Committee of the Whole House (HL) and Debate on bill on Monday, 21 January 2019, in the House of Lords, led by Baroness Fairhead.

Trade Bill

Lords committee stage first day. Motion that the House resolve itself into a Committee. Amendment to the motion debated and agreed to on division (243 votes to 208). Original motion agreed to as amended. Amendments to clause 1 debated and withdrawn. Other amendments not moved. Clause 1 agreed to. Amendments to clause 2 under consideration. Part 1 of 2.

Secondary information

Type: Parliamentary proceeding
Reference: 795 cc506-557
Session: 2017-19
Department: Department for International Trade
Legislative stage: Committee stage
Procedure: Government defeats
Chamber / Committee: House of Lords chamber
Related items: Trade Bill 2017-19. Brought from the Commons.
Wednesday, 18 July 2018
Bills
House of Lords; Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee thirty-third report.
Tuesday, 11 September 2018
Parliamentary committees
House of Lords; Trade Bill. Constitution Committee (HL) thirteenth report.
Wednesday, 10 October 2018
Parliamentary committees
House of Lords; Trade Bill
Monday, 21 January 2019
Parliamentary proceedings
House of Lords; Deposited Paper DEP2019-0125
Tuesday, 29 January 2019
Deposited papers
House of Lords; Deposited Paper DEP2019-0130
Monday, 28 January 2019
Deposited papers
House of Lords
Proceeding contributions: Lord Taylor of Holbeach | 795 c506 (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Lord Taylor of Holbeach; Baroness Smith of Basildon | 795 c506 (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Baroness Smith of Basildon; Baroness Smith of Basildon | 795 cc506-9 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, as we start this Committee stage of the Trade Bill, my amendment seeks to be helpful to...; Lord Newby | 795 c507 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, it is now over four months since we had Second Reading on this Bill. That is an unusual...; 795 c507 (Link to this contribution)
Ha!; Lord Newby | 795 c507 (Link to this contribution)
He must have a lot of sympathy with them. The truth is that it was always unrealistic to expect t...; Viscount Hailsham | 795 cc507-510 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I will briefly explain why I support the amendment to the Motion. Any outcome of the pr...; Lord Hannay of Chiswick | 795 cc510-1 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I support the amendment and point out, as have others, that this Bill is being brought ...; Baroness Taylor of Bolton | 795 c511 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I do not want to follow the two previous speakers by talking about what happens, deal o...; Lord Purvis of Tweed | 795 cc511-2 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, the House will have seen that there are a number of amendments in my name, as well as t...; Lord Campbell of Pittenweem | 795 c512 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I can be very brief. The circumstances we are discussing are entirely of the Government...; Lord Strathclyde | 795 cc512-3 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, am I alone in finding this a most extraordinary debate? It is deeply disappointing give...; Lord Kerr of Kinlochard | 795 cc513-4 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, it was good to hear from the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, and to be reminded of the da...; Lord Lansley | 795 c514 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Kerr, would be valid only if this Bill were desi...; Lord Reid of Cardowan | 795 cc514-5 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I have only one brief point to make in response to our noble colleague the noble Lord, ...; Baroness Deech | 795 c515 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I would not pretend to know a great deal about trade, but this I do know: we live in ex...; Lord Naseby | 795 c515 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords—; Lord Davies of Stamford | 795 c515 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I think it is the turn of this side of the House—; Baroness Evans of Bowes Park | 795 c515 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, it is the turn of the Conservatives.; Lord Naseby | 795 c515 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, it was my privilege for five years of my life to be Deputy Speaker in the other place. ...; Lord Davies of Stamford | 795 cc516-7 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, it is quite unjustifiable that anybody should accuse people in this House of filibuster...; Lord Taylor of Holbeach | 795 c517 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I rise to respond to the amendment in the name of the noble Baroness the Leader of the ...; Lord Reid of Cardowan | 795 c517 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I am not sure that it was parliamentary to accuse another noble Lord of putting an untr...; Lord Taylor of Holbeach | 795 cc517-8 (Link to this contribution)
All I said was that what the noble Lord reported was an untruth; he himself was not, perhaps, bei...; Baroness Smith of Basildon | 795 cc518-9 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I listened carefully to the Government Chief Whip. Perhaps the most encouraging comment...; Lord Stevenson of Balmacara | 795 c519 (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Lord Stevenson of Balmacara
1: Clause 1, page 2, line 11, at end insert—
...; Lord Stevenson of Balmacara | 795 cc519-524 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, we intend to exercise a considerable amount of scrutiny on the issues in Committee, but...; Lord Purvis of Tweed | 795 cc524-5 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I support these amendments and will speak to Amendment 100, which is in my name and tha...; Lord Wigley | 795 cc525-6 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord for introducing this amendment. As far as it goes, I su...; Lord Hain | 795 c526 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I apologise to the Committee for coming into the Chamber just a couple of minutes into ...; Lord Lansley | 795 cc526-7 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, perhaps I may start with Amendment 3 in this group. I am not sure that I understand why...; Lord Monks | 795 c527 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, perhaps I may interject, having been general-secretary of the European Trade Union Conf...; Baroness Fairhead | 795 cc528-9 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, we begin this first day in Committee with a discussion about some really important matt...; Lord Lansley | 795 c529 (Link to this contribution)
I am sorry to interrupt my noble friend. She will know that part of this process is, as she right...; Baroness Fairhead | 795 c529 (Link to this contribution)
I thank my noble friend for that important question. I think this issue comes later in the amendm...; Lord Stevenson of Balmacara | 795 c529 (Link to this contribution)
With respect, I think that the noble Lord had a second and more important part to his question. W...; Baroness Fairhead | 795 c529 (Link to this contribution)
My understanding is that any regulations would go through the normal procedures of scrutiny. No c...; Lord Stevenson of Balmacara | 795 c529 (Link to this contribution)
The Minister must put me right if I am wrong. She just said that these were such small changes th...; Baroness Fairhead | 795 c530 (Link to this contribution)
I can confirm that we are copying the existing schedules directly across. There are no changes, s...; Lord Lansley | 795 c530 (Link to this contribution)
I want to come back to that, because I think there is a point we need to establish. There is no q...; Baroness Fairhead | 795 c530 (Link to this contribution)
I reassert that there is no power in the Bill to make any changes to those GPA schedules. We can ...; Lord Purvis of Tweed | 795 c530 (Link to this contribution)
I am grateful for the Minister’s explanations. The WTO at the end of November—I think this relate...; Baroness Fairhead | 795 c530 (Link to this contribution)
I reiterate to your Lordships that this Bill, and the powers we are requesting, do not allow chan...; Lord Purvis of Tweed | 795 c531 (Link to this contribution)
Have the Government therefore discussed and agreed under what parliamentary procedures they are l...; Baroness Fairhead | 795 c531 (Link to this contribution)
Again, we are talking not about the future but about continuity. When we discuss these clauses, I...; Lord Wigley | 795 c531 (Link to this contribution)
On that point, might there be a disagreement between Westminster and Cardiff, or Westminster and ...; Baroness Fairhead | 795 cc531-3 (Link to this contribution)
I will confirm this, but my understanding is that the schedules will be exactly as they are now. ...; Baroness Neville-Rolfe | 795 c533 (Link to this contribution)
My noble friend helpfully explained how the implementation of the Agreement on Government Procure...; Baroness Fairhead | 795 c533 (Link to this contribution)
I thank my noble friend for the question. My understanding is that it puts us in the same positio...; Lord Stevenson of Balmacara | 795 cc534-5 (Link to this contribution)
I thank all speakers in this short debate. The early contributions were to do largely with devolv...; Lord Stevenson of Balmacara | 795 c535 (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Lord Stevenson of Balmacara
4: Clause 1, page 2, line 13, at end insert—
...; Lord Stevenson of Balmacara | 795 cc535-6 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, the previous debate was about process and how approval mechanisms were in play. This am...; Lord Lansley | 795 cc536-7 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, Amendment 5 is in my name. At the risk of being chided gently by the noble Lord, Lord S...; Lord Fox | 795 cc537-8 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I shall speak to Amendment 5 and before going any further I want to associate ourselves...; Baroness Hooper | 795 c538 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, both these amendments provide us with a useful opportunity for discussion on important ...; Baroness Young of Old Scone | 795 cc538-9 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I support Amendment 4 in the name of my noble friend. I declare an interest as presiden...; Lord Livingston of Parkhead | 795 cc539-540 (Link to this contribution)
I echo the comments from my noble friends Lord Lansley and Lady Hooper, that of course the Bill, ...; Lord Purvis of Tweed | 795 c540 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Livingston, has great experience in this regard, and I take note. ...; Lord Risby | 795 cc540-1 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, as one of the Prime Minister’s trade envoys and as a long-standing deputy chairman of t...; Baroness Neville-Rolfe | 795 c541 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I am a huge supporter of the small business sector and its growth. Indeed, some of the ...; Lord Davies of Stamford | 795 cc541-2 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I have been listening to the debate with great interest, but I am worried that the Hous...; Baroness Fairhead | 795 cc542-5 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, we have discussed a number of elements of the GPA, but at its heart it opens up mutuall...; Lord Stevenson of Balmacara | 795 c545 (Link to this contribution)
I am grateful to the Minister for her comments. I think she summed up very accurately the sense i...; Lord Davies of Stamford | 795 c546 (Link to this contribution)
I want to be absolutely clear about something. I did not suggest for a moment that SMEs do not ha...; Lord Stevenson of Balmacara | 795 c546 (Link to this contribution)
I fully accept what my noble friend has said, and I am sorry if I misrepresented him. I think he ...; Lord Lansley | 795 c546 (Link to this contribution)
I am sorry for interrupting. It might be helpful to say that one thing it would be useful for the...; Lord Stevenson of Balmacara | 795 cc546-7 (Link to this contribution)
I absolutely agree with that.
My final point is to pick up on the SMEs and the need to cons...; Lord Purvis of Tweed | 795 c547 (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Lord Purvis of Tweed
4A: Clause 1, page 2, line 13, at end insert—
“( ...; Lord Purvis of Tweed | 795 cc547-8 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, first, I apologise to the Committee that this amendment was tabled on Friday, so collea...; Baroness Fairhead | 795 cc548-9 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, Clause 1 allows for the implementation of the UK’s independent accession to the GPA in ...; Lord Purvis of Tweed | 795 c549 (Link to this contribution)
The Minister said that if there is no withdrawal agreement our accession will “continue to progre...; Baroness Fairhead | 795 c549 (Link to this contribution)
Perhaps it would be helpful if I gave the process for GPA accession. Schedules are laid down and ...; Lord Purvis of Tweed | 795 c549 (Link to this contribution)
I am grateful to the Minister. For my simple understanding, if there is no agreement, what is our...; Baroness Fairhead | 795 c549 (Link to this contribution)
We will have to progress and become as quickly as possible an independent member of the GPA. That...; Lord Purvis of Tweed | 795 c549 (Link to this contribution)
So it is clear that we would not be a party to it. We would just be in the process of trying to p...; Baroness Fairhead | 795 c549 (Link to this contribution)
The process will continue and it will be our aim to be an independent member by the time we leave...; Lord Purvis of Tweed | 795 c549 (Link to this contribution)
Well, no doubt that is the aim. I was not asking what the aim was, but what the reality would be ...; Baroness Fairhead | 795 c549 (Link to this contribution)
Once we are given an invitation to join, our Foreign Secretary puts down an offer of accession, w...; Lord Purvis of Tweed | 795 cc549-550 (Link to this contribution)
I will not detain the Committee much longer but, from my understanding, it is clear that we will ...; Baroness Fairhead | 795 c550 (Link to this contribution)
Plan A is to have a withdrawal agreement. There is then an implementation period and after that t...; Lord Purvis of Tweed | 795 c550 (Link to this contribution)
We have to put that into the category of all of the other aims that Dr Liam Fox has had with rega...; Baroness Fairhead | 795 c550 (Link to this contribution)
I apologise. I should have addressed that question. The Government have to approve the accession ...; Lord Purvis of Tweed | 795 c550 (Link to this contribution)
I am grateful for that clarification. I need to refer to Hansard, however, because I thought the ...; Lord Stevenson of Balmacara | 795 c550 (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Lord Stevenson of Balmacara
6: Clause 2, page 2, line 15, after “may” insert...; Lord Stevenson of Balmacara | 795 cc550-1 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, this group of amendments plays back themes that we have already discussed in the first ...; Lord Purvis of Tweed | 795 c551 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I support these amendments. They make eminent sense. I shall speak also to Amendment 10...; Baroness Fairhead | 795 cc551-3 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, as I repeated, the Government’s priority is to bring certainty to businesses and the pu...; Lord Stevenson of Balmacara | 795 c553 (Link to this contribution)
I thank the noble Baroness for giving way. We are in the territory of “may” and “must”, trying to...; Baroness Fairhead | 795 cc553-4 (Link to this contribution)
It was necessary for the noble Lord to ask about the word “absolutely”, but I object to being ask...; Lord Purvis of Tweed | 795 c554 (Link to this contribution)
No doubt this will be a point that we hear about again. That is obviously the case in relation to...; Baroness Fairhead | 795 c554 (Link to this contribution)
It is important to separate the two. Essentially we are trying to replicate the existing trade ag...; Lord Purvis of Tweed | 795 c555 (Link to this contribution)
I am grateful for the Minister’s indulgence. I was also referring to existing agreements. For exa...; Baroness Fairhead | 795 c555 (Link to this contribution)
I simply say to the noble Lord that we are trying to ensure as much continuity as we possibly can...; Lord Kerr of Kinlochard | 795 cc555-6 (Link to this contribution)
I have a degree of sympathy with the amendment proposed by the noble Lord, Lord Purvis of Tweed. ...; Lord Lansley | 795 cc556-7 (Link to this contribution)
I would like to say a brief word on this group of amendments. On the latter point made by the nob...; Baroness Fairhead | 795 c557 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, my noble friend Lord Lansley has made a suggestion which I will definitely reflect on, ...; Lord Stevenson of Balmacara | 795 c557 (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, it has been a very good debate. Most of the interchange has been on the latter part, on...
Subjects: Contracts Delegated legislation Canada Employment Environment Northern Ireland Parliamentary scrutiny Scotland Standards Small businesses Trade Wales Trade agreements World Trade Organization Free trade UK trade with EU Brexit Government Procurement Agreement
Legislation: Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010; Trade Bill 2017-19; European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018
Link: View this Parliamentary proceeding on hansard.parliament.uk

Trade Bill

Secondary information

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