Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland
Debate between Lord Caine and Lord Dubs(2 years, 7 months ago)
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Lord Caine (Con)
As my noble friend rightly points out, the sufficient consensus rule has guided most political negotiations since the publication of the ground rules for political talks, published by the British and Irish Governments in June 1996. Clearly, the protocol in its current form does not command sufficient consensus. That is why the Government will be working extremely hard to build widespread community consensus that includes both unionists and nationalists, as we take things forward.
Lord Dubs (Lab)
My Lords, our friends in Europe—if we have any left—are puzzled as to why an agreement that the Prime Minister lauded to the heavens is now not acceptable. Surely we cannot proceed by threats; we have to proceed by talking, talking and talking to make some modifications, if necessary.
Lord Caine (Con)
If the noble Lord will forgive me, I will not get drawn into the history of this.