I thank the noble Lord for his intervention. I must say that that was not how this House sold the original protocol to my colleagues in this House. In fact, we were derided for ever suggesting that we would be opposed to the protocol, even though it is now acknowledged that there is a democratic deficit.
In many ways, this debate, like the framework itself, is something of a sham, because the deed is already done and signed. In fact, we were told that the Government had no intention of heeding any changes that we might decide upon, because, as the Secretary of State said at the weekend, the DUP has
“yet to come to terms with the significance”
of the vote. He added:
“There is no renegotiating of that deal”.
I have heard Members saying that matters should be renegotiated, but the Secretary of State has emphatically stated—as has the Prime Minister—that there will be no renegotiation of the deal. That means that any comments we make at this time in the debate are meaningless, as far as the Government are concerned. I respectfully suggest that seeking to demean the unionist leadership, as the Secretary of State did, does not restore confidence in the good will of this Government, and neither will it assist with the restoration of Stormont. Yes, the vote was taken in the other place, and although your Lordships’ House is supposed to scrutinise legislation and to improve it, if necessary, we were not granted the opportunity to do so.
6.45 pm
On Friday 24 March, before we even had an opportunity to speak a word in this House, the Foreign Secretary and the vice-president of the European Commission formally signed off the Windsor Framework at the Withdrawal Agreement Joint Council. It was a fait accompli—done. So much for the words in the title of the statutory instrument, “Democratic Scrutiny”; it insults democratic scrutiny and the democratic process.
We must ask: why the rush? It is certainly not to solve the problem in Northern Ireland, because unionists, who the Foreign Secretary said had to be satisfied, are clearly not. The deal has been rushed through. Why? Because Europe once again got what it wanted out of the negotiations. Then, as was mentioned by the noble Lord, Lord Swire, we will have the visit by the American President—so of course the Government must please him. When will this Government get up off their knees and stand up for the interests of the United Kingdom, instead of pandering to the EU and the United States?
The promises made by the Prime Minister to win support for the Windsor Framework are already falling apart. The Prime Minister claimed, during his turbo- charged speech in Lisburn as he danced across the stage, that the agreement would ensure frictionless trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and that we should grasp the opportunity with both hands. The so-called green lane would mean no more trade-diverging checks. However, that statement, when scrutinised in the full light of reality, must surely be considered, at best, as misleading to Parliament and the people of Northern Ireland. It was easily exposed not only through a reading of the text but by the statements from the European Commission yesterday, which totally blew it out of the water. Its spokesman stated emphatically that the EU will not change any of its rules which block internal UK trade until the UK builds four border posts in Northern Ireland. Those border posts must be to EU specifications; they must pass EU audit; and, to add insult to injury, the EU
audit must be carried out by vets from the Republic of Ireland. The posts must have EU staff in them to ensure that the British officials behave themselves properly. All traffic going through them must have—as yet unspecified—customs declarations which meet EU requirements. One in 10 loads will be physically checked. All goods will have to be individually labelled—not for the EU—and the whole green-lane arrangement can be stopped by the EU at any time.
But the Prime Minister describes this as frictionless trade, and, in his mind, it is evidence that Northern Ireland is fully part of the United Kingdom. Does he think that the people of Northern Ireland are fools? Do Members of this House who support Brexit really believe that this charade represents taking back control? From my reading, the fact is that the border down the Irish Sea has been strengthened; it is more visually apparent and bolstered in law. EU laws will still apply in Northern Ireland with no democratic control over them, but we are told that we now have an effective mechanism to stop that happening—the Stormont brake. We are discussing it, but does that claim stand up to scrutiny, or is it a total fake or fancy packaging for a product that is suspect?
Apart from the requirement of a petition of concern to trigger it—the use of which would create instability in the Northern Ireland Assembly because of the opposition to it being used for anything, let alone a divisive issue such as EU law—the fact is that this SI is full of ways in which the Government can cut the brake cable. Regulation 15 makes it clear that the Secretary of State does not have to accept a notification from the Assembly. Regulation 18 makes it clear that there are grounds on which he would not use his veto at the joint committee. The first reason, “exceptional circumstances”, gives massive scope to avoid a fight with the EU. On top of this, even if he does accept the notification and even if the veto is used, its application is subject to an independent assessment, so the veto can be overruled.
Working against any objection to EU laws is the sheer number of them—nearly 700 in the past two years, or one a day. Does anyone believe that the convoluted mechanism can ever deal with this volume of EU law or that the scrutiny committee to be set up, and made up of a majority of pro-EU Northern Ireland party members, would ever undertake such a task seriously? This brake does not provide democratic control. To tell you the truth, this brake could not stop a tricycle, never mind the EU juggernaut travelling down the track. Let us face it, this Government, who pump out the rhetoric of taking back control, have thrown the doors open to allow the EU to impose its laws on part of the United Kingdom without any attempt to deal with the implications of that.
What are the implications? Northern Ireland will be gradually removed from the ambit of UK law and drawn into the orbit of the EU. This process will accelerate as the UK breaks free of EU business-destroying regulation, and the only way in which that can be avoided is for the UK Government to resist the desire to set their own laws and stay tied to the EU.
Yesterday, the Prime Minister stated in a big banner headline in the Daily Express, “I’ll Fight Every Day for Our ‘Precious Union’”. Sadly, the people of Northern
Ireland have heard all this before. We will not be taken in by verbal promises that are meaningless, whenever actions taken by the Government push Northern Ireland further away from the union. Since the signing of the Northern Ireland protocol, the DUP has warned the Government of the inherent dangers that we faced, and we were mocked by many, even in your Lordship’s House. Indeed, we were told that it was an international agreement and not a word could be changed or renegotiated. Indeed, there were those who had the audacity to tell us that, if we did not accept it, worse would be forced upon the unionist community. Our party, of which I am proud to be a member, was forced to press the nuclear button and bring the Stormont Executive down before anyone in the Government took us seriously. Of course, that is because they believed that unionists were all bluster, but, because of the unified action taken by unionists, led by the DUP, it finally registered with the Government that unionism had come to the end of the line and enough was enough.
In conclusion, for the reasons that I have set out today, I do not believe that my party could re-enter an Assembly which would require us to work for the destruction of the union by implementing foreign laws in our own country. The Government should be in no doubt about our determination to defend the integrity of the UK, even if they will not. Our leader has set out seven tests by which we would judge progress, and the Windsor Framework comes far short of these. No tinkering through legislation will lead us back into Stormont. If those who say that they fully support the Belfast agreement want to assist in its restoration, they must make the necessary changes to do so.