Oral Answers to Questions

Allan Dorans Excerpts

Wednesday 24th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I certainly understand my hon. Friend’s strong feelings on this issue, and her campaign is shared by many Members across the House. That is why we launched the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry, which has made quite fast progress. Yes, we do want to learn the lessons. Yes, we do want to make sure that the right people are held to account for what happened and that the Post Office never repeats a mistake like this.

[Allan Dorans (Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock) (SNP) [V]]

  Subject to certain conditions being met, the Northern Ireland Act 1998 allows for the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to call a referendum on Irish reunification and for Northern Ireland to leave the United Kingdom within seven years of a previous referendum. Those conditions for a referendum have all been more than met in Scotland since the independence referendum in 2014, seven years ago. We are allegedly a Union of equal nations, so why, as a democrat, will the Prime Minister not agree to a section 30 order, enabling the democratic will of the people of Scotland to be measured? Is it because he is fearful of the likely outcome?

[The Prime Minister]

I knew it would n0t be long—there they are! There are a couple of reasons. First of all, senior members of the hon. Member’s party said that it was a “once in a generation” event in 2014. I think that that point of view is shared across the House, and quite rightly. The other reason, which is absolutely plain to people in this country, is that we are all trying to build back better and get out of a pandemic. That is the priority for the British people—it is the priority for the whole country —and I think people are, frankly, amazed to hear the Scottish nationalist party still, in these circumstances, banging on about their constitutional obsessions.