I want to write to Lord Birt
Lord Birt: ...without Parliament’s express consent. Thirdly, passing the Bill will damage our relations with the EU when we should be doing everything possible to repair them after the bruising experience of Brexit. Overturning the protocol risks retaliatory action, affecting trade with our closest neighbour, our principal trading partner and one of the world’s largest economic blocs, with six times...
Lord Birt: ...over time with the introduction of aircraft powered by electricity, biofuels or hydrogen. Does the Minister agree therefore that Heathrow is a critical national strategic asset, not least post Brexit, and that it must be allowed to expand its capacity in line with demand?
Lord Birt: ...what plans they have to ensure that (1) the precise spot rate, and (2) the commission charged, are identified for all consumer foreign currency transactions at the moment of the transaction post-Brexit.
Lord Birt: ...'s Government what plans they have to require that all currency conversion rates should be expressed as a percentage mark-up on the interbank rate applying at the time of the conversion after Brexit.
Lord Birt: My Lords, I am as nervous as I ever have been about the consequences of Brexit for our economy and our union. If there is a pathway to a further referendum, I will take it. But, if there is to be a choice between this deal and no deal—and I am fearful that that now is the choice—I will choose this deal, for it satisfies the key demands of those who, unlike me, voted to leave: ending...
Lord Birt: ...the bizarre position of having to agree a backstop arrangement covering the most sensitive land border in Europe in the event that future trade negotiations may fail. Northern Ireland is where the Brexit rubber truly hits the road. The Brexit process intensified division when every attempt, however difficult, should have been made to promote reconciliation. It was not. As a result, we are...
Lord Birt: ...embracing the net zero target. However, as the Minister has made clear in his answers already, finding the pathway to achieving that target is an enormous task. As he says, on the other side of Brexit it will be arguably the single biggest challenge that this country has to face. For instance, the previous Chancellor identified the scale of GDP that will have to be devoted to ensuring that...
Lord Birt: ...of our future rail infrastructure and should be supported wholeheartedly. We should run the project as efficiently and as cost-effectively as we can. But we should also hold our nerve and, Brexit or not, in respect of our national infrastructure we simply must regain Britain’s one-time boldness and ambition from centuries past.
Lord Birt: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many days of reserve petrol stock are currently held by the UK, both inside and outside its borders; and how many days of stock will be held within the UK post-Brexit.
Lord Birt: ...of the real economy. The important story here is that Nissan is not unique but typical. Routinely, I experience decision-makers in business and in the international investor community building Brexit into their day-to-day calculations. The result, as we have seen, is a massive loss in the value of our currency and the UK experiencing the lowest growth rate among the G7. Does the Minister...
Lord Birt: ...by hanging, by firing squad or by beheading. Most chose the firing squad, a few hanging. No one chose beheading. We ourselves face three unpalatable, or difficult, choices. The first is a car-crash Brexit on WTO terms, without a seat belt. There are those who will submit to the surgeon’s knife when ill, or trust a ground engineer when they fly, but who none the less defy climate science...
Lord Birt: ...and will leave everyone involved—including me, in this instance—uncomfortable with many aspects of what has been agreed. Taken in the round, this agreement is preferable to a car-crash Brexit in a few months’ time, with the shock to our economy and social harmony that that would trigger. If, however, as seems likely, the House of Commons fails to endorse this deal—if, indeed, it is...
Lord Birt: ...Majesty's Government whether they will require firms offering international money transfer services to show the difference between the exchange rate they are offering and the interbank rate after Brexit.
Lord Birt: ...of the referendum must be honoured. It is unfortunate, to say the least, that it has taken the governing party, racked by internal division, two years to produce a White Paper on the form of Brexit—a White Paper which is long on generalisations and short on detail, particularly, as others have observed, in respect of the mainstay of our economy: services. In the Times last week, Sam...
Lord Birt: ...the British Embassy in Paris; what answers were given; and whether they plan to extend the scope of their communications to UK citizens living in the EU on how those UK citizens will be affected by Brexit.
Lord Birt: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the comments by the Director-General of the CBI on the impact of Brexit on investment and jobs in the UK that progress must be made on the Brexit negotiations or “a trickle of lost opportunities could become a flood”.
Lord Birt: My Lords, we are mired in crisis. Our economy, our public finances, our Brexit negotiating leverage and our Government are all weak, not strong. The causes of this run deep. The UK was ill prepared for the sharp global shock of 2008. After a period of overoptimism in our public finances and of inadequate financial regulation, our cupboard was bare. So nearly 10 years later, we are still...
Lord Birt: ...political challenge. The backdrop to meeting that challenge is grim. The noble Lord, Lord O’Donnell, mentioned his role in the IFS. As the IFS’s work demonstrates, it seems highly likely that Brexit will prolong public and private austerity in the UK well beyond 2025—well into a second decade. The mood of the country will become more disgruntled still, with unknown consequences. We...
Lord Birt: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to offer early clarification to City institutions on how they will be able to operate within the European Union after Brexit.
Lord Birt: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are planning to publish a consultation paper setting out and assessing the different routes to Brexit.