Responding to FCO Minister Lord Armad’s answer to Baroness Ludford’s urgent question on the diplomatic status of the EU’s ambassador, senior Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Ludford said:
“This is not some arcane spat about a dusty diplomatic convention. It is about whether the Prime Minister and his government are prepared to treat the new EU partnership with the seriousness it deserves, or whether they are pandering to the right-wingers in their party before the interests of the UK.
“Up and down the country, businesses and individuals are drowning under the weight and expense of red tape that Mr Johnson’s botched Brexit deal has dumped on them. To get any flexibility or easing of that burden will require cooperation with the EU. Signalling to Brussels that their man in London is unimportant squanders goodwill to the detriment of the British people.”
The text of the urgent question is below:
Baroness Ludford to ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to grant full diplomatic status under the Vienna Convention to the European Union’s Ambassador to the UK.