Northern Ireland

Jack Brereton Excerpts

Tuesday 13th April 2021 Commons Chamber

[Brandon Lewis]

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. I commend him and his colleagues in the area who have been working closely with their communities and giving the support that the community groups, communities themselves and indeed the PSNI have benefited from. He is also right that we all need to ensure that we are engaging properly across the entire community of Northern Ireland. We should be engaging with anybody looking to find a peaceful solution and to use dialogue to condemn violence, and wanting to be part of taking Northern Ireland forward in a positive way. It is absolutely right that we take the time to have those difficult conversations sometimes, when they are there, even on issues where we disagree, to ensure that we can understand and look at how we can deliver on things in a way that works for everybody. In short, he is absolutely right.

[Jack Brereton (Stoke-on-Trent South) (Con)]

Further to what my hon. Friends have said about the Northern Ireland protocol, does my right hon. Friend agree that the reckless invocation of article 16 by the EU, for however short a period, without thought for the consequences, has contributed to the political tensions we now see in Northern Ireland?