Brexit: European Parliament Resolution
Debate between Baroness Ludford and Baroness Goldie
Baroness Goldie
I thank the noble Lord for his question. We are all aware that the backdrop to this is now a timeframe of two years. I think that that will focus minds, and I have noted with interest what he has said. There is a recognition that there is a complex and challenging negotiation ahead. There is a great deal of material to be debated, discussed, digested and, we hope, then agreed upon. That will require minds to focus within the timescale available. I am very grateful for the noble Lord’s observation and am sure that when he asks me what the Government will do, they will pay close attention to his wise words.
Baroness Ludford (LD)
My Lords, rather than the Government talking up their dangerous no-deal option, will they now accept that a timeframe of two years is completely unrealistic and that a transitional deal will obviously and inevitably be required? If they accept that, as they should, will they also acknowledge that the European Court of Justice will have authority over that transitional deal, as confirmed in the draft Council guidelines as well as in the Parliament’s resolution, so that the Government will be unable to fulfil their pledge to remove the UK from ECJ jurisdiction by March 2019 if they are to fulfil their aim of agreeing a trade deal? Will they now openly acknowledge that point so that there is no more disingenuous avoiding of it?
Baroness Goldie
I thank the noble Baroness for her question. The fundamental difference between the position of her party and the position of my party is that my party respects democracy and will abide by that referendum result.
Brexit: Court of Justice of the European Union
Debate between Baroness Ludford and Baroness Goldie
Baroness Ludford
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the United Kingdom’s economic interests of the pledge to bring an end to the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the European Union in the United Kingdom.
Baroness Goldie (Con)
My Lords, the Prime Minister has clearly set out the position that the jurisdiction of the CJEU in the UK will end. Work is under way to ensure that the impact of this across all the UK’s interests, including economic, are understood and factored into decision-making. After we leave the EU, our laws will be made and enforced in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, and they will be based on the specific interests and values of the UK.
Baroness Ludford (LD)
My Lords, the Minister has in fact reflected what the noble Baroness, Lady Williams, has just said. But there appears to have been a dose of cold reality, because yesterday’s Article 50 letter to President Tusk states that, in trading with the EU, UK companies,
“will have to align with rules agreed by institutions of which we are no longer a part”.
That means EU rules made by the EU institutions and enforced by the European Court of Justice. This will reassure many companies and universities, whose cross-border research partnerships, for instance, depend on the recognition of EU law. But how does it square with assertions that all laws will be made in the UK and that our courts will be the final decision-makers? It is not true, is it? An exercise in deceit and smoke and mirrors is going on.
Baroness Goldie
The position is very clear. I am aware that the noble Baroness is something of a stranger to optimism, but it is very clear that we are able to leave the EU, we are able to leave the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice and we are able to operate within the confines of our own legal systems—which are multiple in the United Kingdom and which, incidentally, enjoy a worldwide and global reputation, and quite rightly so. Of course we will look closely at the impact of ending CJEU jurisdiction, including working out what our future resolution mechanisms will look like—but it is quite wrong to suggest that there is no future outwith the European Court of Justice.
Brexit: Invocation of Article 50
Debate between Baroness Ludford and Baroness Goldie
Baroness Goldie
My Lords, I have often wondered, particularly coming from Scotland as a Conservative, what motivated voters in their electoral instincts when casting votes at elections. In a democracy, we have to recognise and respect the right of individual voters to look at the issues, make their decision and come to a view. That collective view as expressed in the referendum places an obligation upon the Government to discharge that result.
Baroness Ludford (LD)
My Lords, the glaring lack of clarity on a Brexit plan six months after the referendum means, in the words of the Financial Times on Saturday, that the Government are,
“giving businesses that rely on single market access little choice other than to act on their worst-case scenarios”,
that there will be a crashing out of the single market. What does the Minister say to those whose jobs will be lost due to her Government’s dithering?
Brexit: Article 50
Debate between Baroness Ludford and Baroness Goldie(7 years, 6 months ago)
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Baroness Goldie
My Lords, I can only reiterate what I have already said. The most important and overriding feature about all this is the voice of the electorate. The electorate has spoken and the Government have an obligation to attend to the will of the electorate.
Baroness Ludford
Will the Minister please clarify whether the Conservatives still believe in parliamentary sovereignty, or in the radical left notion of popular sovereignty? The terms that the noble Baroness has just used about the instruction from the vote in the referendum, and statement from the noble Lord, Lord Ahmad, that both Houses should respect the will of the people, speak of popular, not parliamentary, sovereignty. Do the Conservatives still believe in parliamentary sovereignty?
Baroness Goldie
My party believes implicitly in parliamentary sovereignty and my party believes in holding Parliament with due respect. I do not see any conflict in holding that position and in the actions already taken by the United Kingdom Government. I might observe to the noble Baroness that the intervening events from the manifesto, to which her colleague the noble Lord, Lord Tyler, referred, are that the Conservatives published another manifesto to prepare for the 2015 general election. There was no reference in that to the royal prerogative and, interestingly, the Conservatives won a majority to form a Government—not a privilege afforded to the noble Baroness’s party.
Israel: Children in Military Custody
Debate between Baroness Ludford and Baroness Goldie(7 years, 7 months ago)
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Baroness Goldie
I thank the noble Lord for raising an important issue that I know is of universal concern to the entire House. I emphasise that we have pursued a course of active ministerial and diplomatic engagement. The noble Lord may be aware that the UNICEF report was followed by information from UNICEF that some positive steps had been taken towards addressing the recommendations in the 2012 report, including making changes to standard operating procedures on methods of restraint. The Israeli military has also started piloting the use of summons instead of night-time arrest. The noble Lord is right to signal his concerns, which also remain the concerns of the UK Government. I can only reassure him that determined engagement and dialogue are being effected by the United Kingdom Government.
Baroness Ludford (LD)
My Lords, in rightly holding Israel to the test of compliance with the highest standards of international and humanitarian law, is it not also right to note that Israel is unique in the Middle East region as a liberal democracy under the rule of law in its openness to such scrutiny? Is it not also right that since those two reports, not only have there been updates from UNICEF, such as in 2015 noting significant positive improvements, but even the UN Human Rights Committee, which is no friend of Israel, has noted such improvement?
Baroness Goldie
I thank the noble Baroness for her contribution. It is the case, as I indicated to the noble Lord, Lord Hylton, that some progress has been made. That is not to say that there do not remain profound concerns about areas where there can be, and there is a distinct need for, improvement. We have welcomed the steps taken to date but we have called for further measures, including the mandatory use of the audio-visual recording of interrogations, a reduction in the use of single hand ties and more consistently informing detainees of their legal rights.