Brexit: UK-Irish Relations

Lord Lexden Excerpts

Tuesday 5th September 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord Lexden (Con)]

My Lords, very inadequately I follow the wise and sobering remarks of the noble Baroness, Lady O’Loan.

The fine report, which is the subject of this debate, stresses the crucial point that nowhere else in the EU are the implications of Brexit so profound as in Ireland, north and south. Nevertheless, the report continues, these profound implications,

“are often overlooked on the British side of the Irish Sea”.

Indeed, they were almost entirely overlooked during the unsatisfactory and unhappy referendum campaign last year, as the noble Lord, Lord Jay, pointed out in his memorable introduction.

What is needed when grave issues that have been neglected in English political life suddenly come to the fore, as has happened as regards Brexit’s Irish crisis since the referendum? The first requirement is surely a full, authoritative and detailed account of the issues. That is what our European Union Committee provided in its report published at the end of last year. The report marshals an immense amount of information as the basis for judicious and measured observations about the principal ways in which Brexit will affect Ireland, north and south, from the economic sphere to the peace process. This is a document of enduring worth against which we can test the progress of those involved in trying to solve Brexit’s Irish crisis.

The debate today will at last provide us with an opportunity of hearing the Government’s response—we are all hoping that it will be substantial—to this powerful report, following the production of a letter this morning. Is it not regrettable that substantial intervals so often occur between the presentation of reports and the reaction of the Government to them? Greater ministerial and official engagement with the reports of the committees of this House would serve the Executive and Parliament well. The arrival of a letter shortly before the start of the debate on a report published nine months ago is frankly insulting. It is no wonder that the noble Baroness, Lady Armstrong of Hill Top—a member of the committee—and the noble Lord, Lord Carlile, are so annoyed.

I was struck by the manner in which the noble Lord, Lord Jay, highlighted one of the report’s central recommendations, to which the noble Lord, Lord Dubs, also referred. The best way of resolving the many contentious issues, the report suggests,

“would be for the EU institutions and Member States to invite the UK and Irish Governments to negotiate a draft bilateral agreement, involving and incorporating the views and interests of the Northern Ireland Executive”.

The noble Lord, Lord Jay, told us that there were difficulties attached to this recommendation, but there are difficulties attached to almost every side of this matter. Perhaps the Minister could indicate the Government’s view of this recommendation when he comes to reply to the debate.

Whatever form consultations may take, we are all united across this House in believing that the two sovereign Governments must work closely and constructively together if the issues identified in the committee’s report are to be resolved. We would surely all endorse the hope expressed by the leading Irish historian, Professor Roy Foster, that,

“the closeness of Anglo-Irish relations highlighted by the remarkable royal and presidential visits a few years ago will remain”.

Events over the summer were far from reassuring. Some harsh comments were delivered by Irish Ministers. But there may perhaps now be a better prospect of sustained Anglo-Irish understanding following the recent publication of the Government’s position paper. The paper underlines the Government’s determination to find a solution to the crucial issue of the border in a manner that is acceptable on every side. The immense difficulty of this has been highlighted again and again in this debate. Some of the ideas in the paper may be fanciful or impractical, but their wide range and ingenuity ought to increase confidence in our Government’s commitment to meeting the greatest challenge that they face in the Irish context.

One of the central contributors to a successful resolution of Brexit’s Irish crisis has been off the field since the start of the year. The European Union Committee’s report concludes the section on the Northern Ireland Executive with a firm statement about the latter’s weighty responsibilities: its members,

“need to ensure, as Brexit negotiations begin, that Northern Ireland’s interests are effectively communicated to the UK Government, the Irish Government, to the EU and to other Member States”.

That is a tall order for the ramshackle coalition of political incompatibles embodied in the Executive, but they cannot even attempt it if they are not in existence. In July, the Government signalled the likelihood of a breakthrough in the interminable talks to try and find a way of restoring the Executive; by the very next day, the likely breakthrough had disappeared.

It would be surprising if the Government did not shortly make a further effort—surely their final effort pulling out all the stops, using all possible resources—to bring about the return of devolved government. They will hope for success, but must plan for the possibility of failure and the construction of some alternative means of ensuring that Northern Ireland’s interests are effectively represented throughout the long Brexit negotiations. Ultimately, it is the Government’s task to ensure that the needs of Northern Ireland—its business community and its position within the union—are all properly safeguarded. In the absence of devolution, the role of Parliament becomes of the greatest significance.

There are some who would be content if the United Kingdom left the EU without an agreement. There are some who would apparently welcome it. Our duty to our fellow countrymen and women in Ulster and our responsibilities to our nearest neighbours and friends in the Irish Republic surely compel us to reject such a dishonourable course.

Grenfell Tower Update

Lord Lexden Excerpts

Monday 3rd July 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth]

My Lords, the point made by the noble Baroness is a fair one but the answer is: not ahead of the terms of reference being decided. Those have to be decided first to determine when an interim report might be appropriate. Of course, such a discussion will take place once we have those terms of reference.

[Lord Lexden (Con)]

Is my noble friend confident that a new Conservative administration in Kensington and Chelsea will restore the public confidence that is so badly needed? Could there perhaps be a case for a short-lived coalition administration, drawing in representatives of other parties, so that these terrible issues can be tackled on a full, real, cross-party basis?

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend for that helpful suggestion. First, it is important that we get a new leader in place and I am sure that my right honourable friend the Secretary of State will then want to discuss with the leader how to carry this matter forward. As my noble friend indicated, it is always better that issues such as this, where there is essentially nothing to divide us, are carried forward consensually.

Independent Monitoring Commission for Northern Ireland

Lord Lexden Excerpts

Wednesday 18th January 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Lexden]

My Lords, as I read this clear, calm, measured report, one thought above all kept coming back to me: that the commission which produced it was a remarkable body to which not just Northern Ireland but the whole country owes a considerable debt. It is deeply satisfying that the House has been given this opportunity to pay tribute to it, thanks to my noble friend Lady Harris of Richmond.

The commission had no precedent, no previous example of similar work to guide it. Nothing like it had been seen in these islands before. Drawn from three different countries and from diverse backgrounds, those who served on the commission were clearly people of great honour and probity and not a little ingenuity. The report shows that they worked closely and successfully together, despite—or perhaps because of—the absence of a formal chairman, an interesting aspect of the commission’s operations that should be noted.

The commission was independent in name, and in every deed and action it performed. Its independence was the secret of its success—combined of course with the care and impartiality with which it examined the vast amount of material drawn from both official and private sources that was placed before it. As a result, its statements and views commanded widespread respect—the more so since they were delivered crisply and frankly.

The commission’s final service was to provide a lucid summary of its own seven-year career. It is surely invaluable to have this record of unprecedented experience. Other countries afflicted by division and politically motivated violence may wish to consult and learn from it. The IMC model may not be transferred wholesale elsewhere, but it could prove immensely helpful to others facing circumstances of civil strife. The commission itself declared that:

“We are least well placed to judge our impact and future historians will have most to say about it”.

Speaking as a current historian, I am sure that these future historians too will feel gratitude for this report when they come to form considered historical judgments on the violence that racked Northern Ireland for so long. It would be surprising if they did not accord a position of some prominence to the IMC when tracing the factors that finally brought about the diminution of Ulster’s agony.

The commission had other important functions, but it is likely to be remembered chiefly for the thoroughness and rigour with which it monitored the paramilitary violence that continued after the formal declaration of ceasefires by terrorist organisations. As its report states,

“we sought to bring out the human cost of paramilitary groups, in terms of both the immediate victims of their crimes and the way in which they held back the economic and social progress of the communities they claimed to represent”.

The completely impartial way in which it did this enabled the commission to give positive assistance to Northern Ireland’s progress towards greater normality, particularly in the years 2004-05, when the evidence it produced of continuing links between the IRA and Sinn Fein intensified pressure on the latter to commit itself more firmly to the democratic path. The commission also put the loyalist paramilitaries under significant pressure, exposing the details of the violence in which they remained involved while at the same time, as the report puts it, they sought to play,

“a continuing role in community development and wanted public funds for the purpose”.

In its characteristically restrained and modest prose, the commission declared last year as it took its leave that:

“The position as we close is very far from ideal”.

The shadow of the gunman still falls too darkly and heavily over the people, particularly those in poorer communities, in Northern Ireland. The so-called peace walls, those potent emblems of division, have increased, not diminished. The Police Service of Northern Ireland continues to have a formidable duty of community protection before it, and my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is providing an extra £200 million over four years to assist it in this task during this time of national austerity.

What our fellow countrymen and women in the Province need above all is a cross-community political strategy for a shared future. The Independent Monitoring Commission’s report welcomes the establishment of an inclusive devolved Government. With it now rests the main duty of creating,

“a genuinely shared future; not a shared out future”,

as my right honourable friend the Prime Minister has put it. Sadly, the Northern Ireland Executive has so far shown insufficient resolve in rising to this challenge. It must take some serious decisions if the people of Northern Ireland are to enjoy to the full the legacy of the work done by the Independent Monitoring Commission.

Parliament must itself keep abreast of the activities of the Executive to help it secure progress. We must not repeat the error made after 1920 under the Province’s first system of devolved government, when Parliament closed its eyes to the internal affairs of this part of our country. As the noble Baroness, Lady Harris, said at the outset, we must never forget Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland: Economy

Lord Lexden Excerpts

Wednesday 19th October 2011 Lords Chamber

Asked By

[Lord Lexden]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they will encourage the rebalancing of the Northern Ireland economy in order to stimulate private sector growth.

[Lord Lexden]

My Lords, I am immensely grateful to have been given this opportunity to raise an issue of the greatest importance, not just to Northern Ireland but to the United Kingdom as a whole. It is an issue which for many years inevitably yielded precedence and priority to the suppression of terrorism and to the protracted search for political stability. The most vivid memories of pain and suffering will long endure in your Lordships' House, adorned as it is by distinguished former Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland, by ex-Ministers who served with them and by leading figures from the Province itself. Thanks to their efforts, and to those of so many other people of good will, the security situation has been transformed and devolution successfully restored. This remarkable progress throws into sharper relief the issue—the third great issue in the Province's life—which is the subject of this evening's short debate: its economic future. Peace and political stability need economic progress as their third companion.

Since I have never held any public office connected with Northern Ireland, a brief autobiographical note might not be entirely misplaced. My interest in the Province was first aroused while I was at Cambridge by a former Westminster MP for South Belfast, Conolly Gage, whom Churchill had failed to persuade to take junior office in 1951. He was a staunch unionist with strong progressive views. Between 1970 and 1977, I taught history at Queen's University, Belfast, where I had the inestimable advantage of working with—indeed, sitting at the feet of—my noble friend Lord Bew, at whose bootlaces I continue to stare.

During the two years before his murder, I was Airey Neave’s political adviser. On the morning that he was killed in March 1979, we finalised the Northern Ireland section of the Conservative manifesto for the forthcoming election. “I wish we had more to say about the economy,” he remarked. There was just one sentence:

“We recognise that Northern Ireland's industry will continue to require government support”.

The words may have been few in number, but they heralded Thatcherite spending on a large scale, maintained unfailingly under successive Governments of both parties, to sustain Northern Ireland's economy during the troubled years that lay ahead by attracting inward investment, supporting the Province's precious small businesses and protecting its agriculture, which constitutes an important element of the Northern Ireland economy. Public spending per head was held at a level that was one-third greater than in the rest of the country.

Such measures were essential in those times, but they have not supplied the Province with the foundations for sustained economic prosperity in the generations that are to come. The long years in which Northern Ireland required significant support have left it in a position where public spending is equivalent to more than two-thirds of GDP. Taxpayers in Great Britain have been called on to a substantial extent; they now provide the resources for around half of all government spending in Northern Ireland. That surely gives them a powerful interest in the future of the Northern Ireland economy.

Despite high public spending, in no other region is so large a percentage of the population of working age economically inactive. Yet, in this same region entrepreneurs once built vast businesses that made the north of Ireland a leading industrial centre, part of a mighty web of enterprise that also embraced Glasgow and Liverpool and created the economic basis for Ulster's enduring political union with Great Britain. In 1894—I mentioned that I was a historian—the president of the Belfast Chamber of Commerce proudly boasted that the annual output of linen yarn in the north of Ireland,

“amounts to about 644,000,000 miles, making a thread which would encircle the world 25,000 times. If it could be used for a telephone wire it would give us six lines to the sun, and about 380 besides to the moon”.

I have no idea whether the great man's calculations were accurate, but this claim that Ulster's linen industry surpassed all others is incontestable.

Having achieved so much in the past, Northern Ireland can surely set out with confidence to re-establish a thriving private sector of significant size in a form suited to the conditions of the 21st century. That, of course, is the rebalancing to which my Question this evening refers. The absolute necessity of striving to achieve it has been fully recognised by the coalition Government. Indeed, it is one of their principal objectives set out in their programme agreed after the election. Last year's Budget spelt out the details: the process of rebalancing,

“will include examining proposals for economic enterprise zones, possible mechanisms for changing the corporation tax rate and other economic reform options”.

The case for such action is constantly on the lips of my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, who puts the arguments for it with brio and such dedication. Speaking at the Conservative Party conference a fortnight ago, he reviewed progress, reiterating once more that the Government's,

“task is to rebalance the economy by encouraging private enterprise and supporting entrepreneurs and new business ... Only last week the Chancellor announced changes to Air Passenger Duty to save our vital direct air link to the United States. We’ve also provided the Executive with the money to set up new enterprise zones”.

Here my right honourable friend touches on one of the preconditions of success in Northern Ireland; that is, effective partnership between the coalition Government and the Executive at Stormont. It is surely the duty of us all to encourage the Executive to play their full part in the work of partnership. Funds have been supplied to establish enterprise zones. Proposals are now awaited from the Executive. It is frankly disappointing that five months after the Northern Ireland elections the Executive have yet to produce a programme for government.

At the very centre of discussion about how the Northern Ireland economy can be rebalanced stands the question of introducing a rate of corporation tax in the Province substantially lower than that which now applies throughout the country. The proposal stirs some instinctive unionist scepticism. Those, such as Joe Chamberlain, who called for home rule all round—devolution for all four constituent parts of the United Kingdom—at the beginning of the 20th century believed in devolved institutions with equal powers. But what we have today is, in the current unlovely phrase, asymmetrical devolution with more power vested in some devolved institutions than in others.

In this context, should Northern Ireland have its own low rate of corporation tax, particularly since across its land border, the Republic of Ireland—a key competitor in many areas—has long been reaping the benefits of a 12.5 per cent rate? The issues were set out in a consultation document, Rebalancing the Northern Ireland Economy, published by the Treasury in March. The responses were numerous with business organisations and the five parties in the Northern Ireland Assembly all expressing strong support for change. A ministerial working group is now being set up to examine in detail the complex and technical matters that need to be addressed. My noble friend Lord Shutt will no doubt have something to say about it.

Like the rest of our country, Northern Ireland today needs jobs; that is, jobs in the private sector, jobs that will last, jobs in the industries of the future and jobs that will match the vast range of talent that exists in that wonderful Province. The highly regarded Northern Ireland reform group estimates that a corporation tax rate of 12.5 per cent could create as many as 90,000 new jobs over a 20-year period. Without new and fulfilling jobs for young people in particular, much of the Province’s great talent will leave and find employment elsewhere. Northern Ireland cannot afford such loss. That, above all, is why economic prosperity, springing from private sector growth, is essential to secure the vital third element of the full restoration of the Province’s fortunes after its long, dark years. That is why so many people believe that the case for a 12.5 per cent corporation tax rate is now so compelling.