My Lords, I rise to speak to Amendment 31, to which I have also added my name. I fully support the comments made by the noble Baroness, Lady Jones of Whitchurch. Many contributions today have been extremely legalistic, but for me this amendment is much simpler.
Many noble Lords will be wondering why it is necessary to have this amendment in the Bill. The Government have committed not to compromise on environmental standards. An undertaking was in the previous withdrawal agreement Bill but was removed from the Bill that passed through Parliament in December 2019. If the Government have committed not to compromise, why was it necessary to remove this undertaking from the Bill? Despite being asked, the Government have provided no clarity on how environmental standards are to be protected.
As we can see from what is happening in other parts of the world, not least Australia, the environment is very fragile. Animal and plant species are constantly under threat from the effects of what used to be known as freak weather conditions. These excessive droughts, floods and temperature rises are having a devastating effect on animals and humans alike. They are no longer occasional disaster events but have become yearly occurrences. Unless the UK engages completely with preserving, maintaining and enhancing our environmental standards, we are likely to see an increase in flooding and fire damage in our villages and on our moors.
Ensuring food safety should be paramount when the Government come to broker trade deals with countries outside the EU. The UK consumes large quantities of chickens, and I am sorry about the next bit. Currently we import chicken breast meat and export darker leg meat. This trade currently goes to Europe, where we know standards of food protection are the same as ours. We could be self-sufficient in chickens if the British housewife could be persuaded to consume more dark meat and slightly less breast meat.
On a purely personal note, I am extremely reluctant to find myself having to buy chlorinated chicken that has arrived from America, be it whole chicken, breast or leg meat. A lowering of food safety standards has
had dramatic effects on our country in the past; the BSE crisis springs to mind.
As stated at Second Reading, the UK currently has high standards in habitat protection and product safety. These standards have been developed with our European neighbours so that we now benefit from cleaner beaches, safer food and the best regulation of chemicals in the world. While these will pertain at the point of exit, are we really going to leave ensuring the maintenance of these standards to the joint committee? We have heard that the joint committee has the ability to amend the withdrawal agreement itself should it choose to do so, with no parliamentary oversight.
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During the lengthy process since the result of the referendum was announced, there have been many cries of the British Parliament taking back control of what happens in this country. However, as the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Leeds said on Monday, parliamentary sovereignty has not been returned to the UK with this Bill. The sovereignty appears to have been handed to the joint committee.
Having spent many, many weeks and months last year, along with the Minister, debating SIs to move EU law into UK law to protect animal rights and food safety, and to ensure the safeguarding of plant health and species and the licensing and restriction of chemicals, I am mystified by why the Government do not now want to protect these standards in perpetuity to safeguard the population and to ensure that they enjoy, into the future, the environmental standards they currently live under.
It is essential that this proposed new clause on non-regression is added to the Bill to safeguard future generations. The answer may be that this will be covered by the environment Bill—I wait to see. I have to admit to being somewhat disappointed on Monday by the winding speech from the noble and learned Lord, Lord Keen of Elie, who is not in his place. Despite over 10 speakers mentioning environmental standards at some point in their speeches, the noble and learned Lord made no mention at all of this subject in his remarks. It may be that this area is not his forte. I hope that today we will get the reassurances that we are looking for.