United Kingdom Internal Market Bill

Lord Duncan of Springbank Excerpts

Report stage & Report stage (Hansard): House of Lords & Report: 1st sitting & Report: 1st sitting: House of Lords
Wednesday 18th November 2020 Lords Chamber

I appreciate your Lordships’ interest in this, and will restate the Government’s wish to find a way to allay concerns, in the context of this Bill or outside. We remain absolutely committed to the common frameworks programme. However, in the light of the contributions today, which I have listened to carefully, I must none the less tell the House that these amendments do not provide a basis for any agreement before Third Reading. I recognise that noble Lords may therefore wish to press their amendments. None the less, I formally urge noble Lords to withdraw them for the reasons I have outlined.

[The Deputy Speaker (Lord Duncan of Springbank) (Con)]

I have received only a single request to speak after the Minister, so I am going to call the noble Baroness, Lady Randerson, to ask a short question of elucidation.

[Baroness Randerson (LD)]

The Minister cast doubt on warnings about the impact on devolution. Has he looked at opinion polls in Wales tracking support for independence? That is a country that only 20 years ago very narrowly accepted devolution. It is a country that voted for Brexit, and one that is governed by a Labour-Lib Dem coalition—two unionist parties. You can see in that country the clear feeling about the way in which this Government are behaving.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Deputy Speaker (Lord Duncan of Springbank) (Con)]

My Lords, we now come to the group beginning with Amendment 2. I remind noble Lords that Members other than the mover and the Minister may speak only once, and that short questions of elucidation are discouraged. Anyone wishing to press this or anything else in this group to a Division should make that clear in the debate.

I should inform the House that, if Amendment 2 is agreed to, I cannot call Amendments 3 or 4. In that case, the debate on the group beginning with Amendment 3 will take place with Amendment 8 or 9, as called. The debate on Amendment 4 will take place with Amendment 5, with the same list of speakers. I hope that that is all clear.

Clause 3: Relevant requirements for the purposes of section 2

Amendment 2

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