EU Withdrawal

Baroness Ludford Excerpts

Wednesday 13th February 2019 Lords Chamber

[Earl Cathcart (Con)]

My Lords, I have not spoken in a Brexit debate until now because I did not think there was any point. What I might have said would have been said dozens of times before, and I do not suppose that whatever I say here today will have the slightest effect on the outcome. However, on this occasion, I wish to ask my noble friend the Minister a question.

Before I start, I should say that I voted to leave in the referendum. Indeed, I voted to leave in 1975 as well. Before we joined the Common Market, Britain had 100% control over its destiny and its laws, rules and regulations. The reason I voted to leave in 1975 was that I thought there would be a loss of sovereignty and, like the vast majority of Brexiteers, the reason I voted to leave in 2016 was to regain that sovereignty. I know that remainers cannot understand why Brexiteers voted to leave, just as Brexiteers cannot understand why remainers voted to stay, but we are where we are. What we need to do now is find a way through this quagmire that is in the best interests of the United Kingdom.

We are told that if we do not vote for Theresa May’s deal, there is a danger of us crashing out with no deal—falling off the cliff edge, which we have heard again today. I am not sure that we need to fall off a cliff edge if there is no deal, because under Article XXIV of the World Trade Organization’s General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the United Kingdom and Europe would be allowed to continue with the zero-tariff, zero-quota trading arrangements after 29 March. As the EU enjoys a £95 billion surplus with the UK, I cannot see why it would not welcome such an arrangement.

However, there are conditions. First, both parties have to agree to this standstill arrangement covering all goods trade, but could then negotiate at a later date a more comprehensive free trade agreement covering services and so on. This might not solve everything, but it should ease some of the fears about a cliff edge. Secondly, both parties must be in negotiations for a free trade agreement. It is on this point that I can see the Minister saying why we cannot invoke Article XXVI. He might say, “We have tried to negotiate a deal. Negotiations have failed, they have broken down, and because they have, we will not be able to invoke Article XXIV; hence, we are leaving without a deal”. I disagree. Just because the first deal put on the table is unacceptable does not mean that the second one will be—if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. That is exactly the point of Article XXIV: to reduce the disruption while negotiations continue.

I understand that the Department for International Trade is investigating the possibility of invoking Article XXIV. I also understand that the Malthouse compromise envisages as plan B, in the absence of a formal withdrawal agreement, a basic interim agreement with the EU using Article XXIV. However, it is disappointing that the Department for Exiting the European Union is silent on Article XXIV. I can understand the political reasons why No. 10—

[Baroness Ludford (LD)]

I am sorry to interrupt the noble Earl, but I draw his attention to a briefing by the House of Commons Library from last week, No-deal Brexit and WTO: Article 24 Explained. Briefly, it makes it clear that if you have no deal, you cannot invoke Article XXIV. It is about interim application with a view to a full trade agreement. If you crash out with no deal, you are not negotiating a full trade agreement. Anyway, apparently no interim agreements have been registered with the WTO since 1995, because they can be objected to.

[Earl Cathcart]

I think I have just explained exactly that point. Just because the first deal is unacceptable, does not mean that the next deal will be. Negotiations will continue.

I was saying that I can understand the political reasons why No. 10 would want to keep Article XXIV under wraps, because talking about its possibility in public would reduce MPs’—and, indeed, noble Lords’—fears about no deal. This would make no deal considerably less frightening and therefore lessen the chances of the Prime Minister’s deal being passed. I ask the Minister: what discussions have the Government had with Brussels, and indeed the World Trade Organization, about the possibility of invoking Article XXIV, to ensure that we meet all the necessary conditions? Where there is a will, there is a way.

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Ludford (LD)]

My Lords, the UK is now fewer than 50 days away from the due date set by Brexiters for leaving the EU, but the Government are yet to bring forward a deal that commands a majority; nor have they proposed amendments to the withdrawal agreement that the EU can agree to. Yesterday’s Brexit Statement showed that nothing has changed. It just took us even closer to the scheduled exit day with no sign whatever of when or how the Brexit mess is going to be resolved.

The Prime Minister’s run-down-the-clock strategy is hidden in plain sight, although even before the eavesdropping on Olly Robbins it was obvious that she would have to ask for an extension to Article 50. The regret is that she lacks the honesty to acknowledge that, apparently preferring to inflict deep anxiety and pain on businesses as well as her fellow countrymen, who rely on vital medicines, need to know if they will still have a job on 30 March or want to make travel plans. For those who rely on nurses or carers who are EU citizens, the ending of free movement and the imposition of a £30,000 salary threshold is frightening. The noble Baroness, Lady Bull, mentioned this, among many other things, in her excellent speech.

Mrs May said yesterday in the Commons that she had wanted everything “sorted before Christmas”. A riposte to that used somewhat unparliamentary language, perhaps understandably, since this was a blatant piece of economy with the truth. The Prime Minister herself kicked the can down the road, axing the meaningful vote scheduled for December in order to keep her extremists happy. She continues to do so. Over almost three years, the Prime Minister has dithered, delayed, prevaricated, obscured and wasted time at every stage, not least with a completely pointless election in 2017.

One of the obfuscations being practised by the Prime Minister is over the assertion that the words “alternative arrangements” already appear in the package. They are in the withdrawal agreement in the political declaration but in a completely different context from the so-called Brady amendment. In the deal, they describe arrangements that would be reached in the future relationship to supersede the backstop such that it does not have to kick in, not as a replacement for the guarantee that the backstop represents. The way that the Prime Minister is distorting the truth of that drafting is beneath her dignity.

Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay says, “We are committed to getting a deal”. The Prime Minister had a deal before Christmas. In January, she claimed that it was the only deal in town. She confirmed yesterday in her Statement that the EU was maintaining its position that it would not reopen the withdrawal agreement. She also said four weeks ago that the EU was not prepared to agree a unilateral exit or time limit and that any attempt to make such changes to the withdrawal agreement would risk other member states raising issues about fisheries access or Gibraltar. However, she said yesterday that both these things were among her asks. Earlier, the noble Lord, Lord Callanan, said that it was reasonable to seek these changes. Can he tell us whether we are still risking other member states raising fisheries access and Gibraltar?

Houdini has nothing on Theresa May and her Government. It is clear that reopening negotiations between Messrs Barnier and Barclay is simply smoke and mirrors designed to buy the Prime Minister time. Donald Tusk tweeted just a few hours ago:

“No news is not always good news. EU27 still waiting for concrete, realistic proposals from London on how to break #Brexit impasse”.


There is so much dishonesty from the Government. As Confucius apparently said:

“When words lose their meaning, people lose their freedom”.


Thankfully, there are signs that MPs are breaking out of their cage of learned helplessness, because deliberate procrastination and keeping no deal in play have consequences in the real world. As the British Chambers of Commerce said today, and as my noble friend Lord Newby noted, it means that businesses risk,

“being left hung out to dry”.

How is that a responsible thing for a Government to do?

We are all familiar with the Brexit promise made by Trade Secretary Liam Fox that he would have 40 trade deals ready for one second after midnight on 29 March. That, of course, is the same Dr Fox who said that a free trade deal with the EU should be the “easiest in human history”. Other Brexit promises worth recalling include one from Michael Gove. In April 2016 he said:

“The day after we vote to leave, we hold all the cards and we can choose the path we want”.


John Redwood said in July 2016:

“Getting out of the EU can be quick and easy—the UK holds most of the cards”.


I am not sure how that has gone. In the same tradition, I am afraid, we now have the Prime Minister’s promise to maintain workers’ rights at an even higher level than that guaranteed in the EU. However, that was somewhat torpedoed by the noble Viscount, Lord Ridley, who castigated EU labour laws, so I do not think that there is unity on the Tory Benches in regard to workers’ rights.

What exactly is this farce now about? Apparently it is about keeping the Conservative Party together, although the long-term prospects of that look slim—in fact, the party is completely incoherent. In the meantime, how many sacrifices is the country expected to make on the altar of that elusive Tory party unity?

For the Prime Minister to play games with the welfare of British citizens is, in my opinion, morally reprehensible. As one commentator put it today, Mrs May’s new addition to her well-worn vocabulary—an injunction to “hold our nerve”—might be good advice for a nation facing some terrible external threat but it is an absurdity when applied to an entirely self-inflicted fiasco.

The things that I am holding my nerve about are an extension to Article 50 and a people’s vote, because I think that the prospects of both are rising. The Prime Minister is allowing herself many bites at the cherry but refuses to allow the voters even one single chance to reassess whether her Brexit is such a great idea. This cannot hold and must change. Agreeing to the opposition Motion tonight is one step in achieving that change.