argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
European Union (Future Relationship) Bill — House of Lords, 2020-12-30
Topic: International Affairs
Lucy Neville-Rolfe (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I rise to welcome this Bill, and to congratulate my noble friend Lord Cavendish on his brilliant valedictory speech. We will miss him, his historical perspectives, and his love of small business Virtually my whole career has been spent in EU circles, either negotiating in and with it as a civil servant and later as a Minister, operating across its single market as a retailer or, most recently, sitting on the EU Committee. I love European art and culture and travelling across the continent, but the last five years have changed my view of the viability of the UK’s position within the EU I warmly congratulate the Prime Minister, my noble friend Lord Frost and the rest of the UK negotiating team, and I welcome the treaty and the Bill before us today. My sister reminded me yesterday that on the day after the referendum in 2016 I told her, "It has to be Boris." I have taken that view consistently because only he had the chutzpah, the confidence and the experience of Brussels necessary to take the hard line that would convince the EU negotiators that we might really proceed with no deal on trade if what was on offer was inadequate. Only that could shift red lines crafted when we had made the catastrophic error of agreeing a schedule of talks that separated the money and Northern Ireland from the trade provisions. Even worse, the UK negotiators had to operate against a background where some UK legislators, no doubt well-intentioned but hopelessly misguided, were actively seeking to make it a legal requirement to reach agreement, thereby fundamentally undermining their own side The Prime Minister has been admirably honest that the deal is not perfect, with which I agree but, given the background, that ought not to be a surprise. However, overall it is in our economic and political interests, and much better than many had feared. By ending in agreement we also have the chance as a sovereign state to chart a friendly path forward with the EU once the dust settles. I can foresee—correctly, I hope—a revival of interparliamentary political dialogue with the EU, as advocated by the noble Earl, Lord Kinnoull, and of collaboration on business, economics, health, digital, creative industries and climate change. However, for the first time in 50 years, we also have a chance to forge independent relationships on those matters right around the world and to create a simpler climate of control for our entrepreneurs at home. With a successful vaccination programme and Covid behind us, we can emerge from the fog and the gloom of recent times. Opportunity knocks. Thank you, Prime Minister. You have changed the weather.
European Union (Future Relationship) Bill — House of Lords, 2020-12-30
Topic: Foreign Trade
Hugh Trenchard (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, it is a great privilege to be able to speak in this debate, which, for me, will be most memorable for the excellent valedictory speech of my noble friend Lord Cavendish of Furness. He is much respected on all sides of your Lordships’ House, and his wise and sensible interventions will be greatly missed I congratulate my noble friend the Lord Privy Seal on introducing the debate with a powerful speech that fully recognised the significance of the occasion. I also add my congratulations to those of other noble Lords for the triumph of the Prime Minister, my noble friend Lord Frost and his team, and all those who have worked so hard for so long to ensure that the majority of the population’s will, as expressed in the 2016 referendum and confirmed by the stunning election victory in November 2019, has been honoured in full. It is immensely reassuring for business that free trade in goods, without tariffs or quotas, will continue I have felt for a long time, since soon after I first went to work in Japan 40 years ago, and when I worked in Brussels, that we were uncomfortable passengers on the European train because we did not agree with most of our fellow passengers on the ultimate destination. I am delighted we have finally recognised that fact and had the courage to get off the train Many have expressed an opinion that the trade and co-operation agreement is somewhat thin in its services chapter. I do not think that matters much. Will the EU really put politics ahead of economics and try to stop Daimler or Axa raising funds in London’s capital markets? Anyway, the single market is only partially constructed as far as services are concerned. Furthermore, the EU has been including political as well as technical and economic criteria in its equivalence assessments. As a financial services practitioner, I agree strongly with the views expressed by my noble friend Lady Morrissey but completely fail to recognise the financial world described by the noble Baroness, Lady Kramer Does my noble friend agree that it is important that the UK’s regulators, rather than continuing with special pleading for equivalence, should urgently start work on devising a simpler, principles-based, innovation-friendly, more British style of financial regulation, consigning the cumbersome, expensive and complicated MiFID II, AIFMD, EMIR and UCITS to the dustbin in the process, in order to retain the UK’s position as the world’s leading financial centre and recognising that its competitors are New York, Dubai, Singapore, Shanghai and Hong Kong rather than Paris and Frankfurt? We need to adopt a completely different regulatory style and framework rather than continue with cloned copies of EU rules based on individual regulations and directives.
European Union (Future Relationship) Bill — House of Lords, 2020-12-30
Topic: International Affairs
Matthew Ridley (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I hope you can hear me this time. It was my fault last time, and I apologise. I was going to say what an honour it was to follow the courageous noble Baroness, Lady Hoey. I warmly welcome the noble Lord, Lord Austin of Dudley, and congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Cavendish of Furness, on his valedictory speech. The ratio of good sense to words spoken is probably higher in him than in any other Member of the House. We will miss him very much The hour is late and much has been said, so I shall digress and take a long view. Whatever your views on Brexit, there is no doubting the peculiar agony of Britain's relationship with its neighbouring continent. Ever since the day, 8,100 years ago, when the sea broke through the chalky gorge between Dover and Calais, there has been a dilemma: are we separate from or close to the continent? If the Strait of Dover had been six times wider, as is the Tsushima Strait between Japan and Korea, I suspect we would never have joined the Common Market, and if there was an isthmus, I think we would never have had a referendum. Britain is close enough to the continent to be repeatedly entangled in continental political systems, but far enough away to repeatedly regret joining them Henry VIII’s break with Rome and the events of 410 AD were both a form of Brexit. Of the Reformation, a former Leader of this House, Lord Salisbury, said during the referendum campaign: "Henry VIII declared independence from the Pope and the Emperor for the lowest of reasons, his lust and his wallet", but it "released this country from its obscurantist shackles and made the industrial revolution and the period of British dominance possible." Of 410 AD, the writer and historian Paul Johnson, in his book The Offshore Islanders, written the year before Britain joined the Common Market, argued that by then the British were by then terminally fed up with the "festering incubus" of Roman colonialism. Opportunity came when a barbarian army crossed the Rhine and the Goths sacked Rome itself. At that point, something peculiar happened to Britain. It is a myth that the Romans told Britain it was on its own. Rather, a rebel force of semi-Romanised British nationalists inspired by a British-born theologian, Pelagius, with his heretical doctrine of free will, captured London and other cities, imposed peace and then wrote to the Emperor Honorius requesting legal recognition of their independence. Otherwise preoccupied, the emperor agreed. Johnson wrote this, which I think has interesting echoes: "There was no provision in Roman law for a territory to leave the empire. But by an ingenious use of the lex Julia, the British got round the difficulty and severed their links with the continent by a process of negotiation." Rumour has it that the British negotiator was named Davidius Frostus That Brexit did not end so well, although the Dark Ages were no picnic on the continent either. This separation is as historic. It is up to us to make it work by unleashing enterprise, innovation and economic growth.
European Union (Future Relationship) Bill — House of Lords, 2020-12-30
Topic: International Affairs
Archibald Gavin Hamilton (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I join many noble friends in paying tribute to my good and noble friend Lord Cavendish of Furness for his moving and powerful valedictory speech. He will be sadly missed in this House This is a very great day for me, for two reasons. First, we are finally unshackling ourselves from the EU. Secondly, it is my birthday. I can think of no better way to spend one’s birthday than being here on this historic occasion How are historians going to look at this moment? I turn to the remarks of the noble Lord, Lord Newby; I am glad that he is still in his place. He said that the referendum was called by David Cameron as a result of splits in the Tory party. I take issue with the noble Lord on two points. First, he seems to think that it was a mistake for David Cameron to call a referendum and put it in his manifesto. That is rather strange, coming from Liberal Democrats—I thought that they were rather keen on referenda. Perhaps it is only referenda where they can agree with the result Secondly, it was not because of Tory splits. It was for the very simple reason that many Tory Members of Parliament, particularly those in marginal seats, were challenged at the time by Nigel Farage and UKIP, who were undertaking to stand on the basis that there would be a referendum on whether we stayed in Europe or not. A number of Tory MPs came to David Cameron and persuaded him that we must put it in our manifesto as well. As a result, a number of votes moved over to Tory MPs and saved their seats. As we know, it turned out that there was an overall majority I have a theory—I do not know whether it is true—that David Cameron was looking at the polls and expected that he would end up with another hung Parliament and a coalition with the Liberal Democrats. Was it possible that he thought that, if so, he would make it a condition of going into coalition with the Liberals that they dropped any commitment to a referendum As it is, I join the noble Baroness, Lady Hoey, in commending Nigel Farage and UKIP. They have made a material difference to this country. It is shameful that he is not in your Lordships’ House. You do not have to agree with somebody to accept the major contribution they have made. He was pivotal to this referendum being held, and as a result, we are now leaving the EU. To this day, he has substantial support in the country, and I do not know how many Members of your Lordships’ House can say that I strongly support this Bill; I commend my right honourable friend the Prime Minister for his negotiating skills and for keeping no deal on the table, which has been critical for getting the agreeable terms we have today.
European Union (Future Relationship) Bill — House of Lords, 2020-12-30
Topic: International Affairs
David Arthur Russell Howell (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I welcome the support for this Bill and the agreement underlying it, as anyone with common sense should surely do. It is plainly an historic and remarkably comprehensive achievement I have two quick observations. First, now that we have an agreement on which to build, I plead for a new phase of illusion-dissolving honesty from our leadership, our opinion-formers and our phrase-makers. Could we henceforth take much more care in using the overworked phrase "taking back control"? This is accurate in narrow legal terms in that our Parliament will make our laws and British courts under British judges will implement them. But it is equally obvious that we cannot do exactly what we want in today’s conditions. Unless we wish to become a hermit kingdom, a large number of our laws and rules will be constrained by the realities of an increasingly interdependent and connected planet and by multiple international standards, treaty commitments and solemn agreements Therefore, could we perhaps give the "control" mantra a rest, at least until we are clearer as to who exactly is getting back this control? Is it our sovereign Parliament—as the noble and learned Lord, Lord Judge, was urging—the devolved Administrations, the Executive or the proposed EU-UK partnership council and the arbitration bodies set up by the agreement, whose rulings on alignment and fair competition will control us, without their being subject to parliamentary scrutiny, although they will be international law? Some of these questions were rightly raised earlier by the noble Baroness, Lady Taylor, chair of the Constitution Committee, of which I am privileged to be a member Secondly, the Government constantly get accused of having no coherent vision—no narrative—as we move out of the EU treaty system. Actually, our future narrative is there for the telling. The International Trade Secretary, who is doing an excellent job, was rightly calling the other day for a "Pacific mindset", or an Indo-Pacific mindset, in repositioning the UK in an utterly changed world Of course, we need good and settled relations with our nearest neighbours, although a Europe of constant bargaining is what we have to look forward to regionally. However, the bigger, and much faster-growing, markets, are taking shape elsewhere; for instance, in dynamic south-east Asia and in parts of the Commonwealth network, where investment is now being sucked away from China and where most future world growth in both goods and services lies In a networked world and in this hyper-connected age, the whole nature of global trade has changed, the distribution of power has changed, the nature of security threats has changed, and the very texture and character of international relations have changed. So, in passing this Bill and validating this excellent agreement, please could the tone and phraseology now be updated accordingly to give people an honest and balanced assessment of where we are going and by whom we will be controlled?
European Union (Future Relationship) Bill — House of Lords, 2020-12-30
Topic: International Affairs
Benjamin Lloyd Stormont Mancroft (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I start by adding my congratulations to my noble friend Lord Cavendish of Furness on his splendid valedictory speech Despite what we were repeatedly told by those experts both within and outside this House—that there was not the remotest possibility that the Government could reach an agreement with the EU before 31 December—the Prime Minister and his negotiating team have succeeded in doing just that. In the time allotted to us, I am unable to provide much comment either on the details of the agreement, which, as your Lordships know, runs to 1,200 pages, or the Bill before the House today, which runs to some 80 pages and which I saw for the first time only yesterday In my experience, the exact effects of agreements or contracts of this kind are very rarely possible to discern in advance, and the problems usually emerge only following implementation. I am therefore surprised, and even a little cynical, about the detailed analysis provided by those who in the old days were called remainers, who seem not only stuck in the past but have a unique ability to predict the future—but their predictions are only of doom and gloom From where I sit, any deal that takes us outside the single market and the customs union, that provides for trade without quotas or tariffs, that excludes us from the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, that provides protections for the UK’s internal market and Northern Ireland’s place within it, and, at the same time, provides for future co-operation on law enforcement and emerging security challenges, sounds like a pretty good deal. It also sounds remarkably like the Canada-plus deal that the Prime Minister asked for last year but which Mr Barnier told us was no longer available What it is, undoubtedly, is an extraordinary political triumph, and I can do no more than offer my congratulations to my right honourable friend the Prime Minister and his negotiating team, led by my noble friend Lord Frost. Like me, the British people can now look forward with confidence to the independent future for which they voted.
European Union (Future Relationship) Bill — House of Lords, 2020-12-30
Topic: Foreign Trade
Michael Howard (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I begin by paying tribute to my noble friend Lord Cavendish of Furness, not only for his excellent valedictory speech, but for his decades of service to your Lordships’ House. He will be sorely missed. I also welcome the noble Lord, Lord Austin, and congratulate him on his maiden speech and his fight against anti-Semitism in the Labour Party I welcome this historic agreement and the Bill before your Lordships’ House. The agreement is a considerable achievement, for which the Prime Minister and my noble friend Lord Frost deserve great credit In particular, I welcome the provisions in the agreement for the resolution of disputes through arbitration. This is how disputes between civilised nations should be resolved. The noble Lord, Lord Kerr, in his diatribe earlier, and the noble Lord, Lord Sharkey, who has just spoken, implied that the European Union has a unilateral right to impose tariffs on exports from the United Kingdom, in the event of regulatory divergence. That is what the European Union wanted, but not what it got. Its right is qualified, reciprocal and subject to arbitration, which is an eminently sensible way to resolve disputes of this kind There are those—alas, many noble Lords who have spoken in this debate—who seem determined to construct a narrative of failure. But we will fail only if we succumb to that melancholy litany. We succeed if we instead focus on the undoubted and considerable potential for success that lies before us. I offer your Lordships one fact and one forecast. The fact comes from CB Insights, which recently reported that there are more unicorns—that is private companies valued at more than £1 billion—in the UK than in France, Germany, Italy and Spain put together. The forecast comes from the Centre for Economics and Business Research, which has an enviable record of accuracy. It forecasts that the UK economy will not only be one of the better performers in Europe over the next few years, but, by 2035, be 23% larger than that of France The key to the agreement and Bill is that, as an independent sovereign state, we are now free to set our own course to make the most of these great opportunities. I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Butler of Brockwell, that we can look forward to the future in a spirit of optimistic anticipation. I look forward to supporting the Government in the vote later.
European Union (Future Relationship) Bill — House of Lords, 2020-12-30
Topic: International Affairs
Greville Patrick Charles Howard (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, the excellent speech made by my noble friend Lord Cavendish of Furness emphasises how the House will be poorer without him. In 1975, I voted against Great Britain remaining in the European Economic Community because the ultimate authority for our laws had moved from Westminster to outside these shores. The brilliance of my noble friend Lord Frost, ably assisted by Oliver Lewis, has reversed this and returned the sovereignty of Great Britain to Westminster However talented our negotiators, they could not have reached agreement without the support, strength and determination of my right honourable friend the Prime Minister. It took great courage for him to stand steadfast and firm against the never-ending cries of "Surrender!" from the fainthearted and those wishing to remain subservient to bureaucrats in Brussels There are very many to whom we must give heartfelt thanks for what they have done to make this agreement possible, not least the British people. There are two whose contributions deserve a special mention today. Sir James Goldsmith’s creation of the Referendum Party resulted in both main parties promising a referendum before joining the single currency. Without that commitment, we would probably have joined the euro, which would have made our exit from the European Union considerably more difficult, if not impossible. It is sad that he is not still with us to see the result to which he contributed so much. The other is Nigel Farage, as mentioned earlier by my noble friend Lord Hamilton. Nigel Farage’s ceaseless campaigning, hard work and devotion to restoring Great Britain’s sovereignty led to his party’s success in the 2014 European election. This triggered the referendum. The Brexit Party’s 2019 electoral success caused Theresa May to resign, and so Britain got, in Boris Johnson, a Prime Minister strong enough and brave enough to overcome all difficulties and achieve the final divorce from the European Union without making unacceptable compromises. I salute the British people and all those who fought so hard to once again make Great Britain an independent nation.