Queen’s Speech — House of Lords, 2021-05-13
Topic: International Affairs
Joyce Gwendolen Quin (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, I add my congratulations to both noble Baronesses, the noble Baroness, Lady Fraser, and my former colleague as a Member of Parliament, my noble friend Lady Merron, on their inspiring maiden speeches In his opening speech, I was also pleased to hear the Minister speak of his deep attachment to our union and the UK family. Those sentiments have been echoed by many powerful speeches. I was surprised, however, that he repeated the incorrect claim that the European referendum was the biggest democratic exercise in our history. That is becoming a bit of a hoary old chestnut, given that the figures clearly show that it was not. The 1992 general election saw more votes cast, when the population was actually smaller than it is now and there was a higher turnout. Turnout was also higher at some other previous general elections. I ask the Minister to ensure that that government claim is not repeated. It would be good, too, if the Government remembered that the referendum result was close and not pretend that it was an overwhelming victory. That is insulting and insensitive to Scotland, Northern Ireland and, indeed, many communities across England and Wales I want to say something about the experience of Covid in the light of our devolution settlement. I very much respect our devolution settlement, but I do not understand why there could not have been better co-ordination and more joint action and joint statements across the UK. I have not, obviously, been part of the inside story, so I do not quite know why that situation occurred. I know that Wales felt excluded by Westminster from time to time, and I certainly pay tribute to the way in which First Minister Mark Drakeford has performed calmly and impressively throughout. I imagine, too, that Nicola Sturgeon’s obvious dislike of doing anything at a UK level probably has not helped co-ordination. However, for those of us living near the borders of the UK’s nations, the situation causes a lot of difficulty. For example, the recent announcement on international travel at first applied only to England. Yet for many of us in the border area between England and Scotland, the most convenient airport is Edinburgh and we were left wondering whether we could travel. I urge better co-ordination in future and, if possible, that statements be made on the same day regarding the position of different parts of the UK, so that we know how to plan and move forward My main concern, however, is about the part that referendums should play in our parliamentary democracy —an issue to which the noble Lord, Lord Young of Cookham, referred. While its immediate relevance arises from the SNP’s demand for another independence referendum, we need to reflect more widely and deeply on the issue. I do not know what has happened to the Government’s constitution, democracy and rights commission or the mini-commissions that were supposed to replace it. Perhaps the Minister can update us. However, the role of referendums is something that such a body or bodies should look at, including perhaps our House of Lords report on the subject a few years ago, when the Constitution Committee did some good work We need to think about difficult matters such as what issues are suitable for referendums, as well as issues such as thresholds and turnouts. On a crucial issue such as the future of the union, which affects us all, would it be acceptable for the outcome to be decided on a handful of votes? The noble Lord, Lord Caine, spoke about the nightmare scenario that that could cause. We also need to learn from the Brexit experience. People were asked to vote without any idea of what the details of the deal on the future relationship between the EU and the UK would look like That is particularly relevant in terms of Scotland because, if it had voted for separation in 2014, we would all still have been part of the EU, with a customs union, a single market and free movement. Now we are faced, particularly those living near the border in northern England, with a hard EU border on our doorstep that will make Brexit look like a walk in the park. I very much agree with what the noble Lord, Lord Bruce of Bennachie, said about that. For many of us, losing our European identity is painful, but how much more so would it be if our UK union broke up without most of us having any say whatever Finally, I support the fresh look at the constitution and our constitutional arrangements advocated by Gordon Brown. I hope that the Government will engage openly in such an approach.