Brexit: Invocation of Article 50

Lord Pearson of Rannoch Excerpts

Monday 19th December 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Goldie]

It is important to remember the genesis of why we are where we are: the expression of a democratic view, in a referendum, that the Government are instructed to leave the European Union. That is not straightforward—it is challenging, as this House is well aware—but the Government are committed, in discharging that obligation, to doing whatever is necessary to protect the best interests of the whole of the United Kingdom.

[Lord Pearson of Rannoch (UKIP)]

My Lords, do the Government accept that Article 50 is only a clause in an international treaty and so, if the Eurocrats try to use it to our disadvantage, it should not be allowed to compromise the will of the British people as expressed in a referendum and an Act of Parliament?

[Baroness Goldie]

The noble Lord will be aware that I have on numerous occasions in this House reiterated my respect for the electoral will of the voters of this country in their referendum declaration, and I think that it has to be honoured by the Government. Article 50 is part of our European relationship. That is why the matter is currently litigious: the High Court took a view with which the Government disagreed and the matter now rests with the Supreme Court.