My Lords, it is probably time to move on to the concluding speeches, as we have heard from every DUP Peer present. This has been a thoughtful and comprehensive debate. Like the noble Lord, Lord Lilley, I have agreed with bits of many speeches—although, I suspect, slightly different bits from the noble Lord—and it has shown some of the strengths and weaknesses of how we debate in this Chamber.
These Benches welcome the Windsor Framework and will vote against the amendment to the Motion if there is a Division. As noble Lords have said, the framework is not perfect—far from it. To quote the noble Baroness, Lady Foster, we would not have wanted to start from here. However, it is a significant improvement on the original Boris Johnson deal. Perhaps most importantly, I sincerely hope the Windsor Framework marks the beginning of a normalisation of our working relations with Brussels, as the noble Lord, Lord Robathan, said—a return to negotiation and constructive dialogue rather than the threats and bad faith that have characterised the last three years during the Boris Johnson and Liz Truss era. In that respect, I agree with the short but powerful speech of the noble Lord, Lord Lexden.
It is also welcome that, as a result of the negotiations, progress has finally been made on veterinary, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, which we have been calling for consistently from these Benches. The vote last week in the House of Commons was overwhelming: 515 to 29. Although it was nominally about the Stormont brake, which we are debating today, in reality it was a vote on the wider Windsor deal. It is in that spirit that I will focus my remarks today.
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Brexit was always going to be complicated for Northern Ireland. It is tragic that, in the debate during the referendum in 2016, some of these realities were not acknowledged and, at times, disinformation was promoted. There is a danger, as the noble Baroness, Lady Hoey, and many others, including the noble Lord, Lord Weir, have said, in trying to oversell the Windsor deal. It has, inevitably, provoked suspicions. But the Prime
Minister was not wrong to highlight the fact that Northern Ireland remains in a unique position with its access to both the UK and EU single markets. It is something which many of us would have wished to see for the whole UK.
Much has been made of the democratic deficit and the fact that Northern Ireland will, to a certain degree, be a rule taker. That was always going to be one of the challenges of the hard-line Brexit chosen by this Government, when we no longer have the ability to influence directly our nearest neighbours and biggest market across the English Channel. The United Kingdom no longer has a place in the Council of Ministers or any MEPs in the European Parliament to speak up for our concerns, but that was the decision this country chose to take—one that I regret but acknowledge.
I very much agree with the noble Lord, Lord Jay, in his excellent speech, that it is important that Northern Ireland’s views are fed as early as possible into the EU decision-making processes. The Windsor agreement states that,
“new mechanisms for stakeholder engagement within those structures, including business and civic society groups”,
will be established. I would be grateful if the Minister could say a little more about how he envisages that working in practice. If he cannot do that today, perhaps he can write to us all.
The Stormont brake is one of the answers to this democratic deficit. Unlike some in the debate we have heard today—with six speeches from the DUP—my colleagues in the Alliance Party, as well as the SDLP, have concerns that this potentially gives too much power to the DUP by, in effect, allowing a veto. Others in the Northern Ireland political parties fear that this will create constant blockages in the system. Clearly, for the Stormont brake to come into effect, there has to be a Stormont. Yet the DUP has rejected this deal and continues to refuse to go back into the Executive and allow the Assembly to function. As the noble Baroness, Lady Ritchie, said so powerfully, this is producing a much greater democratic deficit. The continuing blocking of the Assembly and Executive means that decisions on the economy, schools and health have to be examined, sometimes late at night, here in Westminster, when it would clearly be so much better for them to be dealt with in Stormont.
Measures from the EU are usually technical and framework in nature, whereas blocking the functioning of Stormont is having a real impact on everyday lives in Northern Ireland. In many ways, as the noble Lord, Lord Taylor, said very effectively in his speech, the debate this afternoon—and we are now well into the evening—illustrates the problem of parliamentary oversight of secondary legislation. We are debating something that has already come into force without any chance to amend or improve it. Assuming, as we all hope, a functioning Executive and Assembly are eventually back in place, can the Minister say whether it is the Government's intention to review the Stormont brake at some point in the future, once we know how it operates in practice?
As we approach the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday/Belfast agreement, and we recall the bravery and the commitment by so many, including many here
in this Chamber, it is perhaps useful to remember that change happens through dialogue, negotiation and being in the room.