Queen’s Speech

Baroness Quin Excerpts

Wednesday 11th June 2014 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Quin (Lab)]

My Lords, unsurprisingly, even given the wide-ranging nature of the debate, the approaching referendum in Scotland has occupied a prominent place in it—quite rightly so, since it is by far the most important and imminent issue facing the United Kingdom. That importance is increasingly borne out in headlines as we approach the last 100 days of the campaign, with headlines such as, “100 days left to save the union”, and dramatic questions being asked, such as, “Is this the end of the union jack?”, and so forth. All this reminds those of us who are passionate about the union, wherever we live, of the imminence of the vote in Scotland and the vital importance of that vote to our future.

The gracious Speech says that the Government will make the case for Scotland to remain part of the United Kingdom. I very much welcome that commitment. I applaud the fact that the Government have already issued some useful publications to make the case, such as the booklet Scotland in the United Kingdom, which contains both useful information and powerful points in favour of the union. However, it is clear that the Government, in making the case, must recognise sensitivities. I was struck by Gordon Brown’s article in the Guardian yesterday, particularly his comment that,

“instead of using the language of threats and ultimatums”—

about the threat to Scotland’s shipyards and the orders on which they rely—

“a far better pro-union argument is to praise the unique contribution of Scottish defence workers and to support Scots who argue for pooling resources for our mutual defence”.

I strongly agree with him that it is essential to make the case positively in this way.

Recognising sensitivities is important, particularly when London-based Ministers visit Scotland and make statements there. As a north-easterner, I have an instinctive empathy with people in Scotland in this respect. In the north-east we have certainly experienced over the years a catalogue of disastrous ministerial visits. Long ago, when I was very young, I remember the late Lord Hailsham coming to the north-east and sporting a flat cap. Unfortunately—despite the fact, I am sure, that this was well intentioned—it came over as the action of a toff with a patronising and stereotyped view of northerners.

Another Conservative luminary, whom I will be kind enough not to name, came a few years ago to the constituency that I then represented in the House of Commons. Because he was in the north-east he obviously thought that it would be a good idea to praise Newcastle United. He started doing this, saw that his audience looked a little bit glum and wrongly drew the conclusion that perhaps he was not praising Newcastle United effusively enough—not realising that, in that particular part of the north-east, probably 80% of the people supported Sunderland. I could give many other tragicomic examples, but of course the difference this time is simply how important the issue is, and that such insensitivity in Scotland at the moment would be particularly unwelcome if it in any way jeopardised the chances of a strong no vote in the referendum.

It is important to stress the positive, as my noble friend Lord Reid did so cleverly in his take on the “Monty Python” sketch, and in the comments that were subsequently made by my noble friends Lady Liddell of Coatdyke and Lord McFall. I agree with them, too, that while emphasising the positive, we cannot simply ignore some of the big issues to which separation could give rise: economic turbulence, currency uncertainties, uncertainties over EU membership and many other aspects. I know that when these issues are raised, very often the pro-independence supporters claim that this is “Project Fear”—my noble friend Lord Parekh referred to this—and is designed simply to scare voters into voting no. Actually, fear is not restricted to voters in Scotland; it is very much shared by people on both sides of the border. So it should not be seen as trying to scare Scottish voters but simply as dealing with some of the important issues that we have to face.

In his speech in January, the Minister—the noble and learned Lord, Lord Wallace—mentioned the position of many cross-border workers: some 30,000 cross the border in both directions each day, and up to 100,000 have longer commutes, such as former Tyneside shipyard workers who now work on oil rigs in Scotland. I know that many cross-border businesses and the people who work in them are concerned about how complicated and disturbed their lives would be if they were coping with two separate countries with separate administrations and financial systems instead of one United Kingdom.

In conclusion, I simply wish the no campaign every success in its efforts to maintain our United Kingdom and to keep, not break, the strong ties that bind us together, whether they be economic ties, defence and security ties, or ties of social justice, family links and human solidarity, which have characterised the union of which we have been part for more than 300 years.