Northern Ireland Assembly Election

Deidre Brock Excerpts

Tuesday 17th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[James Brokenshire]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his comments. He rightly identifies the maintenance of devolved government in Northern Ireland as the key issue. He is also right to say that we must use the available time to ensure that communication lines and dialogue remain open during the election period, however difficult that might appear. Equally, the issues relating to trust and confidence in the institutions, and in the ability of parties to work together in the shared government arrangement, will still need to be resolved. The question of how we can use this time to bring people together must be at the forefront of our minds.

[Deidre Brock (Edinburgh North and Leith) (SNP)]

I thank the Secretary of State for giving me notice of his statement. I support the calls made yesterday for the election to be conducted in a manner that looks to the future and anticipates difficult but reasonable negotiations for the establishment of an effective Administration after the election. No one will get everything that they want from this election or from the formation of the new Executive, but the people whom the politicians serve deserve our best and most faithful efforts. The victory in this election should belong to the people, not to political parties.

This election has been brought about by circumstances that have their genesis in Belfast and that will also have their solutions in Belfast. We will be onlookers to a great extent, but there are some areas in which the efforts made here might help. I am pleased that dialogue between the Secretary of State and the parties in Northern Ireland will continue throughout the election period, so that the ground is prepared for the negotiations over holding office in March. Can he tell us whether he will take those opportunities to reassure the parties that funding will not be cut, particularly from the support for addressing the legacy issues? The Assembly suffers from the austerity fetish as much as the rest of the UK, but it carries additional burdens and needs those extra resources.

The past couple of months in the Assembly have been marked by some serious allegations. What support will the Secretary of State be able to offer the Assembly to have those allegations properly investigated and to find resolutions? The uncertainty of this election, with the peculiarities surrounding it, adds to the uncertainty of the Brexit mess. What support can the Government offer to people and businesses in Northern Ireland to smooth the next few months? Also, will he clarify what special arrangements he is putting in place to consult on the Brexit negotiations while the election is ongoing?

[James Brokenshire]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for highlighting the issues relating to the nature of the elections. I think we all recognise what is at stake here. I can assure her that we will be doing our part to maintain communication channels and open dialogue. We will continue to encourage the parties to think carefully about the nature of the campaign ahead and about how best to bring people back together afterwards to get on with the process of devolved government in Northern Ireland. She asked a number of more detailed questions. On the question of legacy, she will know that it remains this Government’s intent to give effect to the Stormont House agreement. Indeed, the funding commitments that were made in respect of that remain firmly in place.

In respect of support for the investigations and inquiry into the allegations that have provided the trigger, or the catalyst, for the situation we find ourselves in, I continue to believe that the best solution for this lies within Northern Ireland. This is a devolved matter, and it still seems right that the answers should come from that direction. I remain open to working with the parties on a cross-community basis to see what support can be given because, ultimately, getting answers on these issues is what matters.

On the UK’s departure from the European Union, as hon. and right hon. Members will have heard, the Prime Minister set out a very clear position on this Government’s approach. Indeed, she emphasised the issues on the common travel area and on strengthening the Union, too. Hon. and right hon. Members will have plenty of opportunity to raise further questions on that later today.