Lord Kerr:

I am delighted to answer a question from Senator Chambers because she got exactly right the reaction of the House of Lords. She told the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, during the committee meeting on 7 October that on seeing Part 5 of the Internal Markets Bill she was gobsmacked. That is exactly right. One could say the House of Lords was gobsmacked too. I think I speak for the committee on that. Speaking personally, I strongly agree with Baroness Couttie that nobody intends to damage the Belfast treaty and the Good Friday Agreement and that nobody wishes to see the return of a hard border and all the problems that would create. I am sure she is right about that.

On the Senator's question regarding a level playing field, I am puzzled because I do not understand why the British Government stepped back from the political declaration it signed on 19 October 2019, the same day this agreement was reached. The language about geographical proximity and economic interdependence requiring a level playing field seems to me to be very reasonable language. More important, we signed up to it. I think the European Union overbid by suggesting that the level playing field had to be policed by EU institutions. That raises sovereignty issues, as Baroness Couttie stated. It is clear where the landing zone is for an agreement on this issue. It is clear that Mr. Barnier has stepped back from insisting that the European Union should be the judge and jury and that he is looking for the British Government to commit itself to agreed principles and to an independent authority, future transparency and to a disputes settlement procedure. That seems to me to be a perfectly reasonable landing zone and I do not understand why the British Government is still finding difficulty with it. As a former negotiator, I have d'information professionnelleand I believe these problems should be relatively easy to settle. I think I know how the issue could be solved. As Lord Wood stated at the outset, the problem is that there are some members of the Conservative Party who would may find any concession on sovereignty grounds offensive, even a level-playing field solution where the involvement of the EU is limited to agreement now on principles and the ability to use a disputes settlement procedure. The Prime Minister must decide between doing what British business undoubtedly wants him to do and doing what a group within his party wants him to do.