EU: UK Settlement

Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top Excerpts

Wednesday 8th June 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Anelay of St Johns]

My noble friend is absolutely right in his surmise.

[Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top (Lab)]

My Lords—

[Baroness Ludford (LD)]

My Lords—

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Stowell of Beeston]

It seems that the House would like to hear from the Labour Benches.

[Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top]

Will the noble Baroness confirm that if the British people decide to leave the European Union none of the provisions agreed on 19 February will prevail and, until our membership is finished after the negotiations over our exit route, none of the aspects in the deal will apply?

[Baroness Anelay of St Johns]

My Lords, I can confirm that. It has been made clear that the agreements reached by my right honourable friend take effect only if there is a vote to remain in the European Union in just a couple of weeks and one day. If the country decides that it prefers that the UK should leave the European Union, one then invokes Article 50 and we go through that process.

China: Market Economy Status

Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top Excerpts

Monday 9th May 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Price]

I thank the noble Baroness for her suggestion. There are a number of things we are doing as this process moves through. First, as your Lordships know, the EU is looking at the legal position with Article 15 and we continue to assess that and have discussions with countries that have not yet agreed the protocol with China. Secondly, a piece of work by the Commission will assess the impacts and when we receive that, we will know what position we are actually in. Thirdly, we are discussing a number of mitigations in the event that we find the impacts unfavourable. So a number of things are in train, both legally and in terms of mitigations, to make sure that our position is one where we trade fairly with China.

[Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top (Lab)]

In welcoming the Minister to his position, I wonder whether he would like to comment on the potential effect on the north-east, which is the only region in the country to have a positive balance of trade, because of manufacturing. What effect does he think the suggestion yesterday that we can prosper outside the single market would have on the north-east of England?

[Lord Price]

I thank the noble Baroness for her question about the EU and the north-east. The Government believe that the country is far stronger inside the EU than outside it, for a whole host of reasons, which have now been well documented by the Prime Minister and others.