My Lords, I thank all noble Lords for their contributions to this brief debate. I turn first to Amendment 39. I welcome the points made by the noble Baroness, Lady Chapman; I was scribbling down some of them, including the phrase, “Cheerleader for the Government”—we look forward to that. I recognise that these are serious times in terms of our negotiations. Of course, it is right that we are being challenged, but contributions have also been made which are helpful in ultimately strengthening the role we want to see for all discussions: a successful conclusion in the interests of all communities in Northern Ireland.
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As for discussions and diplomacy, I have a bit of experience, as do other noble Lords around this House. One thing that I have certainly learned as a lesson of diplomacy is that discretion is key—it is vital. At times, there is a sprinkling of public discourse in that respect. I assure noble Lords that discussions and a number of meetings are being held. Indeed, I mentioned to the noble Lord, Lord Purvis, that my honourable friend the Minister for Europe met Commissioner Šefčovič during his visit on this very issue. The fact is that the engagement continues. I have already detailed why my right honourable friend was unable to meet on this occasion.
We have now seen how the implementation of the current protocol—I think all noble Lords accept this—is causing problems. We are looking for solutions. We feel that limiting the Government’s ability to act quickly and flexibly if such a negotiated outcome with the EU needs to be implemented could ultimately disrupt what we are all seeking to do, which is to address the socio-political stability in Northern Ireland and safeguard the EU single market and the UK single market.
I say again, for the record, that a negotiated agreement is the Government’s preference and the outcome and detail of that will be shared as necessary. But having the discretion for Ministers to choose the best implementation is surely in our best interests.
I shall come to the important point also raised by the noble Baroness, my noble friend and the noble Lord, Lord Purvis, on Clause 19 standing part, which is related to this. As all noble Lords have said, Clause 19 gives power to Ministers to implement a new agreement with the EU as soon as one can be reached. As I have said, a negotiated agreement with the EU remains our preferred approach and this clause facilitates that commitment, as the noble Baroness acknowledged.
I want to address the central point. The noble Earl, Lord Kinnoull, is not in his place but I gave him a brief reassurance on the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 in a previous debate—a point also made by the noble Lord, Lord Purvis. I assure noble Lords that this Bill does nothing to affect the procedures applying under that Act, so any new treaty replacing the protocol or amending it will be subject to the usual pre-ratification scrutiny that the Act provides.
This clause also allows a Minister to make legislative changes that they consider appropriate for the purposes of implementing a relevant agreement with the EU. It is also vital in ensuring that we have the ability to promptly implement—