European Union (Withdrawal) Bill

Lord Bowness Excerpts

Tuesday 30th January 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bowness (Con)]

My Lords, like other noble Lords I accept that if there is to be Brexit, there has to be a Bill for legal certainty. But it must not give rights to the Executive at the expense of Parliament, and it must be sufficiently flexible to cope with circumstances which over the period of our negotiations may change. It must also ensure that our future is determined by Parliament. In the words of the noble and learned Lord, Lord Hope of Craighead, the Bill is in a sorry state and Members have the right to support, speak for and, if necessary, vote for amendments within the constitutional parameters of this House. We should not be frightened off by my noble friend Lord Dobbs: this is not “House of Cards”.

It is very easy to answer questions by accusing the questioner of trying to thwart the will of the people. I, like many others, feel I have been the victim of a prolonged hijack, and I believe that hard Brexit is a minority interest. In 2010, David Cameron opposed a referendum, but eventually, after pressure and rebellion, capitulated, and in the 2015 election promised the in/out vote on the reform he had negotiated. How was it that immediately after the referendum the Government adopted an extreme position of no to the single market, no to the customs union, and no to an EFTA, EEA, Norway or Switzerland-type arrangement? We heard a great deal about the Government’s need for the freedom to negotiate without disclosing their hand to Parliament, but at a stroke we declared to a bewildered world that we wanted out of everything yet wanted a deep and special relationship with the EU—the “have your cake and eat it” position. This was maintained at the 2017 election and is now portrayed as the choice of the people because of the referendum and general election votes.

In neither of these campaigns did anyone explain the effect of these policies. To be fair to hard Brexiteers, perhaps they have only just become apparent. The hijackers, as I see them, seem to be in denial about the existence of problems despite the evidence, and the attacks upon the Chancellor and, indirectly, the Prime Minister suggest that their fervour for a hard Brexit is undiminished. Was the Ireland/Northern Ireland situation explained? Frictionless borders mean nothing when it comes to the detail. Did we explain that new arrangements for trade will need a mechanism to resolve disputes? How is a tribunal which is not a UK court different in principle from the Court of Justice of the European Union? Did anyone explain that if there was no deal, customs delays would have a serious impact on the pharmaceutical and motor industries, to name but two? In such industries, small, frequent and rapid shipments are the name of the game.

We were assured that no deal is better than a bad deal and that we could trade on WTO rules, but who explained that tariffs are only part of the story? The UK and the EU cannot grant each other more favourable terms than each is prepared to grant other World Trade Organization countries. We are told that we should have no problem dealing with the EU on WTO rules, as do the US and China, but were we told about mutual recognition agreements—MRAs—which are principally concerned with non-tariff barriers, and are arguably more important than tariffs? The United States has 135 such agreements with the European Union. Without a deal we would not only have no agreements with the European Union but also abandon the MRAs that the EU has with countries like the US and China. The MRAs are not simply WTO rules: they have to be negotiated.

The noble Lord, Lord Hain, has already referred to the 60 or so free trade agreements that the European Union has with other countries. We cannot just pick these up at will. There will have to be negotiations between the European Union, ourselves and third countries. It already appears that a joint submission to the World Trade Organization by the European Union and the UK on the division of quotas has been objected to by the United States, Australia and New Zealand. Perhaps the Minister will bring us up to date on how well that is going?

Let us have no more of how easy it will all be if we revert to WTO rules. That claim is in the same category as the £350 million on the side of the bus. However good a deal we get, it cannot be as good as the one we have now as members of the European Union. This game, as I said in an earlier debate, is just not worth the candle, so it makes sense that, if there is to be Brexit, the changes to the current arrangements should be as small as possible. Even at this late stage, the idea of the single market, the customs union, membership of EFTA or the EEA, or even the status quo should be not be removed from consideration.

It is therefore vital that the Bill before us gives Parliament, and principally of course the House of Commons, the opportunity to extend the proposed leaving date, to establish a meaningful transition or implementation period, and to have a meaningful vote, including rejecting any deal and certainly no deal. I am certainly attracted to the idea of the Government seeking a mandate, as outlined by the noble and learned Lord, Lord Falconer. It is a matter for Parliament and, although I share many of the sentiments of the noble Lord, Lord Adonis, I cannot support calls for a referendum when we have so recently seen how flawed and misleading such campaigns can be.

Like millions of other citizens, this hijacked citizen wants to be freed. I do not want to be on a ship which is steering a course through dangerous waters to a place unknown when there is a known and safe haven available. I want reality to dawn and our citizens to be told the consequences of the policies that we have adopted to implement their decision. Yes, we can leave the European Union if we must, but we can head for a safe haven—there is no need deliberately to sail into uncharted and rocky waters.