My Lords, I am most grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Purvis of Tweed, and the noble Baroness, Lady McIntosh of Pickering, for so eloquently laying out the issues. In some ways, I hesitate to come in after their vast experience. But, as so often at this stage of proceedings, my purpose in supporting this amendment is not so much in the expectation that every word of it will be enacted—as we are now in Committee—but to make a very important point that I hope the Government will reflect on and address.
We are one-fifth of the way through this 21st century, and on the eve of an era where, outside the EU, we will be more reliant than ever on negotiating trade agreements. Trade policy is simply too important to be determined solely by Ministers wrapping themselves in some cloak of royal prerogative. As the Supreme Court reminded us, prerogative powers should not be used to curtail the rights of Parliament, and in particular the elected House, to hold the Government to account.
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Trade agreements are not just about tariffs and expanding consumer choice. They can also restrict our capacity to decide for ourselves the standards of the food we eat and the way we manage our public services, so of course Parliament must have a role in setting the bounds of what the Government should seek to achieve and what they are allowed to negotiate away in their trade deals with countries that do not share our values or priorities. And of course Parliament must have the right to consent or not to the terms of a free trade agreement, once it has been negotiated. Given, as I rehearsed earlier in Committee, that trade agreements will inevitably impact on matters within devolved competence, the devolved legislatures and Governments must also have a role in these matters.
I do not wish to argue for a veto for each of the devolved nations in all circumstances. Ultimately, Parliament is sovereign and should decide, but Parliament and the Government must consult with and listen to the views and concerns of the elected representatives in Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast and, wherever possible, work with their consent, not in the teeth of opposition.
So I support the principle behind this amendment, and the whole group of amendments, to make it clear that the Bill must be amended to reflect the legitimate role of Parliament and the devolved authorities in determining the shape of our trade policy which, in turn, can determine our freedom to act in so many areas of domestic policy. I feel we will need to return to this on Report.