Northern Ireland After Brexit (Northern Ireland Scrutiny Committee Report)

Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard Excerpts

Wednesday 25th March 2026 Grand Committee

[Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (UUP)]

My Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Hain. Noble Lords will understand that I do not agree with everything he says. In fact, he does not always agree with me either. I declare my interests: I am member of the Ulster Farmers Union and a farmer. One day, he questioned about me actually being a farmer. Some people at home would probably question that as well. I was not on the committee when the report was brought forward, but I enjoy being on the committee now, under the chairmanship of the noble Lord, Lord Carlile. The staff are excellent and make an excellent contribution to what we do.

The Northern Ireland protocol, Windsor Framework and Safeguarding the Union—whatever document you want to look at—promised so much for the people of Northern Ireland, but they have not delivered. That is the problem that everybody faces here. Today, we are all trying to address some of those shortfalls, particularly within the Windsor Framework. At this stage, I commend the businesses, farming community and the sectors of Northern Ireland, which have been extremely resilient in the face of adversity, in relation to trying to make their businesses and the economy work and doing it under so much stress and with many difficulties. The reality for businesses on the ground is that there is a fog of uncertainty within that process, and that is something that we need to address.

I welcome the noble Lord, Lord Murphy, being here and I welcomed his report, because it went into some of the detail, similar to what the scrutiny committee worked out. But the one recommendation that was mentioned here before the noble Lord, Lord Murphy, brought that out was the one-stop shop. I agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Foster, that we cannot wait an overly long time for that to be implemented, because businesses just cannot afford that time. If you run a business that is struggling in Northern Ireland, and you are told that you will need to wait another 18 months to two years for a one-stop shop to give you advice, that is not going to be any help to you at that stage. That is one aspect that needs more urgent attention and delivery.

Uncertainty is not a neutral condition; it corrodes investment, deters expansion and punishes smaller firms in particular. Yes, we have heard that larger firms are also impacted, but they can absorb it slightly more easily than the smaller firms, which have huge difficulty within their sector. In the Ulster Unionist Party, certainly, we have vociferous in our opposition to the border in the Irish Sea; it inhibits any trade between GB and Northern Ireland. That is, in effect, what we have. I am sure that we all know loads of people that have tried to order goods online and they cannot get them because that business in GB has stopped trading with Northern Ireland—full-stop.

I want to raise the issue of the importation of machinery from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. There has been a huge impact on that industry and economy in Northern Ireland. Lots of the machinery may be sold outside Northern Ireland, but there is no reason why the inspections could not be simplified and why they could not be done in Northern Ireland for goods that are moving on to the Republic of Ireland or other parts of the EU. It is nonsensical that the inspections have to be done in GB before the goods come to Northern Ireland. There needs to be a much better process for that.

Another issue is veterinary medicines, which has been a problem for a long time. We got the human medicines sorted out at a very early stage in the process; why could we not also sort out the veterinary medicines at a similar time?

I have heard so much talk about the Democratic Scrutiny Committee in the Northern Ireland Assembly, but it is just not working. I accept the point from the noble Lord, Lord Hain, that MLAs in the Northern Ireland Assembly need a bigger role, but we need to persuade the Government and EU that they be allowed that additional role, because at present my understanding is that they are not permitted that extra responsibility. Like the noble Lord, Lord Hain, I feel that they should be. There is a job of work there, whether it is for the UK Government, the European Union or both together, to allow greater input from the Northern Ireland Assembly. The MLAs are the people on the ground who hear daily from businesses and, on most occasions, try to assist and help them.

The noble Lord, Lord Lilley, made the point that this process is temporary. It may be temporary, but it is here. The fact is that we have businesses trying to manage their way around it, and they are finding it so difficult without that one-stop shop. It is temporary until the reset takes place. We hear a lot about what is happening at present. One of the faults of the Windsor Framework—or of implementing it and the protocol before it—was that little or no preparation was done, and the people of Northern Ireland have been the fall people. That is why it is so important that we now start preparation for the UK-EU reset.

I am not hearing much—others may be—from the Government about what is taking place and what process is in place around that EU-UK reset. What is happening and what processes can we expect? Now is the time to get the information, evidence and foresight from those businesses that have had to comply with what we have in Northern Ireland. They should have an input into the reset, and it should be codesigned in parallel with them. Now is the time to start preparing for that, otherwise—I say this to the noble Lord, Lord Lilley—unless we find a better mechanism, it will not improve things, even though this is temporary. Whatever the more final process is, we need to ensure that it is much better.

The list of barriers continues. I have mentioned agricultural machinery and veterinary medicines, but the movement of livestock—sheep and cattle—from GB to Northern Ireland is also a huge problem. That is within the United Kingdom, and it should not be an issue. In particular, people are purchasing pedigree animals on mainland GB and cannot get them imported into Northern Ireland. I know farmers who have bought extremely expensive animals that have now been sitting in what we would call storage or in farm isolation units in Scotland or England for almost 18 months. That is totally unfair to those farmers who are trying to do their best for not only the economy of Northern Ireland but the entirety of the UK.

What is most striking is that we still have not found a resolution to all this, even though we have been at it for a number of years. Most businesses have found their own resolutions in many aspects—they have just got on with business and found ways around it—but the one thing that they find extremely difficult is that they still cannot import some goods that they need from GB into Northern Ireland. They have to look for those goods from other sources, which is not always easy. That is going to be an aspect, as this year goes on, for veterinary medicines, because those arrangements already been implemented. There are quite large stocks within vets, but as those start to run down it will be much more difficult for the veterinarians first and then for the farmers to access the medicines they need. They will have to find other sources that are probably much more expensive and in different bulk sizes. They may have to buy veterinary medicine for 500 animals when they need it for only 50, because they cannot get it in that smaller size.

UK-EU Relations

Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard Excerpts

Thursday 13th February 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

The Government are meeting with four countries—France, Germany, Holland and Belgium—on those exact points.

[Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (UUP)]

My Lords, at present, Northern Ireland is sitting apart from the rest of the UK in relation to Europe. Will any future relationships and management processes that the UK might have with the European Union include Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom, so we will all be back into one position again?

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

I refer the noble Lord to the independent review of the Windsor Framework, led by my noble friend Lord Murphy, which will report within six months. As somebody with family in Northern Ireland, I am very clear that it is absolutely part of the UK.

Inheritance Tax, National Insurance and VAT

Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard Excerpts

Monday 27th January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (UUP)]

My Lords, I welcome this debate and I declare an interest as a farmer and a landowner.

First, I want to touch briefly on the national insurance contributions increase. This will be increased on the employers, but who will really pay for it? The people who will pay for are the consumers, the people who use the services and buy the goods, because the employer is going to pass that on. So what is it? It is really a tax—another tax on the individuals and the people of our community. That is what the additional national insurance contributions are.

I move on to the inheritance tax and the APR: damaging, unfair, destructive—we have heard all these terms for the last couple of months around this policy, and that is exactly what it is. It is going to do exactly the opposite of what I believe the genuine intention of the Government is. So there is bound to be a way around it. Look at the active farmer issue: safeguard those active farmers and the small family farms and hit the bigger corporations, because those are the people who will ultimately gain out of it now.

We need to produce food here in an environmentally safe way, that is good for the consumer, and that has better welfare standards than importing it from those countries that do not have the same welfare standards as we do in the United Kingdom, which we pride ourselves on.

So, please, let us not throw the baby out with the bathwater here. I say to the Government: make sure that you protect those family-run farms in the United Kingdom that can produce that good food. I just believe that this is an unfair picking on the family farm that will ruin that sector, and all it will do is provide more land and more income for the big, commercialised people.

Renewable Energy: Costs

Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard Excerpts

Thursday 14th November 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (UUP)]

My Lords I welcome the opportunity to speak in this important debate and I thank the noble Lord, Lord Frost, for securing it. The renewable energy system stems from the climate change issue, so we cannot look at one in isolation without the other. I am interested in the noble Lord, Lord Frost, saying that there is no consensus around some of the figures and costings. I assume that that is because some of those estimates are just guesstimates at a high level, as opposed to having any significant background to the figures.

I am concerned about climate change, as I am sure most in this House are. I want to see renewable energy and I support it, but it all comes at a cost. We have to devise that cost in a practical manner and not just set targets that cannot be achieved. In Northern Ireland, we have set targets that I do not believe are achievable—in fact, we have missed all our early targets on climate change.

It also comes sometimes at an environmental cost. In the early 1950s, a renewable project—a hydro-plant—was built at Ballyshannon, in the Republic of Ireland, using the water that flows from Lough Erne in County Fermanagh. That has had huge environmental challenges, not least in that it has decimated the salmon and eel industries in Lough Erne. The salmon, eel and other fish trying to get back up through the hydro-plant have been slaughtered. They have been cut and killed by the blades of the hydro-plant, and that has reduced the number of fish stocks within Lough Erne. This has been a huge environmental disaster in County Fermanagh, so we need to be careful about how we do this. Just a few years ago, hundreds of thousands of eels were trapped in that hydro-plant and killed. That is a huge loss to the environment in County Fermanagh and to Lough Erne.

We do not always have sun shining and wind blowing, so we need to find other back-up mechanisms. I accept that other aspects, such as wave energy, might be more reliable. We need to do this in a managed way. In Northern Ireland, we had the renewable heat incentive, or RHI, which turned out to be an absolute disaster. We cannot now invest in further renewable incentives in Northern Ireland; we are pouring money back from the Executive every year, simply because we are not allowed to utilise that funding while the RHI is still in place. It has been a disaster not only for the Government and the Executive but for many of those genuine users who have invested millions of pounds into projects that they now cannot make pay, and who are returning to conventional types of heating such as oil and coal. We need to be careful in what we do and how we do it. That is why we should not rush into issues that are not reasonable.

Last December, I attended a seminar led by government and executive officials in Northern Ireland. We were told that, by 2027—in just three years—it will cost government departments in the small area of Northern Ireland £2.3 billion to implement climate change policies up to that point, and that is not to talk of what it will cost businesses, ordinary householders and the public.

London Attack

Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard Excerpts

Thursday 23rd March 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I absolutely agree. It is wrong to describe what happened as Islamic terrorism; it is Islamist terrorism—a perversion of a great faith.

[Tom Elliott (Fermanagh and South Tyrone) (UUP)]

I pay tribute to the Prime Minister and wish her and her Cabinet well in their deliberations as we move forward. I echo everything that has been said about those who were killed, their families and the other victims. Will the Prime Minister ensure that every effort is made to support the victims and families, and the police officer whose role was to stop the terrorist in the end?

[The Prime Minister]

I assure the hon. Gentleman that that support will be available. Of course, the Metropolitan police already have in place the necessary support arrangements for those who have been injured and the bereaved families. I have also asked the Government to look at what further support can be made available for victims in a wider sense, because there will be people who were not physically injured in the attack yesterday, but witnessed it or were caught up in it, for whom there may be other scars. It is important to provide that support.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard Excerpts

Wednesday 8th February 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

This is obviously a very important issue that my hon. Friend has raised. I understand that on the point of basic medication it is not the fact that the NHS pays more for basic painkillers than on the high street: in fact, its prices are lower. In the case of Kadcyla and similar drugs, it is right that difficult decisions are made on the basis of clinical evidence. I understand that NICE is undertaking a comprehensive assessment before making a final recommendation, and in the meantime Kadcyla is still available to patients.

[Tom Elliott (Fermanagh and South Tyrone) (UUP)]

Last month, Sir Anthony Hart published his report on historical institutional abuse in Northern Ireland. Given the uncertain political situation with the Northern Ireland political institutions, if the Executive is not up and running within a month, will the Prime Minister commit to implementing the report in full?

[The Prime Minister]

This was obviously an important review. We have our own inquiry into historical child abuse in England and Wales. I recognise the hon. Gentleman’s point about looking ahead to the future. The elections in Northern Ireland will take place on 2 March. There will then be a limited period for an Executive to be put together. I fervently hope an Executive can be put together to maintain the devolved institutions, and I encourage all parties to work very hard to ensure that. I do not want the benefits of progress to be undone, but I am sure, looking ahead, that whatever is necessary will be done to ensure that the findings of the report are taken into account and acted on.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard Excerpts

Wednesday 25th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Guto Bebb]

I will obviously not comment on the issue of the refurbishment of the Palace, but I agree entirely with the hon. Gentleman about the importance of getting skills that are relevant to the fabric of buildings in Wales, historic buildings especially. I pay tribute to Coleg Llandrillo Menai, which is doing exactly that—training young people not just in building skills, but in traditional building skills as well.

[Tom Elliott (Fermanagh and South Tyrone) (UUP)]

4. What assessment he has made of priorities for Welsh agriculture policy after the UK has left the EU.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales (Guto Bebb)]

We are determined to get the best deal on leaving the EU. We want a world-leading food and farming industry and the cleanest, healthiest environment for generations. Agriculture is clearly a devolved area, and I am keen for Welsh farmers to add value to their products. We have the capacity and scope to be innovative, not only in growing great products and producing great food, but in processing and selling them worldwide.

[Tom Elliott]

I thank the Minister for that answer. Will he confirm whether, once the UK leaves the European Union, agriculture policy and funding will be devolved to the regions or remain here with the United Kingdom Government?

[Guto Bebb]

It is certainly the case that agriculture policy is currently devolved. Clearly, there will be a repatriation of powers from Brussels to Westminster as a result of the decision to leave the European Union, but there is an ongoing and positive discussion between Westminster and the Welsh Government in relation to where powers will lie. I say categorically that that partnership is essential for the success of agriculture. That partnership must be not only constructive but objective in respect of what works for the farming industry in Wales and the UK.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd November 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

As regards the STP process, of course, that will take place at local level—it will be at the local level that these proposals will be considered and put forward by local clinicians—but the concept of being able to deal with bed blocking in a variety of ways is absolutely right. There are good examples around the country of where having those step-down beds available is actually resolving the problem of bed blocking. There are other ways in which that is being done—in those parts of the country where social workers are being employed by hospital trusts, for example. But is it very good to recognise the good practice when it is being done, and we shall see more of that across the country.

[Tom Elliott (Fermanagh and South Tyrone) (UUP)]

Q10. Earlier this month, IRA man turned lawyer, Kieran Conway, confessed to the BBC that he took part in robberies, bombings and gun attacks that murdered British soldiers. He stated that he will never disclose information on any fellow IRA man, despite knowing details of IRA actions that he defines as constituting war crimes. Can the Prime Minister assure me that Her Majesty’s Government will apply for the extradition of this terrorist for questioning from the Republic of Ireland?

[The Prime Minister]

The question of whether or not an individual would be extradited or a request would be made for extradition is for the appropriate investigation and prosecution authorities to decide. We do, of course, recognise the concerns about those cases where it is still possible to bring people to justice, and obviously we want to see that being done.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd November 2016 Commons Chamber

[Chris Skidmore]

For democracy to work for everyone, we need to ensure that it is clear and secure. The Government are determined to ensure that the electoral register is as complete and accurate as possible. We note that the Electoral Commission has also made recommendations about ID in polling stations. We will reflect on the report of my right hon. Friend the Member for Brentwood and Ongar and respond in due course.

[Tom Elliott (Fermanagh and South Tyrone) (UUP)]

Does the Minister believe that lessons can be learned from the additional measures to tackle voter fraud in Northern Ireland?

[Chris Skidmore]

Obviously, the electoral system in Northern Ireland is separate and has seen advances when it comes to security around polling stations and the electoral process. The Government are interested in all such examples and will be happy to respond when we publish our findings following the report of my right hon. Friend the Member for Brentwood and Ongar.

Prime Minister

Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard Excerpts

Wednesday 14th September 2016 Commons Chamber

The Prime Minister

- Hansard - - Excerpts

I commend my hon. Friend and others in this House who play a role as school governors—a very important role. She is right that schools need to think carefully about how they are using their resources. The approach taken by water companies does vary. However, we are looking at the guidance to water companies in relation to how they can deal with schools and whether they could be looking at using more concessionary rates for schools.

Tom Elliott (Fermanagh and South Tyrone) (UUP)

- Hansard -

Q12. The Prime Minister may be aware of last week’s BBC “Spotlight” programme on serious allegations of corruption and fraud around the National Asset Management Agency’s sale of properties in Northern Ireland. Will she confirm which agencies will be investigating them, whether the National Crime Agency will be involved, and whether a report will be published in due course? (906350)

The Prime Minister

- Hansard - - Excerpts

On the specific issue raised by the hon. Gentleman, I will come back to him on the details. As he knows, the National Crime Agency operates in Northern Ireland on a slightly different basis from that on which it operates elsewhere across the United Kingdom. Where issues are being looked into, it will be necessary to ensure that the appropriate skills and capabilities are brought to bear. If I may, I will write to him with a detailed answer to his question.