My Lords, it is an opportunity, because of the speech of the noble Lord, Lord Hain, to once again concentrate our minds on an aspect of our long debates on the EU and Brexit, and to realise the significance of a cameo within the bigger cameo. It is a question not just of addressing the issue of the United Kingdom and the EU; within the United Kingdom is a border that will become the frontier between the United Kingdom and the EU.
The border, which is a part of folklore as well as part of the political story of Ireland, is much more important, as I said at Second Reading, than a line on a map. It represents something in people’s minds, aspirations and memories of the past. I believe that the value of what the noble Lord, Lord Hain, has said to us this evening is this: the border represents perhaps the most important facet for the people of Northern Ireland that is represented by Brexit. Northern Ireland will be affected by Brexit more than any other part of
the United Kingdom simply because of geography. However, more than geography, it will be affected by cultural and economic changes and, of course, the security question.
It is important to emphasise what lies behind the words of the amendment; I am glad that the noble Lord, Lord Hain, will not press it to a Division. It is a reminder that this part of the United Kingdom will be the first to feel the effect of Brexit. The second part will be the ongoing consequences. As the noble Baroness has reminded us, there is the tariff question, the economy and the proverbial oil tankers, and horses and cows in the field.
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Away from the romanticism of this, in this House this evening are three Peers who have every reason to remind us of the sensitivities of what Brexit will do to the situation in Northern Ireland. I refer to those who have served us well as Secretaries of State over the years. What has been achieved in the island of Ireland in the relations between north and south, and east and west—which are equally as important—over years full of bloodshed and great suffering for people on both sides, has been remarkable. Those of us who have worked most of our lives to try to bring reconciliation and progress—not only in the political sense but in that wide and deep sense of people’s relationships, their hopes and everyday lives—fear that if anything is done that will upset the balance of those newly achieved relationships, a lot of other people will suffer.
I applaud the noble Lord, Lord Hain, for the wording of his amendment. I thank him and his two colleagues who have served the people of Northern Ireland over the years. Even though in a sense the noble Lord is probing us with the words of his amendment, I ask the Minister to recognise once more that this is much than a question of a line on the map; it is a question that goes very deep into our understanding of the future.