European Union (Future Relationship) Bill

Lord Lamont of Lerwick 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 Lamont of Lerwick (Con) [V]]

My Lords, by this time everything that could be said has been said, but not by everybody, so perhaps I can be forgiven if I repeat two things: first, to congratulate my noble friend Lord Cavendish on his valedictory speech and say how much he will be missed—I view his departure with great sadness; secondly, to repeat the congratulations to the Prime Minister, Oliver Lewis, my noble friend Lord Frost and the negotiating team. It has been an amazing achievement. We were told by five former Prime Ministers no less that there could not be an agreement in the time available, but now we have an agreement that goes further than that of Canada. We now have the Common Market many of us originally voted for in the 1970s. Credit also belongs to the EU. It is welcome that the talks were concluded amicably. While I never thought no deal was unthinkable, it would undoubtedly have produced some lasting acrimony.

Historians may conclude that British membership of the EU was always doomed from the start because the British view of the political destination of Europe was always different—although our establishment always tried to conceal this from the British public, particularly in the 1975 referendum. Nevertheless, the story of our membership has been one of endless arguments about further integration. From now on, there will be no more British vetoes, opt-outs or triple locks. Now we can have a more harmonious relationship between two sovereign equals. I say to the noble Lord, Lord Liddle, that we do not want to forget about Europe; we want people such as him to help us build on that relationship.

For years to come, historians will argue about the outcome of the referendum. But despite the Herculean efforts of the noble Lord, Lord Forsyth, we will never be able to prove definitively whether Project Fear was all hallucination or only partially so. But let us leave it to the historians. Politics will be sterile indeed if every event over the next 10 years has to be judged against some measure of whether it would have been better or worse outside Brexit, or if every time there is a minor stumble it is greeted by past Brexit opponents with glee as evidence of its folly. Those who pursue that tactic, of running down their own country, will find that it does not go down any better with ordinary voters than it did during the referendum.

It is far better to put the effort into addressing the international challenges that face us and the domestic issues that caused so many of our fellow citizens to feel alienated and disillusioned, which is why they voted for Brexit at all. It is time to let the grass grow over the Brexit battlefield. Let us all work to make this new partnership the success it ought to be.