Baroness blasts ‘unelected’ Lords over coup to block hated Brexit bill
Claire Fox fumes over ‘unelected’ Lords
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Baroness Claire Fox accused her colleagues in the House of Lords of attempting to obstruct the passage of the Northern Ireland Protocol bill in an anti-democratic move orchestrated by the “unelected” chamber against the will of the British people who voted for Brexit in 2016. Instead of amending the bill, she insisted Lords should focus on policy ideas to make the Protocol work for the sake of the people of Northern Ireland. If not, the Northern Irish citizens could fall victim to the European Union’s Single Market and its rules, the Baroness added.
Speaking in the House of Lords, Baroness Fox said: “It was said that if there are no serious alterations to this bill, this House will block it.
“And I was suggesting that maybe it’s a bit of an affront to democracy for people in this House to say: ‘We should block this bill’ because that is not our decision.
“And when people here talk about how the bill is an affront to democratic decision-making, I’d just like to point out that trying to block a bill is an affront to democratic decision-making.
“When we say that we’re worried that this bill bypasses Parliament and people say they want to protect democratic norms and the Government don’t want to become an unelected dictatorship, I think we should note that blocking this bill would imply bypassing Parliament, undermining democratic norms and turn this House into an unelected dictatorship.”
Since the issues related to the current Protocol have been “well documented”, the House of Lords should come up with policy ideas to make it work for everyone in the union, the Baroness said.
“And I think that when we scrutinise the bill and go through, that’s what we should talk about and whether the bill is fit for purpose to resolve some of these things.
“But the reason why a bill is needed is sure as everyone here seems so enthusiastic about the rule of law, the rule of law will be differently applied to the people of Northern Ireland unless we do something about the way that the Protocol is at the moment being enacted.
“To be able to ensure that all citizens of the United Kingdom are treated equally under the law, we need to do something – not that all citizens are treated equally under the law in the UK apart from a certain section of the UK who will be subject to decisions made by legislators that they have no control over.”
Calling on the Lords to act through legislation, the Baroness said: “Whilst some people have indicated what really the problem is is Brexit, that ship has sailed.
“The British people spoke. Brexit is a reality. You have to live with that and we have to ensure that the people of Northern Ireland aren’t punished.”
On the first day of the committee stage, Lords examined the Northern Ireland Protocol bill line by line and tabled amendments to the bill.
At least three Lords who chair the committee suggested they would block the legislation if their amendments were not considered in the final version of the bill.
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The UK and the EU have been locked in talks over the Protocol, negotiated and agreed by Boris Johnson’s Government in 2020, after Northern Ireland plunged into a political crisis.
The unionist DUP has refused to power-sharing as long as the Irish Sea checks between the nation and Great Britain are in place.
The EU has pushed back against that demand, saying an international border must be in place after Brexit to protect the EU’s Single Market.
Both the UK and the EU also agreed setting up a trade border between the two Ireland was unacceptable given it would flout the Belfast Good Friday Agreement and threaten peace in the area.
A group of 40 to 50 Lords have reportedly met behind the scenes to stop the block the legislation, with some Lords raising concerns about breaking international law and its reputational and economic damage to the UK.
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