My Lords, I will also speak to Amendment 5, in my name and that of the noble Baroness, Lady Ritchie of Downpatrick, as well as to Amendments 68 and 69.
These amendments aim to require the approval of the Northern Ireland Assembly before the measures contained in the Bill can be used to limit the general implementation of the Northern Ireland protocol. Clearly, we are debating these amendments against the backdrop of the 28 October deadline having been missed and the continued absence of the Northern Ireland Assembly, as well as the continued stalemate, with the DUP refusing to allow the Assembly to function since the elections in May of this year.
It is very hard not to feel deeply frustrated and indeed angry on behalf of the people of Northern Ireland. The lack of an Assembly and functioning Northern Ireland Executive has meant for ordinary people across Northern Ireland a deteriorating healthcare system, a lack of strategic economic planning, and little or no progress on legacy matters or on issues such as developing an integrated education system. The stop-start nature of devolution over the last 25 years in Northern Ireland has meant that we have seen only fleeting periods of stable government there, and the Government’s attempts to overcome their own internal divisions since 2016 have been at the expense of the people of Northern Ireland.
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These amendments are therefore primarily probing in nature and aim to set out important matters of principle. As a strong believer in the principle of devolution, I think it is quite wrong that the Government are proceeding with this Bill in the absence of proper consultation and consent from the majority in the Northern Ireland Assembly. In paragraph 24 of the Explanatory Notes, the Government state their intention
“to seek consent from the Northern Ireland Assembly as soon as possible.”
In its recent report on this Bill, the Constitution Committee of your Lordships’ House stated:
“The need for consent from the devolved legislatures is important given the delicate nature of the Northern Ireland Protocol, particularly in light of the current political situation in Northern Ireland. We are concerned that enacting the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill without legislative consent will exacerbate tensions and ill will within the Union.”
The Minister will be aware that, in June, 52 of the 90 MLAs in the Northern Ireland Assembly signed a letter to the then Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, stating their clear opposition to this Bill. They said:
“We reject in the strongest possible terms your Government’s reckless new Protocol legislation, which flies in the face of the expressed wishes of not just most businesses, but most people in Northern Ireland.”
Ultimately, we know that the decision to press ahead with this Bill is a political choice made by this Government to rectify their decision to sign up to the Northern Ireland protocol in the first place. It is true that, in their haste to get Brexit done, the Government did not give enough consideration to the sensitivities of the unionist community, in particular the DUP. Let us be clear: the protocol was no one’s first choice but, again, the Government put the interests of the Conservative Party ahead of those of the people of Northern Ireland. However, in realising their error and pressing ahead with this Bill, the Government have now vastly overcompensated and appear not to be listening to either the business community or the majority view in Northern Ireland.
Under normal circumstances—not something we have seen very much of recently—the impact of these amendments would be to strengthen the authority of the Northern Ireland Assembly. They would mean that changes to the protocol could happen only if they had the agreement of the democratically elected MLAs. One could even hope, perhaps in vain, that this would prove an incentive to the DUP. The current stalemate is utterly unacceptable and can be resolved only through genuine negotiations in Brussels and proper consultation with all political parties in Northern Ireland.
In concluding, I ask the Minister to set out what constructive engagement will now take place on this Bill with those who do not want to see it implemented; they are the majority in Northern Ireland. In the continued absence of the Northern Ireland Assembly, how will the Government keep the political parties in Northern Ireland informed of the progress, or otherwise, of the negotiations? I beg to move.