Resetting the UK-EU Relationship (European Affairs Committee Report)

Lord Taylor of Warwick Excerpts

Thursday 26th February 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Ricketts, for introducing this important debate. My thanks also go to the European Affairs Committee for producing such a comprehensive report.

For more than 40 years, the UK was part of the European Union. The famous soul music song “We Are Family” was cited by some to describe that relationship—but wedlock eventually became padlock. As a result of Brexit, the British people decided to adopt another tune. This could best be described by the rock supergroup Queen’s anthem, “I Want to Break Free”.

As the report points out, Brexit is a process, not an event. It is in everyone’s interest that progress is made. About 45% of UK exports go to the EU, and 53% of our imports are from the EU. I had the privilege of speaking at an Inter-Parliamentary Union event in Geneva some years ago, where I raised the issue of tariffs. I described tariffs as a way to promote trade or a weapon to prevent trade. It is ironic that tariffs are once again a worldwide topical issue. It is important that the EU and the UK strive to maintain a zero-tariff and zero-quota relationship.

One of the lessons of history is that we do not learn lessons from history. It is interesting that, throughout the Bible, there is a theme of one empire after another eventually overreaching itself and gradually collapsing. In the Old Testament, there were the Egyptians, followed by the Assyrians, the Babylonians and, finally, the Persian Empire. In the New Testament, there was the powerful and mighty Roman Empire. All these empires eventually fell because national independence proved more durable than empire.

I have some questions for the Minister, arising from the committee’s report. First, why did the Government not produce a White Paper setting out their objectives concerning resetting our relationship with the EU? Surely, that would have helped the committee’s task of holding the Government to account. As the committee noted:

“We were scrutinising a ‘moving target’ throughout, and have continued to do so as we prepared this report”.


I am a vice-chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Artificial Intelligence. The report alludes to data protection and cyber security issues. AI is changing all aspects of the modern world. What progress are the Government making with the EU concerning AI-related issues, including data protection, cyber security and AI regulation?

The first duty of any Government is to protect their people. What progress are the Government making with the EU concerning defence-related issues and NATO? Young people represent our future. What progress are the Government making on rejoining the European Erasmus programme, which provides valuable education and training? Are we still on course to rejoin by next year? What date has been set for the next UK-EU summit? When the Cabinet Minister, Nick Thomas-Symonds, gave evidence to the committee last year, he said that it would be “sometime in 2026”, but when will that summit be?

I believe that resetting a positive relationship with the EU can work; but if we fail to plan, we plan to fail. There are those who spread fear that this reset will never work, but fear is that darkroom where only negatives are developed. We must not be like the paranoid patient who visits his doctor, to be told, “Please listen, you’ve got hypochondria”, and who replies, “Oh no, not that as well”. It is said that every story has “a beginning, a muddle and an end”. So it is with this Brexit process. However, when fear knocks at the door, let us answer it with faith.