Extract from committee stage (Lords) (day 2) of the European
Union (Withdrawal) Bill Viscount Hailsham (Con):...What about
Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands? Outside the councils of
the European Union we will not be able to rely on the automatic
support of our European neighbours. Further, on any view, our role
as America’s principal interlocutor with the European Union will
cease. These considerations, by themselves, leaving aside all
others, are a good and sufficient argument...Request free trial
Extract from committee
stage (Lords) (day 2) of the European Union (Withdrawal)
Bill
(Con):...What
about Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands? Outside the councils of
the European Union we will not be able to rely on the automatic
support of our European neighbours. Further, on any view, our role
as America’s principal interlocutor with the European Union will
cease. These considerations, by themselves, leaving aside all
others, are a good and sufficient argument against leaving the
European Union: that is my considered position. However, for the
purposes of this debate, these concerns should cause this House to
put questions to Ministers. We are repeatedly told by the Prime
Minister and others that while we are leaving the European Union we
are not abandoning our close ties. The noble Lord, , usefully summarised
our position paper, whatever it actually meant. We need more
detail. We do not want bland reassurance. “Brexit means Brexit” is
a quite meaningless phrase. It is not a policy or even an
indication of a policy. Indeed, it is conclusive evidence of an
absence of policy. Therefore, I say to my noble friend that this
House is entitled to know in detail what arrangements will be put
in place before we leave the European Union to ensure that the
United Kingdom is a full, active and influential partner in the
policy decisions that will certainly affect the lives of our fellow
citizens for years to come. I doubt that this House will get a
clear answer. I suspect that we will be none the wiser when the
Prime Minister makes her long-awaited policy speech at the end of
the week...
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Extract from Estimates
Day debate on MoD spending
(Moray)
(Con):...That pride is not misplaced. This country
has the fifth-largest defence budget in the world. I have the
honour of representing two military bases in my constituency
—Kinloss barracks and RAF Lossiemouth. Moray has a long history of
service, and the armed forces are intertwined in our local
communities. In the last year alone, servicemen and women from the
two bases in Moray have served in South Sudan,
the Falkland Islands and Romania, and in
Cyprus as part of the international efforts against Daesh in Iraq
and Syria. Scotland and indeed Moray have long benefited from the
UK’s defence budget, and the defence industry is one of Scotland’s
great success stories...
(West Aberdeenshire and
Kincardine) (Con):...Let us put that into
perspective. That means that an 18-year-old Falklander or
Gibraltarian who wanted, like his compatriots on these islands, to
have a rewarding career in the armed forces would be forced to move
to the UK mainland and live, and presumably work, here until the
age of 23 before being eligible to join up. Some might argue that,
for example, the Royal Gibraltar Regiment and the Falklands Island
Defence Force give the chance for rewarding careers in the armed
forces for citizens of overseas territories, but if they wanted to
join the Royal Navy, the Royal Marines, the Air Force or any
regiment in the regular British Army they would be prevented from
doing so for five whole years simply by virtue of not residing in
these islands long enough. I put it to the House that that is not
only daft, but is borderline discriminatory, and it is doing our
loyal subjects in our overseas territories a huge disservice, and
denying our armed forces willing volunteers at a time when we are
struggling to fill the books...
...Surely it is possible to do something similar for those
young people who want to serve their country in the finest armed
forces in the world. In this 100th anniversary of the end of the
first world war, a conflict that saw thousands of young men from
across the then empire volunteer to fight for this country—76 from
the Falkland Islands alone—we should do
honour to those who fought under our flag by righting this
wrong...
To read the whole debate, CLICK
HERE
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