Lord Dodds of Duncairn (DUP)

My Lords, I am grateful to all those who took part in the debate, especially those who have indicated support for my regret amendment. One noble Baroness questioned what is achieved by these debates and who benefits. Well, I suppose when the Government do not bother about a consultation or an impact assessment, the next logical step is to forget about parliamentary debate as well—why bother having any of this? The purpose of these debates is to bring scrutiny to legislation which would otherwise pass without any examination, made by a foreign political body for the citizens of the UK. That is why it is important—that is why these debates are significant. When people ask why we are not dealing with the practicalities instead of the constitutionalities, the fact is that the practicalities are decided not here, but elsewhere. We cannot debate tumble dryers, as the noble Lord mentioned, or these other issues, because the policy and the legislation are not decided here. We are debating enforcement and other peripheral matters; the substance is being decided elsewhere. The Minister said that this respects Northern Ireland’s place in the United Kingdom. How does a regulation which states in terms that any reference to the European Union or union territory is to be read so as to include Northern Ireland? That is in black and white in these regulations. That is a scandalous proposition for any Government to put in legislation before this House, and for that reason, I wish to test the opinion of the House and to seek where people stand on issues of such importance.