Lord Newby
Main Page: Lord Newby (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Newby's debates with the Leader of the House
(5 years, 8 months ago)
Lords ChamberMy Lords, as we are about to have a debate, I think it would be useful for me to keep my comments for when I speak in that debate.
My Lords, the European Council says in its conclusions—I have a copy in front of me—that it,
“expects the United Kingdom to indicate a way forward”,
before 12 April 2019. This cannot simply mean that there is a contradiction with the sentence that follows, which says:
“The European Council reiterates that there can be no re-opening of the Withdrawal Agreement that was agreed … in November 2018”.
Therefore, can the Minister confirm that the European Council would be ready to look at an alternative set of proposals that could be put forward by this Parliament?