Brexit: Parliamentary Processes

Debate between Lord Browne of Ladyton and Lord Callanan

Thursday 3rd October 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan]

As I said to the noble Lord before, we are able to give him the reassurance that he needs that we already have all the necessary legislative framework in place that will allow us to leave the European Union on 31 October in an orderly fashion.

[Lord Browne of Ladyton (Lab)]

My Lords, given the special voting arrangements that apply to the Northern Ireland Assembly, which quite deliberately give a veto to the minority for certain decisions, I anticipate that the Government thought that those might be triggered by the decision of the Assembly that this deal offer requires. To that extent, will the Minister tell the House the names of those nationalist politicians who represent that community whose support for this may be required who were consulted during the drafting of this provision and whether the Government have their support, as they appear to have of the DUP?

[Lord Callanan]

The great thing about this proposal is that it has attracted support from across the sector, including, I am delighted to say, from a number of Labour MPs who take quite a constructive approach to wanting to deliver on the referendum result. It looks as though we have a majority assembled for this provision, but we still have a lot of hard negotiating to do. We will endeavour to bring back a proposal that will enjoy widespread support across all communities and all parties.

European Union (Withdrawal) (No. 2) Act 2019

Debate between Lord Browne of Ladyton and Lord Callanan

Thursday 26th September 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan]

The noble Baroness knows that I have enormous respect for her, but what is disrespectful to democracy is trying to overturn the referendum result, which is what the Liberal Democrats are trying to do. They are no longer even making any pretence about having a second referendum, which was their original position; now they just want to overturn the referendum completely. What disrespect would that mean to our democratic institutions?

[Lord Browne of Ladyton (Lab)]

My Lords—

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Browne of Ladyton]

My Lords, this Government are rapidly getting an unenviable reputation for saying that they always respect the law but, when tested, are shown not to have respected the law. It is therefore reasonable, in these circumstances, and given the enormity of what faces us, that the Government tell us what they think the law presently is. This is not an unreasonable question; it is capable of being answered and it should be answered. It will only not be answered if the Government either do not know or intend not to respect the law.

[Lord Callanan]

We respect the rule of law. What the law is is what is set out in the statute book. The noble Lord was present at the debates and took part in the discussions on it. That is the rule of law and we will respect it.

Brexit: Article 50 Period Extension Procedure

Debate between Lord Browne of Ladyton and Lord Callanan

Monday 18th March 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan]

This will be something the Prime Minister will want to address in her discussions with the European Council. The reason we are requesting this is the request by the House of Commons in the vote it had last week.

[Lord Browne of Ladyton (Lab)]

My Lords, I assume that the Government were aware that the other place had a convention dating back to 1604 that you could not bring a proposition substantially the same as one that had already been decided in the same Session of Parliament. If that is the case, why is the Solicitor-General going about today saying that the House of Commons Speaker’s restatement of that convention—that is all he did—has generated a “constitutional crisis”? Is it not the Government’s intention to get the House of Commons to breach its own convention repeatedly until they got their preferred deal through the House of Commons that generated the constitutional crisis, not the restatement of the convention?

Brexit: Negotiations and No-deal Contingency Planning

Debate between Lord Browne of Ladyton and Lord Callanan

Tuesday 4th September 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan]

The noble Lord is correct that that is the responsibility of the Commission and other member states. We have been very clear that in the event of no withdrawal agreement, we would want to act as quickly as possible to guarantee the rights of those EU citizens who have chosen to make their home in the UK, and we would hope that other member states will do that for UK citizens abroad.

[Lord Browne of Ladyton (Lab)]

My Lords, why, in the relevant technical notice, did the Government advise those who trade in Northern Ireland, in the event of a no-deal Brexit, to ask a foreign Government for advice as to how they should continue? Secondly, how is that consistent with us taking back control through Brexit to the British Government and the British Parliament? Finally, if the Minister wishes to criticise me for having no alternative, will he give me his resources for a week, and I will come up with better advice for the people of Northern Ireland?

[Lord Callanan]

Of course, in the event of no deal—which, as I repeat ad nauseam, we do not want to happen—we can be responsible for what happens in this country but it is the responsibility of other member states and the European Union to fulfil their side of the bargain and agree what will happen on their side. The border has two sides to it. We can say what will happen on the British side, but what happens on the Irish side is the responsibility of the Irish Government and the European Commission.