Northern Ireland Protocol

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Claire Hanna

Tuesday 17th May 2022 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

I have explained the outline of the proposals, and I will be publishing more details in due course.

[Claire Hanna (Belfast South) (SDLP)]

It is curious that the Foreign Secretary chose to quote polling rather than the fresh election results that show a comfortable majority of people supporting the protocol and an even larger majority rejecting the idea of holding the institutions to ransom. She is misrepresenting our position and that of the people of Northern Ireland, who want the protocol as a protection from Brexit. While they are happy to see it evolve, they know that there was not a whisper about consent or consensus when the Conservatives and the DUP were voting gleefully for ever-harder versions of Brexit. Where there is unanimity, it is in distrust of the cynical approach of this Government. When will this Government stop using our fragile shared society for their own malign political needs?

[Elizabeth Truss]

The hon. Lady knows that the Belfast/Good Friday agreement is based on the principle of power sharing. That requires the consent of all communities in Northern Ireland, and that is what we seek to achieve with the legislation we are putting forward.