My Lords, I begin by taking this opportunity to extend the condolences of these Benches—and I am sure of other noble Lords across the House—to the family of Baroness May Blood, who passed away late last week. May was the first woman from Northern Ireland to be elevated to this House, reflecting her long record of defending and advancing the rights of women, children and working people. I hope that her family will find some small comfort in the warm tributes from all communities and political parties in Northern Ireland, which must be a reflection of the peace process she did so much to advance.
In moving my amendment to the Motion, I express thanks to colleagues across your Lordships’ House for the many hours of discussions that have taken place since Second Reading. The Second Reading debate highlighted near-unanimous opinion across the House that the Bill is neither wise in a political or diplomatic sense, nor constitutionally acceptable. I know that various colleagues have said at multiple points that they feel very strongly that the Bill should not have a Committee stage, and I sympathise greatly with those who hold that view. In an ideal world, the Government would have recognised this too by accepting the strength of feeling against the Bill and paused it. Perhaps that will still happen.
3.57 pm
In the face of seemingly never-ending political turmoil in Westminster, that step would have sent a helpful signal to businesses and communities in Northern Ireland, and to our negotiating partners in the EU. It would have provided reassurance that despite the recent ministerial merry-go-rounds—we are having another one today—there is a genuine commitment to a negotiated outcome. In failing to take that step, Liz Truss demonstrated poor political judgment. Perhaps it says a lot about her that the Bill remained a priority even as she prepared to depart Downing Street for the last time. According to comments we have seen on Twitter and that were made over the weekend, the new Prime Minister is apparently personally committed to the continuation of the Bill. Lots of things get said during internal election campaigns, promises are made and positions get exaggerated, but surely any incoming Prime Minister would want to demonstrate an ability to resolve problems rather than prolong them.
We are of course mindful that the role of your Lordships’ House is to scrutinise the legislation put before us. That is the case no matter how offensive we may find the legislation, and the Bill does push the boundaries. As we move into Committee this afternoon, this House will consider the Bill in the usual way, clause by clause and line by line, and I believe this will show, yet again, just how reckless and unworkable this piece of legislation really is. I hope it will give the new Prime Minister all the evidence he needs that the Bill is not going to get through this House without serious difficulty.
The Government often cite their manifesto commitments when attempting to get Bills through Parliament, but in this case the legislation directly contradicts the 2019 manifesto: I refer noble Lords to page 7 if they want to look for themselves. Boris Johnson said he had solved the Northern Ireland Brexit questions,
that he had got Brexit done, that the public had endorsed the deal, including the protocol, and that Parliament had duly implemented it. To now try to drive a coach and horses through the lot of it, in a way that asks this House to be satisfied that we can act outside of legal processes, makes it so much harder to achieve the negotiated outcome that everybody says they want.
The idea that the Bill is delivering on a commitment from the 2019 manifesto is just absurd, and I hope that the Minister will not attempt to rely on that argument this afternoon. The Bill runs counter to the objective of achieving a good negotiated outcome. If passed, it will not resolve the problem, but will simply lead to a political stand-off, a further deterioration in trade and more uncertainty for business. Only a negotiated agreement that all sides accept can provide a durable solution.
As I and many others have said for months, a deal is achievable, but where is the focus from Ministers? Where is the leadership and grip that will be needed to sort this out? It requires hard work, cool heads, and movement from both sides. Ministers should not be here attempting to shepherd this dreadful Bill through Parliament; they should get their shoulders to the wheel, determined to find solutions. That is the only way this ends. We very much hope that the Sunak Administration will reach a deal in good faith, and that the UK and the EU can show sufficient flexibility, where that is needed, to get an agreement over the line. I think everybody in this House, however they view the Bill, will agree with that. However, if the new Prime Minister does not take those steps, or if he insists that the Bill needs to remain in play, we will have to seriously consider whether it is appropriate to proceed to Report. He is being irresponsible if he thinks he can use the fragile political situation in Northern Ireland for internal Tory political management.
I do not intend to push my amendment to a vote this afternoon, despite much encouragement from all sides of the House to do so, but I hope the Government take note of the various conditions outlined in it. I also acknowledge the amendment to my amendment tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Altmann, which is a very sensible and helpful addition. It shows the support across the House and the depth of concern about the way the Government are approaching these issues.
First, we are all familiar with the unprecedented ministerial powers proposed in the legislation. We have all read the scathing report of your Lordships’ Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee. That report was published in early July, so we hope to see the committee’s various recommendations taken seriously by the Government.
Secondly, despite the widespread disruption that unilaterally tearing up the protocol would entail for the Northern Ireland business community, the Government have not published an impact assessment, so we ask for one in our amendment. These documents ought to be a standard feature of the legislative process, enabling all sides to understand the likely real-world impact of proposals put forward by Ministers. There is clear guidance around this, as I know the Minister is aware,
and the Government must not disregard it, particularly as such an assessment would demonstrate material harm to Northern Ireland’s economy. I hope that we will see that document soon and that it will be both detailed and credible.
Thirdly, both your Lordships’ House and affected businesses deserve to see indicative regulations. It is bad enough that the Government propose tearing up the protocol unilaterally but, beyond a few vague pledges, nobody knows what future arrangements might look like or if they are feasible. The publication of indicative regulations, which occurred during the passage of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, would give Parliament and business greater clarity and could help ease concerns about the scope of the Bill’s powers, which we would welcome.
Finally, Parliament should be provided with a formal update on negotiations with the EU. We warmly welcome the resumption of talks and have been closely following ministerial briefings to the media. However, that is not an appropriate substitute for the detail and accountability offered by Statements to Parliament. I hope the Government can commit today to an Oral Statement from the Foreign Secretary in another place. There is no reason why that could not happen tomorrow. Beyond that, Ministers should provide regular updates to Parliament, whether on their meetings with EU counterparts or progress made by officials in their technical discussions.
We are not being unreasonable. The Government should already have met at least two of the four things we ask for in our amendment. Taken together, they represent the bare minimum your Lordships’ House should expect before proceeding to the amending stage of any major piece of legislation such as this. I hope the Minister will commit to meeting these asks in full a reasonable time ahead of Report. Colleagues will need sufficient time to consider the various documents; it will not be acceptable for them to arrive days or hours ahead of Report, as we have seen on other occasions.
We are trying to be helpful and reasonable, but the Government are making it very difficult for us. We are under pressure from all sides of the House to be unreasonable and attempt to block this legislation. We are resisting doing so today, but I cannot emphasise enough to Ministers just how seriously we take this. We see it as a breach of international law that should not be before this House. That is all I will say for now, but I hope the Minister can engage with this seriously and constructively, because that is the intent of the amendment to the Motion. I beg to move.
Amendment to the Amendment to the Motion