Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)

My Lords, I will speak against the amendment from the noble Lord, Lord McCrea, although I understand the tenacity with which this point is being put on a very regular basis and how sincerely he feels about these issues. I also understand, having listened repeatedly to these points being raised, that it is not a case of persuading my good friends and colleagues in this House that this is just about batteries, that there is a pragmatic need to get on with this and that these are probably good regulations anyway, so what is the harm? Those arguments get nowhere in this debate: I recognise that. So I am going to seek to put this in a bit of context around how we have got to where we are. The Windsor Framework is better than the Northern Ireland Protocol it replaced, but it is still unfortunately imperfect. It creates friction in the Irish Sea and additional burdens on businesses. It is probably wise to just be honest, open and upfront about this and not pretend otherwise. It is a fudge; it was necessary. I heard the noble Lord, Lord McCrae, say that he was not aware that these regulations would be coming into place. I can see why he says that, but surely, when the vote to leave the European Union took place, it must have been anticipated that there would need to be some kind of arrangement for Northern Ireland that would entail a huge amount of compromise—and, ideally, flexibility and understanding on both sides and a real determination to find a solution. I do not remember that atmosphere around those discussions at the time, so we are left with this unsatisfactory way of working. But it is the operational reality in which we find ourselves and, while it is there, it is one that we must make work. I have heard it said that dual market access is imaginary and not a thing. I understand that there are problems with GB-NI trade; that is true. But it is not fair and not correct to say that there is no such thing as dual market access. There is and it is a position that businesses in Northern Ireland—small enterprises, big exporters and manufacturers—talk about wishing to take advantage of. You can see the growth that is being achieved in Northern Ireland as a consequence of dual market access and the unique economic position of Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is succeeding, perhaps, you could argue, in spite of some of these challenges—and when was it not the case that business and enterprise were not able to overcome such things? My experience of talking to businesses in Northern Ireland is that they want clarity, they want certainty and they can deal with it. That is their intention. It is right—if it is what you believe—to criticise the complexities of the current arrangements. But, equally, please do not ignore the concrete advantages that see Northern Ireland consistently expanding sales into the EU in advanced manufacturing, life sciences and aerospace, with local pioneers openly pointing to the Windsor Framework as a net positive, giving them access to a £6 trillion market. We should try, when we can, to have a calm, level-headed approach to all of this. The foundational agreements of the peace process stand. What is needed is flexibility, pragmatism and a real focus on making sure that we never lose the stability, prosperity and good governance that Northern Ireland will always need.