EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement

Earl of Caithness Excerpts

Friday 8th January 2021 Lords Chamber

[The Earl of Caithness (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I voted against leaving the EU, but I accepted the result of the referendum and have moved on. I have been looking forward to this deal, which I welcome. However, I am saddened by much of the tone of this debate, which in my view has been overly negative. Many in the Liberal party are still looking backwards and many in the Labour Party say that this deal is better only than no deal, so why did they vote against Mrs May’s deal when she was Prime Minister? Why did they allow the Conservative Party to corner Mrs May and then allow an election? They have only themselves to blame if they feel the way that they do.

Whatever deal was negotiated was bound to have a bumpy start, and this one is having that, as we have heard from the fishermen and from our farmers. There will be difficulties ahead, but I hope that my noble friend the Minister can reassure me that the Government are looking at all the effects on the market of the deal so far.

There are lots of questions I would like to ask about the level playing field and the flexibility of how it is to be incorporated. However, it is important that we look at the much bigger picture, as expressed by my noble friend Lord Bridges when he said that we must look for a strategic, long-term position and aim for that. That is a vital big task for the Government. As the noble Lord, Lord King of Lothbury, said, this is an ideal moment for the Government to start to focus on what is really important for our economy.

In the future, there can be no more excuses. We cannot blame Brussels for everything that goes wrong, or for our own inadequacies. We must look forward. We have the future in our own hands, and I believe that it is a very exciting one.