Northern Ireland After Brexit (Northern Ireland Scrutiny Committee Report)

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

Wednesday 25th March 2026 Grand Committee

[Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)]

My Lords, I am pleased to follow the noble Lord, Lord Rogan, although I cannot say that I agree with what he says. I declare my interest as a member of the Government’s Veterinary Medicine Working Group. I thank our chairperson, the noble Lord, Lord Carlile, and our staff for their direction and guidance in preparation, arranging witnesses and arranging inquiry sessions over that seven-month to eight-month period. It was a very interesting process. I come to this as somebody who supports the Windsor Framework, but I freely acknowledge and recognise that many businesses in Northern Ireland and Britain are encountering difficulties that need to be resolved.

I thank my noble friend Lord Murphy for his detailed report. He was circumscribed by certain conditions set down by the Government, on the basis that he had to find points of agreement within his report. The good thing was that what he brought forward was implemented by the Government, but now we want to see it happen and not just be words on paper. We want to see action and help for businesses.

I come to all this as somebody who supports the Windsor Framework. I want to see businesses being able to avail themselves of the dual market access, which means the Government, the Northern Ireland Executive, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the EU utilising and promoting the benefits of dual market access. There is a role there for the community and businesses in doing that.

I believe that there is an opportunity to leverage market opportunities by promoting the unique benefits of dual market access to attract foreign direct investment. There are significant economic benefits to be realised in raising awareness among businesses in Ireland, Northern Ireland and Britain of the competitive advantages offered by the access that they can have to both the UK internal market and EU single market. I do not regard this in any sense from a negative point of view; I think businesses want to get on with the job that they are involved in—business—and do not want to get involved in the politics. We have to be mindful of that. It is important that we, through our political machinations, do not undermine or deny their business opportunities.

Only last week, I was at the EU-UK Parliamentary Partnership Assembly in Brussels, where there was a reaffirmation of the commitments to the full implementation of the withdrawal agreement, including the Windsor Framework and the TCA, because they believe that they remain the foundation for the continued strengthening of relations between the UK and the EU. Of course, as my noble friend Lord Hain said, all this is a result of Brexit. Those who argued for Brexit must remember that this is what we have ended up with. If we had not had Brexit, we definitely would not be having today’s debate.

We must not forget that businesses urgently want a resolution to those bureaucratic challenges and trade frictions between Britain and Northern Ireland, including those taxation matters—some things are very complex—and they do not want to get involved in that political point scoring. With the support of government, they just want to grow the economy through building and expanding their enterprises, recruiting more people and helping the employment situation.

Notwithstanding this, the US tariff situation and the wars in Ukraine and Iran impact all this in terms of the difficulties that our agri-food industry will meet, because the vast majority of fertilisers that are used in the farming industry in Northern Ireland come through the Strait of Hormuz.

As identified through our subsequent evidence sessions after our report was published—we took evidence in the last few weeks—progress has been made through the £16.6 million allocation in the Autumn Budget for the implementation of many of the recommendations in our report and the report by the noble Lord, Lord Murphy, improvements to the Trader Support Service and the establishment of the Northern Ireland business support group, which should include membership for InterTradeIreland. It should be involved, as it has people with certain levels of expertise and already has a hub and one-stop shop, so things could be co-designed there. If it could be availed of in these early stages, that would be of benefit.

On the democratic deficit, I agree with my noble friend Lord Hain that Assembly Members and Northern Ireland Ministers need to be directly involved, because they are at the coalface and they know exactly what those issues are and what the best forms of solution are. So far, they have not been. They need to be seen, heard and part of the decision-making process.

We need a database or register of ongoing EU legislation established in the Cabinet Office to assist businesses and others. I ask my noble friend the Minister when this will happen and what work has been done to assess the impact of regulatory divergence. This issue was raised in our committee and in our previous committee. I am very pleased to see that the noble Lord, Lord Jay, who chaired that committee, is present. We put that point, and we need to see this, because I believe in dynamic alignment.

As the noble Baroness, Lady Foster, already referred to, the Road Haulage Association, which gave evidence to us, has three particular issues that need resolution: the complexity concerning community code classification; the £2 million turnover threshold for the UK internal market scheme, which restricts access to the green lane and introduces delays for many operators; and the implementation of Import Control System 2, which will add further administrative requirements. Therefore, I ask my noble friend the Minister what further useful work the Government will undertake to resolve these issues. What further discussions will take place with the RHA to resolve or mitigate the impact of those trade frictions?

As already referred to, InterTradeIreland’s specialist knowledge of Northern Ireland and the Ireland economies is fully recognised. It was born out of the Good Friday agreement, of which my noble friend Lord Murphy was one of the principal architects, and it deals with north-south trade. There needs to be movement between north-south and east-west, and all that knowledge needs to be garnered and utilised so that things can be resolved. It deals with customs issues, including commodity codes, customs duty waivers and the correct use of UKIMS declarations, including the “at risk” distinction.

I also urge that the one-stop shop is implemented with clear timelines as quickly as possible. I know that the start of the next financial year is just over a week away, but we need to see it implemented. On staff, is the work going to be contracted out or will Cabinet Office staff do it?

The other issue is the UK-EU reset. We need to see the successful conclusion of these negotiations, with full sight of the implementation of the legislation in the new parliamentary Session.

I should like to see a route back to full membership of the EU. I realise and acknowledge that others have a different viewpoint, but I want to see the implementation of the SPS agreement and that is what our Ulster Farmers’ Union wants as well. There are other issues, such as the legislation that needs to be implemented that will mandate that vehicles placed on the market in Britain must hold GB and EU type approvals and markings to enable their sale in both Britain and Northern Ireland. I was a victim of that in the last few years, and we received evidence on it whenever we visited Newry. When will that legislation be published? Will it be in the King’s Speech or will it be through secondary legislation? What is the expected date of implementation?

With veterinary medicines, much progress has been made but we need to look around the issue of optimal medicines and the costs thereof, and to ensure that there are no impacts on our agri-food industry. So I ask my noble friend the Minister to talk to her colleagues in Defra and DAERA to ensure that any paperwork issues are resolved as quickly as possible, and that farmers and veterinarians can use the correct veterinary medicines that bring benefit to the animals, the agri-food industry and food security. Of equal importance is a need for the authorities with responsibility for the EU deforestation regulations and CBAM to be identified and affirmed. Again, I ask the Minister to identify those authorities.

Finally, all of us want to copper-fasten and underpin the Northern Ireland economy. We want promotion of our assets and selling points. We want food security, less trade friction and less regulatory divergence. We want that centre of our regulatory divergence and to see that EU register updated, so that we know what we are talking about. For my part, I prefer dynamic alignment, which I hope would be achieved through the UK-EU reset. In the meantime, we want to promote Northern Ireland and its business, and do so in a positive and effective manner for the benefit of all the community, for job creation and to further solidify our local economic base.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent) (Lab)]

My Lords, there are many parts of the Windsor Framework, and every time I have a conversation or a briefing about it, there is always something new, and a new part of that world. However, puffins was not where I believed today’s debate was going to go. I hate to disappoint the noble Lord, Lord Empey, but I have been in post for three weeks and the power part may still yet be lacking—but I will see what I can do for him, because I would never seek to disappoint.

We have had a truly substantive and insightful debate this afternoon. I begin by thanking my friend, the noble Lord, Lord Carlile, for securing this debate and for his stewardship of the Northern Ireland Scrutiny Committee. I also take this opportunity to wish my noble friend Lady Ritchie a very happy birthday.

The report we are considering today is very important, not just because of the detailed work clearly undertaken but because the engagement of businesses and civic society with Northern Ireland’s trading arrangements is important at both a constitutional and economic level. Similar themes were also developed by the very thoughtful review of the Windsor Framework conducted by my noble friend Lord Murphy of Torfaen, and I am grateful to hear his further reflections today. There is something so special and addictive about Northern Ireland that means that those of us exposed to it become completely addicted and can never walk away from it. I think that is reflected by the fact that we have two former Secretaries of State participating today.

I have listened with great care to the contributions made from all sides of the House and I want to thank the noble Lords, Lord Dodds and Lord Caine, for reminding us of the stakes at play in Northern Ireland, both economic and cultural. Although noble Lords have different views across the diverse range of issues discussed today, a common thread has been our collective pledge to Northern Ireland’s prosperity, security and economic success, and a shared agreement that businesses, civic society, organisations and public authorities alike should have their voice heard in the very trading arrangements that necessarily underpin that success. Many specific points were raised today, and I will reflect on Hansard to see if I have missed any, but I shall endeavour to answer all the points raised.

I think it will be helpful if we place today’s discussion in context. I should first like to set out the Government’s ongoing commitment to the Windsor Framework and protecting the UK internal market—I assure the noble Lord, Lord Caine, that my speech has not been doctored—while appreciating that there can always be room for improvement. As we have heard today, not least from the noble Lord, those commitments were set out in our manifesto, and we consider them vitally important. They guide our reset with the EU, and they are our guiding approach to securing a vital new agreement with the EU that will smooth trade flows of agri-food goods. Those twin commitments are also important as they reflect the importance of trading arrangements that respect Northern Ireland’s place in the union, avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland, and which work on an agreed basis with the EU.

It is only through this approach that we can give certainty to businesses and consumers in Northern Ireland on the rules that apply, as they trade uniquely across two markets. That is why it contains important mechanisms to enable participation and facilitate that voice; the ability of the Northern Ireland Assembly to scrutinise EU rules; structures for businesses and civic society to engage with the UK and EU on the framework’s implementation; arrangements for the Government and Northern Ireland Executive to work together and ensure that Northern Ireland’s voice is heard; and a periodic vote in the Northern Ireland Assembly on continuing these arrangements. The first such vote, as we heard, triggered a review of the framework that was carefully and thoughtfully conducted by my noble friend Lord Murphy with a wide range of stakeholders. The Government are now taking action on all the recommendations set out in that review.

That brings me to the real topic of today’s debate: the one-stop shop. Noble Lords are very aware, it seems, of the announced £16.6 million for an enhanced one-stop shop regulatory support service, designed to navigate the knowledge gap facing small and medium-sized enterprises. This will be operational in the next financial year, which I gently remind noble Lords begins next week. We are working to make sure that this can work. I assure your Lordships’ Committee that the one-stop shop will support GB businesses as much as it will support businesses operating in Northern Ireland. I will come on to some of the other points that were raised in relation to that shortly.

Progress has also been made on veterinary medicine—something I will again touch on, in terms of the detail raised today. The UK Government worked extensively with industry in the run-up to the end of the grace period. I am pleased to say that the transition has been without significant disruption—I am not saying there has not been any—and there have been no significant supply issues or other impacts, although we continue to monitor this closely.

It would be remiss of me not to mention that the Government have also allocated £2.25 million in funding to InterTrade UK over the next three years, led by the noble Baroness, Lady Foster—funding that will allow it to continue its vital work in advising on and promoting trade within the UK. I am sure that the work of InterTrade will assist in continuing to boost the economy of Northern Ireland, as outlined by my noble friend Lady Goudie. I remind noble Lords that Northern Ireland is the fastest-growing part of the United Kingdom. I place on record my personal thanks to the noble Baroness, Lady Foster, for her work at InterTrade UK.

My noble friend Lady Ritchie raised an important point about the role of InterTrade UK and the one-stop shop. I hope and would expect that the one-stop shop will work with InterTrade UK and other stakeholders to support trade and that this will be something that works together.

[Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend for addressing that issue, but what about InterTradeIreland, which already has a hub and could provide some beneficial information?

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

Given the nature of InterTradeIreland, that is a matter for InterTradeIreland and is not something I can comment on from the Dispatch Box.

With regard to the specifics of the report, in short, a lot has been done, but there remains more to do, as this report by the committee highlights. Indeed, the Government’s response to the committee’s report following the independent review shows as much. This leads me to our next steps. We are ensuring that the stakeholder engagement landscape captures a broad spectrum of businesses in a new Northern Ireland business stakeholder group—just to add to the wonderful flowchart that we saw earlier today. We are also looking at how the Government and devolved departments can conduct engagement and capture the views of industry, so that this is joined-up and gets the right outcomes earlier on.

The Northern Ireland Executive participate in all structures under the Windsor Framework, yet we acknowledge that there is more to be done between the Government and the Executive to ensure that public authorities link up and address issues with changes to regulatory proposals earlier in the process. We are therefore implementing new processes to address that and facilitate better engagement at all levels, beyond the Cabinet Office executive office working group.

Barnett Formula: Wales

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

Wednesday 12th November 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wilson of Sedgefield (Lab)]

The noble Baroness raises a very important issue, and I hope it is something that the ministerial meeting at the beginning of next year will look at. I like to think that all aspects of the Barnett formula, including the issues that the noble Baroness has raised, will be looked at in the round, because obviously we want to see efficiency in all our public departments.

[Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)]

My Lords, Professor Holtham’s independent review, published in June this year, suggested that Northern Ireland’s needs-based factor might be higher than the 124% used in the current formula. We are all aware that the Barnett formula for the three nations and regions is deeply unfair. Therefore, will my noble friend, in talking with the Chancellor and Treasury colleagues, give adequate reflection to the need for a total review of the Barnett formula to reflect the need for needs-based assessment and also for fairness and equity?

[Lord Wilson of Sedgefield (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend for that question. I repeat that this is the largest spending review settlement received by the Northern Ireland Executive in real terms since devolution started in 1998. The Northern Ireland Executive are receiving at least 24% more per person than equivalent UK government spending in the rest of the UK, an average of £19.3 billion per year between 2026-27 and 2028-29.

Windsor Framework (Retail Movement Scheme: Plant and Animal Health) (Amendment etc.) Regulations 2024

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd October 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Lawlor (Con)]

My Lords, it is hardly surprising that the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee highlighted this instrument as likely to be of interest to the House on the grounds that it is

“politically or legally important and gives rise to issues of public policy”.

To that, I would add that it is constitutionally important.

I am therefore grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Hoey, for proposing this Motion to annul the regulations. Under them, the UK Government will impose EU import laws on certain packed agri-goods entering this country from the rest of the world such as basil, cut flowers, fruit, and certain chicken products from Thailand and China. Not only, therefore, is Northern Ireland to be subject to the EU’s economic and trade laws, or even the lighter-touch version we are told is the aim of the Windsor Framework for goods going there from GB, but so too is the whole of the UK to be under certain EU laws.

The Government say that they want to promote the integrity of the UK’s internal market. That is something they also claim to desire in the new Product Regulation and Metrology Bill. I suggest that one way to do that is to extend the UK’s post-Brexit trade freedoms to Northern Ireland and continue the serious negotiations for revising the 2019 agreement, which combined sticks with carrots. However, the Government intend to do so by imposing EU laws on the rest of the UK by statutory instrument and instead of the UK’s own statutory regime. That sounds to me to be mighty like the Chequers agreement, which was rejected the by House of Commons three times, but piecemeal and by the back door of statutory legislation. Can the Minister reassure me that this is not the case?

The Windsor Framework, which was at least put to a parliamentary vote, is, like most episodes in the complicated history of my native country, Ireland, testimony to the way difficult problems become intractable, and complexities become overwhelming as a result of political interests which want not to resolve them but to the exploit difficulty for political gain. We heard about some of those interests tonight. The Windsor Framework was announced by the then Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak. It was said to ameliorate the obstacle-ridden movement of goods from one part of the UK to another —Northern Ireland. There was much fanfare, many photocalls with the EU commissioner, warm words and a hotchpotch of operational changes to another flawed settlement imposed by the EU on this country: the Northern Ireland protocol.

However, the protocol was not supposed to be permanent. In parts, it made it clear that both parties accepted the Belfast/Good Friday agreement and the integrity of the UK’s internal market. Each party was also bound to best endeavours legally to resolve what was acknowledged to be a temporary arrangement and designed—I fear—to meet the EU’s desire to keep Northern Ireland as a fief subject to EU economic law. By retaining under its laws part of the sovereign UK, the EU violated the Good Friday agreement, whereby constitutional change must be by the consent of the people, and the promise in the 2019 settlement to respect and accept the integrity of the internal market. This instrument under the Windsor Framework therefore has a flawed pedigree.

I did not vote for the Windsor Framework. I did not and do not support the imposition of EU laws on one part of the UK in violation of this country’s sovereignty without a policy of such importance being a matter of primary legislation. It should not be smuggled in the back door to undo the gains of Brexit for most of this country in order somehow to right the wrongs under which Northern Ireland continues to suffer.

[Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)]

My Lords, I refer to my registered interest as a member of your Lordships’ Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee and of the Government’s veterinary medicines working group.

It will come as no surprise to anybody in your Lordships’ House that I support the Windsor Framework, as I supported the Northern Ireland protocol. Therefore, I do not support the Motion before us to annul this statutory instrument.

I believe that the Windsor Framework was the best means of dealing with the challenges presented by Brexit for trade and goods on the island of Ireland. Before Brexit, goods moved freely across the island, helping to sustain and underpin our economies in Ireland north and south. To take the example of the dairy industry, milk is supplied from farmers in Northern Ireland. It is processed in factories in the Republic of Ireland, and it comes back, either as butter, whey or cheese, and is sold in the north—and vice versa. We have to give that due recognition. This dual nature and, I suppose, the fact of the all-Ireland nature of part of our economy were recognised in the Good Friday agreement, through the three-stranded relationship and the establishment of the political institutions: the Assembly, the Executive, the North/South Ministerial Council, with north-south implementation bodies, of which one was InterTradeIreland, and the British-Irish Council.

Prior to and since the vote on the Brexit referendum, my colleagues in the SDLP and I have always insisted that there was a need for a special status for Northern Ireland due to the unique trading and other relationships on the island. That has not diminished and manifests itself in the Windsor Framework, which exists to manage those challenging trading relationships. Therefore, we enjoy dual access to the UK internal market and to the EU customs union.

Where there are imperfections with some areas of trade, as has been demonstrated by some of the Windsor Framework instruments, they need resolution, not annulment, through dialogue and negotiation between the UK and the EU, as is happening with veterinary medicines—that work is ongoing—otherwise our agri-food industry could be undermined.

Having listened to the noble Baroness, Lady Hoey, the mover of this Motion, and the noble Lord, Lord McCrea, I note the desire to challenge every piece of secondary legislation on the Windsor Framework as an attack on the constitutional integrity of the United Kingdom. I think this is a little bit disingenuous, because notwithstanding the Windsor Framework and my own political position, Northern Ireland remains within the UK.

This was the view of those people—many who sit on the opposite Benches as well as my colleagues from other parties in Northern Ireland—who argued for the hardest possible Brexit. I say to them: sometimes you get what you argued for. Put simply, it would have been better for us to remain within the EU. I am pleased that my colleagues on the Front Bench in the new Labour Government are working with the EU—via the Prime Minister and other senior Ministers, such as the Paymaster-General—on a reset of relationships, notwithstanding the realities of the situation. I hope that leads to a resolution of all the outstanding difficulties and to less tension and brinkmanship. Through less tension and through negotiation, you can build your economy and good relationships based on collaboration and co-operation.

Yesterday there was a meeting of the Specialised Committee on the Implementation of the Windsor Framework, covered by a joint statement. The joint chairs welcomed the operation of tariff rate quotas for certain agricultural products, and they discussed the intensive work under way in the areas of agri-food, customs, medicines and trade. They noted the importance of

“continued constructive joint working to support those efforts and monitor progress”.

We should all support the Government and the EU in that important work to achieve the full and faithful implementation of the Windsor Framework, and to ensure that wrinkles and challenges are overcome and resolved for hauliers, businesses and the logistics industry. I believe that serves the best interests of all in our communities in Northern Ireland, ensuring that the best possible outcomes are achieved for our economy, society and communities.

The purpose of this instrument on the retail movement scheme for plants is to expand the list of agri-food goods imported for retail into GB from the rest of the world that can move to Northern Ireland under the Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme, an issue referred to by the noble Baroness, Lady Hoey. This is all achieved by making changes to the entry requirements for importing these goods into GB so that they can align with the EU-derived entry requirements for importing such goods into Northern Ireland. As a member of the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee, I note that we recognised—remember that our job is purely process driven—that this piece of legislation was likely to be of political interest. That is probably why we are debating it tonight.

It is important to emphasise that the changes made by this instrument will ease the movement of certain goods from GB to Northern Ireland via the Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme. In fact, Defra emphasises that the changes made by the instrument were sought by business. Those who argue vociferously against this and other statutory instruments do so, they say, on the lack of proper consultation on constitutional imperatives. Can the Minister, my noble friend Lady Hayman, advise us of the type and nature of the consultation that has already taken place with businesses?

It is important to emphasise that businesses want to see a resolution to all the challenges presented by Brexit and the bureaucracy. They have said to me that they welcome any agreement when faced with the catastrophic alternative of a no-deal Brexit. That is why businesses have been fully co-operative in all these areas of the Windsor Framework. Business and trade in Northern Ireland welcomed an agreement that provided continued access to the all-Ireland market, which many businesses in Northern Ireland relied on. Furthermore, business welcomes a unique solution for a unique place, with trade, social, family and emotive ties with both Britain and Ireland. But it also wants any resolution of the wrinkles in the bureaucracy.

Product Regulation and Metrology Bill [HL]

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

2nd reading
Tuesday 8th October 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Frost (Con)]

I will come on to that. I am trying to get clarity about the purpose of this Bill and why it needs to go further than the powers we already have.

My third question is: can the Minister explain the purpose of the separate provision in Clause 1(2) and the situation it is designed to deal with? I will table amendments to this and other clauses.

Why are any of these provisions necessary beyond simple administrative convenience? The answer is that this Bill is entirely in tune with the lack of clarity that so often surrounded the detail of our relationship with the EU. It is simply the beginning of a path on which, without voters noticing—this is my point: we need clarity—we slip back, closer to single market-like trade arrangements.

Obviously, it is already true that, if a British company wants to export to the EU, its products must comply with EU law. What these provisions would do over time is require producers covered by them to produce in the UK, for the UK, to those EU standards, and make those EU standards the only legal standards on the British market, even when they are not good standards, or are complex or costly. This set-up is a core element of the way the single market works.

Simply mirroring those EU laws does not itself improve trade with the EU. There will still be customs and regulatory paperwork in those circumstances. The only way of eliminating that is to satisfy the EU authorities that our laws are in fact the same as theirs, and I suggest that they are very unlikely to be satisfied without the usual panoply of Commission and court enforcement—subordination once again to the EU authorities. After all, what other way is there for the EU to decide whether our laws genuinely mirror its laws, or to settle any disputes arising?

My further question to the Minister is this. Can he explain how he sees these clauses working in practice? What actual trade frictions does he see being removed as a result of using them? Will he give a commitment that, in conformity with Labour’s policy not to rejoin the single market, the Government will not agree to subordination to EU law or EU-style enforcement?

The Bill also constitutes another step—and this is rather unfortunate—in using the Northern Ireland arrangements to keep this whole country in line with EU rules in certain areas, as we had always feared. Once the previous Government had given up trying to dismantle or override the Northern Ireland protocol and instead agreed to support and enshrine it as the Windsor Framework, something like this Bill became extremely probable. The previous Government were at least discreet in discouraging officials from proposing reforms to goods standards for fear of complicating the Windsor Framework arrangements. The new Government are quite open about it. Their own briefing prepared for the King’s Speech says:

“EU changes to product regulation only apply in Northern Ireland, resulting in divergence within the UK internal market as EU laws are updated. This Bill gives the Government specific powers to make changes to GB legislation to manage divergence and take a UK-wide approach”.


The aim is absolutely explicit. So as we always feared, the Windsor Framework is being used as a tool to inhibit reform and change within GB—not that I think this Government plan to do much of that anyway—and to keep this country in the tractor beam pull of EU laws and rules without having any say in them. Does the Minister agree with his own briefing?

[Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)]

Would the noble Lord, Lord Frost, not accept that the Windsor Framework was a necessary instrument to ensure that trade could flow easily on the island of Ireland and to prevent a border being recreated there that would have been an encumbrance to trade, society, the economy and business development?

[Lord Frost (Con)]

The noble Baroness is probably familiar with my view on the subject: I do not agree with that. I think that it would have been much preferable to proceed with the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill that was then proceeded with in 2022, but that is really not to the point now. We have the situation that we have, and the effect of the Windsor Framework, whatever view one takes of it, is to create a massive incentive to push for GB rules to be kept in sync with those of the EU and in Northern Ireland. That is one of the effects that I think this Bill will create.

To finish up, I have a couple of technical questions. The internal market Act has already been raised.

Horseracing and Bloodstock Industries

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

Monday 29th July 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

Shall I just say yes? My understanding was that there were arrangements in place to facilitate the movement of racehorses around Europe. I will double check the facts on that and write to the noble Lord.

[Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)]

My Lords, considering the issues that have been raised today, would my noble friend—whom I welcome to the Front Bench—consider meeting her ministerial equivalent in the Irish Government? Would she also encourage the British Horseracing Authority and the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board—which is all-Ireland—to meet to discuss the various industries? In my own area, we have a racecourse, and it is vital to the local economy and the tourism industry.

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

I would be delighted to meet my equivalent in the Irish Government, and I thank the noble Baroness for her question.

Devolved Authorities: Expenditure outwith Competences

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

Monday 5th February 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)]

My Lords, now that devolution has been restored to Northern Ireland and there have been considerable discussions around funding issues—I acknowledge the funding that has already been promised by the Prime Minister—will the Minister indicate what further discussions are taking place about a new funding model for the Northern Ireland Executive to underpin the need for improved infrastructure to deal with health waiting lists and education priorities?

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con)]

I think it is right for me to say that we welcome the return of the Executive and of devolved government in Northern Ireland. Indeed, I think the Prime Minister is attending Stormont today. A substantial budget has been made available as part of that settlement, and I look forward to hearing the outcomes of that, both from the new Executive and of course from our Northern Ireland Ministers.

UK-EU Relationship (European Affairs Committee Report)

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

Wednesday 20th September 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)]

My Lords, it is a pleasure to participate in the debate this evening. I commend the noble Earl, Lord Kinnoull, and the European Affairs Committee for this very fine report— I agree with its recommendations. I declare an interest as a member of the sister committee on the protocol and Windsor Framework.

I agree with the committee that our relationship with the European Union was characterised by tension and distrust, which is slowly evaporating as a result of the good work on the Windsor Framework and now that we are back in Horizon Europe. I know that, in a Northern Ireland context—the noble Earl, Lord Kinnoull, already referred to this—students can avail themselves of the Erasmus+ programme, and that should be available to all students within the UK.

It is important, like the committee has said, that there are much greater levels of collaboration between the UK and EU in the fields of foreign policy; defence and security, particularly in the whole area of Ukraine; protecting democratic institutions and democracy; energy security; climate change—we can only think of today’s announcement, which tries to dilute commitments relating to fighting against and mitigating climate change—and, very importantly, the mobility of people. I think of those in the dramatic arts and music industry who benefit from greater levels of mobility. So those issues are important.

I also concentrate on the area of commercial economics and the need for greater levels of trade between the UK and the EU; I refer in particular to the Border Target Operating Model. I know that many logistics groups have already met with the Minister, but there are certain areas where they feel they still need certain answers. The Government need to urgently share the technical details and guidance that businesses need to prepare. The new barriers could impact the cost and choice of products for UK consumers and risk distorting trade. This means rising prices as well as shortages of fresh food, as the UK is reliant on the EU for these goods, particularly via the short straits between northern France and Kent and during the winter. Small and medium-sized enterprises specialising in grouping multiple shipments in a single load—known as groupage—will be hit particularly hard. It is therefore important that work takes place between the UK and EU to break down trade barriers and to build relationships and collaboration, so as to ensure that trade is made much easier and that there are reduced costs for hauliers and consumers.

I therefore have three questions for the Minister. I know that this has already been referred to—by the noble Lord, Lord Tugendhat, I think—but when will an SPS agreement between the UK and EU come to fruition? What assessment has been made of the readiness of EU exporters and rest-of-world exporters for importing goods into the UK under the implementation of the Border Target Operating Model? And what assessment has been made of the readiness of EU vets for undertaking processes related to importing goods into the UK under the Border Target Operating Model? In asking the Minister for answers, I am emphasising the importance of greater levels of collaboration in commercial trade policy and in the areas already defined by this very fine report from the European Affairs Committee.

Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland: Follow-up Report (European Affairs Committee)

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

Monday 11th September 2023 Grand Committee

[Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)]

My Lords, I record my thanks and grateful appreciation to our chair, the noble Lord, Lord Jay, who has steered a committee of individuals from varying political perspectives to achieve consensus and agreement around two reports: last year’s follow-up report on the protocol and this year’s report on the Windsor Framework. That was no mean achievement, because we all came from different persuasions, some of us supporting the protocol and the Windsor Framework and others opposed to it. However, I want to move on from the reports; they are both very detailed, but we are now in the space where we have to move forward.

For me, the Windsor Framework is the only show in town, and over the next two days we will have business leaders from across the world descending on Belfast. In that context, and the need to, shall we say, underpin our political institutions—I hope they can be restored shortly—I would say that we need political and economic stability. Therefore, why would businesses in Northern Ireland not want to avail themselves of the economic, business and trade opportunities provided by the Windsor Framework when we can trade in the UK internal market and in the EU single market? Other areas would eat our hand to get that opportunity.

We need to top up those opportunities as well as to address the issues that were presented to us by businesspeople, who found the framework burdensome. In that respect, at that stage the Government had not provided the guidance, and only tomorrow will we deal with the four statutory instruments that will implement those guidance issues and information dealing with labelling. I say gently to the Minister that that is all in very short order when much of this stuff has to be implemented by October this year, some three weeks away.

However, in moving forward, we need to look at the Good Friday agreement. It deals with three sets of relationships, and the purpose of the Windsor Framework is to look at those three sets of relationships, obviously, and the accompanying document of the protocol in its entirety. There is, therefore, now an opportunity to look at those north-south opportunities. Can the Minister say what evidence and what work is being done for the EU-UK joint committee to keep under constant review the extent to which the implementation and application of Windsor and the protocol maintain the necessary conditions for north-south co-operation on the island of Ireland? Perhaps the Minister could provide me with an update on this particular area of any work the joint committee may be doing, and, if that has not been activated, provide an undertaking to do so when that happens.

With regard to the specialised committee, will it engage with the north-south implementation bodies? One of them is InterTradeIreland, which deals specifically with trade; another is Tourism Ireland, and there are several others. Will the Minister, working with colleagues, ensure that the specialised committee engages with north-south implementation bodies and the north-south joint secretariat on their experiences of the operation of the Windsor Framework for north-south co-operation? And will the joint committee signal how it intends to review the effect of the implementation and the application of the Windsor Framework on maintaining the necessary conditions for north-south co-operation?

Another area that needs to be examined is apportionment with HMRC. Before the Windsor Framework, there was no problem about apportioning the amount of trade for the EU and the Republic of Ireland and the amount that would stay in Northern Ireland. That information is not available in the guidance. I look forward to the Minister’s response.

Electoral Commission: Data Breaches

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

Monday 4th September 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con)]

I described the new, more resilient system that we have got. There is a big focus on cyber and cyberattacks; individual Government Ministers take that very seriously. We have set up a new system called GovAssure, which the Deputy Prime Minister announced in the spring, to make sure that different parts of the public sector are better prepared and able to deal with these points. The National Cyber Security Centre has been much strengthened—actually, it also does a very good job for outside organisations, as I remember from when I was involved in an NGO and on the Back Benches. We are making progress with these things. It is important that we use electronic data, as has already been said by several noble Lords. The key is to make people take the necessary steps—often personal steps—to ensure that systems are not opened up to hackers, attackers and hostile states.

[Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)]

My Lords, we all know that this incident happened in August 2021. It was brought to the attention of the Electoral Commission in October 2022, which made it public in August of this year. As a follow-on to my noble friend Lady Smith of Basildon’s question, could the Minister indicate why political parties and the public were not informed of this data breach that would impact all the public throughout the UK? Why did that not happen? In Northern Ireland, we have had the PSNI data breach, which impacts all the workforce, both service personnel and civilian staff. Maybe whenever she talks to the Cabinet Office, she could impress on it the need to ensure that political policing is ended.

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con)]

That is a point well made. In a sense, the noble Baroness’s question is about why this took so long, especially in relation to the Electoral Commission. The Electoral Commission made a statement on this—it is, as I had to emphasise right at the beginning, independent and accountable to Parliament through the Speaker’s Committee—in which it said that it needed to take several steps to remove the hackers and that it was necessary to do that before making a statement. It also said that it was determined to protect against future hacking and that by making a public statement that would have been more difficult. However, the noble Baroness’s point is well made; being transparent with the public is an ambition that we all share—subject, of course, to security needs.

Extreme Heat Preparedness

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

Tuesday 19th July 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord True (Con)]

My Lords, there are several strands tied up in that question. We have some exceptional hot days in July. We must respond to that and are doing the immediate response. Then there is a separate strand when the noble Baroness talks about the longer-term threat of climate change. The party opposite was among those beating the tam-tam to remove from office my right honourable friend the Prime Minister, who has pushed through the strongest commitments and the most specific and active support for COP 26 by any Government in history. As for what the noble Baroness says about a coal mine, the Government remain absolutely committed to net zero. Does the noble Baroness not understand that we must balance the issues across the energy sector and the global economy caused by the illegal invasion of Ukraine? We must ensure that in the immediate future we have a diverse and resilient energy supply chain to withstand broader impact.

[Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)]

My Lords, can the Minister indicate the exact work done with the devolved Administrations and Whitehall on meeting net-zero targets? My noble friend Lady Smith referred to all the serious extreme weather events that have taken place over the last year. Can the Minister outline the exact work being done to complement what happened in Glasgow last November?