Forgive me, my Lords, if I just try to get my circulation going.
I am extremely grateful to all noble Lords who have participated in this debate, which noble Lords will recall was time-limited in the House of Commons to 90 minutes. We have now spent three hours and 23 minutes
on it, which at least gives some indication of the diligence and seriousness with which noble Lords take the scrutiny functions of this House. I am grateful at the outset to all those who have spoken. I fear that, if I tried to address every question and every point that has been raised, the Chief Whip might have to cancel the Easter Recess, which I do not think would make us very popular. I hope noble Lords will forgive me if I cannot cover every speech and every point.
As ever, I am very grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Murphy of Torfaen, for his wise counsel and support, and to the noble Baroness, Lady Suttie, from the Liberal Democrats. The noble Lord referred to the importance of getting the institutions back up and running. As we mark the 25th anniversary of the Belfast agreement in a couple of weeks’ time—I think he and I will be at some of the same events—that is an urgent priority for His Majesty’s Government. I give the assurance that we will continue to work strenuously towards that objective.
I am also grateful to a number of my noble friends behind me. My noble friend Lord Lexden made a customarily powerful intervention, and I share his assessment of the Windsor Framework. My noble friend Lord Swire said some kind words about my thighs on the Bench. His dilemma, if you like, and the issues he confronted back in 2016, entirely echoed my own when it came to the referendum. I think we found ourselves voting in the same way in the end. My noble friends Lord Robathan and Lord Taylor of Holbeach also expressed support, for which I am grateful.
We are being asked to consider the amendment in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Morrow, so I believe it would be helpful if I tried to address at least some of the points that he and all his DUP colleagues who spoke in the debate raised this afternoon and this evening. I acknowledge the concern expressed by a number of noble Lords, including DUP Peers but also my noble friend Lord Robathan, that the mechanism in these regulations does not apply to EU law already in place and that it applies only to future new or replacement EU law. To this I simply say that the amount of EU law that applies in Northern Ireland is less than 3% of the whole. Of course, as has been pointed out during the debate, democratically elected representatives in Northern Ireland retain the right to reject that 3% through next year’s consent vote. I know noble Lords have views on the democratic consent mechanism, but I do not think it would be fruitful to reopen that debate at this moment. It is the case that through the Windsor Framework we have removed 1,700 pages of EU law. In response to a recent Question from my noble friend Lord Dodds of Duncairn, I highlighted that in annexe 1 of the EU regulations concerning SPS rules to accommodate Northern Ireland, 67 EU rules are disapplied. All the disapplied law is, I think, contained in the legal text published on 27 February.
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A number of noble Lords criticised the parliamentary scrutiny of these regulations. I remind them that Parliament has already given the Government the power to amend the protocol through the EU withdrawal Act, and as an international agreement this is covered by the royal prerogative.
A number of noble Lords—particularly those from the DUP, as well as the noble Lord, Lord Thomas of Gresford, and the noble Baroness, Lady Hoey—questioned the effectiveness of the brake in practice and, in effect, argued that it would be either ineffectual or rarely used and does not live up to the promises that this Government have made. Naturally enough, I disagree with that and believe that the mechanism provides a powerful new ongoing democratic safeguard and goes far beyond a one-off consent vote every four years. It places very real obligations on the Government. To respond to one of the points made by the noble Baroness, Lady Hoey, the Government are not able in the regulations to use the threat of remedial action as a reason not to carry out or enforce the veto.
My noble friend Lord Lilley talked about the regulations not actually adding anything new. I respectfully disagree, on the basis that they allow for the vetoing of new laws or amendments to laws that are already within the protocol, which is not currently available to the Government. I argue that that is a very real change and a powerful safeguard.
A number of noble Lords referred to the scrutiny committee and its function, including the noble Lord, Lord Jay of Ewelme—some hours ago—and the noble Lords, Lord Hain and Lord Thomas of Gresford. Again, the scrutiny committee is intended to be a powerful mechanism for looking at any proposed changes. I emphasise the point that the committee will not just be able to look at new EU laws after they have been adopted in that two- month period during which the brake can be pulled. We all know that many EU laws take a good many years in gestation and to become adopted. The committee will be able to look at proposals from the EU from the point at which they are announced or become public knowledge, not just the point at which they are adopted, so there will be quite a lengthy period in which the scrutiny committee can deliberate on these matters.
The noble Lord, Lord Morrow, and his colleagues spent much time, and rightly so, focusing on the position of Northern Ireland within the UK internal market. I can say only that the Government have emphasised at length that in their view the Windsor agreement removes in every sense the Irish Sea border for goods within the United Kingdom and creates a new green lane and a new internal market scheme for businesses trading from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. This removes costs, paperwork and checks, with international customs paperwork and supplementary declarations scrapped. The only checks that will take place in the green lane will target smuggling and criminality.
We have also secured complete and unfettered access for goods on the Northern Ireland market, with no export processes required. Once businesses have enrolled in the trusted trader scheme—as friends of mine did last week in a matter of minutes—many goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland will be in the same category as those going from, for example, my home city of Leeds to the Isle of Wight. Therefore, I would not categorise this as some great plot somehow to secure an economically united Ireland. As the Prime Minister made very clear a couple of weeks ago, there are two economies on the island of Ireland, and Northern Ireland remains very much part of the sixth-largest economy in the world.
My noble friend Lord Taylor of Holbeach made some specific points regarding seeds and horticulture. It is the case that seed potatoes can go to Northern Ireland; he is right to say it is from grower to grower, but my understanding is they can then be placed on the retail market. If I am wrong, I will write to my noble friend, but I understand his concerns.
The noble Baroness the former First Minister of Northern Ireland asked what was meant by “significant” in the context of the brake. This really means something significantly different about a new rule which covers both the content and scope, and the impact must be specific to everyday life and liable to persist. She also talked about areas of divergence between NI and GB; she will be aware that the United Kingdom Internal Market Act guarantees Northern Ireland unfettered access to the market in Great Britain.
The noble Lord, Lord Hain, whose speech I followed with great interest, asked me lots of questions. I am sorry to say that at one point I very much parted company with him when he raised his support for Chelsea. As somebody from Leeds, I still find it very hard to forgive the FA Cup final replay in 1970. However, returning to the present, he asked me a number of detailed questions. If he will forgive me, in the interests of time and given how long we have spent on this SI tonight, I will endeavour to give him a detailed response in writing to each of the points that he made.
Clearly, another theme of the debate this evening has been the Acts of Union and their primacy, and Northern Ireland’s position within the United Kingdom. I appreciate that this is of great concern to a number of noble Lords. As noble Lords will not be surprised to hear, the Government’s view is that Northern Ireland’s position within the United Kingdom remains fully respected as per the Acts of Union in a modern context and of course in accordance with the Belfast agreement. I think the Supreme Court in its recent judgment made it clear that the Acts of Union remain on the statute book, including Article 6 relating to trade, albeit in a modified form. As far as the United Kingdom Government are concerned, Northern Ireland is and remains an integral part of our union, something that I strongly support. I hope that that reassures to some extent the former First Minister on one of her questions.
Regarding the principle of consent that was raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Ritchie of Downpatrick, as her colleague, the noble Lord, Lord Murphy of Torfaen, made clear, it is written into the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and the Belfast agreement, and there are no changes whatever to it.
I am conscious of time. In the Government’s view, we have rewritten the protocol treaty, replaced it with a legally binding new Windsor Framework that removes the sea border, restores the free flow of trade from GB to Northern Ireland, protects Northern Ireland’s position within our union through fixing practical problems on pets, parcels and medicines, and ensures that UK decisions on tax and spend benefit people and businesses in Northern Ireland as they do in Great Britain. It goes beyond the 2021 Command Paper and the protocol Bill in crucial areas and restores the delicate balance inherent in the Belfast agreement.
I will conclude with this. I stand in this noble House and at this Dispatch Box as a Conservative and as a unionist. Indeed, I sometimes think that I am a unionist first and a Conservative second, and unionism is not and should never be the preserve of one political party. I have always believed passionately that the best future for Northern Ireland is and always will be as an integral part of our strong United Kingdom—that is, a peaceful, stable and prosperous Northern Ireland that works for all parts of the community. For a period of nearly 35 years I have only ever been guided by what I believe is the right thing for Northern Ireland.
I fully acknowledge, as a number of noble Lords have pointed out this evening, that the Windsor Frame- work is not a perfect document; indeed, no deal ever will be. However, I believe that if we seek the unattainable, we genuinely risk making the pursuit of the perfect the sworn enemy of the very good. Therefore, today, I firmly believe that the framework, of which these regulations are such an important part, represents very significant improvements on the old protocol negotiated in 2019, my views on which are a matter of record. The framework can, in my opinion as a staunch unionist, form the basis for building a stronger, brighter future for Northern Ireland, a Northern Ireland that works. In that spirit, I urge colleagues across the whole House to support these regulations, to reject the fatal amendment to the Motion and, as one United Kingdom, to make these objectives a reality. Therefore, I commend the regulations to the House.