Brexit: Preparations
Debate between Lord Callanan and Lord Judd(5 years, 1 month ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Lord Callanan
My understanding is that when we leave the EU, we also leave the European Economic Area: we are members of that by virtue of our membership of the EU.
Lord Judd (Lab)
The Minister stated with absolute certainty that the Government are convinced that when a narrow majority of the population voted in the referendum to leave, they did so for a number of reasons listed in the Statement. What is the evidence that the majority of people voted for all these principles spelled out in the Statement? I have seen none. It is purely subjective, purely rhetorical and purely emotional. What is surely clear is that nobody, or very few people, can possibly have begun to understand in the referendum what all the implications and costs would prove to be. How can a Government committed to democracy and bringing the country together countenance going ahead with the course they have chosen without the people being given the opportunity to say whether they accept all these consequences or not?
Lord Callanan
I suspect that the noble Lord and I will not agree on this one. We think that the referendum result needs to be respected.