Lords EU Committee to hear from Shailesh Vara MP and Robin Walker MP on Northern Ireland backstop
The House of Lords EU Committee will next week take evidence from Shailesh Vara MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and Robin Walker MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union.
The session will cover a range of issues including the Ireland/Northern Ireland Brexit backstop, the impact of Brexit on Gibraltar and the progress of discussions between the UK Government and the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories about their concerns on Brexit.
The evidence session will start at 15:00 on Monday 18 June in Committee Room 3 of the House of Lords.
Areas the session will cover with the witnesses include:
- How the differences between the EU and UK texts for the Ireland/Northern Ireland backstop can be overcome and whether both versions are still ‘in play' in the negotiations.
- How the UK's model can be reconciled with the Government's assertion that the UK will leave the customs union.
- How the Government's desire for the backstop to be time-limited can be reconciled with the EU and Irish Government's desire for it to last until a viable alternative solution is in place.
- How the Government will ensure police and judicial cooperation between the UK and Ireland if the UK is excluded from the European Arrest Warrant and a new security treaty is not agreed.
The latest state of play on Gibraltar including the Spanish ‘ask' on Brexit and whether Spain's position had changed since its change of government in June.
