Lord Dunlop: (Maiden Speech) My Lords, it is a great honour to open the debate today. I have the greatest respect for the wealth of knowledge and experience that exists within your Lordships’ House— wealth that is amply demonstrated by the list of speakers for this debate. It would be fair to say that entering this House and becoming a Minister at the same time is doubly daunting, so I am grateful for...
Lord Dunlop: Irish Government representatives were present on a number of occasions in the talks leading up to the Stormont House Agreement. As the Noble Lord is aware, the involvement of the Irish Government was in accordance with the established three-stranded approach to Northern Ireland affairs and the 1998 Belfast Agreement. As the Conservative Party’s Northern Ireland Manifesto for the General...
Lord Dunlop: My Lords, the Scotland Bill will deliver in full the historic Smith commission agreement to devolve further powers to the Scottish Parliament within a strengthened United Kingdom, as agreed by all the main political parties in Scotland last November. The implementation of the Smith commission agreement shows this Government’s commitment to make the Scottish Parliament one of the most...
Lord Dunlop: My Lords, the Smith agreement was agreed by all five of Scotland’s main political parties. I believe that is the first time in the history of devolution that that has happened. It will create, as I have already said, one of the most powerful devolved parliaments in the world. This Government’s commitment is to deliver Smith in full, and we are doing so. Of course, as my right honourable...
Lord Dunlop: My Lords, it is not a characterisation I would agree with that the electorate of Scotland repudiated the Smith agreement. Every one of the manifestos of all the main parties, including the SNP, included a commitment to take forward the Smith agreement. Of course, there will be discussions, and I know that there are many views within this House about how best to do that, but the main...
Lord Dunlop: My Lords, I am not sure exactly where the SNP stands now on full fiscal autonomy. Its position seems to change by the day but I am absolutely clear, and the Government are clear, that full fiscal autonomy would be bad for Scotland. By the end of this Parliament, it would leave a £10 billion funding gap that would have to be addressed by higher taxes or larger spending cuts in Scotland. The...
Lord Dunlop: It is absolutely right that, in addition to taking forward the commitments to constitutional reform in each part of our United Kingdom, including England, it is necessary to look at how those devolution settlements work as a whole. That is why the Government are committed to reviewing the intergovernmental arrangements and taking them forward in discussion with the devolved Administrations....
Lord Dunlop: The noble Lord makes a very good point indeed. In addition to debating and asking for more powers, the debate should increasingly focus on how the Scottish Government intend to use their existing powers and the very considerable powers that will be coming their way in the very near future.
Lord Dunlop: I do not believe we are proceeding in a piecemeal way. We will be taking forward four strands of constitutional change over the course of this Parliament: change in Scotland, in Wales and in Northern Ireland, and, as I have said, fairness for England. We will listen very carefully to the discussion about how these devolution settlements work as a whole, and I look forward to some lively...
Lord Dunlop: My Lords, as set out in the cross-party Smith agreement, the Scottish Government’s block grant will be reduced to reflect their increased tax powers. The UK and Scottish Governments have agreed to work to finalise the new fiscal framework by the autumn, alongside the passage of the Scotland Bill. The Barnett formula will continue as part of these arrangements, but as the Scottish Government...
Lord Dunlop: My Lords, the noble Lord may well be right that the SNP Government will seek to continue to blame the United Kingdom Government, but the people of Scotland would certainly blame the UK Government more if we landed them with a £10 billion funding gap, costing every family in Scotland £5,000 in higher taxes or spending cuts. That would be the price of full fiscal autonomy. The Government...
Lord Dunlop: I thank my noble friend for that question. The simple overarching principle is that neither Scotland nor the rest of the United Kingdom should gain or lose financially as a direct consequence of implementing the Smith agreement. There are two aspects to this. First, at the point of devolution, the tax and spending block grant adjustments made to reflect the transfer of powers should of...
Lord Dunlop: My Lords, we are very mindful of the funding needs of Wales. Obviously, Welsh funding was the subject of the Holtham review and, according to the criteria set out by Holtham, Wales is not currently underfunded. For the foreseeable future, per-head funding is unlikely to converge with that of England in the near term. The UK Government have committed to introduce a funding for Wales that will...
Lord Dunlop: My Lords, the Smith agreement was, of course, an all-party consensus. We have an extensive package of constitutional reform for all parts of the United Kingdom and our priority is to deliver on the constitutional commitments that we have made. We want a balanced and fair settlement across the United Kingdom. I am sure that there will be a lively debate on what more can be done, which the...
Lord Dunlop: I thank the noble Lord. As I have said, our priority is to deliver the commitments that we have made. Of course we will listen to other ideas. As I have said, there will be a lively debate, including in this House. We will listen very carefully to what noble Lords and others have to say on this matter.
Lord Dunlop: As I said on 2nd June 2015 Irish Government representatives were present on a number of occasions in the talks leading up to the Stormont House Agreement. As the Noble Lord is aware, the involvement of the Irish Government was in accordance with the established three-stranded approach to Northern Ireland affairs and the 1998 Belfast Agreement. As the Conservative Party’s Northern Ireland...
Lord Dunlop: The failure to implement welfare reform puts the entire Stormont House Agreement at risk, including the steps it contains to pave the way for a more stable and prosperous Northern Ireland and to help deal with the past.
Lord Dunlop: The Irish Government was represented at the Stormont House talks by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Charles Flanagan TD and Minister Sean Sherlock TD. The Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, and Tánaiste Joan Burton, attended along with the Prime Minister, on 11-12 December. The Irish Government attended as one of the signatories to the Belfast Agreement. As has been previously set out to the Noble...
Lord Dunlop: The people of Scotland voted decisively on 18 September 2014 in favour of remaining part of the United Kingdom. In September 2013, the now First Minister described the independence referendum as a ‘once in a lifetime opportunity for Scotland’. The issue of a further referendum therefore does not arise.
Lord Dunlop: During the years of 2010 to 2014, there was one occasion, on 28 March 2013 when two helicopters were flown from the Republic of Ireland to Northern Ireland to assist with a farming emergency during a period of heavy snow.
