European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill

Lord Alli Excerpts

Monday 20th February 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord Alli (Lab)]

My Lords, I start by making a confession. I am glad that the Chamber is not full and I hope that noble Lords will keep my confession to themselves. I know that it will not please many noble friends on this side of the House and I know that it will probably please many noble Lords on the opposite side. For that, I can only say sorry to my noble friends and colleagues. Here goes: I like Theresa May. There, I have said it. Let me continue in that same vein of honesty. I equally do not trust Boris Johnson, David Davis or Liam Fox successfully to negotiate a good deal with the EU, or any other nation. There, I said that, too. I have no confidence that they have the skills, understanding and competence to do such a deal. I know that they have many other attributes, but managing a complex and tough set of negotiations is not among them.

For those of us—and there are many in this House—who have run, built or managed big multibillion-pound commercial operations, we know that putting the trainees to run your most important deal is a mistake. That is what it looks like will happen. In this House, there are eight former EU Commissioners, two of whom have already spoken. There are current and past CEOs of some of Britain’s biggest companies. There are chairmen, past and present, of many of our most successful businesses. I say to the Prime Minister: this House is not your enemy. This House is a resource and a place to find advice, help and skills that are not available in the other place. Therefore, I hope that the Prime Minister will seek to involve this House more and not less in the negotiations. I hope that a mechanism can be found to include Members of the House in the negotiating process while preserving the confidentiality required to negotiate—perhaps something akin to the intelligence committee in the other place.

It was perhaps not the Government’s finest hour being dragged before the courts and forced to bring this Bill before Parliament, so it is only natural that many in the House might worry or be suspicious about reassurances from the Government from the Dispatch Box. I would like to see, as I suspect would many in this House and in the other place, a legal commitment to a vote in both Houses before the Article 50 deal is put before the European Parliament. If Parliament rejects the deal by the Government, I want it to be given a series of options, including sending the Government back to the negotiating table.

I want a strong Britain with a strong economy that serves those who voted for Brexit as well as those who voted against. I want jobs for those without them and an education and a health service that are the envy of the world. I want a Britain that is confident and not weakened by fear of false enemies. That is the challenge of Brexit—a better, stronger Britain—and I expect the Government to deliver on that promise. Millions of people’s hopes and fears rest on the actions of the Government in the coming months and years. I genuinely wish the Government well and I will do my part to help by continuing to invest in the UK economy. However, I will also hold the Government to account for the hopes and fears of many. If they cannot deliver better than we have today, they should not be afraid to say so and they should look at the alternative options, no matter how politically unappealing some of those might seem today. We are here, after all, to serve not just political dogma.

Before I sit down, I would like to say a word about the behaviour of the House. Those of us who have been on the Back Benches for a long time do not behave badly and we really do not need to be lectured on our behaviour. The people who behave badly, generally, are front-line politicians, who will be found at the front of the House, not at the back. Back-Benchers in this place have an amazing record of being absolutely brilliant at the things that they bring to the House. If noble Lords and Members of the other place would remember that, I think that the debate would go much more easily.