EU: Trade and Security Partnership

Baroness Primarolo Excerpts

Tuesday 9th June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord True [V]]

My Lords, the Government still hope to have a successful outcome, as I said. Mr Frost indicated some measures that might be taken to intensify discussions. There will also be, as noble Lords know, a high-level meeting later this month.

[Baroness Primarolo (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, David Frost told the European Union Select Committee of your Lordships’ House, when asked specifically about access to EU databases, that

“we cannot accept the conditions that the EU imposes”.

How confident, therefore, is the Minister that a broad outline on data exchange and intelligence-led policing in the UK will be reached by the end of June when the Government appear to expect the European Union to compromise to meet a deal without being willing, as my noble friend Lady Hayter said, to do so themselves?

[Lord True [V]]

My Lords, we are in a negotiation. I will not second-guess what might or might not happen in the course of it. All the areas, including policing and security, which the noble Baroness mentioned, are, of course, important. Those will continue to be the subject of discussions between the Governments.