Brexit: Preparations

Debate between Lord Hamilton of Epsom and Lord Callanan

Monday 21st October 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan]

I thank the noble Baroness for her question. I suppose we are getting into the semantics of what “done” means here. It will be done in the terms that we will have left the European Union, but if she accepts that concession, I will be happy to agree with her that of course discussions will need to take place and agreements will have to be made across a range of areas. I have many times said across this Dispatch Box that discussions will take place before we leave and, I hope, discussions will take place after we leave. We have to have agreements with the European Union in a range of areas. I have never resiled from that. We will need to agree a number of different policy areas with the EU.

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

Will my noble friend spell out to us exactly what is in the gift of the other place or your Lordships’ House in terms of amending this legislation? Surely, we are talking about an international treaty that has been agreed with the EU. What happens if we make substantial amendments to it? Are we expected to go back to the EU and say that the agreement we have already made has to be amended? Surely, what we can do in the Bill that will be presented to us will be very restricted.

[Lord Callanan]

My noble friend asks some good questions. The answer is complicated. If the terms of the withdrawal agreement itself were to be altered by amendment, the effect would be that we could not ratify the treaty and therefore there would be no deal. Of course, there are other elements that could be amended, which would affect operations in the domestic sphere but would not affect our ratification of the treaty.

Brexit

Debate between Lord Hamilton of Epsom and Lord Callanan

Monday 21st October 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan]

We will publish an impact assessment on the Bill. It is hard to do so because so much depends on the future relationship and the details of the future trade agreement that will be negotiated.

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

My Lords, if the Bill gets a Second Reading tomorrow, will that count as a meaningful vote?

[Lord Callanan]

I think my noble friend is getting somewhat ahead of himself. We will wait to see what happens in the other place, but until those provisions are changed or altered by statute, the provisions for the meaningful vote under both Section 13 of the EU withdrawal Act and the Benn Act remain in place.

European Union (Withdrawal) (No. 2) Act 2019

Debate between Lord Hamilton of Epsom and Lord Callanan

Thursday 26th September 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan]

I believe that I have answered the question. We are a law-abiding Government and we will abide by the law. We will always assess carefully the implications of that law, but we will always comply with it and the legal advice that the Government receive.

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

My Lords, is this not rather difficult for my noble friend because he has been asked to comment on an Act of Parliament which was originally a Private Members’ Bill? Should not the noble and learned Lord, Lord Goldsmith, ask the noble Lord, Lord Rooker, what the real meaning of this Act of Parliament is, because he drafted it?

[Lord Callanan]

My noble friend makes a good point. This was not government legislation. It was a Private Members’ Bill. We did not support it; we opposed it. I advised this House against passing it. I said at the time that it is flawed and deficient in a number of respects, particularly the Kinnock amendment. However, it is the law of the land and we will comply with the law.

Brexit: Discussions with the European Union

Debate between Lord Hamilton of Epsom and Lord Callanan

Thursday 20th June 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan]

As the noble Baroness will be well aware, that is really not a policy responsibility of my department, so I will pass on that one.

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

Can my noble friend tell us when the EU will take responsibility for half of this deal, which has been turned down by gigantic majorities in the House of Commons?

[Lord Callanan]

My noble friend is well aware that the deal was agreed jointly between the UK Government and the EU. Any solution will also need to be agreed jointly.

British Citizens’ Rights

Debate between Lord Hamilton of Epsom and Lord Callanan

Tuesday 18th June 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan]

I answered my noble friend in full. We have produced these technical notices to businesses and have engaged in extensive discussions, in this House and in the other place, including appearing before Select Committees—many of our officials have appeared in front of committees as well—to update Parliament as far as we are able on the preparations that we are undertaking.

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

My Lords, going back to the fate of the million or so British citizens living in the EU, are we not undermining our negotiating position by unilaterally giving guarantees to EU citizens living in this country? Do we not lose our leverage?

[Lord Callanan]

No, I do not agree with my noble friend on this. I thought it was right and proper that we provided the guarantees to EU citizens. As I said, I think we have taken the right approach. The rights that we have offered to over 3 million EU citizens in this country are considerably greater than those offered by EU member states to the UK citizens in their countries.

Brexit: Financial Settlement

Debate between Lord Hamilton of Epsom and Lord Callanan

Tuesday 11th September 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan]

At the risk of repeating myself, I said we will honour our legal commitments, but it is a complicated legal area. There are some great legal brains in this House who would, no doubt, want to opine on the matter, but there are different opinions. Ultimately, I suspect this will come down to a matter of politics. We do not want to get into a dispute on these matters and so we have negotiated a settlement. It is hugely complicated, there are a number of different financial areas involved, but we remain confident that we will reach a withdrawal agreement and meet those commitments.

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

Can my noble friend confirm that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed, and that includes the financial settlement?

[Lord Callanan]

Yes, that applies to us. It also applies to the European Union.

Brexit: Legislating for the Withdrawal Agreement

Debate between Lord Hamilton of Epsom and Lord Callanan

Tuesday 24th July 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan]

Yes, I can confirm what the noble Lord said about the European Court of Justice. With regard to the Norwegian community, we are currently in negotiations with EEA member states and hope to reach an agreement on citizens’ rights similar to that which we have agreed with the EU.

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

I congratulate the Government on the agreement on citizens’ rights. Is this not a vindication of not taking unilateral action to guarantee the position of EU citizens in this country without simultaneously guaranteeing the rights of British citizens in the EU? Are we saying that the meaningful vote will be on a Motion or will it be incorporated into the Bill, which will take in the whole EU withdrawal agreement which is part of this Statement?

[Lord Callanan]

With regard to UK citizens in the EU, it is of course equally important for us to reach agreement on their behalf. That is one of the areas that we are pursuing with other EU member states. Of course, the matter is agreed. We are making preparations to implement our part of the bargain and we need to make sure that EU states are doing similar things for British citizens.

With regard to the exact form of the Motion to be agreed, the meaningful vote is now incorporated into the withdrawal Act.

Brexit: Negotiations

Debate between Lord Hamilton of Epsom and Lord Callanan

Tuesday 30th January 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan]

One person’s sniping is another person’s constructive comments. I enjoy engaging with this House, sometimes on destructive comments, but we have considered appropriate contributions from all parts of this House.

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

The noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, raised the issue of the Irish border. Is it not very difficult to get a solution to the Irish border issue that is separate from the trading relationship that we have with the rest of the EU?

[Lord Callanan]

We have made it clear that we do not want a hard border in Ireland. The exact structure of the border and customs arrangements will, of course, emerge from the end-state negotiations. Where we end up will clearly have an impact on the border arrangements, and we have made that very clear.

Brexit: Reports to Parliament

Debate between Lord Hamilton of Epsom and Lord Callanan

Monday 8th January 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan]

I totally agree with the noble Baroness that the EU Select Committee is an excellent grouping. We report to it regularly and I am sure we will be doing so in future. There has been a wide range of discussions with all sorts of parties about what might happen. We already have a Minister in the department—Steve Baker—who is planning for a no-deal scenario, but we hope that will not be the case. We want a full, fruitful and special partnership with the EU and we are continuing negotiations to that effect.

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

My Lords, following my noble friend’s intervention, does the Minister agree that if we have no deal on the table, we are much more likely to get a good deal?

[Lord Callanan]

It is important to bear in mind any possible outcome. We plan for all eventualities, but of course we are planning for a full and special partnership and we hope that will be the outcome.

Brexit: Release of Impact Assessments

Debate between Lord Hamilton of Epsom and Lord Callanan

Tuesday 28th November 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan]

I have my view on what they said, but the noble Lord will be able to judge for himself. We will make these documents available in a reading room, and he can read them and then come back and argue the point then.

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

Can my noble friend confirm that one reason why it is a bad idea to stay in the customs union is because we would not be able to negotiate free trade deals with other countries all round the world?

[Lord Callanan]

My noble friend makes a very informed point.