Thread by @bricksilk

Lord Keen has defended the Government's position, and his own. His main point was that the Government has not asserted the power to depart unilaterally from a recently-agreed Treaty, just invited Parliament to consider the matter. Over to us! /1

https://twitter.com/bricksilk/status/1304003877012938752

So would it be OK for Parliament to pass a law allowing specific international commitments, recently accepted and passed into law, to be simply disregarded? Lord Keen (wisely perhaps) did not address the moral/reputational aspects of this, but pointed to a "precedent". /2

Not the Finance Act 2013, which may now have been quietly forgotten

https://twitter.com/bricksilk/status/1303788807641280512?s=20

... /3

... but s19(1)(b) HRA 1998, which is there in case a Government should find itself unable to make a clear statement of compatibility with the European Convention on Human Rights when it introduces a new Bill. /4

(Ironically enough the only example that Lord Keen could give of this - the political advertising ban in the Communications Act 2003, whose compatibility with the ECHR had been considered doubtful - turned out to be fine ... books.google.co.uk/books?id=jBonD….) /5

That "precedent" is illusory. The Comms Bill was feared not to be compliant with the ECHR. The Internal Market Bill deliberately reneges on highly specific commitments (and then tries to keep the courts out). publiclawforeveryone.com/2020/09/09/the… /6

Or, as it is has been put by @profmarkelliott:

https://twitter.com/ProfMarkElliott/status/1304035811340550148?s=20

/8

There was no discussion of the Ministerial Code

https://twitter.com/bricksilk/status/1303358429474496513?s=20

, sanctions for breach of the Withdrawal Agreement

https://twitter.com/StevePeers/status/1304023648123133953?s=20

, Jonathan Jones's resignation, or the special responsibilities of the Law Officers

https://twitter.com/bricksilk/status/1303940736312848384?s=20

. /9

But Lord Keen (appearing remotely) survived a battery of hostile bowling, which will soon be found in Hansard hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/2020-09-…. We have a full set of Law Officers still, and a turbulent few months to come. /10

More on this point

https://twitter.com/bricksilk/status/1304324394114781185