European Union (Withdrawal) Bill

Duke of Montrose Excerpts

Tuesday 30th January 2018 Lords Chamber

[The Duke of Montrose (Con)]

My Lords, it is always a great pleasure to listen to the clear, analytical thinking of the noble Baroness, Lady O’Neill.

The Bill implies a fairly radical impact on two areas that have always been at the centre of my concerns: one being Scotland and devolution, the other being agriculture and fisheries. My interests, as many of your Lordships will know, have meant a lifetime spent in farming livestock in Scotland, and I have just retired after five years as president of the National Sheep Association of the United Kingdom. We have heard today from all Benches in this House highlights of the major areas where the Bill will have its effects. I want to look at just two that are major for me. The first is how we deal within devolution with abolishing EU authority when European regulation was the central core of our legislative arrangements. Similarly, the second is how we see the management and support of our rural areas.

The noble and learned Lord, Lord Hope of Craighead, alerted the House to how far the present powers of the Bill simply will not do in the long term for Scotland and other devolved settlements. I am sure the promise made by the noble Baroness the Leader of the House in opening this debate that the Government already have in mind amendments that they wish to bring in offers some promise. But even if those will help us on our way, it is worrying to note the level from which we have started.

My noble friend Lord Bridges of Headley explained to us earlier the task that the Government were faced with in drawing up the Bill. Seen from that Westminster perspective, one can see how it was understood that these measures would give logical, incremental steps to overcoming the problems that leaving the EU will present. But the proposed powers provoke questions as well as answers. From the Scottish perspective—as the noble and learned Lord, Lord Wallace of Tankerness, was alerting the Government—it seems, for a start, that it does not fully fit in with the procedure for implementing legislation that the Scottish Parliament works under. Many noble Lords have centred their disquiet on the extensive Henry VIII powers that are presently contained in the Bill. But nothing has been said here today that matches the panic that the presence of these powers has triggered in the Scottish Government, with dreams of what they might be used for if there were a hostile Administration in Westminster. I know that that is not the plan at the moment, but from their perspective it is something that rears its head.

The briefing document on the Bill, issued by our own Library, said that the Government had issued to the devolved Administrations a list of the various measures that will have to be returned from the EU as we leave. The Library has very kindly provided me with a copy; the list contains 111 measures. This is only to underline the probable emphasis that will affect my second area of concern, which lies in agriculture, fisheries and rural life. Of these 111 measures, 43 will have a direct involvement in these areas. It is also the area covered in the various devolved Acts. Have the Government made it clear to the devolved Administrations how many of these measures they are already prepared to agree to hand over; and if not, why not? This is particularly true of the area which I have so recently been involved in, which is sheep. I think it is generally accepted that this is the section of agriculture that stands to lose the most from any departure from our present arrangements. I am sure many noble Lords are aware that this industry is reliant on Europe for setting present-day market prices. It is also reliant on exports for 35% to 40% of production. No deal could imply tariffs of up to 50% or £2 per kilo at the European border.

As a further illustration of the problems of the Irish border, which were emphasised by my noble friend Lord Patten a few minutes ago, our worries in this area are eclipsed by those of our farmers in Northern Ireland, who export an even bigger percentage of livestock and who might find themselves with a border with the Republic that would also affect not just exports but the very considerable trade there presently is in both directions at all times of the year across that border.

I look forward to seeing how much improvement we can make to this legislation in the coming weeks.