European Council

Debate between Baroness Evans of Bowes Park and Lord Elystan-Morgan

Tuesday 14th March 2017 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

The Prime Minister has been very clear in saying that we need to move forward together as a country and that we want to heal the divisions caused by the referendum. The decision has now been made—we will be triggering Article 50—we need to come together, and Parliament will have a role in scrutiny and be involved in the discussions about what the future of Britain will look like. I think that it will be an optimistic and positive future, and that is something that we as leaders in the country need to get across to help give people the bright vision of Britain that I believe they will have.

[Lord Elystan-Morgan (CB)]

My Lords, the Minister rightly mentioned the significance of the single market. Does she agree that many economists take the view that almost equally important is the question of a single system of documentation that will allow egress into Europe, and thus guarantee a proper and steady flow of commerce?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

As I have said to the House, we are determined and optimistic about an excellent trade deal with the EU, and will do everything we can across the negotiations to ensure that we achieve that.

European Council: December 2016

Debate between Baroness Evans of Bowes Park and Lord Elystan-Morgan

Monday 19th December 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

Perhaps I can further reiterate on the deal that we want. We want to give companies the maximum freedom to trade with and co-operate in the European market and allow European businesses to do the same. We want to deliver the deepest possible co-operation to ensure our national security and the security of our allies. We want to ensure that we are a fully independent sovereign state and therefore able to make decisions of our own, such as how best to control immigration, and we want to make sure our laws are once again made in Britain. All members of the Cabinet agree on those issues.

[Lord Elystan-Morgan (CB)]

Is the noble Baroness aware that war crimes of the gravest calibre are still being perpetrated against the civilian population in Syria by Russia, Iran and by the Government of Assad? Can she assure the House that Her Majesty’s Government have used their good offices to the fullest possible extent to gather evidence while it is still available and fresh so that these people can indeed be brought to justice in adequate time?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

The noble Lord is absolutely right. We are deeply concerned by reports that the regime forces and their supporters are carrying out summary executions, including of women and children, and that hundreds of men have disappeared on leaving eastern Aleppo and entering regime-held areas. That is why we are very pleased that the UN Security Council has adopted a resolution today which demands full access across Syria and particularly requests that the UN monitors evacuations from eastern Aleppo. We are doing all we can to ensure that all parties fully comply with that resolution and to make sure that if crimes have been committed the perpetrators are indeed punished.

G20 Summit

Debate between Baroness Evans of Bowes Park and Lord Elystan-Morgan

Wednesday 7th September 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

My noble friend is right: there was no reference to Hinkley in the Statement but, as the Prime Minister has said, there is more to our relationship with China than Hinkley. She spoke to President Xi about the fact that we are reviewing the Hinkley deal because it is a complex, large-scale infrastructure project. It is only right that we look at the detail and consider all its component parts. The Prime Minister assured President Xi that a decision will be made in a timely manner.

[Lord Elystan-Morgan (CB)]

My Lords, the noble Baroness will appreciate that the Prime Minister said nothing at all at the summit on the position of EU nationals who have settled in the United Kingdom. Many people from all shades of politics are deeply disappointed about that situation because they consider that the United Kingdom Government have given those people a clear undertaking that they could remain in perpetuity if they so wished. Does the Leader of the House, who is very greatly respected, agree that the one thing that you cannot use as a bargaining chip, however great the temptation, is your word of honour?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

I assure the noble Lord that the Prime Minister has been clear that she is determined to protect the status of EU nationals already living here, and the only circumstances in which that would not be possible are if British citizens’ rights in European member states are not protected in return—and that is something that I find very hard to imagine.

Child Poverty

Debate between Baroness Evans of Bowes Park and Lord Elystan-Morgan

Thursday 25th June 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

We are making sure that the welfare system rewards a willingness to work, and of course one of the key reforms of the Government is the implementation of universal credit, which will make sure that people are always better off by taking on more work. We also have our Work Programme, the largest programme to get people into work since the 1930s.

[Lord Elystan-Morgan (CB)]

The Minister referred to her party’s manifesto. Will there be a definite statutory commitment to the eradication of child poverty or not, either under the current formula or under a reformed and better formula?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

I am very happy to refer again to our commitment in the manifesto, which says that we will work,

“to eliminate child poverty and introduce better measures to drive real changes in children’s lives”.