My Lords, I want to speak on a number of these amendments but will make a small technical point at the beginning. Amendment 209 and others in this group refer to Scottish Ministers, Welsh Ministers and a Northern Ireland department. A number of colleagues have asked why this is the case—in fact the noble Lord, Lord Kilclooney, challenged it during one exchange some weeks go. But the Government’s amendment is in fact correct because power in Northern Ireland is not vested in the Minister; it is vested in the department. This goes back to some kind of anomaly in 1921. I have never understood or heard an explanation as to why that is the case, but it is. Amendment 209 is correct but some amendments in this group do not quite follow the same pattern. I think that would need to be addressed. The role of a Minister is to direct and control a department in Northern Ireland so that power is vested in the department, not in the Minister.
With regard to the amendments, my first question to the Minister is: what happens if Whitehall fails to get the agreement of one or other of these devolved institutions? What impact would that have and how would it be addressed in practice?
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Members who have spoken so far today and on Tuesday evening have raised the valid question of whether we have a framework for a UK market, but what is not fully appreciated is that Northern Ireland is effectively in the European Union from the point of view of agriculture, and no man can serve two masters. We can have all the frameworks we like, but at the end of the day, the devolved Administration in Belfast may not be able to sign up to them for the simple reason that they are bound under the Northern Ireland protocol to follow EU regulations.
My point to my noble friends on the Front Bench—not getting at them politically—is that there is a huge political issue here. Her Majesty’s Government—and even in the last fortnight, members of the Cabinet—are even denying that there is a border in the Irish Sea. There is and it is there in the protocol. It was in the explanatory note on 2 October 2019 and reinforced in the agreement of 17 October 2019—it is there. You can waffle on or tear things up and throw them in the bin or do whatever you like, but the border is there.
Why else would you have to notify the authorities? If you are Mr Tesco and you send a tin of baked beans to Belfast, you have to notify the authorities that you are sending those beans and tell them what is in them and they may be subject to inspection. That applies to all manufactures and not just to agriculture. Let us at least acknowledge the reality. I support the principle that we should ask for the consent of the devolved Administrations, but from the point of view of the Bill, we are saying to them: “Let us develop a framework”, but one of those component parts is not capable of doing so, because it is bound by international treaty to follow the regulations of the European Union.
We can say whatever we like, but I would like the Minister, on behalf of the Government, to acknowledge the reality that there is a border in the Irish Sea. Our own European Union Committee spelled out in its recent reports exactly the facts of the case. Let us have some clarity and honesty as to where we are. As the noble Lord, Lord Alderdice, said, agriculture is our largest industry; it supports many thousands of jobs; and we have some unique problems. Of course, we now have cross-border problems throughout the United Kingdom. I have no doubt there are farms in Wales and Scotland that cross into England. It is not simply a Northern Ireland-only issue, but I appeal to my noble friends on the Front Bench to at least acknowledge this reality.
My final point is that not only is that the case, but every four years the Assembly could be asked whether it accepts and is prepared to continue with these arrangements, with us being left in the European Union regulations. When the amendment in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Hain, looked for multi-year financial deals, how do you even contemplate that when you have these levels of uncertainty? It is very difficult, and I sincerely hope my noble friend will be able to clarify the matter absolutely so that everybody in Belfast will know where they are.