Queen’s Speech

Baroness Bryan of Partick Excerpts

Thursday 12th May 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Bryan of Partick (Lab)]

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Fraser of Craigmaddie, on her excellent speech seconding the Motion for a humble Address, which included many references to Scotland and reminded us that she likes to highlight Scotland at every opportunity. This House can be an odd place for Scottish Peers, as previously much of the legislation that had an impact in Scotland was dealt with in the Scottish Parliament, while most of the legislation scrutinised in this Chamber was applicable to England. In the past two years this has changed. Whether you describe it as a power grab or not, we have certainly seen incursions into devolved areas of competence, and I think we will see even more in the programme outlined in the Queen’s Speech.

Like others, I hoped that in this Queen’s Speech we would hear about steps to bring our constitution into line with 20-plus years of devolution; instead, we have a stand-alone Bill to abolish the Human Rights Act and replace it with a so-called Bill of Rights. Because the business of devolution has not yet been completed, the role of the devolved parliaments is not acknowledged in making fundamental changes to our constitution, such as introducing a Bill of Rights. No other nation with devolved Administrations has such a centralised system as the UK. Does the Minister recognise that drafting a Bill of Rights should be done jointly with the devolved Administrations and, of course, consulting much more widely in civic society?

The Human Rights Act was adopted just at the point when devolution was being put in place and is central to the relationships between the different parts of the UK. Will the Government take notice of the concerns expressed by all three human rights commissioners about scrapping the Act? The Joint Committee on Human Rights report on 13 April 2022 stated that:

“The HRA plays a unique role in the constitutional arrangements of the devolved nations. The role played by the ECHR and the HRA has helped embed a human rights culture in the devolved nations and plays a particularly important role in the peace settlement in Northern Ireland.”


Part of the relationship between Westminster and the devolved Administrations was based on the assurance that the ECHR would be integrated into the devolved settlements. The Good Friday agreement binds the UK internationally to the multi-party deal, which was endorsed in joint referenda on both sides of the Irish border. This agreement was lodged as a treaty with the United Nations. The section of the agreement guaranteeing the rights of minorities states that the British Government commit to

“complete incorporation into Northern Ireland law of the European Convention on Human Rights … with direct access to the courts, and remedies for breach of the Convention”.

Can the Minister assure us that this will remain the case?

Northern Ireland’s ambiguous situation in terms of the protocol will be further undermined by this Bill. This is not just a discussion about the niceties of international treaties; we must remember the daily experience of violence that existed before the Good Friday agreement. The HRA is also woven directly into the fabric of Scotland’s constitutional settlement. The Scottish Government believe that changes to the existing statute will have very real implications for devolved institutions; therefore, no changes affecting Scotland should be made without the explicit consent of the Scottish Parliament.

Before the Queen’s Speech, the Welsh Government appealed to the UK Government to abandon these proposals and recommit to the retention of the existing HRA. They stated that, as many of the Bill’s provisions will impact on the operation of devolved responsibilities, they will bring forward a legislative consent Motion. I have argued on a number of occasions that this Government have no understanding of devolution, and probably very little support for it. However, they are in real danger of making people from the devolved nations so alienated that separation would seem the most obvious response. Can the Minister give any reassurance that they will take the legislative consent process more seriously on this occasion than they have recently?