Lord Hay of Ballyore (DUP)

My Lords, I welcome the amendment from the noble Lord, Lord McCrea. Although a casual observer might think we are simply debating technical standards for consumer electronics or even industrial machinery, anyone with an eye for the integrity of our United Kingdom knows that we are doing something far more insidious and very dangerous. We are watching the further decoupling of Northern Ireland from the rest of the United Kingdom. Let us be completely clear about what this statutory instrument does. It does not create laws designed by British lawmakers to serve British citizens. Instead, it seeks to establish an enforcement and criminal penalties regime within our borders to police an EU batteries regulation that applies directly under the Windsor Framework. It is an absolute travesty of our democracy that laws are being imposed on a part of the United Kingdom without a single vote being cast or a single shred of scrutiny being offered to any parliamentarian elected by the people of Northern Ireland. We are instructing our own domestic courts and enforcement bodies to punish British citizens for failing to comply with rules manufactured in Brussels. How can we honestly stand in this Chamber and claim that the union is secure when a consumer or business owner in Belfast is legally barred from placing on the market a product that is perfectly lawful in the rest of the United Kingdom? These regulations divide our internal market and create a regulatory border down the Irish Sea for everyday goods. We were promised that the Windsor Framework would protect the internal market, yet here we are in 2026 rubber-stamping an instrument that proves the exact opposite. This is a classic and deeply troubling case of democratic default. Not a single Member of this House or any elected representative in Northern Ireland had the opportunity to scrutinise, debate or vote on the underlying EU regulations. We must not simply roll over and accept the rubber-stamping of foreign laws wrapped in criminal penalties while the economic foundations of the union are being eroded away. I urge Members to oppose these regulations.