Asked by Baroness Ludford To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the
light of their intention for the United Kingdom to leave the
European Union on 29 March 2019, whether, and on what basis,
British citizens can be confident that they will have reached
agreement by that date on a future relationship with the European
Union....Request free trial
Asked by
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To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of their
intention for the United Kingdom to leave the European
Union on 29 March 2019, whether, and on what basis,
British citizens can be confident that they will have
reached agreement by that date on a future relationship
with the European Union.
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My Lords, Article 50 states that the withdrawal agreement
must take account of the framework for our future
relationship and the terms of withdrawal. We have been
working intensively to agree an implementation period,
codify the joint report into legal text and reach
agreement on the entire withdrawal agreement by October.
The deal reached last week provides greater certainty to
businesses and citizens. We are confident that we can
reach a deal that is in the best interests of both
parties.
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My Lords, I am delighted to be the first of four Liberal
Democrats asking Questions on this important day. Does
the Government’s plan for “Brexit means Brexit” not turn
out to mean “Brexit in name only” and that, in the words
of , the UK will
be a “vassal state”? Can the Government therefore
explain, one year before they are set to make us Brexit,
what the point is of going through with their version of
Brexit and why they will not agree to let the people
decide, on the facts, whether it is worth it?
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It is interesting to hear the Liberal Democrats quoting
. The point is
to implement the results of the referendum. The Liberals
will probably want to forget about this but the people
have already had a say on the issue, both in the
referendum and in the subsequent general election,
neither of which went very well for the Liberal
Democrats.
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Is the Minister aware of a new poll showing that, by 65%
to 35%, the British people oppose a second referendum,
the flagship policy of the Liberal Democrat party?
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I had not seen that poll but I am aware that the British
people oppose most Liberal Democrat policies.
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In the circumstances of there being no agreement, what
would be a meaningful vote in the other Chamber? Would
MPs have the option to reject going out on World Trade
Organization terms and to remain in the European Union?
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We have been very clear that we want a deal, and at every
subsequent stage we have reached agreement, so we are
confident that we will get a deal. When we have a deal,
we will put it to a vote in the House of Commons and in
this House. We have been very clear that if that option
is rejected, of course we leave under the Article 50
process anyway.
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My Lords, is it not true that polling shows that if we
were talking about a vote on the deal, seven out of 10
people would like to have it? On this day, a year before
the Government have chosen to take us out of the EU at
whatever cost, will the Government tell the young people
of this country exactly what opportunities they propose
to take away from them?
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When we have a deal, which I am confident we will get, we
will come back to this House, we will put the option to
both Houses and we will report back to the public,
including young people.
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Should we not congratulate my noble friend on the
brilliant job that he has done during Committee on the
Bill, such that the opposition spokesman on foreign
affairs, Mrs , said that the
Opposition will probably vote for the deal when it is put
before the Commons?
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I thank my noble friend for his comments, but let us see
how Report goes before we get the congratulations in too
early. Yes, ’s comments
yesterday were interesting, as were ’s at the weekend when
he said:
“I don’t think there is any realistic prospect of”,
Article 50 “being revoked”. On the referendum, he said:
“Having asked the electorate for a view by way of the
referendum, we have to respect the result”.
I never thought I would hear myself say it, but on this
occasion I agree with the .
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I am glad the Minister agrees with the . Will he also agree
that the six tests that we have set should be met? This
must be a Brexit for jobs, for people, for all regions of
the country and for all parts of the country. That is
what we want the Government to seek. Will he agree to
meet those tests?
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It depends on what the ’s policy is for this
week, but if the six tests are the policy for this week,
of course we will try to reach a Brexit deal that works
for everyone, is good for jobs, for British industry and
for people, and respects the result of the referendum.
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My Lords, will the Minister confirm that the Eurocrats
turned down our offer of mutual residence before
Christmas 2016? Is this not yet another example of the
Eurocrats looking after their own interests and the
survival of their failing project, and putting it in
front of the interests of the people of Europe. There are
4 million of them living here and only 1.2 million of us
living there.
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I think there are 3 million EU citizens here in the UK. I
am not sure it is helpful to go back through the history
of who offered what. We are delighted that we have
reached a deal whereby EU citizens’ rights in this
country are granted, which is where we always wanted to
be, and—a very important matter—UK citizens living in
other EU countries have their rights guaranteed as well.
We are happy to have agreed this issue. We want to
provide safety and security for those citizens in future,
and I am sure the House will endorse that.
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My Lords, on this historic day, can my noble friend not
make a clear statement to the House that, having made
this provisional agreement, we will stick to it and every
European citizen living in this country will be
guaranteed the rights that many of us wanted them to be
guaranteed by our taking the moral high ground nearly two
years ago?
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Of course we intend to stick to the agreement. I agree
with my noble friend: it is good to provide security to
those citizens, but it is also important to bear in mind
the interests of those UK citizens living in EU
countries. We have reached a deal on that—both lots have
their rights guaranteed, and that is a good situation.
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Can the Minister explain to your Lordships’ House the
basis of his confidence that we will get an agreement on
Northern Ireland, for example, which is acceptable not
only to the Irish people on both sides of the border but
respects the terms of the agreement that his party has
made—at a price—with the Democratic Unionist Party?
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Of course, the Irish situation is difficult. It is
proving a thorny issue, but the Prime Minister committed
us to sitting down for talks with the European Commission
and the Irish Government. All sides are committed to a
deal and to having no hard border. It is clear that we
need to look at this issue in the context of the final
customs arrangement that we will enter into with the EU,
but we are confident that a deal can be reached. Both
sides are committed to the Good Friday agreement and we
want it to work.
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