EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement

Lord Hendy Excerpts

Friday 8th January 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hendy (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, 100 two-minute speeches today is what passes for scrutiny of this vital treaty. We surrendered our right to debate and challenge it when, last week, we passed Section 36 of the future relationship Act, disapplying Section 20 of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010. I will spend my two minutes endorsing the speech of my noble friend Lady Blower.

The trade and co-operation agreement insists on the UK’s right

“to determine the labour and social levels of protection it deems appropriate and to adopt or modify its law and policies”.

It permits the weakening of levels of protection below existing EU standards. There is a complex mechanism for challenging such weakening of protection, but it is open only to the EU, and only if it can show: first, that the UK has implemented “significant divergences” in protection; secondly, that these have

“material impacts on trade or investment”;

and thirdly, that the link is “based on reliable evidence”.

No worker, trade union or even employer has access to this or any other remedy. In fact, the TCA cannot be invoked at all in the courts. The EU did not seek a tilted playing field of this kind. It was the British Government who insisted on power to degrade the rights of British workers. The intent is clear: the Government intend to degrade the rights of British workers. We are warned. We are shamed.