European Union (Future Relationship) Bill

Lord Empey Excerpts

3rd reading & 2nd reading & Committee negatived & 2nd reading (Hansard) & 2nd reading (Hansard): House of Lords & 3rd reading (Hansard) & 3rd reading (Hansard): House of Lords & Committee negatived (Hansard) & Committee negatived (Hansard): House of Lords
Wednesday 30th December 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Empey (UUP) [V]]

My Lords, like other speakers I welcome the fact that there is a deal, albeit that we do not have the opportunity to scrutinise it properly tonight. I also welcome the reference in the Bill to the peace programme, which was negotiated between former EU President Jacques Delors and Northern Ireland MEPs John Hume, Ian Paisley and Jim Nicholson. It has been an enduring programme to help Northern Ireland and the border counties of the Republic and I welcome it.

However, I have to say that one theme stands out for me. In a recent letter to us, the Prime Minister said that the deal,

“takes back control of our laws, borders, money, trade … and ends any role for the European Court.”

He goes on to say:

“We will be a truly independent country, with our sovereign Parliament in full control of the laws that we live by.”


Michael Gove, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said that we are no longer bound by EU law, there is no role for the European Court of Justice, we will have full political and economic independence from 1 January, and our laws will be determined by our own elected politicians.

I am sorry to say it, but all those statements are untrue, because one part of the United Kingdom—Northern Ireland—is left in the European Union. The European Court will still have a role; we will be subject to laws and regulations that will be negotiated and agreed in Brussels, where we have no representation; and we cannot even bring over €10,000 of our own money into Northern Ireland without permission. The idea that these statements are factual is wrong. I wish that somebody on the Government Front Bench would openly admit that we have done a deal that works for Great Britain but, because of certain circumstances, Northern Ireland is not at this stage able to benefit from it. EU officials will stand beside HMRC officers at customs posts at all Northern Ireland ports. One of them being built at Larne is 44,000 square metres, which does not seem to me to be “light touch”, and we will have to treat Great Britain as a third country.

Unfortunately, I want to ask the Minister: what consent was obtained from Northern Ireland for these arrangements? Can he give me that answer, because nobody so far has? I hear some unionists in the other place, and indeed in your Lordships’ House, railing against this deal because of the protocol that was introduced last year. But the very same people facilitated the introduction of that protocol, so they are not in a position to challenge things tonight.

What I want is honesty. We will make the best of what we can, but the union is seriously weakened as a result of this decision, and it is a fact that our laws will be determined by others and not by our sovereign Parliament. That is not taking back control.