My Lords, my noble and learned friend Lord Mackay of Clashfern made some powerful arguments on this subject in Committee. As
he said, the UK internal market is not a fixed law, like the law of the Medes and Persians. He made a great contribution, together with the noble and learned Lord, Lord Hope of Craighead, in bringing the common frameworks programme into being in 2017.
I believe that the nationalist-led Administrations in Scotland and Wales, by arguing that powers that have been held by the European Commission in maintaining common frameworks at a European level should not return to Westminster but should be returned to the devolved authorities, are acting against the economic interests of their stakeholders. They might want to increase the powers of the institutions of which they are members, but they do not give enough consideration to the damage to the UK internal market that their power grab threatens to cause.
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The return of powers from Brussels was supposed to herald a return to a simpler, clearer, rules-based regulatory system, but the transposition of EU law into UK law is proving more complicated than it should have been, with every statutory instrument having to set out in detail the differences in application between the four constituent nations.
The Government have made clear their continuing commitment to the common frameworks process, and the House should give that more recognition. In an earlier debate my noble friend Lord Naseby rightly said that this Bill is not the place—and it is certainly not the right time—to undermine the drive of the Bill, which seeks to ensure that the UK Government have the necessary powers to ensure that the internal market remains intact, which is so necessary for us to make a success of leaving the EU.
My noble friend Lady Noakes has also spoken powerfully about the need for the Government and the devolved Administrations to consider the needs of all British businesses, and indeed consumers. A majority of British businesses trade only within the UK, as do some 90% of SMEs. Let us not shoot ourselves in the foot by legislating to tie the hands of the Government in their most important task of ensuring that there are no internal market barriers to trade that would reduce choice and increase costs for all our citizens.
My noble friend Lord True has made it clear that the Government see this Bill as complementary to the common frameworks programme. He clearly stated that the devolved authorities would be able to continue to innovate and regulate in devolved policy areas, subject to the overriding need to prevent internal protectionist barriers.
My noble and learned friend Lord Mackay and my noble friend Lord Cormack are both strong supporters of the union, and I welcome the fact that the Government have made gestures to accommodate the concerns they put forward. Against that background, I agree with my noble and learned friend that we can be optimistic that the joint ministerial committee will in any case be able to agree on these matters, and I understand why he has indicated that he will not move his amendment.
I cannot support Amendments 75 and 76, which would damage our ability to prosper as an independent country in the years ahead.