My Lords, as well as moving Amendment 1 standing in my name on the Order Paper, I shall refer to the other amendments that have been coupled with it for this debate. I declare some relevant interests, in that I own six acres of land that are rented out for agricultural purposes, and I receive a pension from two international manufacturing companies for which I worked, Mars and Hoover, both of which have major trading activities both in the UK and in continental Europe.
I should also make it clear that, while at later stages I shall certainly address those issues of particular relevance to Wales and the devolved regimes, I shall for the most part address issues that are of common concern across the United Kingdom. That is where I am coming from on the amendments before us now.
In tabling these amendments, it is categorically not my intention either to delay or to derail this Bill. I accept—yes reluctantly—that the UK will be leaving the European Union and that it would be totally inappropriate for this unelected House to overturn the decision taken by the referendum. Neither is it the role of this House to overrule decisions taken by elected MPs in the House of Commons. We have no mandate to do so. It is, however, both our right and our duty to clarify the Bill, make it more workable, iron out the inconsistencies and ensure that, in its impact on citizens and businesses in every part of the UK, it is both even-handed and transparent.
Having said this, I do not accept the proposition that, if we leave the EU, we must per se also leave both the single market and the customs union. That is just not true. While my side of the Brexit debate is to accept that the UK voted to leave the EU, that vote in no way explicitly or implicitly requires us to break our economic ties. Some people who supported Brexit said that they had voted in 1975 to join the Common Market and that, if it were still just the Common Market, they would still support it. Retaining our single market and customs union links goes at least a little way to meeting those aspirations.
Many of the problems associated with the Brexit process have emerged only gradually, as those affected by it come to realise the full implications. As the Bill worked its tortuous path through the Commons, only slowly did its full impact become appreciated. This was not helped by the unwillingness of the Government to indicate where exactly they are heading. Had MPs been fully aware of the Government’s objectives, they might well have come to different decisions on key parts of the Bill such as this.
It is our responsibility to pass amendments to this Bill that will give MPs an opportunity to address such matters in the light of developments in the negotiating process and give due regard to the Government’s objectives, which may even now be only partially understood. This is particularly relevant when one considers the finality of this Bill. Unlike other legislation, if MPs get it wrong, they cannot return next year with an amendment Bill. With Brexit, once the die is cast, it heralds a permanent, irreversible change. We have to help MPs to get it right by giving them the appropriate opportunities to think again.
Amendment 1 is a paving amendment for Amendments 6 and 7. I introduce it at the very beginning of this Bill for a deliberate reason: to flag up that the implementation of Clause 1—the repeal of the European Communities Act 1972—cannot take place in a vacuum. There are considerations and provisions that must be addressed before the 1972 Act can be rescinded. There are no doubt Members of this Chamber who take the absolutist view of these matters that, irrespective of the consequences and regardless of the impact that such a decision may have on individuals, families, regions, industries, businesses and interests, the referendum must be seen in black and white terms and that, consequently, Clause 1 must stand unamended even if the rest of the Bill were to be jettisoned in its entirety. That is not the view I take; nor do I believe it is the view of the vast majority in this Chamber or in the other place.
Amendment 6 goes to the heart of the misgivings felt by industry and commerce across these islands. The Government have made it clear both that they are hell-bent on leaving the single market, which is important to so many industries and businesses across the land, and that their intention is not to maintain membership of the customs union, which could maintain at least some of the trade arrangements that currently exist. Industry after industry and service sector after service sector have begged the Government to rethink their stance on these matters. They point out the devastating effects that trade barriers would have on their businesses.
The EEF told me yesterday of its concerns: 84% of its members export to the European Union and any tariff would have a serious effect on their competitiveness. UK manufacturers form critical parts of complex EU supply networks. Any sudden changes at borders could, it asserts, have a dramatic impact on operations, costs, profitability and even viability. It calls for any new arrangements to include: zero-tariff rates; agreed rules of origin; a common approach to warehousing systems; the facilitation of the movement of goods under customs transit; and seamless customs administration. Those are the types of issues which must be resolved before we press the button to eject ourselves from the present customs union, which in fact answers these concerns. Of course, if we remain in the customs union, even if we give up our EU membership, those problems will be overcome.
3.45 pm
Only last Friday, I met people involved in the mussel industry in the Menai Strait. They told me that their main market is on the continent and that they need to ensure that their produce reaches the processors in France within 14 hours. If it does not, the quality will suffer and in due course that will undermine the market. Having physical customs borders at Dover, delaying shipments for, say, 12 hours, could kill their business. Another example in my old constituency involves a company making diagnostic medical products. It prides itself on its claim that any order it receives before noon today can reach its destination within the EU before tomorrow evening. It depends on frictionless movement by road to reach many of these destinations. Time is of the essence. It can sometimes be a matter of life and death. Our withdrawal from the customs
union with our European partners would not lead to the closure of that factory, but it would certainly lead to the global parent company thinking carefully before making new investments in the UK.
Thirdly, there is the position of our hill farmers, both in Wales and in other parts of the UK. Currently, 90% of their exports go tariff free to continental European markets. If we have no customs agreement, their products could be subject to a levy of up to 70%. That would kill off the industry overnight. It is examples such as these which make it essential that such produce from the UK has unfettered, tariff-free access to European markets in future.
No doubt to assuage the phalanx of extreme Brexiters whom she has in her Cabinet, Mrs May is rejecting our current customs union. She would rather that we faced the massive uncertainties of the World Trade Organization agreement than even consider leaving the EU on terms similar to those enjoyed by Norway. Earlier this month, some of us were fortunate enough to hear the president of the CBI spell out in no uncertain terms that his members need such an agreement and that the Government must clarify where they stand on these objectives. The amendments address these issues.
Amendment 6 would require the Secretary of State to lay before Parliament a report outlining the Government’s assessment of the effect on the UK economy of our withdrawal from the single market and the customs union. Bits and pieces of the Government’s assessment have been dribbling out into the public domain, but we need a comprehensive report, sector by sector, region by region and year on year. This surely must have been undertaken by the Government. They could not possibly be taking such a massive step that potentially dislocates our trade with our biggest trading partner without first having undertaken such a comprehensive analysis. Could they?
Amendment 7 would require it to be written on the face of the Bill that the Government come clean about the UK having a negotiating objective of securing a withdrawal agreement which maintains the same trading rights and access with the EU for UK businesses as are provided by the UK’s membership of the European Union.
The Committee may be aware that, a year ago, the Welsh Government published a White Paper with cross-party support that acknowledged the significance to Wales of our EU trade and called for single market participation. On Monday this week, a report was drawn up by the Welsh Government’s energy, planning and rural affairs sub-working group. Its findings are staggering. Food prices are set to rise, especially for people on low incomes. The UK would operate under World Trade Organization rules that could be hugely disruptive for Welsh meat and fish producers. Land sector tariffs of anything over 20% could cause market collapse. WTO rules would cause considerable disruption for beef exports, and Welsh fishing would collapse, with devastating implications for shellfish production. The report concluded that evidence is piling up in favour of a Brexit deal which strays as little as possible from the status quo and that access to the EU single market would result in the least change for farms and within supply chains. Leaving the single market and the customs union would wipe £5 billion off the Welsh
economy, and families, businesses and famers will pay the price with tumbling wages and a soaring cost of living.
If the Welsh Government can generate such a report, why on earth cannot the UK Government—or have they in fact produced such a report and realise that to publish it would be devastating? The leaked UK Brexit analysis published by BuzzFeed shows that, under the three most plausible Brexit scenarios based on existing EU arrangements, there is no scenario that does not leave the UK worse off. My party, Plaid Cymru, will seek to force a vote in the Assembly next week on maintaining our membership of the single market and customs union, but of course what happens in this Chamber and next door matters in this context. The issue will not disappear.
I will not address the Irish question, because I realise that time is pressing, but we will no doubt return to that and its great significance in the context of maintaining the customs union.
I will briefly refer to the other four amendments which stand in my name in this group. First, Amendment 89, which is also sponsored by the noble Baroness, Lady Kramer, and the noble Lords, Lord Fox and Lord Dykes, aims to prevent the UK Government bringing forward regulations that would weaken, remove or replace any requirement of law which is in effect in the United Kingdom immediately before exit day which was a requirement up to the exit day of the UK’s membership of the EU single market and customs union. Essentially, this amendment would prevent the UK diverging from the frameworks which underpin our membership of the EU single market and customs union, and by inserting this safeguard we would help to ensure that businesses in the UK can continue to trade freely with our closest neighbours.
Amendment 162, which the noble Lord, Lord Hain, has also sponsored, is similar to Amendment 6 in that it would require the Chancellor of the Exchequer to lay an assessment of the impact of leaving the EU single market and customs union on the level of GDP growth before making any regulations to implement the withdrawal agreement. Crucially, these assessments would include specific assessments for Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and England.
Amendment 189, which is also sponsored by the noble Lords, Lord Hain and Lord Judd, was submitted to the House of Commons by a cross-party group, which included the Westminster leaders of the Liberal Democrats, the SNP and the Greens, as well as Plaid Cymru. That amendment demonstrates the growing willingness of parties to work together formally to withstand the worst effects of Brexit. It restricts the Ministers of the Crown from being able to make regulations implementing the withdrawal agreement unless the Secretary of State has signed an agreement with the EU that the UK will remain a full member of the EU single market and customs union—arguments I have already made.
Finally, the proposed new clause in Amendment 197, which is also supported by the noble Lords, Lord Warner and Lord Hain, would require the UK Government to commit to adopting the principle of participation in the single market and customs union. As a negotiating
objective, it would require the UK Government to secure the same rights, freedoms and access available to the UK as exist through our membership of the EU. This is the position adopted by the Welsh Government’s White Paper.
As always, these amendments tabled in Committee are probing amendments which seek to clarify the Government’s thinking on these key matters. In the event that the Government do not provide us with satisfactory answers, I shall certainly return to these matters on Report with amendments along these or similar lines which can be voted into the Bill to enable MPs to give further consideration to these vital issues—which are matters of life and death for so many companies, businesses and families in these islands. I beg to move.