My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have participated in this brief debate. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Purvis, for combining the last two groups, which means that I cannot actually say I did 13 groups in total today. I am really grateful for the contributions that have been made.
To pick up the point made by the noble Baroness, Lady Hoey, about the time of negotiations, I would put my career as a Minister—and indeed that of any negotiator—on the line if I were to determine the length of negotiations. As I said, I have shared as much as
I can. I have heard the desire to know more and I fully recognise that; if I were sitting anywhere else in the House but in this position, I would be pushing in the same manner for more details of the discussions and negotiations. I am pressing colleagues across the Government to see how much more we can share about discussions taking place both in Northern Ireland and, importantly, within the EU.
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We have talked often about the EU but several noble Lords have emphasised the importance of speaking to, and having engagement directly with, the Republic of Ireland. While it will defer to the Commission, we are having discussions directly about the situation and trying to find a resolution to the issue of the protocol. From an Irish perspective, that is important because of the north/south issue, which also remains part of that.
I turn to the amendments. Amendment 72 would prevent any regulations being made on Clauses 1 to 20 coming into force until Parliament approved a mandate for negotiations between the UK and the EU. I say to the noble Lord that, while our preference remains to resolve the issues with the protocol through the negotiations, to pick up on the point made by him and the noble Baroness, Lady Hoey, it is about the ability to move forward if negotiations do not have the desired outcome. Still, I cannot stress enough that the preference remains—and the engagements that have taken place to date, certainly in recent weeks and months, are very much focused on—a negotiated settlement. It has long been our position that the Northern Ireland protocol and the negotiations regarding it, like any treaty, are a matter for our Government, and therefore we cannot agree this amendment.
On Amendment 73 in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Purvis, as I have said on other occasions, there will be another opportunity to scrutinise regulations. The point has been well made through various debates and the Government will provide the usual accompanying material. I assure all noble Lords that we will continue to press to ensure that we provide this information under normal parliamentary procedures, but I recognise and have heard very clearly the desire to see these regulations as early as possible. The point was made in earlier debates, as it was again in this short debate, about the importance of ensuring that businesses have clarity over the issues that we are seeking to amend.
In concluding this Committee stage on a personal reflection, I thank all noble Lords for the days that we have been in Committee on behalf of my noble and learned friend Lord Stewart and my noble friend Lord Caine. I know there is much where more detail is required, about both regulations and information to be shared. From my perspective as the Minister of State at the FCDO, I have fully heard the real desire for more detail about the current discussions taking
place and the negotiations framework in the context of our conversations with the EU. I hope that over the coming days we will be able to provide further detail on how things are progressing.
Lastly, I thank all noble Lords for their brevity, certainly after dinner. It has allowed us to conclude Committee in a timely fashion, and for that I am grateful. For the time being, I ask the noble Lord to withdraw his amendment.