Lord Lawson of Blaby: My Lords, one of the most momentous decisions of our time has now been taken. Parliament agreed by an overwhelming majority that the people should decide in a referendum whether our country should stay in the European Union or leave. The people decided, on a massive poll, that we should leave. It is regrettable that some, unhappy with the result, seek to prevent its implementation, whether by...
Lord Lawson of Blaby: My Lords—
Lord Lawson of Blaby: My Lords, as one of the minority in your Lordships’ House who warmly welcomes the decision that the people made in the referendum, I also warmly welcome the statesmanlike Statement of the Prime Minister today, which my noble friend repeated. May I suggest, too, that the campaign is over and that we are now in a new phase, and that it would be no bad thing if the campaigning organisations on...
Lord Lawson of Blaby: I was slightly puzzled when the noble Lord said that Article 50 was the only means. Is he saying that the 1975 referendum, when the Lisbon treaty and Article 50 did not exist, was a complete fraud because we could not have left anyway?
Lord Lawson of Blaby: My Lords—
Lord Lawson of Blaby: My Lords, I apologise to the House for my youthful impetuosity a moment ago. The Royal College of Physicians has concluded that e-cigarettes should be encouraged as an aid to giving up the smoking of tobacco. The European Union has decided, via the tobacco products directive, that e-cigarettes should be discouraged. Which side are the Government on and what are they going to do about it?
Lord Lawson of Blaby: My Lords, I endorse entirely the remarks of the noble Lord, Lord Myners. Leaving aside the very important general issues involved in this case, which were outlined well by my noble friend the Minister and the noble Lord, Lord Mendelsohn, there are particular aspects of the BHS affair and of its governance over a number of years which—if I may use a technical term—stink. In my day there...
Lord Lawson of Blaby: My Lords—
Lord Lawson of Blaby: My Lords, in the context of inward investment, to which my noble friend rightly referred and which is in fact the driver of this, did he have time in his busy life to read the story in Le Monde a few days ago? It was reported that the important French internet company Valtech is waiting for the outcome of the referendum and, in the event of Brexit, proposes to move its headquarters from...
Lord Lawson of Blaby: My Lords, as we come towards the close of a long, civilised debate—if somewhat full of wishful thinking in some quarters—I begin, as many noble Lords have done, by congratulating my noble friend Lady Perry on the very model of a valedictory speech. For those of us of my age, that is ever present in our minds. I also congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Jowell, on a maiden speech which...
Lord Lawson of Blaby: Wait for it.
Lord Lawson of Blaby: My Lords, will my noble friend confirm that he is not too young to recall that in January 1989, when I was still Chancellor of the Exchequer, I made a speech spelling out why the euro—monetary union—would be a disaster, why we should not join it and why the European Union would be foolish to go ahead? Perhaps he can set the record right against those who are clearly too young to recall...
Lord Lawson of Blaby: My Lords, does my noble friend not agree that the fact that we have the lowest level of unemployment of any country in Europe is testament to the success of the Government’s policies?
Lord Lawson of Blaby: My Lords, will the Government seriously consider ending the anomalously tax-free status of the winter fuel payment by consolidating it into the basic state pension, which is, of course, taxable?
Lord Lawson of Blaby: My Lords, while I in no way advocate Kazakhstan being a member of the Security Council of the United Nations, does my noble friend agree that if widespread corruption, and the other abuses that have been mentioned, disqualified a candidate for membership of the council, it would be significantly smaller than it is today?
Lord Lawson of Blaby: My Lords, the Statement repeated by my noble friend said that we have taken action on power—and, indeed, the Government have taken action on power. To boast that they are leading the world in the battle against climate change, they have deliberately introduced an energy policy designed to push up the price of electricity in this country so that it is far higher than in any of our major...
Lord Lawson of Blaby: My Lords, I welcome the Statement, particularly its emphasis on the fact that this is a global threat that we are all facing, which requires a global response—not least in the form of intelligence sharing. In that context, I was glad that the Statement explicitly referred to the vitally important and long-standing Five Eyes agreement with the United States and three other non-European...
Lord Lawson of Blaby: My Lords, if I may say so, the noble and learned Baroness made a very important point. I imagine that there is a particular concern on all sides of the House about the very young children, but the problem is that, as I understand it, the amendment would apply to anyone up to the age of 18. That goes far too wide, particularly when the de facto age of maturity—or whatever the legal position...
Lord Lawson of Blaby: My noble friend the Minister referred to a reformed European Union. There is no reformed European Union. Indeed, the European Union has proved itself to be unreformable. If the single market is such an economic miracle, why does he think that the European Union is widely recognised as being something close to an economic disaster zone at the present time? Why does he think that in the latest...
Lord Lawson of Blaby: On the point that the Minister has just made, it is not a matter for the Prime Minister to decide whether Article 50 is invoked in the event of a referendum for leaving; it is a matter for Cabinet. The Cabinet will have to have before it papers setting out all the various options, and it will be for Cabinet to decide which of those options it wants to pick up.
