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My Lords, I repeat the answer that I gave to the noble
Lord.
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With respect to my noble friend—
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I have every respect for the Chief Whip, but we are being
asked to approve these regulations and, as a Member here,
I am entitled to ask a question about them. I am asking
what the increase in fees would be if, on national
security grounds, which we would be entitled to invoke
under the relevant EU directive, these passports were
printed in Britain. If my noble friend does not know the
answer, perhaps she could write to me.
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My Lords, I do not think it is a question of knowing the
answer or not. I make the point that the noble Lords,
Lord Kennedy and Lord Stoneham, were present in Committee
last Thursday when we discussed this. We will have plenty
of opportunity to discuss where the passports are
printed. This is simply about fees. I repeat the points
that I made to my noble friend and the noble Lord.
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Will the noble Baroness say when the opportunity to
discuss that will be?
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My Lords, as noble Lords will know, when things are
discussed in this House is entirely a matter for Members.
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My Lords, this matter was not known last Thursday; it has
only become public recently. For once, I actually agree
with the noble Lord, Lord Forsyth. The Government of
France insist that French passports are produced only in
France for reasons of security. If we are, sadly, going
to have to leave the European Union, and I hope that we
are not, and if we are going to have these iconic blue
passports—well, the last one I had was more black than
blue, to be honest—then they ought to be produced in
Britain, in Gateshead or somewhere else. Why is that not
the case? The Minister must answer this.
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I know that the noble Lord thinks that I must answer
this, but it is a courtesy in this House that if someone
has an issue to raise in Committee then they should raise
it in Committee, and I fully expect that in due course,
both noble Lords will try to secure a debate on this very
matter.
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The question is that this Motion be agreed to. I think
that the Contents have it.
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My Lords, we seem to have got ourselves into a pretty
pass about something that the Minister is not required to
answer today. Noble Lords know that order in this House
is constructed in such a way that they can get proper
answers to questions that are troubling them. I suggest
to noble Lords, who are obviously much better informed
than I am about a particular issue, that if they wish to
challenge a decision that the Government have made or
might make or whatever, there are methods for doing so.
They could put down Questions or they could put down
Motions for debate, and I am sure that the House will try
to facilitate those where it can. Really, we have a lot
of business to do; a number of us want to be in
Westminster Hall to pay proper tribute to the victims of
the attack a year ago. I ask noble Lords, please, not to
press this further.
Motion agreed.
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