European Union (Withdrawal) Bill

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon Excerpts

Tuesday 30th January 2018 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Royall of Blaisdon (Lab)]

My Lords, that was a superb speech. The sky is indeed foul, but it is up to us to try to do something about it.

The speeches today and tomorrow are many, but there will be few disagreements. The vast majority, like mine, will show acute concern about the rudderless nature of the Brexit misadventure, the lack of vision or of preparation and the fact that, as the noble and learned Lord, Lord Hope, said, the Bill comes to us in a sorry state. I am profoundly dismayed about the way in which the Prime Minister continues to put party before country, desperately trying to find a fudge that will keep her in government, if not in power, and placating the Brexiteers, whose thirst for leaving the EU is unquenchable. I fear that this fudge will mean that everything possible will be done to ensure that the much-promised meaningful vote will not be about a firm framework for the future but rather about a heads of agreement which has been described as an expression of intent and aspirations. As ever, for the Prime Minister it will be the politics of her party rather than the policies for our country that will determine success if we exit the European Union on 31 March next year.

All the detailed negotiations that will determine the future prosperity of our country and the security of our citizens will, as we always advised, take place after 31 March, during a transition period. That is crazy. The detailed negotiations will take place at a time when we will have no voice and no influence in the Council, the Commission or the European Parliament. I realise that because of the all-pervading influence of the Brexiteers it would be anathema, perhaps suicidal, for the Prime Minister to suggest that, rather than a lengthy transition, we should seek to extend the Article 50 deadline, but that would be the right thing to do. It would ensure that Ministers remained in control during the negotiations. We are constantly told that the main reason why people voted to leave the European Union was, indeed, about control.

I share the concerns expressed about this fundamentally flawed legislation: the undermining of legal uncertainty; the extension of delegated powers; the impact on our economy and quality of life, et cetera; the impact on the protection of jobs and the rights of workers and consumers; the impact on the protections for women and girls, including those that they currently get from the European protection orders; the guarantee of the peace process; and so much more.

My right honourable friend Sir Keir Starmer did a brilliant job in the Commons and has shown real leadership and huge skill in extending the parameters first set down by my party. I know, too, that my noble friends Lady Smith and Lady Hayter will do likewise. Indeed, they will provide great leadership for this House. I will certainly support their amendments, which, I am sure, will receive wide support across the House. I will also, however, urge them to go further and to embrace membership of the single market and the customs union, which is critical for all parts of the United Kingdom, especially Northern Ireland. That is what we have agreed to do as part of the transition process, but for the sake of our economic and social well-being we need it to be permanent. If we do not secure our economic future in this way, we will not be able to implement the education, health and social policies that are urgently needed to heal our deeply divided society and address the burning inequalities identified by the Prime Minister.

In some of the poorest areas of the UK, EU funding has made a huge difference. It is essential that areas such as Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, which would have qualified for £350 million from EU structural funds in the next budgetary period if we remained in the EU, continue to be properly funded. Can the Minister reassure me that there will be a properly funded, locally led successor to EU regional aid?

Focusing briefly on education, I remind noble Lords of my interests in the register. In Oxford in 2015, 18% of our staff, 15% of our students and 14% of our research funding came from the EU. Each of those areas is now being undermined by Brexit. In terms of research, development and innovation activities, in the last seven-year financial framework the UK as a whole contributed €5.4 billion to the EU and the EU contributed €8.8 billion to the UK. Not only is the UK the most active participant in Horizon 2020, but our institutions co-ordinate about 20% of the projects that have been funded so far. Our collaboration and our influence are extraordinary. With Brexit, the number of EU academics resigning has gone up exponentially, suggesting that it is increasingly difficult for our universities to attract the best in the world. This is critical for our research and our reputation.

What assurance can the Minister give that our new relationship with the EU will not jeopardise the ability of our universities to participate in future EU framework programmes and conduct world-class collaborative research with EU colleagues, to host ERC grants and influence future research agendas or to recruit and retain the best staff, and to recruit students, regardless of nationality? We should heed the words of Chekhov:

“There is no national science, just as there is no national multiplication table; what is national is no longer science”.


Research and innovation are just two of many areas in which we collaborate with our European partners: exploring ideas, exchanging best practice, finding common solutions to common problems, benefiting our own citizens as well as those in other countries and strengthening relationships. Some partnerships are bigger than others, but all contribute to fostering understanding between peoples and organisations.

I am proud that the People’s History Museum, which I chair, recently secured €271 million from the EU as part of the Culture Lab project involving partners from six member states. Our pilot project will explore the impact of Brexit on migrant communities in the UK and the EU and we will work with local migrant and non-migrant communities to explore how, as Jo Cox said,

“we are far more united and have far more in common than that which divides us”.—[Official Report, Commons, 3/6/15; col. 675.]

For me, those words encapsulate not only what I believe to be the reality of the United Kingdom but the reality and the ethos of the European Union. In 2012, the EU received the Nobel Peace Prize for advancing the causes of peace, reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe. The right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Leeds was absolutely right. Membership of the European Union, and what comes afterwards, is about more than trade and the economy; it is about values, tolerance, respect, a space to disagree agreeably and hope not hate. In this difficult and dangerous world, it is our responsibility to seek the best possible outcome as we break our ties with this alliance of sovereign states, which has changed our continent and our country for the better.