Northern Ireland Border

Debate between Peter Kyle and George Eustice

Thursday 3rd February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Peter Kyle (Hove) (Lab)]

I shall not wholly thank the Secretary of State for advance sight of his statement, because it arrived in my hand as he got to his feet, but I certainly thank him for making an effort to get it into my possession. We are, again, in a position where the Government are trying to ignore the reality that it was the Prime Minister who negotiated every single word of the Northern Ireland protocol. He told this House that what he had delivered was

“in perfect conformity with the Good Friday agreement”—[Official Report, 19 October 2019; Vol. 666, c. 583.]

and he told the public that it would

“bring to an end far too many years of argument and division”,

but here we are.

The same Government are now arguing that upholding the terms of the deal that they negotiated is not even the responsibility of the United Kingdom Government. Instead, they want us to believe that it is a function of the Northern Ireland Executive. In the last week, the Foreign Secretary and the Northern Ireland Secretary said that the Irish sea border checks are a

“matter for the Northern Ireland Executive”.

The protocol was signed into international law by the UK Government, and now they are bystanders as their deal falls apart, pathetically claiming that it is all somebody else’s responsibility. Let us think of the implications. Is the message that the Welsh Senedd or the Scottish Parliament can break international law too and the Government will have nothing to say about it? It is another piece of vandalism committed against our Union by a reckless Government too busy partying to notice what is going on out there in the real world.

A few moments ago, the Prime Minister’s spokesman said that they had been caught completely unaware by developments—are they kidding? I do not know anyone who did not see it coming. The Foreign Secretary is today negotiating with our EU partners. Does the Secretary of State believe that the events that are unfolding will strengthen her hand in negotiations as she seeks to reassure our partners that we are a credible partner who will stick to our end of negotiations and commitments?

Last year, the Secretary of State wrote to the Northern Ireland Executive to instruct them that work on border control posts must progress “without delay”. He used his powers to do so. The same principles stand today—the same Stormont Minister, the same Conservative Environment Secretary, the same Prime Minister’s deal—but there is a completely different interpretation of parliamentary sovereignty and Government responsibility. That is a total U-turn. Can the Secretary of State tell us what has changed in the Government’s position between now and then?

The situation puts civil servants and council workers in an impossible position. We are already hearing of confusion at ports. Right now, business groups are disagreeing with the Government’s stance. Yesterday, Manufacturing Northern Ireland said:

“Regardless of events, the legal and administrative advice is that these are international obligations on traders and they should continue to meet those obligations whether or not there’s a guy with a hi-vis to greet them at the Port.”

Does the Secretary of State agree with that statement and, therefore, encourage businesses to adhere to the protocol terms? They need a definitive answer.

The Labour party acknowledges issues with the protocol, which is why we fought for a better deal in the first place. There has been positive movement on how it works in the last year and concessions have been made by both sides. Progress has been achieved and more is within reach, but the Government must do more. Can the Secretary of State give us an update on progress with the veterinary partnership agreement?

As the Opposition have acknowledged many times in this House, peace in Northern Ireland is fragile and has been hard-won. Successive Prime Ministers, including John Major, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, all secured progress by being the honest broker that the people of Northern Ireland need. The current one, however, is setting us back by exacerbating divisions and damaging the Union.

Because of the Government’s actions, people across the UK face a cost of living nightmare. On top of that, we are being plunged back into the Brexit quagmire totally unnecessarily. The Labour party would diligently negotiate a position where people and businesses across the United Kingdom can focus on future opportunities, freeing us from Tory failures that do nothing more than trap us in the battles of the past.

[George Eustice]

The hon. Gentleman asks about the Northern Ireland protocol, which he will know required that any checks that might be put in place should protect trade within the United Kingdom and should not lead to an unnecessary diversion of trade. That is a key principle of the Northern Ireland protocol. Many of the details as to precisely how any checks would be carried out were deferred in the first instance to the Joint Committee, which completed its work and reached some interim arrangements. It was always understood that the talks would need to continue.

The principle behind the Northern Ireland protocol was to try to protect the provisions of the Belfast/Good Friday agreement, which requires us to protect all communities in Northern Ireland. It is built on the principle of the consent of all communities and the principle of power sharing. The hon. Gentleman is right that the United Kingdom takes the lead role when it comes to international agreements—which is why my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary is now leading the discussions with her opposite number in the European Commission to resolve some of these issues—but matters such as SPS and agrifood issues are devolved to the Northern Ireland Executive.

For the reasons I explained earlier, Edwin Poots had sought the agreement of the Northern Ireland Executive, or a discussion with the Northern Ireland Executive, following a particular EU audit that took place last year and implied that individual passenger cars should sometimes be searched to look for food items in people’s personal luggage. His concern was that that would cause difficulties for the very principles of the Belfast/Good Friday agreement. That is why, he says, he sought some authority from the Northern Ireland Executive. He has made it clear that he still intends to bring a discussion of the matter before the Northern Ireland Executive.

The hon. Gentleman asked whether the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland could use reserved powers to issue directions and so on. As he will understand, the bar for such an intervention is high, and rightly so, and is entirely unnecessary at this stage: the checks are continuing and there is currently no change. Yes, a direction has been issued and officials in DAERA are taking their own legal advice, as accounting officers, on elements related to that. We very much hope that, in the first instance, implementation can be delivered in its right and proper place through the Northern Ireland Executive.