(5 months ago)
Lords ChamberI thank my noble friend for his opinion; that is noted. The Question from the noble Baroness, Lady Hoey, was extremely welcome.
My Lords, I congratulate the noble Baroness on her appointment. Clearly, we strongly support the derogation for Northern Ireland, on which we were working tirelessly prior to the election. While agreement is always to be preferred, the Stormont brake remains a crucial democratic safeguard for Northern Ireland in order to prevent the imposition of new EU laws and regulations that, in this case, could have had a devastating impact on dentistry and public health. In the event of that brake ever being activated, will the new Government commit to standing by all its provisions, including the exercise of a veto where necessary?