Brexit: Declaration of Friendship
Debate between Lord Lamont of Lerwick and Baroness Goldie
Baroness Goldie
My Lords, let me try to reassure my noble friend. I am absolutely certain that our negotiators, in conducting these vital and extremely important negotiations, will do so in the best traditions of relations amical, amistad und Freundschaft.
Lord Lamont of Lerwick (Con)
My Lords, does the Minister recall the wise words of the great Liberal politician, Richard Cobden, who once said:
“Free Trade is God’s diplomacy and there is no other certain way of uniting people in the bonds of peace”?
Is not the best thing we can do to show our everlasting friendship with Europe to advance the possibility of a comprehensive free trade agreement with Europe?
Baroness Goldie
I must thank my noble friend: it is certainly good to be reminded of a time when there were wise Liberals. I also thank him for his very pertinent question. I am sure that those issues will be to the forefront of our negotiators’ thoughts.
Saudi Arabia: Migrant Workers
Debate between Lord Lamont of Lerwick and Baroness Goldie
Baroness Goldie
I thank the noble Lord for his contribution. I emphasise that we do have a responsibility for British nationals—we are very cognisant of that. We do everything we can at international level to represent our concerns. We have been doing that consistently, and that is a message that we constantly relay to Saudi Arabia. Where we can intervene with any form of support for British nationals who find themselves in an unwelcome and difficult situation, we will reflect fully on how best we can support them.
Lord Lamont of Lerwick (Con)
My Lords, further to the Minister’s comments about the Saudi economy, although it is one thing to co-operate on security and intelligence, is it really wise—in a region that is absolutely brimming full of armaments—to continue to sell them on such a large scale to Saudi Arabia?
Baroness Goldie
I thank my noble friend for his question. The United Kingdom Government take their arms export licensing responsibilities very seriously. As he will know, we operate one of the most robust arms export control regimes in the world. The test we apply is simple: whether there is a clear risk in relation to international humanitarian law that those items subject to the licence might be used in a serious violation of international humanitarian law. That is kept under careful and continual review.