This was a controversial piece of legislation on Second Reading, so it is no surprise to find that our noble Friends in the other place have made historically substantial amendments to it. It is probably a sign of the remarkable times we are living in that the Government should attempt not only to table legislation that effectively breaks the law, but to do so in such a way as to destabilise a critical bilateral negotiation, the outcome of which will have a major impact on the lives of every single UK citizen.
According to announcements made while we have been here in the Chamber, the Government have so far been unable to conclude our negotiations with the European Union over a future trading relationship. To proceed with this legislation when these critical discussions are at such a crucial stage ought to be unthinkable, were it not for the fact that the Government have routinely ridden roughshod over every convention, broken faith with every promise and undermined every pillar of our society when they threatened to stand in the way of Brexit.
I feel somewhat relieved therefore that their lordships have inserted some normality into proceedings by taking as their first principle that legislation and legislators should not break the law. The Liberal Democrats wholly endorse their amendment that removes the whole of part 5 from the Bill, and we oppose the Government’s motion to reject the amendment.
Since 2016, the Conservative Government have repeatedly ducked the difficult choices required following their decision to implement the referendum outcome in the most damaging way possible. Many of us thought that these choices would finally have to be confronted once Brexit stopped being a right-wing dream and became a reality, but it comes as no surprise that the Government will break the law and destroy our international reputation in order to delay unpleasant reality for a little while longer.
We do not know what unintentional consequences will be unleashed by reinserting this clause into our national legislation, but if we as a nation break treaties,
act in bad faith and undermine our international relationships, we should expect there to be a price to pay. This is a recklessly foolish action at a time when we urgently need to build and strengthen our links with other countries, not just because we need new trade deals, but because we urgently need co-ordinated global action to defeat coronavirus and fight against climate change.
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It is not as if the Bill, in undermining our international standing, compensates by strengthening our internal Union; quite the reverse. I welcome their lordships’ amendments that assert the primacy of the common frameworks process over the provisions in the Bill, and I oppose the Government’s motion to reject them. The common frameworks approach was developed to enable the four nations of the United Kingdom to agree together how these powers should be exercised in the UK. Considerable work has already been undertaken to develop these frameworks and, more importantly, this work has provided a forum for all the devolved nations to discuss their future operations on an equal footing. Who can be in any doubt that this Government resent power being wielded in the UK by any group other than themselves, or that the Bill deliberately seeks to give the UK Government the power to overrule any other authority?
My particular concern is that the common frameworks process can act, much as the European Union does, to encourage all participants to raise mutual standards—economic, environmental and agricultural—rather than undercutting to compete, and that the unamended Bill enables the standards in one country to apply in all, permitting a race to the bottom that will disadvantage local economies.
Passing the Bill without these Lords amendments will send a clear message to voters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that the UK Government regard them with contempt. This message will only provide a boost to nationalists who wish to break up the United Kingdom, making each constituent nation still poorer and less powerful than we are already being rendered by our departure from the European Union.
To conclude, I welcome the Lords amendments to the Bill, as they seem to recognise the great diplomatic and constitutional danger that this legislation represented in its original form, and the Liberal Democrats will oppose Government attempts to overturn them.