Northern Ireland

Greg Smith Excerpts

Tuesday 13th April 2021 Commons Chamber

[Brandon Lewis]

The hon. Lady makes a fair point. The British-Irish Council has met regularly and continues to do so—it met in November last year and has met regularly, annually. The British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference, which did not meet between February 2007 and July 2018, has met three times since then. We will of course look for the appropriate time for the next meeting of the BIIGC, especially in the context of ensuring the strengthening of the bilateral relationship between the UK and Ireland now that we have left the EU—I have spoken to the Irish Foreign Minister about that—but we also need to be clear that policing is a devolved matter so falls outside the remit of the BIIGC.

[Greg Smith (Buckingham) (Con)]

I welcome my right hon. Friend’s statement and his continuing commitment to resolving the issues thrown up by the Northern Ireland protocol. Given that one of the many reasons for the recent unacceptable disorder is that one side of the community undoubtedly feels their concerns are not being listened to, not least by those in the European Union, what representations will my right hon. Friend make to those outside Northern Ireland such that they listen more carefully to the concerns of all communities in Northern Ireland?

[Brandon Lewis]

My hon. Friend raises a really important point. Colleagues from all parties are speaking about this issue in the House today and they have influence and relationships throughout the EU, and it is incumbent on us all to make the case widely that it is important that the EU understands the issue of identity and why the tensions that we are seeing in the loyalist and Unionist community are there in respect of some of the things that happened earlier this year, as we have already outlined. As I say, there is a fundamentally multifaceted, complex set of reasons behind what happened last week, and there is work for all of us to do in moving things forward. My hon. Friend is absolutely right that we all have a part to play to ensure that people understand the complications, nuances and sensitivities in Northern Ireland.