I thank the Backbench Business Committee for choosing this debate. Something I have learned in my time in this House is that the importance of the Back Benches—and the voices on them—is not as well appreciated outside the House as it is within. Of course, I pay my compliments to my hon. Friend the Member for Harwich and North Essex (Sir Bernard Jenkin) for securing this debate, which is of great importance. Of course it is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon).
For hon. and right hon. Members’ interest, I am the chairman of the Conservative Union Research Unit. We are a Back-Bench group and we were formed for one simple purpose: to strengthen the Union. I speak here in my capacity as the Member for Aberconwy, but I think that is an important interest to declare. We are of course delighted that the Government share our interest in strengthening the Union.
Our interest then, to be clear, is in the Union. I differentiate that from the protocol, important though that is—and, indeed, it brings us here today—and from the Belfast agreement, again, important though that is. My comments, therefore, will focus on the Union and the impact of the protocol on the Union. My hon. Friend the Member for North Dorset (Simon Hoare) referred earlier to the Good Friday agreement as the bedrock. I suggest that the bedrock is the Act of Union of 1800, which has been an enduring cornerstone of this United Kingdom. Indeed, we stand here in this Parliament—the Parliament of this United Kingdom—today.
Interest in the Union of course extends beyond any party; it is not the possession of any one party. I note the contributions from many different parts of the House to the debate today and I am encouraged by that. But on this side of the House we are of course the Conservative and Unionist party. If we are not concerned with the Union, then what are we?
The group I chair has over 80 Back-Bench Members, each of us active on account of the Union to promote it in this House and among our constituents. So when we heard Mr Justice Colton agree with Government counsel that article VI of the Act of Union had been impliedly repealed by the protocol, Members can imagine our concern. It is, as Madam Deputy Speaker said earlier, a matter of national concern and a matter for the whole of the UK to take note of.
I acknowledge the complexity of this situation and these circumstances. I also acknowledge the mechanisms wisely placed within the protocol for remedying its shortcomings and the considerable efforts of Lord Frost and others in Government to do so. But in the light of Mr Justice Colton’s remarks, I am bound by duty and urged by many to ask: what is the Government’s plan for remedying that change to our Union? If not in this House, where are we to consider this, and if not at this time, in the light of his remarks, then when? I would be grateful if the Minister could give us some direction in her response to this.
You can watch Robin make this speech by clicking on the link below.
https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/b611720b-8a2d-42e0-818d-d4edeca33cd7?in=14:24:50&out=14:28:33
Diolch i Bwyllgor Busnes y Meinciau Cefn am ddewis y ddadl hon. Yn ystod fy nghyfnod yn y Tŷ hwn rwyf wedi dysgu nad yw pwysigrwydd y Meinciau Cefn—a’r lleisiau sydd arnynt—yn cael ei werthfawrogi cystal y tu allan i’r Tŷ ag ydyw’r tu mewn. Wrth gwrs, rwyf yn talu teyrnged i’m hanrhydeddus Gyfaill yr Aelod dros Harwich a Gogledd Essex (Syr Bernard Jenkin) am sicrhau’r ddadl hon, sy’n arbennig o bwysig. Wrth gwrs, mae’n bleser dilyn yr Aelod anrhydeddus o Strangford (Jim Shannon).
Er diddordeb i’r aelodau anrhydeddus a gwir anrhydeddus, fi yw cadeirydd Uned Ymchwil Undeb y Ceidwadwyr. Rydym yn grŵp Meinciau Cefn a chawsom ein ffurfio gydag un diben syml: cryfhau’r Undeb. Siaradaf yma yn rhinwedd fy swydd fel yr Aelod dros Aberconwy, ond credaf fod hynny’n fuddiant pwysig i’w ddatgan. Wrth gwrs, rydym wrth ein bodd bod y Llywodraeth yn rhannu ein diddordeb i gryfhau’r Undeb.
Ein diddordeb felly, er mwyn bod yn glir, yw’r Undeb. Rwyf yn gwahaniaethu rhwng y protocol, er bod hwnnw’n bwysig—ac, a dweud y gwir, mae’n dod â ni yma heddiw—a chytundeb Belfast, sydd unwaith eto yn bwysig. Bydd fy sylwadau, felly, yn canolbwyntio ar yr Undeb ac effaith y protocol ar yr Undeb. Cyfeiriodd fy Nghyfaill anrhydeddus yr Aelod dros Ogledd Dorset (Simon Hoare) yn gynharach at gytundeb Gwener y Groglith fel sylfaen. Rwyf i’n awgrymu mai Deddf Uno 1800 yw’r sylfaen, sydd wedi bod yn gonglfaen parhaus i’r Deyrnas Unedig hon. A dweud y gwir, rydym yn sefyll yma yn y Senedd hon—Senedd y Deyrnas Unedig—heddiw.
Mae diddordeb yn yr Undeb wrth gwrs yn ymestyn y tu hwnt i unrhyw blaid; nid dim ond un blaid sy’n meddiannu hyn. Yr wyf yn nodi’r cyfraniadau gan lawer o wahanol rannau o’r Tŷ at y ddadl heddiw ac mae hynny’n fy nghalonogi. Ond ar yr ochr hon i’r Tŷ, ni, wrth gwrs, yw’r blaid Geidwadol ac Unoliaethol. Os nad ydym ni’n poeni am yr Undeb, beth ydym ni?
Mae gan y grŵp yr wyf yn ei gadeirio dros 80 Aelod o’r Meinciau Cefn, pob un ohonom yn gweithredu ar ran yr Undeb i’w hyrwyddo yn y Tŷ hwn ac ymhlith ein hetholwyr. Felly, pan glywsom Mr Ustus Colton yn cytuno â chwnsler y Llywodraeth fod erthygl VI o’r Ddeddf Uno wedi’i diddymu gan y protocol yn oblygedig, gall Aelodau ddychmygu ein pryder. Fel y dywedodd Madam Ddirprwy Lefarydd yn gynharach, mae’n fater o bryder cenedlaethol ac yn fater i’r DU i gyd ei ystyried.
Yr wyf yn cydnabod cymhlethdod y sefyllfa hon a’r amgylchiadau hyn. Yr wyf hefyd yn cydnabod y mecanweithiau sydd wedi’u gosod yn ddoeth yn y protocol ar gyfer cywiro ei ddiffygion ac ymdrechion sylweddol yr Arglwydd Frost ac eraill yn y Llywodraeth i wneud hynny. Ond yng ngoleuni sylwadau Mr Ustus Colton, yr wyf yn rhwym i ddyletswydd ac yn cael fy annog gan nifer i ofyn: beth yw cynllun y Llywodraeth i unioni’r newid hwnnw i’n Hundeb? Os na chawn wneud hynny yn y Tŷ hwn, yna ble, ac os na chawn wneud hynny nawr, yng ngoleuni ei sylwadau, yna pryd? Byddwn yn ddiolchgar pe gallai’r Gweinidog roi rhyw gyfarwyddyd inni yn ei hymateb i hyn.
https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/b611720b-8a2d-42e0-818d-d4edeca33cd7?in=14:24:50&out=14:28:33
