Brexit: Free Trade Agreement Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Exiting the European Union
Lord Howarth of Newport
Main Page: Lord Howarth of Newport (Labour - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Howarth of Newport's debates with the Department for Exiting the European Union
(5 years, 6 months ago)
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Lord Callanan
To repeat the answer that I gave to the noble Lord’s noble friends Lady Hayter and Lord Tomlinson, we are prepared to compromise and we have offered what we thought were potential solutions. I understand that the Opposition Front Bench are considering them, and a dialogue is still taking place. The talks are not concluded and are still being undertaken, so let us hope that we can get an agreement and the matter can be put to bed.
Lord Howarth of Newport (Lab)
My Lords, taking the Minister back to his first Answer, what would be disorderly about leaving with a free trade agreement?
Lord Callanan
Of course there would be nothing disorderly about leaving with a free trade agreement, but we need to negotiate that agreement. It is a very detailed and complex subject. To get on to those negotiations, we need a withdrawal agreement to settle all the outstanding issues. If we do not have a withdrawal agreement, the EU has made it clear that it is not prepared to discuss any free trade arrangement until we settle all the issues.