Queen’s Speech

Lord Caine Excerpts

Thursday 13th May 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Caine (Con)]

My Lords, I am delighted to echo the congratulations to my noble friend Lady Fraser of Craigmaddie and the noble Baroness, Lady Merron, on their excellent maiden speeches.

I also strongly welcome the commitment in the gracious Speech that

“Ministers will promote the strength and integrity of the union.”—[Official Report, 11/5/21; col. 3.]

Throughout 34 years, ever since I was first employed in the Conservative Research Department and as a special adviser to six Northern Ireland Secretaries, the union is the cause to which I have devoted most of my political energies. For me, the strength and integrity of our United Kingdom is the most precious of all commodities, and I have always been a unionist first and a Conservative second. However, today, as many noble Lords have pointed out, the United Kingdom is once again under sustained attack and threat. In the short time available, I will focus on Northern Ireland, where my experience lies, but I will make one observation on the situation in Scotland.

As things stand, Scotland’s departure from the United Kingdom could take place on the basis of 50.01% of those actually voting in a referendum. However, in circumstances where a referendum were carried by such a slender majority, and where border areas voted decisively to remain within the United Kingdom, what is the prospect of those areas demanding some form of special provision, with one option being for them to stay within the union?

I merely throw open the question. Like the noble Lord, Lord Browne of Belmont, I do so conscious that 10 days ago we marked the centenary of the coming into force of the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which made special provision for the six north-eastern counties of Ireland, thereby establishing Northern Ireland as a distinct political entity within the United Kingdom. Those who devised the Act intended it to be a temporary arrangement, so I am especially pleased that, 100 years on, Northern Ireland remains firmly rooted within our great union.

I also completely acknowledge that, for some, this is a contentious centenary and certainly not one greeted with any enthusiasm by nationalists. It is right that this anniversary, like others in this so-called decade of centenaries, is characterised by reflection as well as commemoration. The aim must always be to promote greater understanding rather than to fuel further division.

In the past, I have expressed the hope that the centenary might also provide the catalyst for a debate within unionism about how the union could survive, prosper and be strengthened for at least the next 100 years. Little could I have predicted that the centenary would actually take place against a backdrop of the resignations of not one but both leaders of the two main unionist parties in Northern Ireland—two people whom I know from personal experience to be individuals of great conviction and integrity.

As a result, we now have two leadership contests, and at the heart of both is the future direction of unionism and the union itself. As such, in that context, I say that Northern Ireland is a very different place today from that in which the Belfast agreement was made, nearly a quarter of a century ago. Even so, I remain convinced that, in any border poll, a clear majority of people would vote to stay within the United Kingdom—incidentally, a far greater number than those who currently vote for the two main unionist parties. I am sceptical of the methodology of certain recent internet-based opinion polls that might suggest otherwise.

However, in the long term, the union will not be secured by unionism turning in on itself, retreating into history or singing the same old songs, whatever short-term comfort that might bring to some. The surest foundation for the future of the union and Northern Ireland’s place within it has to be an open, inclusive and tolerant unionism that understands, is comfortable with and embraces the values of the modern world. It has to be a 21st century unionism, with a narrative that speaks to people outside its core base and whose mission is to build a more stable, prosperous and secure Northern Ireland that everyone, irrespective of their background or ultimate political aspiration, can be proud to call home—a Northern Ireland based on a shared and united future rather than a divided past.

In conclusion, it is over 50 years since the unionist Prime Minister Terence O’Neill made his famous broadcast, in which he said:

“Ulster stands at the cross roads.”


In so doing, he asked a question of his fellow unionists:

“What kind of Ulster do you want?”


Surely, against the backdrop of the centenary of Northern Ireland and two leadership elections, the time has now come for unionists decisively to answer that question in ways that secure rather than weaken Northern Ireland’s future as part of this great United Kingdom.

Northern Ireland: Defamation Act 2013

Lord Caine Excerpts

Monday 11th January 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Stewart of Dirleton (Con)]

In my view, my Lords, commitment to the union is not best expressed by railroading the devolved Assembly into a particular course of action.

[Lord Caine (Con)]

My Lords, does the fact that, uniquely in these islands, Northern Ireland has a Government but currently no Official Opposition not place an even greater burden on journalists to scrutinise Ministers and hold them to account? To do that effectively, they need the same legal framework and protections as those in the rest of the United Kingdom. Would not the quickest route to achieving that be for the Northern Ireland Assembly to get behind the Private Member’s Bill on this matter that is shortly to be introduced by my Ulster Unionist colleague Mike Nesbitt?

[Lord Stewart of Dirleton (Con)]

My Lords, freedom of expression and the ability to hold Ministers to account on matters of public interest are of course of the greatest importance, and I am sure that the Northern Ireland Assembly will wish to consider the position carefully in considering that Private Member’s Bill and any measures that the Northern Ireland Executive may themselves bring forward.

Queen’s Speech

Lord Caine Excerpts

Wednesday 8th January 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Caine (Con)]

My Lords, as a number of noble Lords have acknowledged in the House today, the gracious Speech states:

“The integrity and prosperity of the United Kingdom is of the utmost importance”


to the Government. As a unionist, and as somebody who served as a special adviser to the past six Conservative Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland since 1991, I warmly welcome that commitment. But to listen to some commentators, and indeed some Members of this House, one could be forgiven for believing that the union of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is entering its dying days, and that, following the election results, a united Ireland is now inevitable. I strongly disagree with that proposition. Allow me therefore for a moment to put the election results in Northern Ireland into some perspective, because we need to look beyond the headlines.

Yes, there are now for the first time more nationalist MPs than unionist MPs in the other place, yet the combined Sinn Féin and SDLP vote was still just under 38%, while the Sinn Féin vote fell by more than the DUP vote. While at the March 2017 Assembly election, Sinn Féin was just over 1,000 votes behind the DUP, at this election it was 60,000 votes behind. It is true that at 43%, the combined unionist vote was at an historic low. The real winners were the SDLP in South Belfast and Foyle, where it hammered Sinn Féin, and the Alliance Party, which gained a seat in North Down. Yet not everybody who votes SDLP necessarily has a united Ireland at the top of their agenda, and if anybody is suggesting for one moment that the people of North Down vote Alliance for a united Ireland, they simply do not understand Northern Ireland.

The election was about a combination of issues: abstentionism, Brexit, the absence of devolved government and deteriorating public services, in which the most pro-united Ireland party, and the one campaigning for a border poll, saw its vote fall sharpest. I remain confident, therefore, that if there were a border poll—I am not advocating one—there would remain a clear majority for the United Kingdom.

However, if the union is not in immediate peril, there are certainly pressures, as a number of noble Lords have alluded to. To counter them, four things need to happen. First, Stormont needs to be restored at the earliest opportunity. Devolved, power-sharing government is in the best interests of both Northern Ireland and the union as a whole. I wish the Secretary of State well in his efforts in the discussions that are currently taking place at Stormont.

Secondly, Brexit needs to be achieved in ways that genuinely ensure no border on the island of Ireland and no border between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. I welcome the Government’s manifesto commitments in these areas and their commitment to ensuring unfettered access for goods moving within our United Kingdom.

Thirdly, although the debate around Brexit has certainly energised nationalism, the response within unionism has so far been muted. This needs to change. There needs to be a conversation within unionism, extending beyond politicians, about how we articulate a modern, moderate and compelling case for the union that can appeal across the community and across all generations. It is a conversation that has to have as its starting point two facts: that the Northern Ireland of today is very different to the Northern Ireland even of 1998 when the Belfast agreement was reached; and that the future stability of the union will increasingly rest on those from moderate nationalist backgrounds accepting that their best interests continue to lie within the United Kingdom.

Fourthly, the UK Government need to begin soberly and sensibly setting out the benefits that Northern Ireland gains from membership of the United Kingdom, which remain huge. Historically, the Northern Ireland Office has been reluctant to do so; this needs to change. The Government need to become a genuine persuader for the union.

The Conservative manifesto for Northern Ireland, in which I confess to having had a small hand, contained a commitment to

“inclusive and modern unionism that affords equal respect to all traditions and parts of the community”

and expressed an “unshakeable” belief that the four constituent parts of the United Kingdom are truly stronger and better together. As the United Kingdom embarks on a new chapter in our history, it falls to a Conservative and Unionist Government with a renewed mandate and a substantial majority to make a reality of those words.