Northern Ireland

Alison McGovern Excerpts

Tuesday 13th April 2021 Commons Chamber

[Brandon Lewis]

The short answer is yes, but I want to stress that the main political parties that form the Executive in Northern Ireland are all in the place that my hon. Friend outlined—working together. That is why it was really good to see them come together last week with a joint statement on this. There are five different political parties in a power-sharing arrangement in a devolved authority. Obviously, they will disagree on things from time to time. What they absolutely agree on is their right to disagree and to do so in a democratic and peaceful way, which they have worked together on very well since the re-formation after the New Decade, New Approach agreement last year, and I hope they will continue to do that. From my engagement with them all at the moment, I am confident that they will, and it is the right thing to do—it is certainly what the people of Northern Ireland want to see.

[Alison McGovern (Wirral South) (Lab)]

I associate myself with the shadow Secretary of State’s remarks on the complex situation in Northern Ireland. Notwithstanding that, just five weeks ago, the Prime Minister said that the Northern Irish protocol must not place “barriers of any kind” down the Irish sea. Can the Secretary of State explain to the House why the Prime Minister negotiated an agreement that did exactly that? Does he accept that the gap between what the Prime Minister says on Northern Ireland and what he does has contributed to a serious collapse in trust that now requires urgent prime ministerial attention?

[Brandon Lewis]

It is interesting that, in talking about a complex and multifaceted situation, the hon. Lady goes straight to talking about Brexit, which again highlights that Labour is so far behind where the general public are on finding a way to move forward to deliver on this. We have been clear from the beginning that the protocol is there because of the unique circumstances in Northern Ireland. It has to work in a way that works for people across the communities in Northern Ireland and for the whole of Northern Ireland—in a flexible, pragmatic way.

The hon. Lady talks about the Prime Minister’s involvement. Obviously, he has been involved, not just in the last few days but consistently through this process. He has been very clear about our determination and his determination—this is exactly what Lord Frost is working on at the moment through the Joint Committee and with my Department—to ensure that we deliver an outcome that means that these products flow in a flexible manner, because the protocol is there. As I said earlier, we understand that the EU has that great concern about protecting its single market. We have to make sure that the protocol respects the Good Friday agreement in all three strands, including east-west.