Brexit: United Kingdom-European Union Parliamentary Assembly Debate

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Department: Department for Exiting the European Union

Brexit: United Kingdom-European Union Parliamentary Assembly

Lord Garel-Jones Excerpts
Wednesday 12th July 2017

(7 years, 4 months ago)

Lords Chamber
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Lord Garel-Jones Portrait Lord Garel-Jones (Con)
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My Lords, does the Minister agree that although the Question of the noble Lord, Lord Soley, is quite legitimate, in a complex negotiation such as Brexit, involving 27 nation states and where all kinds of difficult compromises will have to be made, the less that the Government have to reveal in advance about their negotiating position, the better?

Baroness Anelay of St Johns Portrait Baroness Anelay of St Johns
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Absolutely right, my Lords, but in defence of the noble Lord, Lord Soley—although my goodness, he does not need me to defend him—it is a fact that the Government simply cannot under the rules of the European Parliament take any action on this specific matter. As for the generality of my noble friend’s comments: absolutely right.