Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 21 October 2020
Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs
Brexit Negotiations: Members of the House of Lords
Lord Kerr:
I have very little to add to what Lord Wood has said. I should say that I am a cross-bencher, an Independent and a former diplomat. It is clear the British Government cannot get Part 5 of the Bill through. It is not clear at what point it will lose if it maintains the clauses. Lord Kinnoull has correctly said we normally vote on Report Stage but it is conceivable we will decide to vote on Committee Stage. A number of the Independents like me were arguing that the effort to restore the national reputation required us to remove these articles or clauses from the Bill at the earliest opportunity. It is conceivable we might vote on Committee Stage but as far as I know there is no clear plan to do that yet.
Lord Wood is absolutely right in that these clauses cannot survive because of the rule of law aspect rather than Brexit. The majority in favour of the regret motion would have been much smaller if the matter had just been about Brexit. It is, however, about the rule of law.
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