The Minister of State, Department for Exiting the European
Union (Lord Callanan) (Con):...I shall now set out the
details of the agreement. First, the full legal text of the
withdrawal agreement has now been agreed in principle. It sets out
the terms on which the UK will leave the EU on 29 March 2019. We
have secured the rights of the more than 3 million EU citizens
living in the UK and around 1 million UK nationals living in other
countries in the EU. We have agreed a time-limited implementation
period that ensures that businesses have to plan for only one set
of changes. We have agreed protocols to ensure that Gibraltar and the sovereign
base areas in Cyprus are covered by the withdrawal agreement and we
have agreed a fair financial settlement, estimated to be far lower
than the figures many mentioned at the start of these
negotiations...
of Kentish Town
(Lab):...That is a welcome starting point but more is
needed. The future framework must plan for a comprehensive and
permanent customs union, a strong single market relationship
giving frictionless access to European markets for goods and
services, continued close involvement with agencies, clarity on
immigration, full future safeguards for Gibraltar and, vitally, a robust security
arrangement. Instead, we are faced only by an outline of the
political declaration while:
“Negotiations on the full Political Declaration continue”.
These are promised,
“by the end of November”,
and with an undertaking that next year they will “negotiate
expeditiously the agreements” concerning the future relationship.
We are meant to trust to that...
(LD):...Lastly,
Brexit has been a project not of construction but of destruction.
One sometimes hears the term “destructive technology” used of new
business ideas. Personally, I have never understood how the
bright young things who use this term expect to get support from
the wider community for projects which are intended to destroy
their livelihoods, but the Brexit project does not even have the
figleaf of “creative” to justify its destructiveness. Its
negativity is just a game to many of its sponsors. It will kill
off jobs. It threatens peace in Northern Ireland. It rips us away
from our best friends and allies. It imperils the stability and
coherence of Europe. It puts Gibraltar at risk of encroachment
by Spain, and the Falklands at renewed risk of Argentinian
scheming as we seek that country’s agreement to a rewriting of
the WTO schedules. Many EU trade partners are getting the chance
of more bites at the cherry as we ask them to roll over those
agreements. And despite the Prime Minister’s declaration of
devotion to “our precious Union”, Brexit imperils the unity of
the United Kingdom. The disdain and contempt shown by some
Brexiters for the Good Friday agreement will not be easily
forgotten in Ireland, south or north...
(CB): My
Lords, I would like to have had more time to explore the point
made by the noble Lord, , that the people of
Northern Ireland voted so overwhelmingly to remain—as did the
Gibraltarians, interestingly...
(Con):...I saw our
friends the Spaniards coming in at the last minute today, as they
always do. Josep Borrell, former President of the European
Parliament and Foreign Minister of Spain, has said the agreement
has to be amended to take account of Spain
and Gibraltar. You will find that the bill
will go up. I have never known a Spanish Government who have not
been susceptible to financial inducements, and they will
certainly be presenting the bill here...
(CB):...No deal is
not an option. That is pretty unanimous. So the choice is between
this deal and a transition period until 2020 or possibly 2022—the
can has been kicked down the road—with a backstop that we may be
held to inordinately. Two-thirds of our global trade is already
with and through the EU. We have a six-and-a-half-page political
declaration being finalised in six and a half days. What a fudge
this is; it is a blind Brexit. Spain is already talking about
having a veto over Gibraltar. The French are already
talking about their fishing rights. The British
public have been sold a pup. This is not in the best interests of
our economy, businesses or citizens...
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