My Lords, as one who—unlike certain other colleagues—has barely missed an hour of the 156 hours of discussions on this Bill, may I say a few words before we send it back to the other place? I join others in thanking the team of Ministers for their patience and good humour, even on occasions when those could have been sorely tested. The noble Lord, Lord Duncan, the noble and learned Lord, Lord Keen, the noble Baroness, Lady Goldie, and the noble Lord, Lord Callanan, have had a heavy workload, and I am sure that they and their officials will be glad to see us pass Third Reading. I thank in particular the noble Lord, Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth, for the way in which he responded, and made himself and his team available to discuss issues of concern. In particular, with his background in the National Assembly, he could readily identify with the concerns emanating from Cardiff Bay, even if his brief did not allow him to respond as fully as many of us—and perhaps even occasionally he himself—might have wished.
I have no doubt that the Bill we now return to the other place is significantly better than the one we received. Ministers should concur with this sentiment. After all, of the almost 200 amendments that have found their way into the Bill, all but 15, and a handful of consequential amendments, have come from the
ranks of government itself. Let no one—the Daily Mail or anybody else—claim that this Chamber has delayed proceedings. We have not. The Government have their Bill bang on time, even if, at times, we had to spend 11 hours or more a day on our deliberations to make that possible. The Government clearly needed all this time: as we heard from the noble and learned Lord, Lord Mackay, a moment ago, it was only at the very last moment of Report that they were able to move the final form of amendments that they saw necessary to make Clause 11, as was, workable in the way that they desired.
7.15 pm
We heard in an earlier debate about the deadlock that has emerged with devolved Governments. I believe that this problem is inherent in the model of government that we have in the UK: a unitary state, with limited devolved powers, but without the safeguards that a federal constitution would provide. The problem will not go away, as yesterday's debates in Cardiff and Edinburgh have shown. Welsh Minister Mark Drakeford then acknowledged that the agreement is not as watertight as he would have wished. Undoubtedly these questions will arise again in another place. They will, I fear, flare up even more when these provisions are tested in practice.
Noble Lords across parties have been generous about my role in scrutinising, probing and trying to improve the Bill—and to do so constructively from a Welsh viewpoint while accepting that the Bill has, of course, a UK-wide remit. I thank them for those kindnesses. Noble Lords have also on several occasions, including tonight, expressed regret that there was no SNP presence in the Chamber. That sentiment was usually expressed for the best of motives, and I understand the thinking. But I have to say this: if they were placed in the same invidious position as I have found myself in at times during our deliberations—a one-man band trying to do a job for which a party team is needed, unable on one occasion even to respond to the calls of nature because of having a sequence of Plaid Cymru amendments under consideration, and no one in my own party with whom to share the workload—SNP colleagues might well conclude, as do I, that such a presence is unsustainable, and that our system at Westminster is not able to cope with multiparty representation in a quasi-federal state.
That is not an experience that I intend to repeat, single-handedly, on any future occasion. It is not just the SNP, Plaid, Sinn Féin, or whoever, that need to buy into the Westminster system. Westminster itself has to do more than express regret for empty seats and absent voices, and has to make the necessary and reasonable adjustments, if the genuine sentiments expressed during our debates are to be more than hollow words. I shall say no more, but I hope that those in authority will heed that message.
In passing 15 amendments against the Government’s wishes we have given elected MPs an opportunity to think again on the matters in question—particularly those relating to a customs union and the single market, to the Irish border, to a flexible departure date and, at the end of negotiations, to a meaningful vote, whether by Parliament or by the people. Much water has gone
down the Thames since MPs considered the Bill last year. Our proposed changes will give them a hook on which they can attach further amendments of their own, if they cannot accept our precise wording. They also give the Government an opportunity to pause and consider whether the model of Brexit they concocted last year is, in fact, fit for purpose.
For what has emerged beyond doubt from our debates is that there can be more than one model for Brexit, that each one has its positives and its downsides, and that no one model answers all the attendant problems in one fell swoop. For Brexit to work—for young and old; for working people and for employers; for manufacturing, service industries and agriculture; for exporters and importers; for our universities and our tourist operators; for our public services and for those with special needs—and not only for England but for Wales, Scotland and, particularly, for Ireland—it cannot be a simplistic one-dimensional model. There will have to be give and take on all sides, and only a complex balanced package can meet those reasonable needs and aspirations.
Our work, for now, is done. We pass this amended Bill over to elected parliamentarians. We can only hope and pray that they will have the courage of their convictions and—yes—improve it further, and, by so doing, make it reasonably acceptable to all the diverse interests, values and viewpoints across these islands.
To those who see it as a quite simple matter to cut ourselves off from all the European institutions which we—yes, we, many here in this Chamber tonight—have helped build, to forget all that and exit into a setting sun over a distant horizon and whatever cliff edge lies beyond, let me say this: you exit if you want. But a majority of us in this Chamber, I suspect, will do everything within our power to keep the European dream alive, albeit in a new, more limited context; a dream of a continent working in peace and harmony, and a dream worthy of being transmitted to our grandchildren. To quote an absent friend, it is a dream that will never fade.