Brexit: Declaration of Friendship
Debate between Baroness Goldie and Lord Dykes
Baroness Goldie
I did not quite get the start of the noble Lords question, but if his sentiment is that we are on a joint enterprise as we embark upon these negotiations, with the UK seeking to do what is best for it but at the same time engaging constructively with our EU friends and allies, then yes, there is a joint dividend and prize to be gained.
Lord Dykes (CB)
My Lords, bearing in mind that the Minister says that Europe is so important to us, should we not only welcome and thank the noble Lord, Lord Cormack, for his beguiling, romantic and enticing suggestions, but come to the conclusion that we might as well stay in the European Union?
Brexit: Invocation of Article 50
Debate between Baroness Goldie and Lord Dykes
Lord Dykes
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect to announce the exact date in 2017 when Article 50 will be invoked.
Baroness Goldie (Con)
My Lords, the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State have set out the clear timetable for triggering Article 50 by the end of March 2017. This is giving us the time to develop our negotiating strategy and avoid setting the clock ticking until our objectives are clear and agreed.
Lord Dykes (CB)
My Lords, does not the Minister agree that for millions of Britons, patriotism and Europeanism go side by side? What on earth does a,
“red, white and blue Brexit”
actually mean? Is red for the millions of dead in two world wars followed by six decades of peace in the European Community? Does white indicate the slide into xenophobia, particularly in England? Is blue just for the Tory interest, nowadays with a very small membership base supported by less than a quarter of voters in the last election?
Baroness Goldie
It is important to remember the genesis of why we are where we are: the expression of a democratic view, in a referendum, that the Government are instructed to leave the European Union. That is not straightforward—it is challenging, as this House is well aware—but the Government are committed, in discharging that obligation, to doing whatever is necessary to protect the best interests of the whole of the United Kingdom.