Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Bill [HL]
Debate between Baroness Garden of Frognal and Lord Bhatia(3 years, 6 months ago)
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Lord Bhatia (Non-Afl) [V]
My Lords, as almost the last Peer to speak, I have decided not to speak from the notes that I had prepared for this event. There have been some excellent speeches on the Bill. I mention that of the noble Lord, Lord Best, in which he shared his excellent experience in this field. His reference to retirement homes was very well articulated and I fully agree with what he said.
The Deputy Speaker (Baroness Garden of Frognal) (LD)
The noble Baroness, Lady Gardner of Parkes, has withdrawn so I call the noble Baroness, Lady Grender.
United Kingdom Internal Market Bill
Debate between Baroness Garden of Frognal and Lord BhatiaMonday 19th October 2020
(4 years, 1 month ago)
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Lord Bhatia (Non-Afl) [V]
My Lords, there is a definite need to give Northern Ireland goods unfettered access to the UK internal market. The Northern Ireland protocol, as part of the withdrawal agreement, creates a unique status for Northern Ireland to remain part of the UK’s customs territory. The EU’s customs code, Community rules and single market rules will continue to apply to goods after the transition period ends on 31 December 2020.
After the transition period, these provisions can rightly continue to apply, with the consent of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Nothing in this protocol should prevent the UK ensuring unfettered market access for goods moving from Northern Ireland to other parts of the UK’s internal market.
The UK Government are committed to having legislation to guarantee unfettered access for Northern Ireland businesses to all of the UK market in place by 1 January 2021. This commitment was made in January 2020 to restore devolved government in Northern Ireland in 2020. We cannot break this commitment. If we do, the UK’s reputation will be severely damaged. We are respected internationally for not breaking commitments that we have made in law.
The Deputy Speaker (Baroness Garden of Frognal) (LD)
The noble Lord, Lord James of Blackheath, has withdrawn, so I now call the noble Lord, Lord Bilimoria.