European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill

Debate between Lord Kerr of Kinlochard and Lord Blencathra

Committee: 2nd sitting (Hansard): House of Lords
Wednesday 1st March 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kerr of Kinlochard]

My Lords, I very much agree with what the noble Baroness said at the end of her speech. As the noble Baroness, Lady Symons of Vernham Dean, said, this will be a nothing-is-agreed-until-everything-is-agreed negotiation. If we do not do the decent thing now—if we do not listen to what the noble Viscount, Lord Hailsham, said at the start—when will we do it? This negotiation could last all of two years and could end without an agreement. It certainly will not end with dossiers agreed in this calendar year. So if we all believe that the decent thing will have to be done at some time, why not do it now? The Tory party really needs to remember that its guru is Burke, who said:

“Magnanimity in politics is not seldom the truest wisdom”.

[Lord Blencathra (Con)]

My Lords—

European Union Referendum Bill

Debate between Lord Kerr of Kinlochard and Lord Blencathra

Monday 2nd November 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Blencathra]

I am grateful to the noble Lord, and of course I bow to his incredible knowledge of the workings not just of Europe but of the United Nations. Nevertheless, part of the treaty of the European Union has conditions asking all the contracting states, the members of the union, to concert with the EU high representative. That is not the position that we had 20 years ago, and it shows the inexorable move to the EU wanting to take more and more power. I give way to the noble Lord, Lord Kerr.

[Lord Kerr of Kinlochard (CB)]

I see this as quite a difficult amendment because it asks the Government to speculate. The amendment that the noble Lord, Lord Hannay, introduced a moment ago asks the Government to give information; this one is asking them to predict the future course of the European Union. Down the years men have dreamt dreams and had visions, and an awful lot of it has not happened.

The direction is not all one way. If the noble Lord, Lord Blencathra, looks very carefully at the draft constitutional treaty that was rejected by the French, for example, he will discover that it does not include any aspiration to ever-closer union. Does he really think that the French are about to give up their seat in the IMF or on the United Nations Security Council? Many think that there should be reform of the Security Council but the day that the French give up their seat, flying pigs will be seen over Whitehall.

[Lord Blencathra]

My Lords, that is the one safeguard we may have: the French will always want to retain their seat on the Security Council. I think that we can detect that the day the French wish to give that up, we can rest assured that the whole EU foreign policy will be dictated by the Élysée Palace. I also say to the noble Lord, Lord Kerr, that it is no more speculative to ask the Government to report on what is in my amendment than it is to ask them to report on, as subsection (2)(c) of the proposed new clause states,

“the rights, following withdrawal, of United Kingdom citizens living in another country”.

We have no idea what those rights may be. I do not think there is any EU law at the moment that says that the moment Britain or any other country withdraws, citizens living in that country will be immediately expelled or that conditions X, Y or Z would apply. It would be negotiated.

[Lord Blencathra]

I agree entirely with my noble friend. And it is one thing for a treaty to say something, but we know how the European Court interprets treaties—towards ever-closer union. I give way to the noble Lord, Lord Kerr.

[Lord Kerr of Kinlochard]

The noble Lord is very generous. Actually, the Government could publish what the effect would be on citizens’ rights of our leaving the European Union. It is completely clear what their rights would be: they would no longer be EU citizens. Therefore, British citizens resident abroad would no longer benefit from the right of being EU citizens. Similarly, of course, citizens from other EU countries in this country would no longer benefit from any rights that we chose not to confer on them. It would be for the Government to say what would be conferred. The principles of the negotiation with the EU—which would be with the EU collectively, not with individual member states—would be international law, not EU law, and reciprocity. It would be reasonable for the Government to tell us what they would be trying to secure for British citizens in EU countries in the knowledge that exactly the same rights, under reciprocity, would have to be granted to EU citizens living in our country.

[Lord Blencathra]

I think I detected a slight change in the noble Lord’s argument as he was talking. Of course, the Government could easily say that if we leave the EU we will no longer be EU citizens and 56 million people will say, “So what? What are the consequences of that?”. The noble Lord went on to say that the Government could then spell out what they would aim to achieve in any renegotiation of people’s rights, but that is speculative. That is the point I am making. Of course we can say that people will no longer be EU citizens, but we have no idea, if we were to stay in or leave the European Union, exactly what the rights negotiated by the British Government and EU countries would be. I do not want to get bogged down. I have perhaps given way too much to the noble Lord, Lord Kerr of Kinlochard, because I really like his accent.

Where the EU has a position under European law, we are under an obligation to co-operate with it and support it. For years we have watched the EU desperately trying to take over the negotiating positions of member states in all international fora. That is a trend. It has taken our place at the World Trade Organization. The result is that we have free trade agreements with little countries but nothing with the big power blocs that matter—nothing with the ASEAN countries, nothing with Japan, nothing with India, nothing with the Gulf Cooperation Council and nothing yet with the USA, although we are apparently close. These are all things that the UK could have negotiated years ago on its own.

European Union Referendum Bill

Debate between Lord Kerr of Kinlochard and Lord Blencathra

Wednesday 28th October 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Blencathra]

My Lords, I want to give tentative support at this stage to the noble Lord, Lord Green, and his amendments. Some of us argued in the previous group that there is no justification for non-British citizens, such as EU citizens, to vote in a British national referendum. Indeed, I think that is the Government’s position. All logic, therefore, would suggest that other people who do not have British nationality should not be permitted to vote either. I understand that there are about 3.4 million Commonwealth, Irish and British Overseas Territories citizens in the UK with a right to vote. However, about 1.8 million of these are British citizens and have British nationality. I have no problem with that whatever; indeed, I warmly welcome it. If more people who came to live in this country took British nationality it would possibility reduce some of our other integration problems. To me it is quite simple—maybe noble Lords would say simplistic: if you live here and do not have British nationality then you should have no right to vote in British national elections on a national referendum.

We know how this has come about with the Commonwealth. Many of the Commonwealth voting rights were granted a bit shambolically and haphazardly as Britain decolonised and withdrew from Empire. We understand that. It is a legacy of imperial times and should have no place in our democracy today. We cannot justify a Commonwealth citizen with no connection to the UK, arriving in the UK, registering straightaway and getting a right to vote a few weeks later. No other country in the world does that except ours.

I am now going to make a slightly contrary argument and this is why I say my support is tentative. I think the Government have probably got the right policy in sticking with the electoral roll they suggested. However, and it is slightly hypothetical, if by the end of this process, after ping-pong with the other place we end up with 16 year-olds and EU citizens allowed to vote, it would be outrageous then to allow Commonwealth citizens who are not British nationals to vote. That would be perceived by the British public as really stacking the election. If the 16 year-old vote goes through and is accepted it would then mean that young Commonwealth citizens aged 16 arriving in the UK could quickly register and vote.

I go back to the point that has been made a few times in this House tonight by me—I apologise for making it again—and my noble friends. We want this referendum to be seen as valid, fair and with no jiggery-pokery. If the result is close at a few hundred thousand or a million, then people in this country will look for scapegoats and will blame the various foreigners or young people who have been allowed to vote. I am sorry that the noble Lord, Lord Wigley, is not in his place. He was right to raise the spectre of racism. In the last year because of immigration, asylum and the huge movement of people around Europe we have seen more antagonism in this country towards foreigners than ever before—people perceived as coming here from Europe without any right to do so or the fear of a “swarm”. If the message goes out after this referendum that young people from Europe or Commonwealth countries who are not British citizens had the right to vote and that vote is close I am afraid we will have more trouble than we bargained for. It is not a risk worth taking. If we stick with a voting age of 18 and the current electoral register I think that is a workable solution. That is why my support for removing the Commonwealth citizens who are not British nationals is only tentative at this stage.

[Lord Kerr of Kinlochard]

I can remember the days when the Conservative Party was a very strong believer in the Commonwealth and I rather wish that the noble Lord, Lord Howell of Guildford, was here to join us and give us his views. I am in favour of maintaining Commonwealth ties. My father-in-law, a New Zealand Rhodes scholar, came here as a young man, spent 70 years here, wore the King’s uniform in the war, paid his taxes and never failed to vote. He voted in the 1975 referendum. I would think it a pity if people of that kind were denied a vote in this referendum.

I believe that the noble Lord, Lord Green of Deddington, whom I have known for 50 years and regard as a close friend, is completely wrong on this issue. It is uncomfortable to be caught between the noble Lords, Lord Hannay of Chiswick and Lord Green of Deddington, but we are a rough lot in the Foreign Office and I have learned to put up with it. In my view, there is a very serious immigration issue in this country but the issue is how best to integrate immigrant communities, and that is not best pursued by curtailing their rights.

The strongest argument against the amendment is the Irish one. We all know the long, sad history and the importance—and futility—of the settlement. I think that it would be most unwise to think of reopening that issue now, and I hope that the noble Lord, Lord Green, will withdraw his amendment.