European Union (Withdrawal) Bill

Lord Bassam of Brighton Excerpts

Tuesday 30th January 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bassam of Brighton (Lab)]

My Lords, I start with a confession—actually, two. It is a while since I have done this. Back in 1975, I made a decision to vote against Britain being part of the EEC. That decision was as wrong then as I believe Brexit is wrong now. I never thought I would end up taking part in a national debate 42 years later seeking to preserve much of what we have gained in the intervening years.

We must respect the outcome of the referendum, and our primary task now has to be to limit damage. Labour’s historic role will be to protect jobs and the economy. Others in this debate are better qualified than I am to talk about the long-term impact of leaving the EU on the UK economy, but already there are worrying signs. We should have no truck with the ready complacency of David Cameron, the PM who I believe led us to the worst post-war policy decision—barring perhaps the Suez invasion.

In the face of this, what should we—the unelected House—do with the Bill? It would be wrong to reject or emasculate it. Leaving the EU will happen. The questions are: what are the terms of our leaving and how can we mitigate the damage? We need to be on-side with the national interest, and we in this House should be mindful of our role in protecting the constitution. In truth, the Bill is an alarming, incoherent concoction in need of improvement before we send it back, amended, to the other place. We should be unafraid of that task.

The Constitution Committee has done a great service in providing noble Lords with a route map; it is one that we should follow. Much of the critique is legal and technical, not about policy, but that does not mean it is unimportant. Getting the law and its application right will have a direct impact on how post-Brexit policy is determined. For that reason, what your Lordships’ House does with the Bill is of central importance to the future prosperity of our nation. For example, if we let the Government off the hook on EU-derived rights and the European Charter of Fundamental Rights, protections on consumer law, environmental protection and workplace rights, we will have failed in our duty as a revising Chamber. If we cannot secure a properly balanced means of transposing EU law without recourse to arbitrary Henry VIII powers, we will have weakened the protection of the public and failed in our duty. If we cannot secure a transitional period based on current terms within the single market and customs union, we will harm our economy and the national interest.

Before we get attacked by the likes of Jacob Rees-Mogg or the Brexit Minister, Mr Baker, I ask them to think first and reflect on the proper role of the second Chamber. It is our patriotic duty to send large parts of the Bill back for reconsideration. Labour has rightly set out its red lines, and they are likely to be shared across the House. They will include: a meaningful vote at the end of negotiations; ensuring a role for Parliament in the event of no deal; a time-limited transition period on current terms; enhanced protection for EU-derived rights and protections; limiting the scope of Henry VIII powers; and the removal of the Government’s exit-day clause to give our negotiators flexibility. There will be other amendments on other issues. A mechanism for consideration of SIs recommends itself and comes from the Constitution Committee’s report. In that regard, I hope the noble Baroness the Leader of the House goes further than her tentative proposals this morning.

Securing the balance between the devolved Administrations’ powers and responsibilities and the duties for the UK Government as a whole will be a major test, as will be ensuring that the EU border with Northern Ireland is frictionless while it protects the rest of our economy. These are not trifling issues; they are matters our Government have not handled well. We should remind ourselves just how close they came to falling at the first hurdle over the border issue. Being in hock to a small party is never a wise course.

Turning again to the recommendations in the Constitution Committee’s report, my untutored eye concluded that at least 13 are a basis for amendments. One in particular commends itself: that which proposes that all retained direct EU law should have the status of domestic primary legislation. This would secure legal continuity and certainty post Brexit, as my noble friend Lady Taylor explained this morning.

I have three final three points. Though not a policy issue in this Bill, I and other noble Lords will want a coherent explanation of how frictionless trade can be achieved without membership of the customs union or a single market. Without it, our economy will be damaged, as reports from the Brexit department yesterday finally admitted. I also hope to probe and push the issue of refugees during the course of this Bill. The EU may not have covered itself in glory on this, but it has had a strategy, and without one I fear for the future and safety of young unaccompanied children. In 2016, 30,000 of them arrived in Europe. Without effective access to an asylum system or legal routes of transfer, such as Dubs and Dublin III, they will continue to be alone and unprotected. We need a humanitarian structure that protects these most vulnerable citizens. The Government should set out exactly how, in a post-Brexit world, this will work. To date, they have singularly failed to do so, to their shame, and our reputation as a compassionate nation has been damaged.

I am no fan of referendums. In my view you should use them sparingly. I take the view that if you do not know the answer to the question, you do not ask the question. That was Cameron’s historic blunder. The Motion moved by my noble friend Lord Adonis invites us to support one on the final deal. Like our Front Bench, I am not minded to support the Motion, and I suspect others will similarly resist the temptation but, like others, I think it unwise to rule one out.

The Bill, as many have observed, is mostly about process, not policy, and thus something of a Brexit sideshow, but it is important. The Constitution Committee says that it is fundamentally flawed in multiple ways. It can be improved and become a vehicle to restate common values which the EU at its best has achieved. This is how I believe we as a House should approach the Bill. In the absence of a Government with a strategy even for their own legislation, it is up to Parliament to provide clarity and a sense of purpose, and to bring some cohesion to what is before it. That is our historic task.