Member

To the noble Lord, Lord Weir, I say that I genuinely do not know what I would call a collection of unionist Peers, other than “I like spending time with you”. I am not sure what we would collectively be called, but I am very grateful to him for curtailing his two-hour speech—I think noble Lords will appreciate that when they are running to the airport. I appreciate his process concerns and the genuine concerns around the democratic deficit. Earlier this year, in August, with the noble Baroness, Lady Hoey, I met with a group of young unionists who made very clear their concerns on the issue of the democratic deficit, the overreach of the EU and what it meant for their identity and political identity. We take these matters very seriously and we will continue to make sure that the union voice is not just heard but acted on.