"My Lords, can the Minister tell us what role Peter Mandelson played as ambassador in convincing the American Government of the merits of the Chagos deal? Did he discuss it personally with the President and the Secretaries of State? In so doing, did he honestly tell them about the Pelindaba …..." Lord Lilley - View Speech
"My Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Docherty of Milngavie, to congratulate him on his excellent and witty speech and to welcome him to your Lordships’ House, where he will no longer have to depend on the votes of his opponents or anybody else …..." Lord Lilley - View Speech
"In fact, it was jointly negotiated by member states and the European Commission. I was there for all nine days of the negotiations in the Heysel stadium, so the noble Lord is wrong...." Lord Lilley - View Speech
"My Lords, the Government claim that, although neither the International Court of Justice nor the tribunal of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea can reach a judgment binding on us on the sovereignty of Chagos, other countries may respond to opinions of those courts by withholding supplies, …..." Lord Lilley - View Speech
"I am sorry that the Minister has chosen to end this debate adopting a totally different tone from that which she pursued during Committee and Report. I asked a clear question: which goods, services and facilities will be withheld by which countries if we do not do this deal? She …..." Lord Lilley - View Speech
"My Lords, apart from thanking the Minister and her noble colleague for the courteous way in which they have responded the points I made—which she found exuberant and my noble colleague found forensic—I can limit my remarks to four sentences, two of which are questions.
"My Lords, I apologise to the House for being absent for my amendments in the first group. I am grateful to my noble friend Lord Hannan for moving them on my behalf with, I am sure, greater elegance than I would have been able to bring. Were I a believer …..." Lord Lilley - View Speech
"My Lords, I will very briefly talk to my Amendments 10 and 15. When any Administration shift from the original arguments which justified their policy to a new set of arguments, you know that they are moving from evidence-based policy to policy-based evidence. That seems to be what is happening …..." Lord Lilley - View Speech
"My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for responding to my points. I still do not think she has explained why a delay would weaken our negotiating position when that position has been based on the fact that we would face a binding ruling. If that happens, our negotiating …..." Lord Lilley - View Speech