Results 1-20 of 2,092 for in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates' speaker:Lord Strathclyde
- EU: United States Free Trade Agreement — Question (19 December 2012)
Lord Strathclyde: My Lords, I think it is the turn of my noble friend Lady Falkner.
- EU Council — Statement (17 December 2012)
Lord Strathclyde: My Lords, those are two useful questions. First, on Syria, we are all deeply concerned by the escalation of violence and its increasing impact on the wider region. We very much welcome the increased support for the national coalition following the Friends of Syria meeting in Marrakech on 12 December 2012, and we are working with others in the international community, including within the EU,...
- EU Council — Statement (17 December 2012)
Lord Strathclyde: My Lords, I have yet to meet many businesspeople who think that it was wrong for us not to join the euro when it was created. Many businesses-in fact, all-that I meet are very keen on the single market and on how it operates. The Council has safeguarded the interest of British business and the City in particular. We believe that those safeguards are extremely important. The noble Lord, Lord...
- EU Council — Statement (17 December 2012)
Lord Strathclyde: My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Williamson of Horton, asks a straight question: how watertight is the agreement on the requirement to have a majority? If I may mix my metaphors, the agreement that was struck in this council is absolutely rock hard. I do not think that I can put it more strongly than that.
- EU Council — Statement (17 December 2012)
Lord Strathclyde: My Lords, that is a good question but I will not be tempted to get into the details of this, because they have not been finally agreed within the eurozone. Final conclusions on that will need to be come to over the course of the next few months.
- EU Council — Statement (17 December 2012)
Lord Strathclyde: My Lords, on the question of the Bundesbank and its lawyers' view of the safeguards, the noble Lord has an advantage over me. I have not seen that but perhaps I could ask my officials to look into it and I will send him a letter. As far as I am concerned, when the Prime Minister said that Britain will not join a European army, he meant the European armed forces. Why do I say that with such...
- EU Council — Statement (17 December 2012)
Lord Strathclyde: No, my Lords, there was not a firm proposal that there should be a European army but there was an early discussion about a series of councils that will take place next year to discuss common defence and security policy. It is important for the Prime Minister to lay out his position as early as possible. After all, if he does not, that is how rumours start-such as the one propagated just now...
- EU Council — Statement (17 December 2012)
Lord Strathclyde: Yes, my Lords, the noble Lord has made an important clarification. I hope that nothing I have said has given the impression that I did not think that is what it meant-I am glad to have the noble Lord's confirmation of that. It is absolutely right that those are the two locks. It is the first time that we have been able to get agreement that any changes require the agreement of a majority of...
- EU Council — Statement (17 December 2012)
Lord Strathclyde: My Lords, there is nothing I can add to what I have already said. However, being a believer in free trade. which I think the noble Lord is too, we should very much welcome the agreement between the EU and Japan. If the United States and Japan can make a similar agreement and commitment to free trade then that is a very good thing, and in the long term we should look to furthering free-trade...
- EU Council — Statement (17 December 2012)
Lord Strathclyde: My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Pearson of Rannoch, is entirely right to raise this issue. The best way of keeping both the Government and the European Commission up to the mark is for the noble Lord, as I know he will, to constantly ask questions about how it is going. He asked about timing. I do not think there is a timescale for it. The important change is that in the Council's conclusions...
- EU Council — Statement (17 December 2012)
Lord Strathclyde: My Lords, I do not have the immediate answer to that question. It raises all sorts of questions about the relationship between bank branches in the United Kingdom and their parent companies in the EU, most notably those headquartered in eurozone areas. I am not sure if there is a definite answer at this stage, but if there is I will let the noble Baroness know.
- EU Council — Statement (17 December 2012)
Lord Strathclyde: My Lords, I do not share the view that the noble Lord has propounded that my right honourable friend the Prime Minister's Statement was negative on this matter. There are many people in this country who will regard the British Prime Minister saying that we will not join a European army as an extremely good and positive thing. I would have liked to have seen the noble Lord agree with that....
- EU Council — Statement (17 December 2012)
Lord Strathclyde: My Lords, perhaps there is a philosophical gap between the noble Lord and the Government on this issue. We completely support the idea of a banking union within the eurozone; it is key to the eurozone succeeding in the longer term, and we have long supported it. At the same time, we wanted to have safeguards within the single market-which I know that the noble Lord supports-to ensure that...
- EU Council — Statement (17 December 2012)
Lord Strathclyde: My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for what she said at the start of her speech, joining us-as I am sure the whole House does-in sending our deepest condolences after the horrors and tragedy that occurred in America. Our hearts must go out to these families and to the nation as a whole. As for the questions that the noble Baroness raised about Syria, particularly the arms embargo, I am glad...
- EU Council — Statement (17 December 2012)
Lord Strathclyde: My Lords, this may be a convenient moment to repeat the Statement that was made in another place by my right honourable friend the Prime Minister a few moments ago on the European Council. The Statement is as follows. "I am sure that the whole House will join me in sending our deepest sympathies to President Obama and the American people, following the desperately tragic shootings in...
- Civil Service: Permanent Secretaries — Question (13 December 2012)
Lord Strathclyde: My Lords, we have time. I think it is probably my noble friend Lord Tyler first and then the Labour Party.
- Civil Service: Permanent Secretaries — Question (13 December 2012)
Lord Strathclyde: My Lords, I think it is the turn of the Conservative Party.
- Patrick Finucane — Statement (12 December 2012)
Lord Strathclyde: My Lords, I understand exactly what my noble friend is saying and the force with which he says it, with all the experience and knowledge that he has in his personal background and the part that he has played in Northern Ireland. He is right in saying that none of us could hear the Statement made by the Prime Minister without being deeply shocked and dismayed by what has happened-the level of...
- Patrick Finucane — Statement (12 December 2012)
Lord Strathclyde: My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Maginnis, brings his own particular view of these issues. Indeed, Sir Desmond looked at the accusation that Patrick Finucane was a member of PIRA, and on the basis of the evidence that he saw he concluded that he was not. I know that that was not the entire point that the noble Lord was making, but the Government have nothing to add to Sir Desmond's conclusions...
- Patrick Finucane — Statement (12 December 2012)
Lord Strathclyde: My Lords, I very much agree with what my noble friend said about the public inquiry. He has heard what the Prime Minister and I said on that question. My noble friend started by saying that this was an appalling crime. He is right. The key thing for us to remember-this is another thing he said-is that the accusation of state collusion sullies the memory of all those individuals who fought to...